When I think of the easy stuffed peppers of my childhood, I picture green bell peppers filled with a ground beef and rice mixture, then covered with tomato soup. As I have become something slightly resembling a grown-up, I’ve become less interested in ground beef and more interested in ground turkey. And I’ve never been a big fan of tomato sauce on anything.
So, with those parameters in mind, I set out to make an easy stuffed peppers recipe that was healthy but packed with flavor. Here’s my secret ingredient:
Garlic couscous adds a lot of flavor and some different texture to the mix of meat.
I like to pre-roast the peppers since all of the meat we’re putting in them will already be cooked through. So, cut off the tops and toss them in a 400 degree oven while you get to go on the rest of this.
Next, you’ll want to get your couscous going. This box is pretty simple — you mix water, olive oil and the seasoning packet and wait for it to boil.
Once the water and oil are at a boil, all you do is add the couscous, put a lid on the pan and let it sit off the heat for 5 minutes. It’s so easy!
So, while your couscous water gets to a happy point, dice up a couple of shallots along with the tops of the bell peppers. (I’m not huge on extra bell pepper — use as much as you prefer.) If shallots are hard to find by you or you simply dislike them, just use onion. I happen to be obsessed with shallots, so I use them a lot. Saute them in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, like so:
Then you’ll add the ground turkey and cook until there’s no pink. Add the chicken broth and half a can of diced tomatoes and simmer for a few minutes before adding your delicious garlicky couscous.
Important tip: Be sure you taste the filling before in your easy stuffed peppers! You want to adjust salt and pepper levels while it’s easy to access the filling.
Once your filling is properly seasoned, stuff those easy stuffed peppers! Then add cheese on top. I just use whatever I have on hand, so this time it was a shredded mix called “casserole blend.”
OK, I may have gone overboard with the cheese to this easy stuffed peppers. But it’s cheese. Can you blame me?
You already baked the peppers and cooked the filling through, so we’re putting these bad boys in the oven mostly to melt and slightly brown the cheese. It should only take 5-10 minutes. It took longer for me because I’m heavy-handed with cheese.
Easy Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
4 medium red pepper (red capsicum)
½ pound ground turkey (minced turkey)- 1 cup garlic couscous
2 medium green onions (scallions or green shallots)
½ can tomato - about 7 ounces
½ cup chicken stock (chicken broth or chicken bouillon) - low sodium
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pack cheddar cheese - adjust the quantity to your preference
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Chop the top of the bell peppers off and remove the seeds/pith. Reserve the tops and put the peppers on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.
- Prepare couscous according to package directions.
- Dice shallots and the tops of the peppers and saute them in olive oil at medium to medium-high heat.
- Add ground turkey and brown until no pink is present.
- Add chicken broth and scrape to get up any pieces stuck to the pan.
- Add canned tomato and allow the mixture to simmer for 3-5 minutes. If the mixture gets too dry, add chicken broth.
- Stir in couscous, then taste and adjust seasoning.
- Stuff the peppers with the mixture and top with cheese. Then bake for 5-10 minutes at 400 degrees until the cheese is melted and begins to brown.
