I make these Ground Turkey Stuffed Peppers all the time because they’re so flavorful and everyone in my family eats them up, even the picky ones! They’re filled with Mediterranean ingredients like wild rice, cherry tomatoes, olives, pine nuts, and a mix of great spices.
After too much heavy holiday eating, I like turning to these stuffed peppers. They’re light, nutritious, and really balance out the rich meals from the festivities.
Stuffed veggies always make a fun meal. My Caprese Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms, Zucchini Boats and Philly Cheese Steak Stuffed Peppers regularly find their way onto my menu.
This time, I am going with a Mediterranean theme, and making them even healthier by swapping the beef for ground turkey.
Ingredients Needed
- Bell peppers – Multi colored for a prettier platter.
- Ground turkey – I use regular ground turkey, rather than ground turkey breast, which can be too dry.
- Rice – I use a wild rice blend, but in its absence, brown rice is a good alternative.
- Herbs and spices – Garlic, oregano, thyme, paprika, salt and pepper.
- Flavor enhancers – Cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, pine nuts.
- Garnishes – Fresh parsley and feta cheese.
Ground Turkey Stuffed Peppers Recipe
1. Prepare the peppers: I place the pepper halves, cut side up, on a lightly greased baking sheet. Then, I brush them with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
I bake them for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.
2. Prepare the turkey mixture: I cook the ground turkey until it’s no longer pink. Then, I add garlic and seasonings and let it cook for another 5 minutes. Next, I toss in the tomatoes and olives and cook everything for a few more minutes.
After that, I stir in the rice and pine nuts. I give it a taste and adjust the seasoning to make sure everything is just right.
3. Bake: I divide the turkey mixture evenly among the six pepper halves. Then, I bake the stuffed peppers for about 10-15 minutes, until they are as soft as I like them.
4. Serve: I garnish the baked peppers with crumbled feta cheese and chopped fresh parsley, then serve them immediately.
Variations
- Some days I swap out the rice for pearled couscous to make this recipe quicker, or use quinoa for a different texture.
- For a Tex-Mex twist, I replace the olives, pine nuts, and feta with corn, black beans, and cheddar, and use Taco Seasoning instead of the original spices.
- To give them an Asian flair, I swap out the tomatoes, olives, and pine nuts for carrots, zucchini, and sesame seeds, and I skip the feta. I take inspiration from my Ground Turkey Stir Fry for the seasonings.
- For a New Orleans flavor, I season with Creole Seasoning, and use green pepper, onion, and celery instead of pine nuts and olives.
- If I want to keep it low carb, I replace the rice with cauliflower rice.
Have any other ideas? I’d love to hear from you!
Give my Ground Turkey Stuffed Peppers a try, I am sure you’re going to love them as much as we do. Experiment. Try different flavor combinations. Make them your own!
Ground Turkey Stuffed Peppers, on our Gypsy Plate… enjoy!
Try these other healthy ground poultry recipes!
Ground Turkey Chili
Thai Basil Chicken
Meatball Minestrone Soup
Ground Turkey Pasta
Chicken Chapli Kebabs
Ground Turkey Tacos
Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Ground Turkey Stuffed Peppers
My Ground Turkey Stuffed Peppers are a light and healthy dinner full of great Mediterranean inspired flavors.
Ingredients
- 3 bell peppers, halved with seeds removed
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp paprika
- salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- ½ cup kalamata olives, sliced
- 1 cup wild rice blend, cooked
- 2 Tbsp pine nuts
- fresh parsley, for garnish
- feta cheese, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut bell peppers in half, brush with olive oil, season generously with salt and pepper, and bake for 10 minutes.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add ground turkey and cook till it is no longer pink.
- Stir in garlic, oregano, thyme, paprika, salt and peppers. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Add cherry tomatoes and kalamata olives. Cook an additional 5 minutes.
- Stir in cooked wild rice blend, along with pine nuts.
- Divide the turkey mixture among the pepper halves.
- Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, or until the peppers have softened to your liking.
- Garnish with feta cheese and parsley. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Leftovers: These stuffed peppers are great for meal prep. You can prep and assemble them a day in advance and store in the refrigerator, wrapped in cling wrap. Bring them to room temperature before the final bake.
- The baked bell peppers can be stored for 3-4 days in the fridge. Reheat them in the microwave when ready to eat.
Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 353Total Fat 24gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 16gCholesterol 84mgSodium 278mgCarbohydrates 15gFiber 2gSugar 3gProtein 22g
Nutrition information calculated by Nutritionix.
Welcome to GypsyPlate! I'm Alpana, former wordwide tour manager and professional caterer, now full time blogger. I love exploring cuisines from around the world, and my recipes have been featured on sites such as MSN, Parade, Brit + Co, CNET and AOL. You can explore my entire collection of sortable recipes in my Recipe Index or learn more about me here.
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