Crockpot Turkey Stuffed Peppers is the best meal to come home to after a long day of work! Bell peppers are loaded with lean ground turkey, cooked rice, and then topped with a flavorful tomato sauce for an easy and healthy weeknight dinner recipe. Using the slow cooker also makes clean-up a breeze!
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Life is busy, it seems there’s always something!
When you have a super hectic day, it’s always the slow cooker that comes to the rescue. There’s something so satisfying about coming home to mouth-watering aromas and a fully cooked dinner ready to go.
This Crockpot Turkey Stuffed Peppers recipe is just the thing you didn’t know you needed. Tender, flavorful bell peppers serve as the perfect containers for rice, ground turkey, tomato sauce, and seasonings.
Where stuffed bell peppers can often be bland, this recipe has a secret ingredient that takes the flavor over the top — Worcestershire sauce!
Why You NEED To Make This Recipe
- The bell peppers and the filling are perfectly cooked with no effort from you! (Other than combining everything in the morning.)
- One of the best smells is the aroma that fills the air when I walk into the house and can smell these slow cooker stuffed peppers cooking away!
- There is no worrying about prepping vegetables for dinner, slaving away over a hot stove, or making last-minute trips to the grocery store!
Ingredients
Notes about the ingredients needed for this Crock Pot Turkey Stuffed Peppers recipe are below. Jump to recipe for the exact measurements.
- Bell peppers. While you can use any color bell peppers, a variety creates a beautiful presentation. Be sure to get fresh ones free from bruises.
- Ground turkey. A lean mixture, aim for 93/7, creates a healthy base for the filling and also releases less liquid into the pot. You can easily sub in ground chicken or beef, but note the texture and flavor will change.
- Rice. Because you’re cooking the rice before adding it to the filling, you can use whatever type your prefer. You can choose Basmati rice, Jasmine rice, or plain white rice.
- Onion. A finely diced sweet onion is the perfect balance to the savory spices in the filling.
- Seasonings. You’ll want a blend of garlic powder, salt, and pepper along with dried thyme and rosemary for the most flavor.
- Worcestershire sauce. Don’t skip this! It might seems a little strange, but it creates that umami flavor you’ll love when you dig into this dish.
- Tomato sauce. You’re looking for a can of plain tomato sauce, not seasoned spaghetti sauce.
- Cheese. Mozzarella melts beautifully, but you can sub another cheese if needed.
How to Make Stuffed Bell Peppers?
Please see the recipe card below for more detailed ingredient amounts. Jump to recipe for the printable instructions.
- Prepare the bell peppers. The first step when making stuffed bell peppers is to cut around the stem of the bell pepper and remove it, the seeds, and as much of the membranes (the white stuff!) as you can. Keep the bell pepper stem, though!
- Make the ground turkey and rice filling. There is no need to cook the ground turkey prior to making these Crock Pot stuffed peppers, but you WILL want to use pre-cooked rice. Throw all of your ingredients together in a large bowl and mix together.
- Stuff the bell peppers and cook. Fill the peppers with the ground turkey and rice mixture, packing them tightly as they’ll shrink during cooking. Place the stuffed peppers in the Crock-Pot, add ¼ cup water to prevent burning, and cook on high for 4 hours or low for up to 8 hours. In the last 30 minutes, whisk together the tomato sauce, pour over the peppers, and finish cooking.
- Slit and serve the stuffed peppers. Cut a small slit in the bottom of each pepper to drain moisture before removing from the Crock Pot. Serve with fresh parsley and mozzarella cheese. Enjoy!
Meal Prep and Storage Instructions
- Prep-Ahead: Make the rice a day or two early.
- Storage: Keep leftover peppers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. Freeze fully cooked stuffed peppers in a freezer-safe airtight container for up to 3 months.
- Reheating: Bake in a 350°F oven until heated through. You can also quickly warm them up in the microwave.
FAQs
The time these stuffed bell peppers with ground turkey are in the slow cooker can vary according to how long you will be gone. You can cook these Crock Pot stuffed peppers on high for as little as 4 hours or on low for up to 8 hours.
Sometimes your slow cooker can be a bit of a hassle to clean-up. If you want to save even more time, these Slow Cooker Liners can be thrown away after use.
