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Bell peppers are versatile and can be stuffed with just about anything. Vary your filling ingredients and spices and you can adapt them to almost any cuisine.
In this recipe, bell peppers were stuffed with a mixture of ground turkey, chopped onion and red bell pepper, corn, cheese and southwest spices, topped with cheese and baked. Normally I use some combination of red, yellow or orange bell peppers.
Southwest stuffed peppers can be served for lunch. Add some sides and you have a satisfying dinner.This recipe is easy to make your own. You can add black beans, chopped tomato, riced cauliflower or white rice.
Please see the recipe card below for exact amounts and directions.
Ingredient Round Up
- Whole bell peppers
- Ground turkey
- Onion
- Bell pepper
- Corn
- Fat free shredded cheddar cheese
- Velveeta shreds
- Chili powder
- Ground cumin
- Ground coriander
- Sweet paprika
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Olive oil
Making the Stuffed Peppers
- Rinse and dry the peppers. Slice them lengthwise, remove the core, seeds and membranes. Place them on a foil line baking tray and briefly bake to soften them up. When the peppers are done, remove from the oven and set them aside.
- While the peppers are baking, place the ground turkey into a skillet, add a bit of water and cook. Use a meat chopper tool if you have one to help crumble the meat. Drain the meat when it is done, transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- Chop the red bell pepper and onion while the ground turkey is cooking. Sauté until tender. Add the southwest spices and briefly sauté until they are aromatic.
- Add the cooked ground turkey back to the skillet, add water, mix and cook down until most of the water is evaporated. Transfer have the turkey mixture to a mixing bowl. Freeze the other half for later use.
- Add corn and cheese to the turkey mixture and toss together.
- Stuff the bell peppers with the meat mixture, top with cheese and return to the oven to heat them through and melt the cheese.
- Remove the stuffed peppers from the oven when done. Serve and enjoy. Refrigerate any leftovers.
Serving Ideas
- Southwest stuffed peppers can be served for lunch with some fruit or for dinner with a side dish.
- For game day or a Cinco de Mayo party, you can stuff mini peppers for two bite appetizers.
- These stuffed peppers pair well with a corn and black bean salad, southwest riced cauliflower, salad with avocado, onions, tomato with salsa ranch dressing, chips and salsa – the possibilities are endless.
WW 2 pt per stuffed pepper, makes 4
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 188kcal
Equipment
- skillet
- baking tray
- mixing bowl
- measuring cups and spoons
- Cutting board
- Chef knife
Ingredients
- 2 medium to large whole bell peppers
- 20 oz 93% lean ground turkey, Shady Brook Farms
- ¾ c frozen corn, thawed
- ½ c chopped onion
- ½ c chopped bell pepper
- 2½ tsp chili pepper
- 1½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp coriander
- ¼ tsp sweet paprika
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- salt to taste
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 8 tbsp fat free shredded cheddar, divided into 2 portions
- 2½ tbsp Velveeta shreds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400℉.
Prep the Bell Peppers
- Rinse and dry the bell peppers. Cut the bell peppers in half lengthwise. Remove the stems, core, seeds and membranes.
- Place the pepper halves, cavity face up, on a foil lined baking pan. Bake for 20 min to soften the peppers.
- When the peppers are done remove them from the oven. Use a clean paper towel to remove any liquid that accumulated in the pepper cavities. Set the peppers aside.
Prepare the Filling
- While the peppers are baking, place the ground turkey into a skillet. Break up the ground turkey with a wooden spoon or meat chopper if you have one. Add ½ c water to the skillet and cook the ground turkey until it is done. As it is cooking, continue to use the meat chopper or wooden spoon to break it up into crumbles.
- When the ground turkey is done, drain it and place it in a mixing bowl. Set it aside for the time being.
- Add the olive oil to the skillet and start to heat it. Sauté the chopped onion and bell pepper until they are tender.
- Add the cumin, chili power, coriander and paprika to the sautéed onion and bell pepper and continue to sauté for an additional 1 min or until the spices are aromatic.
- Add the cooked ground turkey back to the skillet with the veggies and spices. Add 2/3 c water to the skillet. Stir the skillet contents until the spices and veggies are evenly distributed throughout the ground turkey. Simmer the skillet contents until most of the water is evaporated. Add salt and pepper to taste and mix it in.
- Add 9 oz of the turkey mixture to a mixing bowl. Transfer the rest of the turkey mixture to a freezer container and freeze for later use. (See note at the bottom.)
- Add the thawed corn and 4 tbsp of the shredded fat free cheddar to the turkey mixture. Toss to evenly distribute the corn and cheese throughout the turkey mixture.
- Stuff the bell pepper halves with the turkey mixture.
- On a plate, toss the Velveeta shreds with the remaining 4 tbsp of the fat free shredded cheddar. Top the stuffed peppers with the shredded cheese mixture.
- Place the peppers in the oven and bake an additional 10 min. to heat them through and melt the cheese.
Notes
We're empty nesters. 4 stuffed pepper halves are enough for us. If you are making this dish for more people, scale up the corn and cheese amounts.
The entire 20 oz turkey mixture plus the corn is enough to fill 10 bell pepper halves.
The left over turkey mixture can be used to make more stuffed peppers at a later date. It can also be used to make burritos or tacos or used in a casserole.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 188kcal | Carbohydrates: 12.4g | Protein: 19.2g | Fat: 7.7g | Saturated Fat: 2.1g | Sodium: 457mg | Fiber: 2.1g | Sugar: 4.2g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
