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Turkey Taco Stuffed Peppers – Tender bell peppers are stuffed with seasoned ground turkey taco meat, black beans, and cheese for a delicious and easy weeknight dinner the whole family will love.
I love replacing regular ground beef with ground turkey in my recipes to make them a little lighter and healthier, like my Turkey Taco Stuffed Shells, Turkey Taco Burrito Bowls, and Turkey Taco Soup. Ground turkey is leaner and lighter than beef, saving you on calories. It’s delicious and I actually prefer it to beef or sausage in spaghetti sauce and tacos. If you want to try a kicked up version, try these Chicken and Rice Stuffed Peppers!
How To Make Ground Turkey Taco Stuffed Peppers
Stuffed Peppers always seems like such a complicated dish to make, but I promise you it is so easy. You just need a few ingredients and in under an hour you will have delicious and healthy Turkey Taco Stuffed Peppers!
- Start by cooking a pound of ground turkey with some onion and garlic. This will add flavor to the meat itself. If your turkey releasing a lot of liquid during cooking, you may want to drain it before adding anything else.
- Next, add some of your favorite salsa, but I do recommend that it be a more blended salsa, and not chunky so that it can help to form the sauce a little better. Chunky salsas tend to be more thin and watery. Stir in some taco seasoning and water and let that pot simmer for about 10-15 minutes. The mixture will reduce and thicken a bit, so when time is up you can add some cheese to complete the sauce, then stir in some cooked white rice, black beans, and corn.
- While the filling is cooking, prepare the bell peppers. Slice the pepper in half lengthwise then remove and discard seeds and membranes. Rinse the peppers and arrange them in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.
- Stuff the peppers with the meat mixture. Depending on how full you pack the peppers, you may end up with 6-8 stuffed peppers. Top each pepper with a spoonful of salsa and a sprinkling of cheese. Pour some water or chicken broth around the peppers in the dish and cover with nonstick foil. Bake until peppers are soft and the filling is hot and bubbly.
This recipe does make a lot of the taco meat, and you will have enough to fill at least 6 peppers, maybe more, depending on how full you fill them. If you have any taco meat leftover, you can follow the directions below to freeze it.
How to Precook Peppers for Stuffed Peppers
Precooking the peppers is not a necessary step for this recipe, but it can save you some time by softening the peppers. To precook, slice the tops off of the peppers and clean them. Place them in a large pot, then fill with water, making sure the peppers are filled so they don’t float. Bring to a rolling boil for 2-3 minutes, then transfer the peppers to an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Proceed with stuffing the peppers with the filling.
Top Tips for this Recipe
- What Color Peppers are Best for Stuffed Peppers? This is really a personal preference. Green peppers tend to have a heavier flavor, while red, yellow, and orange peppers are on the sweeter side. Any of them will be delicious, but I tend to lean towards the sweet reds and yellows.
- Can You Freeze Stuffed Peppers? Absolutely! These stuffed peppers actually freeze quite beautifully for up to 6 months. Allow baked peppers to cool, then place in a ziploc freezer bag or airtight container. To eat, thaw overnight in the fridge, then bake at 350 degrees until heated through (10-15 minutes).
What to Serve with Stuffed Peppers?
These Turkey Taco Stuffed Peppers can be a meal in themselves, but we love to serve them with:
Keep this recipe on hand for a quick and easy dinner that’s fun to eat, too. It’s ready in under an hour and can be prepped ahead of time, making it a perfect meal for your busy life.
More ground turkey recipes you’ll love:
Turkey Taco Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 cups salsa not chunky, divided
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 cup shredded Pepper Jack cheese divided
- 1 cup cup shredded cheddar cheese divided
- 6 bell peppers any color
- 1 cup cooked rice
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels
- 1 cup chicken broth or water
- thinly green onions or minced parsley for garnish
- sour cream for serving
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook onions until soft; 3-4 minutes. Add ground turkey and garlic and cook until meat is no longer pink; about 5 minutes. Drain any liquid and return meat mixture to the pan.
- Stir in 1 cup of salsa, taco seasoning and water. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until sauce is thickened and reduced. Stir in rice, black beans and corn. Stir in half of the cheeses until melted.
- Meanwhile, prepare the bell peppers. Slice the pepper in half lengthwise, or cut off the tops of the peppers, depending on whether you want them to lay flat or stand up. Remove and discard seeds and membranes; rinse peppers. Arrange in a baking dish and season with salt and pepper. (Note - the size of the baking dish will depend on how you plan to cut the peppers. I recommend slicing them, then fitting them into the pan you think would be the best fit.)
- Stuff peppers with the meat mixture. Top each pepper with a spoonful of salsa and remaining cheese.
- Carefully pour 1 cup of chicken broth or water around the peppers.
- Cover with nonstick foil and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly and peppers are tender.
- Garnish with fresh minced parsley or sliced green onions and serve immediately with a dollop of sour cream if desired.
Notes
- Prep these peppers ahead of time, store in the fridge and bake when ready!
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer Kristin Maxwell of "Yellow Bliss Road" is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. For accurate calorie counts and other nutritional values, we recommend running the ingredients through your preferred online nutritional calculator. Calories and other nutritional values can vary depending on which brands were used.
