Turkey and Kale Stuffed Peppers

Turkey and Kale Stuffed Peppers

Turkey & Kale Stuffed Peppers: The pepper that satisfies the entire family, while allowing you to stick to your goal of weight loss.

If a protein packed meal is what your looking for, give this Turkey and Kale Stuffed Peppers recipe a try. The perfect recipe for anyone trying to lose weight! Even better, it is a great dish for meal prepping.

This recipe can also be easily customizable to fit you cravings, or the meat protein you have in the fridge. Check out a few of these substitutions:

  • Not a fan of turkey? Try using ground chicken or ground beef
  • Not a fan of Kale? Switch it out for spinach
  • Don’t like things spicy? You can remove the jalapeño all together

Let the pepper be your vessel and you imagination be your guide, and get to stuffing that pepper!

Are you ready to start cooking? Here is what you will need, and the steps it takes to create these awesome Turkey and Kale Stuffed Peppers.

Equipment

  • Large Saute Pan
  • Square Baking Dish or Casserole Dish

Ingredients

  • ½’ tbsp’ Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • ½’ cup’ Yellow Onion,’ diced, (about ½’ onion)
  • ¼’ cup’ Jalapenos,’ diced, (1′ pepper)
  • 16′ oz’ 99% Lean Ground Turkey
  • 1′ tsp’ Black Pepper
  • ½’ tsp’ Garlic Powder
  • 1′ cup’ Kale,’ chopped
  • 1′ package’ Taco Skillet Sauce,’ roasted tomato & green chile
  • 4′ cups’ Orange Bell Pepper,’ top cut off and cored (4′ peppers)
  • ½’ tsp’ Reduced Sodium Chicken Base
  • ¼’ cup’ Water

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350’°
  2. While the oven is pre-heating work on the filling for the peppers. First heat a large saute pan to medium heat. Once the pan is hot add the oil, then immediately add the diced onions and jalapenos to the pan. Cook them in the oil for 3 minutes.’ 
  3. After 3 minutes add the ground turkey to the pan. Season the turkey with the black pepper and garlic powder. Using a heavy spatula, break up the ground turkey into smaller pieces, mixing in with the onions and jalapenos. Cook stirring frequently and continuing to break up the turkey for 7 minutes.’ 
  4. After 7 minutes add the chopped kale and taco sauce packet to the ground turkey mixture. Stir everything together until well combined. Then put the lid on the pan, turn the heat to a simmer and cook for an additional 3 minutes.’ 
  5. Remove the lid and scoop the turkey and kale mixture into each of the cored bell peppers. Place stuffed peppers into a baking dish, standing up.’ The baking dish should be small enough to hold the peppers tight and standing up.’ 
  6. In a small bowl mix together the chicken base and water. Then pour 1 tbsp chicken base liquid over top/into each of the stuffed peppers.’ (If you do not have chicken base, substitute 1/4 cup chicken stock instead of the chicken base and water.)’ The liquid adds a little moisture and prevents the turkey from drying out while baking.’ 
  7. Bake at 350’° for 20 minutes.’ 
  8. After 20 minutes, remove from the oven, serve and enjoy. Or portion out for this weeks meals!

Notes for Meal Prep:

This is a wonderful recipe for meal prepping. You can store each serving in the fridge for up to 1 week and eat it as it fits your meal plan. To re-heat simply pop in the microwave for 1-2 minutes.

In addition you can store these stuffed peppers in the freezer for up to one month. To do so, store each serving in a freezer safe zip lock bag, remove as much air as possible before placing in the freezer. Then when it is time to defrost and eat, remove them from the freezer the night before and allow to thaw out in the fridge over night. When its time to eat, pop them in the microwave for 1 – 2 minutes each.

Notes for Counting Macros:

PROTEIN:

The protein in these turkey and kale stuffed peppers comes from the turkey. While I would love to say you could simply just increase or decrease the amount of turkey, that could be tricky because that does depend on the size of your pepper. However you could also swap out the turkey for:

  • A leaner Turkey
  • Chicken breast
  • Ground beef, picking the lean % that fits your macro goals

CARBOHYDRATE:

The carbs in this recipe come from the veggies and there only so much room inside those peppers. However, if you are looking to increase your carbs you could reduce the veggies and add:

  • A grain: rice, farro, or barley.
  • Or you could double the recipe and instead of doubling the turkey you could substitute it for a grain like rice, farro, or barley.

Tip:

If you choose to add a grain or double the recipe. You will want to cook 1/2 a cup of dry the dry rice, farro, or barley following the package instructions. Then add the grain to the turkey mixture at the same time as adding the taco sauce, and stir to combine well, before placing the lid on the pan. Then continue to follow all other final steps of the recipe.

FAT:

The fat in these turkey and kale stuffed peppers can be increased by changing the lean turkey percentage.

  • In this recipe I am using a 99% lean ground turkey, which only has .5 grams of fat per 1 oz.
  • Whereas a 93% lean ground turkey as 2 grams of fat per 1 oz.

Choosing to swap out the 99% lean for a 93% lean will increase the fat per serving by 6 grams.

When making adjustments to the macros you will want to keep in mind the number of servings you are making.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Ground Turkey, Macro Counting, Meal Prep, Stuffed Pepper
Servings: 4

Turkey and Kale Stuffed Pepper

Equipment

  • Large Saute Pan
  • Square Baking Dish or Casserole Dish

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Pre-heat oven to 350’°
  • While the oven is pre-heating work on the filling for the peppers. First heat a large saute pan to medium heat. Once the pan is hot add the oil, then immediately add the diced onions and jalapenos to the pan. Cook them in the oil for 3 minutes.
  • After 3 minutes add the ground turkey to the pan. Season the turkey with the black pepper and garlic powder. Using a heavy spatula, break up the ground turkey into smaller pieces, mixing in with the onions and jalapenos. Cook stirring frequently and continuing to break up the turkey for 7 minutes.
  • After 7 minutes add the chopped kale and taco sauce packet to the ground turkey mixture. Stir everything together until well combined. Then put the lid on the pan, turn the heat to a simmer and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
  • Remove the lid and scoop the turkey and kale mixture into each of the cored bell peppers. Place stuffed peppers into a baking dish, standing up. The baking dish should be small enough to hold the peppers tight and standing up.
  • In a small bowl mix together the chicken base and water. Then pour 1 tbsp chicken base liquid over top/into each of the stuffed peppers. (If you do not have chicken base, substitute 1/4 cup chicken stock instead of the chicken base and water.) The liquid adds a little moisture and prevents the turkey from drying out while baking.
  • Bake at 350’° for 20 minutes.
  • After 20 minutes, remove from the oven, serve and enjoy. Or portion out for this weeks meals!
Turkey and Kale Stuffed Peppers

Macro Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Turkey and Kale Stuffed Pepper
Amount Per Serving
Calories 216 Calories from Fat 39
% Daily Value*
Fat 4.3g7%
Saturated Fat 0.8g5%
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.4g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.3g
Cholesterol 60mg20%
Sodium 373.6mg16%
Potassium 371.6mg11%
Carbohydrates 12.5g4%
Fiber 3g13%
Sugar 8.4g9%
Protein 28.6g57%
Vitamin A 178.2IU4%
Vitamin C 305.3mg370%
Calcium 29.9mg3%
Iron 9mg50%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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