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italian stuffed peppers

Italian Stuffed Peppers

Italian Stuffed Peppers filled with lean ground turkey, Italian Poultry sausage, brown rice, and flavored with everything you love about Italian cooking! They can be prepped ahead of time for easy meals during the week, or you can make a batch to have stocked in the freezer for tasty, healthy dinners. 
5 from 3 votes
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Course: dinner, dinner recipe
Cuisine: American, Italian
Keyword: italian stuffed peppers
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 392kcal

Equipment

  • Large skillet
  • Mixing Bowls
  • 9 x 13 ceramic baking dish

Ingredients

  • 6 bell peppers
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
  • 4 Italian poultry sausage links about .75lbs, casings removed
  • 1 lb ground turkey
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups sauce divided
  • 1/3 cup grated romano cheese
  • 1.5 cup mozzarella cheese
  • 1.5 cups cooked brown rice

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • Remove and discard the tops, seeds, and membrane of the bell peppers and set aside.
  • In a large skillet heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat and cook the sausage. Break up into small pieces as it cooks. Remove from pan and place into a large bowl.
  • In the same skillet heat the last tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat and cook the ground turkey. Again, break up the turkey as it cooks. After about 5 minutes stir in the Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Continue cooking until the turkey is no longer pink.
  • Place the cooked turkey in the bowl with the cooked sausage. Stir in the 1/2 cup of the sauce, rice, grated romano and 3/4 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Mix until all the ingredients are combined.
  • Add the rest of the sauce to the bottom of a 9 x 13 ceramic baking dish.
  • Stuff each of the peppers with the rice and meat mixture and place them into the baking dish. Add any leftover mixture to the pan. Sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella cheese on top of the stuffed peppers.
  • Cover with foil and bake for 50 minutes or until the peppers are tender.
  • Serve hot.

Video

Notes

Meal Prep Tips
Assemble the stuffed peppers, cover them with foil, and place it into the refrigerator. When you're ready to cook, continue with the recipe. Keep in mind that you might need to add 10 minutes to the recipe since they will be cold when they go into the oven. The stuffed peppers can stay in the refrigerator for 2-3 days!
Cook the rice and meats ahead of time. Store in the refrigerator, and then assemble the rest of the peppers when you're ready to eat. You can also freeze the cooked meats and rice if you're not eating within 2-3 days. If you do freeze, then thaw it out, and then continue with the recipe.
Assemble stuffed peppers entirely and freeze. You can either flash freeze on a sheet pan and then wrap individually in plastic wrap and freeze in a couple of large freezer bags. Or, freeze in a disposable pan! I prefer to let the peppers thaw somewhat before cooking them, but you can cook them straight from the freezer. If you cook them straight from the freezer, then you'll need to add an extra 30 – 45 minutes of cooking time.
Cook peppers completely to eat all week or freeze. I think these Italian stuffed peppers get better as the days go on. So, make them on Sunday to enjoy as dinners or lunches during the week. You can also freeze into portions and then warm them up in the microwave.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 392kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g