Ground Turkey Stuffed Peppers

5 from 1 vote

These ground turkey stuffed peppers are filled with lean turkey, quinoa, tomatoes, warm spices, and tangy feta cheese. Make the filling ahead for an easy, satisfying weeknight dinner.

Prep Time30

Cook Time50

Total Time1 20

Course: Entree, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 370kcal

Author: Sally Cameron

Equipment

Casserole dish for baking

Ingredients

⅓ cup uncooked quinoa
4 large bell peppers: red, orange, green or yellow
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 large garlic cloves finely chopped
1 pound ground turkey 93% lean, beef, bison, or crumbled tofu.
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon jarred ginger puree or ground ginger ½ teaspoon, optional
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes not drained
⅓ cup finely chopped parsley
4 ounces crumbled Greek feta cheese or goat cheese

Instructions

Cook the quinoa

Rinse the quinoa well under cold running water in a fine-mesh strainer. Add to a small saucepan with twice its volume of water. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 15 minutes, then remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 5–10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let cool while preparing the peppers and filling.

Prepare the peppers for stuffing

If the peppers are round and fat, cut off the top and stuff peppers standing. If the shape is more long and narrow, do not cut off the top. Cut the pepper in half lengthwise from stem to bottom.
With a sharp paring knife and your fingers, trim out the ribs and seeds until the pepper is clean inside. If they do not sit flat, trim a tiny bit off the bottom so they are stable. Be careful not to cut through the pepper.

Cook pepper stuffing

Heat oil in a medium sauté pan or skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until it is soft and translucent. Turn heat down to medium low if it starts to brown. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute, stirring. Add the turkey, cumin, ginger, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring with a wooden spatula breaking up the turkey, until the pink is just gone. Stir in the tomatoes with their juice, parsley, feta, and cooked quinoa.

Stuff peppers and bake

Fill peppers mounding a little on top. Place peppers in a shallow casserole or baking dish, cover with foil and bake in a 375°F oven until hot all of the way through, or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F, about 45-50 minutes. Serve right away or cool completely, cover the peppers and refrigerate.

To serve

To serve the next day, heat, covered, in a 350°F oven until hot throughout. How long depends on how cold they are coming out of the refrigerator.

Notes

For 2 servings: make the entire recipe for the stuffing. Use what you need and freeze the extra for future stuffed peppers. That’s a good time saving step.

Nutrition