My ground turkey stuffed peppers recipe is a tasty, easy weekday dinner that is ready in just 30 minutes. Roasted bell peppers stuffed with an aromatic turkey filling and topped with gooey melted cheese - this is hearty, healthy comfort food.
I have been reducing the amount of red meat in my diet recently. And let me tell you, with delicious recipes such as stuffed peppers with turkey meat this has been no hardship at all.
Turkey has more flavor than chicken. And, it is leaner and easier to digest than beef or lamb. There really is no need to wait until the festive season to enjoy turkey!
Also try my keto turkey chili and these stuffed mini peppers.
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What's To Love About This Recipe
Hearty and satisfying - Ground turkey stuffed bell peppers is family-friendly comfort food. With tender roasted peppers, a fluffy, flavorful filling and a topping of melted cheese it's a hit with adults and children.
Keto stuffed peppers - Traditionally, stuffed peppers are made with a filling of meat, vegetables and rice. We are swapping the rice for cauliflower rice. This makes my version low in carbs and keto friendly.
Useful - Not only is this recipe freezer friendly and great for meal prep, it is also easy to tweak. This is the perfect dish to use up leftover veggies in the fridge! I have lots of ideas for you further down in the post.
Ingredients
Let's talk ingredients. You'll find exact quantities in the recipe card at the bottom of the post, but I wanted to give you a bit of extra info right here:
- Bell Peppers - Any color you like. Red, orange and yellow bell peppers are sweeter than green peppers. Green peppers contain the lowest amount of carbs. Choose peppers that are similar in size so they cook evenly.
- Ground turkey - I used turkey leg mince from Sainsbury's. It has a fat content of 7% and has more flavor than ground turkey breast meat.
- Cauliflower rice - We are using this instead of regular rice to lower the carb content and add additional fiber. I used frozen cauliflower rice. Fresh cauliflower will cook a little faster.
- Aromatics - Turkey needs a little extra help in the flavor department, just like chicken. That's why we use onion, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper, fresh parsley and also mushrooms to make a super-tasty filling.
- Cheese - Melted cheddar makes everything taste better! I used a medium cheddar, but feel free to go mild or strong, depending on your preference. We need a little inside the filling and a plenty of it over the stuffed peppers. Gooey goodness.
Instructions
It is simple to make stuffed peppers with ground turkey. Here are the basic steps.
Scroll down to the recipe card for the detailed method with ingredient amounts, timings and nutrition information.
STEP 1
Halve and core the peppers. Drizzle with oil and season, then roast in the oven so they soften.
STEP 2
Saute the onions and garlic until.
STEP 3
Add the ground turkey and cook until no longer pink.
STEP 4
Add all the remaining filling ingredients. Fry until the moisture absorbs and the meat turns golden brown. Stir through some of the cheese and parsley.
STEP 5
Remove the half-roasted peppers from the oven and fill them with the turkey filling.
STEP 6
Top with the remaining shredded cheese and continue to bake until the cheese melts and starts to turn golden.
Katrin's Top Tips
#1 Keep them upright. There are 2 ways to do this. Choose an oven-proof dish that fits the peppers snugly (mine was 7x10 inch). Or, slice off a small part on the bottom of each pepper to prevent them from tipping over.
#2 Scale the recipe! Once you have tried the recipe (and liked it), make a double or tripe batch the next time. Ground turkey stuffed peppers is great for freezing.
#3 Crunch vs soft. I like the peppers golden brown, but with a little crunch and texture. If you want them to be super soft, increase the oven time by another 10 minutes.
Substitutions
The great thing about stuffed peppers is that you can vary the filling to your heart's delight. Any leftovers in the fridge?
Change the meat: swap the turkey with beef, ground chicken or ground pork. You could even use quality sausages from the butcher and strip them from their casings.
Carbs not a concern? Sub the cauliflower rice for cooked long grain rice, wild rice, quinoa, orzo pasta or couscous.
Add vegetables: Carrots, zucchini, spinach, eggplant, leek, kale... chop and saute them with or instead of the mushrooms. Take care to fry until all liquid evaporates from watery vegetables. You don't want a soggy filling.
Swap the cheese: Gouda, Edam, Monterey Jack or mozzarella work instead of cheddar. Option to add additional parmesan cheese or Pecorino for extra flavor.
