Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my privacy policy.
A naturally gluten-free and flavorful dish where bell peppers are stuffed with a ground beef and ground turkey meat sauce, spinach, zucchini, and rice. A great week night meal that makes yummy leftovers!
It’s cozy comfort food season! One of my favorite comfort food meals is stuffed peppers. These healthy stuffed peppers and this zucchini stuffed peppers recipe are two of my favorites.
I love these stuffed peppers because they are filled with ground beef, ground turkey, spinach, zucchini, and rice. It’s a high protein dinner option with added veggies, for a complete meal.
Table of Contents
Why this recipe works
- It is the ultimate comfort food. These stuffed peppers are warm, filling, healthy and delicious.
- I love all the soups, casseroles and savory pies this time of year. I mean, look at this Gluten-free Chicken Pot Pie from Gluten Free Palate. DROOL.
- It is a complete meal. Meat, veggies, and rice is a balanced and complete meal.
- It is easy to customize. You can use just ground turkey or just ground beef here. You can also use brown rice or white rice.
- It makes great leftovers! They reheat really well in the microwave or oven.
Recipe ingredients
- Spinach, cherry tomatoes, zucchini– these veggies are added to the meat sauce and stuffed into the peppers.
- Bell peppers– these are a main ingredient here. The sauce made is filled with the meat sauce and rice.
- Garlic and onion– these season the meat in the meat sauce.
- Ground turkey and ground beef– both meat options add protein to the meat sauce in this recipe.
- Basil, oregano, paprika– these herbs and spices season the meat sauce really well.
- Tomato paste and strained tomatoes– these add the base to the meat sauce.
- Rice– white rice is added to the meat sauce adds depth to the dish.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Additions/ Substitutions
- You can add other vegetables to the ones already in the recipe or instead of the spinach and zucchini. Corn, mushrooms and carrots work well.
- You can use only ground turkey in the meat sauce or only ground beef if you prefer.
- You can use brown rice or white rice.
- If you don’t like bell peppers, you can make this dish with tomatoes instead and make stuffed tomatoes.
Step by step instructions
Step 1: Cut the tops off of the bell peppers, remove the seeds in the middle then put them into a pan. Bake the peppers to soften them.
Step 2: Cook the rice.
Step 3: Sautee the onion and garlic. Add the meat to the pan and cook until it is browned. Add the basil, oregano, and paprika to the meat. Add the tomato paste and strained tomatoes to the meat.
Step 4: Add the rice, cherry tomatoes, spinach and zucchini to the meat sauce.
Step 5: Stuff the peppers with the meat sauce. Then put the tops back on and bake.
How to serve:
I also like to add a sprinkle of maple sugar or coconut sugar on top of these Zucchini, Spinach, Meat and Rice Stuffed Peppers when I serve them. The sweetness of the sugar balances out the acidity of the tomato sauce and really enriches the whole flavor combination to me.
How to store:
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Other zucchini recipes you’ll love:
Did you try this recipe? Please leave me a ⭐ review below!
Zucchini Stuffed Peppers with Meat and Rice
Ingredients
- 6 large bell peppers
- 4 cloves garlic, , diced
- 1/2 cup diced yellow onion, (this was 1 medium onion for me)
- 1 Tbs olive oil
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp dried parsley
- 4 Tbs tomato paste, (Cento is Paleo)
- 2 cups strained tomatoes or marinara sauce
- 1 cup white rice
- 2 cups zucchini, , sliced and quartered ( 2 small)
- a 6 ounce bag of fresh spinach
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, ,cut in half
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Cut the tops of the bell peppers off and set them aside. Remove the seeds inside the peppers and throw them away. Then, put the bell peppers, with their tops back on into a large baking pan ( 9 in x 13 in) and cook them for 25 minutes, then remove them and set them aside.
- While the bell peppers are cooking, cook the rice. Follow the instructions for the type of rice that you have.( For me it was to mix 1 cup rice with 2 cups of water and to cook it for 20 minutes.)
- Then, put the diced garlic, diced onion and olive oil into a large sauté pan. Heat over medium heat. Mix and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Add the ground turkey and ground beef to the pan, and break it up into small pieces. Then add the dried basil, dried oregano, salt, ground black pepper, paprika, and parsley and mix into the meat. Cook the meat until it has browned, about 7- 10 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste to the pan and mix. Then, add 2 cups of strained tomatoes or marina sauce to the pan. Mix again. Remove the pan from heat. Add the zucchini, cherry tomatoes, spinach and cooked rice to the pan and mix.
- Then, fill the hollowed out peppers with some of the spinach, zucchini, ground meat and rice mixture. Put the tops back on top of each pepper. Then pour the remaining mixture around the peppers in the pan. Make sure it is evenly distributed.
- Put the pan into the oven and bake for 45 minutes, until the tops of the peppers have browned and become very soft.
- Note: If you want them to be extra browned, broil them for a few minutes at the end.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Wow this looks absolutely delicious. I love the spices and flavor combo. I bet all my family would love this for dinner so I’m saving this recipe to try.
I’ve never thought to add zucchini to stuffed peppers…what a great idea! Perfect way to get more veggies into the dish. These look really delicious
Ohhh I love the bright and fun colors! I’m always the person that makes extra filling and uses it to top nachos the next day. Yum!
What a gorgeous dish! It is definitely a meal on its own, but I also think it would be perfect as a side or starter for a Thanksgiving dinner.