April 8, 2021

Stuffed Peppers with Ground Turkey

Stuffed peppers are a favorite in our house when friends or family come for dinner. They make for a delicious meal, and spectacular leftovers. These beauties are loaded with lots of fresh basil, tomato, garlic, and onion. This recipe is on the lighter side as it uses ground turkey. Occasionally, I’ll mix in a bit of Italian chicken sausage for an additional layer of flavor. It’s also pretty low carb as we go light on the bread crumbs. I’ve even made this without any breadcrumbs at all, using only the eggs as a binder. In this recipe, I pre-cook the peppers for a few minutes prior to stuffing, which softens them and ensures they are fully cooked. Unlike some recipes, I prefer adding the filling to the peppers while it’s raw. I find everything “holds” together better this way.

This is a wonderful make-ahead meal. You can prepare them in advance and keep them refrigerated until you are ready to bake. This recipe makes 8 fully stuffed half peppers. Depending on and what else you are serving, it can feed anywhere from 4-8 people. We usually serve these stuffed peppers with our favorite red lentil penne pasta , a side salad, and a nice glass of red wine. Bon Appetito!

Stuffed Peppers with Ground Turkey

This recipe is inspired by my family recipe as well as an old WW recipe from the 90s. I've added my own spin to give it lots of flavor while keeping it healthy. Peppers are stuffed with ground turkey and/or chicken sausage, and filled with lots of basil and garlic. This recipe makes 8 full pepper halves.

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Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Ingredients

4 bell peppers, cut in half through the stem and cleaned
1 small tomato, finely chopped
1½ lbs ground meat I usually use 1 pound ground turkey and ½ pound of raw italian chicken or turkey sausage
1 onion, finely chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp bread crumbs I use gluten free, but you can also leave these out
2 eggs
½ cup shredded romano/parmesan/asiago cheese plus more for topping
large handful of fresh basil, finely chopped
1 tsp garlic powder
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese optional, can also just top with romano/parmesean
1 – 1½ cups tomato sauce or canned diced tomato
olive oil for drizzling
salt and pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°F
Spray a 9 x 1 3 baking dish with nonstick spray or coat with oil
Place peppers (cut in half) in a microwave safe dish. I use the same 9×13 glass baking dish I plan to use for roasting. Cover with plastic wrap and poke a couple of holes in the plastic wrap. Microwave on medium until tender, 6 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine meat, chopped tomato, onion, garlic, garlic powder, egg, bread crumbs, romano/parmesan, basil, salt, and pepper. Mix well.
Let the peppers cool a bit so you can handle them. Stuff peppers with the meat mixture, pressing lightly. Place in the baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 400° until filling is slightly browned, 25-30 minutes.
Spoon tomato sauce over peppers and bake 15-20 minutes more, until the sauce is bubbling. You can also use canned diced tomatoes in lieu of the sauce. Add mozzarella and/or parmesan/romano cheese on top of the peppers for the last 5-10 minutes of baking to melt.
Check the meat for doneness. Larger peppers with more stuffing may take a little bit longer, smaller pepper with less stuffing may not take quite as long!