stuffed peppers

Stuffed peppers recipe with brown rice, ground turkey, and veggies. Bakes in under 1 hour and keeps its shape with a tender, savory filling.

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Total Time 1 1

Servings: 4 servings

Course: Lunch

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Calories: 340

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

main filling and peppers

4 unit large bell peppers
1 cup cooked brown rice
300 g ground turkey
1 unit small onion finely chopped
2 clove garlic minced
1 cup diced tomatoes canned, drained
0.5 cup carrot grated
0.5 cup zucchini grated
1 tablespoon olive oil
0.5 teaspoon dried oregano
0.5 teaspoon ground cumin
0.5 teaspoon salt
0.25 teaspoon black pepper

topping

0.5 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon parsley chopped, for serving

Method

Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). While it heats up, slice the tops off the bell peppers and scoop out the seeds and membranes. Arrange the peppers upright in a baking dish. I rub a drop of olive oil inside if my peppers look dry.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium. Add the chopped onion and cook for about 3 minutes, until it softens. Stir in the garlic and cook another minute — you’ll smell when it’s ready.
Add the ground turkey to the skillet. Break it up and cook, stirring, until it loses its raw color (about 4 minutes). Tip: I salt the meat here, not earlier. It releases less water and browns better.
Mix in the grated carrot, grated zucchini, diced tomatoes, salt, black pepper, cumin, and oregano. Cook, stirring, until most of the liquid evaporates and everything looks well mingled — about 5 more minutes.
Remove from heat. Stir in the cooked rice. Taste and adjust salt: I add half first, taste, then finish if needed.
Spoon the filling into each pepper, gently pressing it down with the back of your spoon for a snug fit. Fill up just to the rim.
Top each pepper with the shredded mozzarella. Pour about 1/2 cup water into the baking dish around the peppers to keep things moist as they bake. Cover tightly with foil.
Bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes, or until the cheese turns golden in spots and the peppers cut easily with a fork.
Let them cool 5 minutes. Scatter parsley on top before serving. Leftovers keep up to 3 days in the fridge — I reheat mine in the oven so the peppers stay structured.

Notes

I keep coming back to stuffed peppers because they hit that rare spot between feeling homey and actually getting a real meal on the table, even on weeknights.

Real-life tips from my kitchen

If you want peppers that still hold their shape but are easy to cut, pick ones that stand up on their own — it saves you heartache when everything tries to tip in the baking dish. I also scoop out a little extra flesh from the bottoms using a small spoon (like you’d hollow a zucchini), but not too much — just enough so the filling can sink a bit deeper.

Don’t skip the step of adding about 1/2 cup water to the baking dish and sealing it with foil at first. The steam helps cook the peppers through without drying out the filling. Try poking a tiny hole in the foil if you want even softer peppers.

I tested this using leftover rice from the night before — actually, day-old rice holds together better and the grains don’t turn mushy.

Substitutions and swaps

You can swap ground turkey for lean ground beef or chicken. For a vegetarian version, I swap in about 1 1/2 cups of cooked lentils. Skip the cheese or use plant-based shreds for dairy free — just know it won’t brown the same way as mozzarella.

Storage and make-ahead

Stuffed peppers keep well in the fridge 3 days. I always reheat them in the oven (instead of the microwave), uncovered, at 350°F for about 15 minutes—this keeps the peppers from collapsing into themselves. The filling also works great stuffed into halved zucchini if you’re low on peppers.