Made this and it was amazing!!! Thank you for sharing it! Everything was on point. I did have to cook it to soften the pepper a little longer and may try your pre-softening tip next time!!! Seriously loved it!!
You are so welcome Madison! Awesome feedback, thanks for stopping by.
We love this recipe! After the first couple times we tried it and loved it, we ended up not having a couple ingredients on hand, so we used a black bean and corn salsa instead. Now that’s all we do. Brown the turkey meat with (homemade) taco seasoning, cook the rice in chicken broth, mix both with a small jar of salsa and put that into the peppers, topped with cheese. One of the easiest and most delicious recipes we do in our home. If we’re feeling extra healthy, we use cauliflower rice instead and drain the liquid as much as possible, then cook it down further to release the moisture once all ingredients are mixed otherwise it just gets soupy.
Wow! Awesome feedback Switz! Thanks for stopping by.
We loved this! Omitted the rice and made rice on the side! So good, thank you! It’s being added to our regular dinners!
You are so welcome Emma! Thanks for stopping by.
Awesome!
Incredible! Whole family loved this recipe. Thank You for posting!
You are so welcome Pat! Thank you for stopping by.
Made these lastnight for dinner and they were absolutely delicious!!!! My family loved them! Will definitely be making them again. Thank you!
You are so welcome Marcella! Thanks for stopping by.
We are out of school for two weeks due top the Coronavirus so eating a little lighter will help us stay healthy and still enjoy great flavor. The recipe was so easy to prepare and I substituted yellow rice for a bit more flavor.
That’s awesome Debbie! Great idea on being proactive. Thanks for stopping by.
Delicious!! Turned out perfectly. I did add cheese as I am cutting out dairy but still tasted delicious. I added a bit extra sauce. I also used a spicy tomatoe sauce instead of salsa.
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Amy.
Tasty recipe! Great twist on stuffed peppers! Fun for the kids.
Thanks Darian! Thanks for dropping by.
Loved this!! Even my 8 and 10 year old kids loved it. They gave it a 10/10 and told me I needed to go on a “chef show.” Lolol
Nice 10/10! Thanks for stopping by Jennifer.
What temp do I bake the peppers? Making tomorrow 🙂
They are baked at 350 degrees (Item 1 in the printable instructions :))
Is there calorie info on this recipe? Incredibly delicious by the way!! Will make again.
We are working on adding the nutritional information to each of our recipes. However in the meantime you can use a site like my fitness pal online.
Can you prep and freeze these? If so, do you follow same steps?
I haven’t tried prepping only and then freezing. I think it would be fine though; just be sure to thaw in the fridge before baking.
Awesome recipe!! I just found out I’m a diabetic about a month ago and finding something tasty and healthy to eat without sabotaging my sugar levels is nice. Keep the great recipes coming. I used whole grain brown rice instead of white and it was great. My wife even liked it.
So glad you enjoyed the recipes. Cheers to your health!
Hello I want to make 10 peppers so how more of all the ingredients would I need?
Thank you so much
Hi Maria, The recipe calls for 6 peppers; The easiest route would be to double the recipe and make 12. They freeze really well!
If I precook the peppers first to reduce the cook time… how long should I bake it all in the oven? Still 45 minutes?
You can probably cut 15 minutes off of the cooking time. I’m not sure how much you’re planning on pre-cooking them, but you don’t want them soft. They still need to be sturdy enough to hold up to the filling.
This recipe is amazing! Easy and delicious. I cut everything in half and still had enough filling for four peppers.
Thank you Rebecca for sharing your positive feedback!
Do you have the calorie count/nutritional info?
Not yet for this recipe, but myfitnesspal.com is a great resource.
Made them & they are amazing! My father used to make these & out of a family of 6, him & I were the only ones who loved stuffed peppers! Great memories & great recipe! Thank you for sharing!
I love when food can evoke memories like that. Thanks for sharing Lori!
Fantastic recipe. Easy and delicious. Lots of leftover
That’s great! Glad you enjoyed it!
This was delish! I made it for 5 people (5 peppers) and had just the right amount for a “taco bowl” for lunch the next day (I left out the rice though as I’m cutting back on carbs). I looked for peppers that stood up on their bottoms and cut around the stems. Most of the seeds stay attached and come out with the stem. I knew it was a winner because my 8 & 11 year old’s plates were scraped clean! I will definitely make again, thanks!
That is so awesome SunniJ! Thanks for stopping by!
What temperature the oven? Recipe does not mention. taco turkey stuffed peppers!
Actually it’s the first step in the instructions – Heat the oven to 350 degrees. 🙂
This is a solid recipe. The only issue I had with it was how to cut the bell peppers. Cut them in half lengthwise is kind of awkward, especially to eat, because then half of the bell peppers have the stem in the bottom. Also, there was much more filling here and could have accommodated more than three bell peppers. If I make this again, I will buy twice as many bell peppers and just cut off the tops.
Thanks Alex and thank you for sharing your experience.
I agree. I have so much stuffing left over. Maybe update the recipe to 6 bell peppers instead that way there’s an option to make half the recipe or the full amount.