Serving Suggestion
I like to pair the peppers with a crunchy green salad, a side of green beans or my keto coleslaw. They also go well with protein biscuits.
Recipe FAQs
Simply swap the cheddar for a dairy free cheese of your choice. My son is dairy free and I often use the Violife brand. It melts very well.
Yes, you could add this marinara. I would add the tomato sauce directly into the casserole dish, around the peppers. This way, you don't make the filling soggy.
Air fryers always cook a little faster then ovens. Lower the temperature to 180C or 350F and reduce the air fry time by a few minutes.
Calculate 2 turkey stuffed pepper halves for a main meal, with a side salad. This means the recipe makes 3 full servings.
Storage And Meal Prep
Fridge: Stuffed bell peppers with ground turkey stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I don't recommend any longer than that because of the cauliflower.
Freezer: If you want to store them for longer, simply freeze them. I space them out so they don't stick together. Once they are frozen, you can put them in a large freezer bag.
As mentioned above, it is well worth scaling the recipe to make a large batch with plenty of leftovers. It means easy dinners for weeks to come!
TO REHEAT
Microwave: Warming 1 pepper in the microwave on high takes around 1 minute. Heating multiple peppers at the same time takes longer.
Oven: From chilled, heat at 190C / 375F for 10-15 minutes. From frozen, heat for 30-35 minutes. Cover with aluminium foil so the peppers don't dry out. Remove the foil for the last 5 minutes to let the top crisp up.
Air Fryer: Heat the stuffed peppers at 180C or 350F from chilled for around 8 minutes and from frozen for 25 minutes.
More Easy Dinner Recipes
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Recipe
Ground Turkey Stuffed Peppers
from Sugar Free LondonerNote: The servings slider only changes the first amount in each line and not any subsequent amounts. Please make your own calculations where necessary.
Equipment
- 10x7 inch casserole dish
Ingredients
- 3 peppers assorted colours (330g seeds and stalks removed)
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion 60g, finely chopped
- 14 oz ground turkey 400g, 7% fat
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup cauliflower rice 120g, I used frozen
- 1 cup mushrooms chopped (80g)
- 3 tablespoon tomato puree
- 1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs
- ½ teaspoon salt or more to taste
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 ¼ cup grated cheddar 120g
- 2 tablespoon fresh parsley finely chopped
Instructions
Pre-roast Peppers
- Heat the oven to 190C electric or 375F.
- Halve the peppers lengthways, then remove the seeds and core. Rub the peppers with a drizzle of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place into a casserole dish and roast in the oven for 15 minutes to soften.
Make The Filling
- In a frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over a medium heat. Add the onion and saute for 2 - 3 minutes, then add the garlic for 1 minute.
- Add the ground turkey meat and cook until no longer pink, about 4 - 5 minutes.
- Add the cauliflower rice, chopped mushrooms, tomato puree, Italian herbs, salt and pepper and cook for a further 5-6 minutes until the moisture absorbs and the meat turns golden brown. Stir through ¼ cup cheese and 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley.
Assemble And Bake
- Remove the peppers from the oven and fill them with the turkey filling. Top with the remaining shredded cheese and return to the oven for 10-15 minutes until the cheese melts and starts to turn golden.
Tami P
Katrin,
This was delicious and easy!
I made mine with ingredients I had on hand and it was perfect. The 10 minute roast was perfect. I like the crunch. As long as I can find organic peppers this will be a weekly meal.
Thank you
Karen Goyette
These are so very good will be making them again a nice change for dinner.
Sarah
They look delicious!
Carbs are a concern for me. I have recently been diagnosed type 2 diabetic, so I'm trying to drastically lower my carb content, but I can't stand cauliflower unfortunately!
Can you suggest any other alternatives, or should I maybe just load in some more veggies instead?
Thank you so much!
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Sarah, use any other low carb vegetables that you like. I imagine that with green peppers, broccoli could be a good substitution to the cauliflower.
Lorna
That looks amazing! Just the thing to get me out of my cooking rut.
I need to eat dairy free, so will try it with a simple tahini sauce (tahini, lemon juice, water) instead of the cheese. It’s worked well on other things where melted cheese is called for
Katrin Nürnberger
That sounds delicious! Do come back here and let me know how it turned out. You could also use nutritional yeast?