My friend gave me this red quinoa and ground turkey stuffed bell peppers recipe about four months ago, and I have probably prepared it 15 times since then. It is super easy to throw together and healthy to boot! The best part is babies can eat it too!
It is packed with complete proteins (hello quinoa!), veggies, and flavour. My husband loves it just the same!
Red Quinoa and Ground Turkey Stuffed Bell Peppers
Print RecipeIngredients
- 1 cup of dry red organic quinoa, rinsed and drained
- 6 red (or orange) organic bell peppers
- 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 10-ounce package of sliced cremini mushrooms
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 pound of 99% lean ground turkey meat
- 1 14-ounce can of organic diced tomatoes (no salt added), drained of juices
- 2-3 tablespoons of Italian tomato paste
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of cumin, divided
- 2 teaspoons of salt, divided
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of pepper, divided
- 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
- Shredded pepper jack cheese, optional
- Chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley (for garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Prepare 1 cup of dried red quinoa per package directions (always rinse and drain your quinoa before adding to the pot to avoid bitterness). Set aside when finished.
- Remove the stems from the bell peppers and run your knife along the inside of the peppers to remove the ribs (keep the bell peppers whole so that you can stuff them later). Put the bell peppers in two loaf pans (3 in each) or all 6 into an 8×8 glass dish. Stand them up, so the tops are readily available for stuffing. Set aside.
- Season the ground turkey; sprinkle 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp cumin, and 1/2 tsp pepper all over the ground turkey. Set aside.
- In a sauté pan, add olive oil over medium heat. Add the diced onion, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and the oregano and sauté for another 5 minutes until mushrooms reduce in size slightly.
- Add the minced garlic, sauté for 1 minute, and then add the ground turkey. Break up the ground turkey as much as possible with a wooden spoon and cook until the turkey is done.
- Turn heat to low, squeeze in 2 to 3 tablespoons of the tomato paste, and stir. Add the diced tomatoes and stir to combine. Turn off heat and add the cooked quinoa into the pan, and once again, stir everything to mix well. Taste and adjust seasonings (I added about 3/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Make sure your salt level is on point. You can also add some heat here, hot sauce or chilli flakes if you like).
- Stuff each bell pepper as much as possible, using the back of a spoon to press the filling down. Once each pepper is stuffed, place it into the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the peppers are easily cut with a knife.
- Once the 30 minutes are up, sprinkle a generous amount of cheese onto each pepper and put it under the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese is nice and melted. Sprinkle each pepper with fresh Italian parsley and serve immediately! Enjoy!
