Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers are an easy, yet mouth-watering dish you can whip up right in the comfort of your own kitchen! This versatile recipe is guaranteed to tantalize taste buds and bring a smile to everyone at the table. From classic Italian flavors with cheese and tomatoes, to spicy Mexican style peppers with Tex-Mex flair — you’ll be inspired by all of the delicious possibilities that come with making stuffed peppers!

Stuffed peppers are an ideal weeknight dinner option because they can be ready in just about 30 minutes. It’s a great way to get creative with your ingredients and explore different flavor profiles. It’s basically an all in one meal and it’s absolutely brilliant! It’s both healthy and hearty and the perfect way to combine all these elements into one delicious dish. Not to mention, they’re a creative way to sneak in some extra veggies.

Stuffed peppers can be made with a variety of ingredients, making the flavor combinations endless. Depending on the ingredients you use, stuffed peppers have a rich and savory flavor that is sure to please even the pickiest eaters. The bell pepper itself adds a subtle sweetness and crunchy texture, while the seasonings and other ingredients like cheese and corn offer a sweet and creamy flavor that is sure to make your mouth water.

Why You’ll Love This

• Versatile. Stuffed peppers are versatile in that you can make them with a variety of ingredients and change up the flavor profile to whatever you are feeling that day! Italian-inspired? Mexican fiesta? Asian-inspired? Honestly, the possibilities are endless!
• Creative way to sneak in extra veggies. Using bell peppers as the vessel for the main part of the meal is a great way to sneak in those veggies without feeling like you’re eating just vegetables solely. It’s vegetable plus meat and cheese in every bite!
• All in one. The bell pepper is essentially an edible bowl that is also your vegetable for the meal. Stuff it with meats, cheeses, and other favorite ingredients and you’ve got a combination dinner that is truly all in one!

Ingredients You’ll Need

Time to stuff some peppers! This short ingredient list is all you’ll need for this flavorful all-in-one stuffed peppers recipe. Make sure to scroll down to view the full recipe for exact measurements.

• Ground turkey – I like using dark meat ground turkey. It makes it a bit more flavorful and also doesn’t cause it to be too dry.
• Onion
• Black beans
• Corn – frozen or fresh work.
• Taco seasoning
• Bell peppers – get colorful here with red, green, orange, and yellow.
• Cheese – your favorite shredded cheese.

How To Make Stuffed Peppers

Here is a general overview of the steps involved to make stuffed peppers. Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post for the full recipe.

Bake your bell peppers. Place your bell pepper halves (de-seeded and cleaned) onto a prepared baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees F. This ensures that the bell pepper fully cooks through.

Make the stuffing. While the peppers are baking, make the stuffing. In a large skillet, sauté onions together with the ground turkey and break apart the turkey into smaller pieces. Add the black beans, corn, and sprinkle on the taco seasoning. Stir to incorporate and cook until turkey is cooked all the way through and no more pink is visible.

Fill your bell peppers. Once the bell peppers are done, carefully place the bell peppers into a casserole dish and fill each bell pepper with stuffing (it’s okay if it overflows) then top with lots of cheese.

Broil the stuffed peppers. Place the bell peppers under a broiler for 2-3 minutes to melt the cheese and warm everything through.

Substitutions and Variations

• Make it vegetarian. Omit the meat in this and add in extra vegetables if you want to make this all vegetarian! Some great vegetables to add in would be chopped broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, or even spinach.
• Add some grains. Adding some quinoa or white rice to the mixture would be a phenomenal way to get in some extra carbs and bulk this meal up a bit.
• Add more protein. If you want this to be extra meaty, you could do a mixture of meats such as ground chicken and ground turkey or ground turkey and ground beef. Alternatively, you could also do a meatloaf mixture in this too for all kinds of meaty goodness!
• Try different flavor profiles like Asian, Italian, or Mexican. This recipe is super customizable so definitely play around with flavors. If you go for an Asian route, try using the filling from my lettuce cups recipe for the stuffed peppers. Or, if you’re going for Italian, use Italian seasoning and mozzarella cheese. If you’re going for Mexican, this base recipe is already a great start but feel free to add some more, like perhaps a tablespoon or so of enchilada sauce.

Tips for Success

Use these tips and tricks and you’ll be sure to have the best stuffed pepper recipe around!

• Don’t underbake your bell peppers. Many people don’t like eating bell peppers raw. There’s a pungent bite to them so make sure you bake the bell peppers through in the first step to ensure they’re tender and softened.
• Search for larger bell peppers at the grocery store. It’s easier to fill the cavities of the bell peppers when they’re larger in size so dig around the bin and try to find larger bell peppers.
• Pack it in. It’s okay to pack it in and use the back of a spoon to smoosh it down a bit. It makes for a more filling meal!

Storage and Reheating Instructions

If you happen to have leftovers or have made these for meal prep, let the stuffed peppers cool then transfer to an airtight container with a lid and put in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

To reheat, tent in foil and reheat in a toaster oven or oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or microwave on a plate until warmed through.

What to Serve with Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers can certainly be a meal by itself but if you prefer to serve it as an accompaniment to a larger meal, may I suggest the following:

• One Pot Garlic Parmesan Pasta
• One Pot Taco Spaghetti
• Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup
• One-Pot Tex-Mex Orzo
• Mexican Street Corn Kale Salad

Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers with a little Mexican twist!

4.50 from 2 votes

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Author: Julie Chiou

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Ingredients 

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For the stuffing:

• ▢ ½ pound (227 g) ground turkey
• ▢ ½ large onion, diced
• ▢ 1 cup (172 g) black beans, rinsed and drained
• ▢ 1 cup (165 g) frozen corn
• ▢ 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
• ▢ 3 large bell peppers, halved, de-seeded
• ▢ 1 cup (112 g) of shredded cheese, I used Monterrey jack

Equipment

• Large rimmed baking sheet
• Baking dish

Instructions 

• On a large baking sheet, place your pepper halves on them, upright and drizzle olive oil all over them and bake them in the oven at 375 °F (191 °C) for 15-20 minutes or until peppers are blistering and getting slightly translucent around the edges. Set aside.
• In the meantime, in a large skillet, saute your onions in a tbsp or two of olive oil until soft. Then add in the ground turkey. Cook the turkey and onions all the way through and then add the taco seasoning. Stir to combine then add in the beans and corn.
• Cook for about 5 minutes longer then remove from heat.
• Take the (cooled) halves of peppers and place them in a small casserole dish then using a spoon, scoop the filling inside the peppers. Overstuffing is a good thing :)
• Sprinkle a good amount of cheese on top of the filling, enough to cover it all, then place under the broiler on high until cheese is melted and bubbly.
• Serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

You can add quinoa and/or any other ingredient you feel like using in the mixture!

NUTRITION FACTS

Serving: 1 Serving | Calories: 440 kcal | Carbohydrates: 51 g | Protein: 31 g | Fat: 15 g | Fiber: 11 g | Sugar: 8 g

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition information can vary for a variety of reasons. For the most precise nutritional data use your preferred nutrition calculator based on the actual ingredients you used in the recipe.

The default measuring system for this website is US Customary. Unit conversions are provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. While we strive to provide accurate unit conversions, please be aware that there may be some discrepancies.

Photography by Eat Love Eat