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Say hello to your new favorite one-pot meal that comes together quickly with simple ingredients. Unstuffed Pepper Skillet is cooked with ground turkey, white rice, a bell pepper and tomato sauce, and topped with cheese for a hearty dinner. This high protein one-pan meal is a family favorite!
Why you’ll love this One-pan Unstuffed Pepper Skillet!
While stuffed peppers are a simple way to pack in veggies and nutrients, I love this unstuffed variation even better! This deconstructed unstuffed pepper skillet incorporates the bell pepper for you into a rich tomato sauce that includes ground turkey for protein and rice for texture. Plus, it’s topped with bubbly Monterey Jack cheese! Here’s what else you’ll love about my recipe:
- It’s super easy to make! This skillet ground turkey dinner comes together with just 15 minutes of prep and allows for hand-off cooking.
- It’s a truly balanced meal! As a nutritionist who feeds hungry teenagers, this recipe has all the elements I am looking for: veggie loaded with different peppers, tomatoes, and fresh herbs, high in protein, plus rice as a carb to keep my people satisfied.
- You can make-ahead or use as meal prep: I love a dinner that tastes just as amazing the next day. It’s this recipe! This ground turkey dinner is perfect for meal prep lunches.
For another quick, hearty, and family-friendly skillet option, I often turn to my 30-Minute Skillet Ground Beef Picadillo, which comes together in just 30 minutes but is just as satisfying and flavorful.
How to Make Unstuffed Pepper Skillet with Ground Turkey
Gather up these easy ingredients:
- Ground turkey: you can also replace with ground beef
- White rice: use a long grain white rice like Jasmine rice
- Canned diced tomatoes and tomato paste: you can also use tomato sauce
- Bell peppers: both red and green
- Diced white onion
- Seasonings: Italian seasoning, paprika, and sea salt
- Cheese: I use Monterey Jack cheese, but cheddar or mozzarella is also great
- Worcestershire sauce
- Chicken or beef broth
This recipe comes together in these easy steps:
- Heat a large cast iron skillet and add oil. Cook ground turkey and onion.
- Add in the bell peppers, diced tomatoes, rice, broth, Worcestershire, and seasonings that are all mixed together. Stir to combine and bring to a boil
- Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover. Cook for 20 – 25 minutes or until rice is soft and has absorbed most of the liquid. Top with cheese. You can cover with a lid and let it melt, or place under the broiler to get the cheese nice and browned!
- Serve hot with parsley.
Helpful Tips
- If you make ahead, be sure to refrigerate immediately after cooking or the rice soaks up too much liquid and can become mushy
- You can easily freeze this recipe! If you plan on making a freezer friendly meal, avoid the addition of cheese as this can be added at a later time. Completely defrost at room temperature, then place cheese on top and place under the broiler.
Unstuffed Pepper Skillet with Ground Turkey
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Olive oil or avocado oil
- 1.5 lbs Ground turkey
- 1 small Sweet onion, (diced)
- 1 Red bell pepper, (diced)
- 1 Green bell pepper, (diced)
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 2 tsp Smoked paprika
- 1 tsp Sea salt
- 2 14.5 Cans of diced tomatoes
- 2 tbsp Tomato paste
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 3 cups Beef or chicken broth
- 1.5 cups Long grain white rice , (like Jasmine rice)
- 1 cup Shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- Fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet to medium high heat. Once hot, reduce heat to medium and add diced onion and ground turkey. Cook for 4-5 minutes, or until turkey is mostly cooked through.
- Now toss in the bell pepper, seasonings (Italian seasoning, paprika, and salt), diced tomatoes, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, broth, and rice. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer.
- Let simmer for 20 – 25 minutes, or until rice has absorbed most of the liquid and is softened. Be sure to give it a stir about every 10 minutes so the rice doesn't settle and stick at the bottom.
- Once cooking is complete, top with cheese. You can place under the broiler (recommended!) to get the cheese nice and bubbly, or just cover with the lid until the cheese melted. Serve with parsley.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Really delicious!!! My daughter wants this every day now. What are the nutrition facts based on? Per what size serving?
If I need to sub cauliflower rice, what adjustments do I make?