Slow Cooker Turkey Stuffed Peppers

Thanksgiving. Year three at the table. The menu: turkey, cornbread dressing, mac and cheese, collard greens, candied yams, cranberry sauce (canned), dinner rolls, deviled eggs. Desserts: sweet potato pie, pecan pie, banana pudding. And ribs. My ribs, occupying a platter at the center of the table alongside Mama's arsenal, like an ambassador from a foreign country invited to the state dinner. The ribs were good. I know they were good because three things happened: Marc ate six of them, Dad ate two (over Mama's objection), and Mama — Mama — went back for a second rib without comment. The absence of comment was the comment. Mama does not praise what she cannot improve. She returns for seconds. DJ was at his first Thanksgiving. One month old, sleeping through most of it, held by Tanya, then Mama, then Keisha, then back to Tanya. The baby circuit — every family gathering involves a baby being passed from adult to adult like a warm, sleeping baton in a relay race of love. Darius watched his son travel around the table and looked like a man who has just realized that his child belongs to the family, not just to him. Welcome to Carter parenthood, little brother. Aiden sat at the big table for the first time — not in a high chair, not at the kids' table, but at the main table, between me and Brianna, on a booster seat. He ate turkey and yams and mac and cheese and cornbread and announced that he was "too full to move," which is the correct response to Mama's Thanksgiving and which I validated by being too full to move myself. Zaria sat in her high chair and ate yams with her hands and looked at the table with the expression that has become her trademark: a combination of assessment and authority, as if she is evaluating the proceedings and finding them adequate. She is fourteen months old and she is already the most discerning critic in the family. The food met her standards. She ate two servings. From Zaria, this is a Michelin star.

The ribs proved themselves—Mama went back for seconds, and in this family, that’s the only review that counts. But if I’m being honest, the dish that kept the whole day running smoothly was one nobody talked about much: something I had going in the slow cooker before anyone arrived, freeing me up to hold DJ, watch Aiden take his rightful place at the big table, and observe Zaria pass judgment on the yams. This slow cooker turkey stuffed peppers recipe is that kind of dish—it feeds a crowd, it minds its business, and when someone lifts the lid, it’s already done the work.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 6 hrs | Total Time: 6 hrs 20 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

6 large bell peppers (red, orange, or yellow preferred)
1 1/2 lbs ground turkey
1 1/2 cups cooked long-grain white rice
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce, divided
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

Prep the peppers. Slice the tops off each bell pepper and set the tops aside. Remove seeds and membranes from inside each pepper. Trim a thin slice from the bottom of any pepper that won’t stand upright, being careful not to cut through.
Brown the turkey. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook 3 minutes until softened. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add ground turkey and cook, breaking it apart, until no longer pink, about 6–8 minutes. Drain any excess fat.
Build the filling. Remove skillet from heat. Stir in cooked rice, drained diced tomatoes, half the tomato sauce (about 3/4 cup), 1 cup of the shredded cheese, Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Mix until evenly combined.
Fill the peppers. Spoon the turkey mixture firmly into each bell pepper, packing it in and mounding it slightly at the top. Do not pack so tightly that the pepper splits.
Set up the slow cooker. Pour the remaining tomato sauce and chicken broth into the bottom of a 6-quart or larger slow cooker. Place stuffed peppers upright in the cooker—they can lean against each other slightly. Cover with the lid.
Cook low and slow. Cook on LOW for 6–7 hours or on HIGH for 3–4 hours, until peppers are tender when pierced with a fork and filling is heated through.
Add the cheese finish. In the last 15 minutes of cooking, sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheddar over the top of each pepper. Replace the lid and cook until cheese is fully melted.
Rest and serve. Carefully remove peppers with tongs or a large spoon. Spoon the tomato broth from the bottom of the slow cooker over each pepper as a sauce before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Slow Cooker Turkey Stuffed Peppers — When You Earn Your Spot at the Table