Yes! These stuffed peppers are so good for you. They contain colorful vegetables, lean meats, and are full of flavor so you can enjoy them while feeling good about what you’re eating.
More Stuffed Pepper Recipes
If you loved how simple this dish is, try these other healthy recipes!
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Crock Pot Turkey Stuffed Peppers with Rice
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Ingredients
- 6 bell peppers tops, seeds, and membranes removed
- 1 pound ground turkey 93/7
- ½ cup sweet onion finely diced
- 1 ½ cups cooked rice
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder divided
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 ½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce divided
- ¼ cup water
- 1 (12 ounce) can tomato sauce
- ½ cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
- Parsley optional
Instructions
- Cut the tops off of 6 bell peppers (red, yellow, green, or orange) and remove the seeds and membranes. Save the tops for later.
- In a large bowl combine uncooked ground turkey, diced onion, cooked rice, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, salt, pepper, ½ teaspoon dried herbs, and 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce. Mix until combined.
- Stuff bell peppers with equal amounts of the turkey-rice mixture. Cover bell peppers with tops and place in a 6-quart slow cooker. Pour ¼ cup water in the bottom of the slow cooker and cook for 4 hours on high or up to 8 hours on low.
- During the last 30 minutes of cooking, whisk together the tomato sauce, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon dried herbs, and ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce in a medium bowl. Remove tops from the bell peppers and pour tomato sauce over each. Sprinkle with Mozzarella cheese and finish cooking for the last 30 minutes.
- Just before serving, cut a small slit in the bottom of the bell peppers to let any excess liquid out. Sprinkle bell peppers with fresh parsley and enjoy!
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Notes
- Nutrition. Serving size is 1 stuffed bell pepper with cheese.
- Prep-Ahead. Make the rice a day or two early.
- Storage. Keep leftover peppers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. Freeze fully cooked stuffed peppers in a freezer-safe airtight container for up to 3 months.
- Reheating. Bake in a 350°F oven until heated through. You can also quickly warm them up in the microwave.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I put sauce in bottom of cooker instead of water for added taste.
That sounds delicious!
Can you make this without the rice?
Hi Danielle! I have not personally tried and I think you would need to do quite a bit of tweaking to get the liquid ratio just right. But if you try it out I would love to know how it goes for you!
My mother always used rice and used “Minute Rice” so that the rice was never undercooked. I prefer to use seasoned bread crumbs to hold the mixture together and cooking wine (red or marsala) for the liquid. When I don’t have a big can of tomato sauce in the pantry, I use a large jar of pasta sauce and also (optional) throw in a can of diced tomatoes. Using seasoned bread crumbs can cut down on the seasonings you add but it’s really hard to ruin this recipe! If you make more than you can eat in one sitting, it reheats superbly and you can opt to freeze the peppers in quantities that make it easy to reheat 1 or 2 for lunch of “Dinner for One!” Also works well served over a bed of mashed potatoes (champ. . .mash!)
Hi,
Quick question—I’d like to make this recipe soon! Do you use UNCOOKED pre-cooked rice (Minute Rice), or cook the pre-cooked rice prior to mixing with the turkey, etc.?
Thanks!
Hi Marge! I use cooked regular rice (not Minute Rice). I cook it either in the Instant Pot, rice cooker, or on the stovetop! Thank you for your question. I can’t wait to hear what you think about the peppers!
Can i use cooked minute rice??
Yes, any pre-cooked rice should work for this recipe.
Hi London, thinking of throwing together these bad boys! Do you use breast mince?? What sort of tomato sauce do you use? Pasta, Passata, Ketchup?? Thanks
Hi Bobby-Jo! For this recipe I used ground turkey, but you can also use ground chicken or ground pork! For the tomato sauce, you might refer to it as passata… it comes in the can. Definitely would not use ketchup or pasta sauce here. Hope you enjoy!
I probably make Stuffed Peppers once a week so I vary it up a ton with different stuffing mixtures as well as different peppers to stuff the mixture into. One of my favorites is the Poblano. They have an earthier taste and the walls of the peppers aren’t as thick as the bells. Making them in a Slow Cooker is such a great method. It makes it so easy.
That’s amazing, Mike!! I would love to know what different types of stuffing you use. Stuffed peppers are so versatile! Thanks so much for your comment and rating 🙂