Turkey Spinach Stuffed Bell Peppers
You’ll love this easy-to-make meal of healthy turkey with spinach, brown rice, and salsa. Serve with a side of fresh avocado and Greek yogurt for a delicious meal. The Turkey Spinach Stuffed Bell Peppers can be made mild or hot, depending on your preference, and it heats up nicely the next day for leftovers.
We all need to eat healthy, but it shouldn’t taste like warmed up cardboard. The turkey in the Turkey Spinach Stuffed Bell Peppers is moist from the salsa and flavorful from the peppers spices.
I prefer using green bell peppers because they have a stronger flavor than the sweeter red, orange, yellow, or purple bell peppers.
But you don’t have to stop at just one color; mixing the colors of bell peppers makes for a beautiful presentation and it’s just plain fun. I’ve heard they even make a chocolate bell pepper.
Hmm. I’m not sure how that would go with turkey.
For other turkey recipes, check these out:
Bake the Bell Peppers
Start by preparing your baking dishes. I am not a fan of dirty dishes, so I tend to line my dishes with foil whenever possible. After dinner it’s so nice balling up the foil and throwing it away instead of scrubbing a dish.
Depending on the size of your peppers, you may need to use 2 dishes…I always do.
Cut your peppers in half lengthwise and clean out the seeds and membrane.
Very lightly spray them with olive oil cooking spray and bake in the oven.
Make the Filling
The kitchen is going to smell so good when you start cooking the onions and garlic with chili powder and cumin.
I use a 5 quart Dutch oven for this, because I don’t like having to stir carefully. With the tall sides I can mix freely without things jumping out.
After the onions get soft, add the turkey. Break the turkey up as it browns, then add the salsa, and half the spinach.
Let the spinach wilt before you add the second half or your pot may overflow. Again why I like the Dutch oven.
After removing from the heat, stir in the cooked brown rice.
Baking the Turkey Spinach Stuffed Bell Peppers
Once you have filled the pre-baked peppers and covered them with foil, you have two choices; either 1) put into the refrigerator for baking later, or 2) bake now.
If you bake them after they have been in the refrigerator, you will need to bake longer — 30 minutes instead of 20.
Before they are ready to come out of the oven, however, first you need to remove the foil, sprinkle with some cheese, and pop back into the oven for another 5-7 minutes to let the cheese melt.
While the peppers are baking, I prepare the Greek yogurt by adding some minced onion and lemon juice. It gives it more flavor and a touch of pizzazz.
Time to eat! Serve these peppers up with some sliced avocado and the prepared Greek yogurt to complete the meal.
I hope you love these as much as I do. I especially love that it makes enough to share, plus leftovers.
Yay! I won’t have to cook tomorrow night.
Turkey Spinach Stuffed Bell Peppers
Ingredients
- 8 bell peppers, any color or mixed
- olive oil cooking spray
- 1 medium onion, chopped and divided
- 1 tsp. garlic, minced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- 1 Tbsp. cumin
- 16-20 oz. lean ground turkey
- 16 oz. chunky salsa
- 5 oz. bag baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 cup cooked brown rice
- 1 cup shredded cheese, (like jack/cheddar)
- 2 large avocados, sliced
- 1 cup fat-free Greek yogurt, plain
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Cut peppers in half lengthwise and clean out. Place in foil-lined large glass dish and lightly spray with olive oil. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat some oil in Dutch oven over med-high heat. Add onion (save 1 tsp. minced onion for Greek yogurt), garlic, salt, pepper, chili powder, and cumin until onion gets soft (about 3-5 minutes).
- Add turkey to onions breaking it up as it browns (about 5 minutes). Add salsa and half of spinach. Let spinach wilt and add second half.
- Remove from heat and stir in cooked rice.
- Carefully fill peppers, cover with foil, and bake 20-25 minutes.
- Prepare Greek yogurt by adding reserved minced onion and lemon juice.
- Remove foil, sprinkle with cheese, and bake another 5-7 minutes uncovered.
- Serve with avocado slices and a dollop of Greek yogurt.
Notes
Nutrition
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I made this dish without the rice and had a cauliflower rice as a side dish but thought it would be OK to incorporate mean future. I added first cilantro into the bottom of the pepper and just before the cheese.
Good recipe.
Thanks, Mike. I love the idea of the cauliflower rice, great idea.