There’s no better way to celebrate Halloween than with a fun dinner serving up Jack O’Lantern Stuffed Peppers. Ground turkey, quinoa, and vegetables are stuffed into orange peppers for a fun presentation that everyone will love!
October is such a magical time of year. The green leaves start transforming into brilliant hues of auburn, gold, and persimmon. The scorching hot temps of summer are fading memories, as cool breezes move in cooler temperatures. Oh, and there’s Halloween, which is arguably the best holiday ever. I think we can all agree that October is pretty fantastic!
One of my favorite parts of October is carving pumpkins. I have loved it ever since I was a kid, and it has become even more fun since I had children. Seeing the enthusiasm and excitement little ones have while they see a jack o’lantern’s face take shape adds a whole new level of enjoyment!
Once the pumpkins are carved and spider webs adorn various areas in my home, I start thinking about my truly favorite part of October…
The food.
Jack O’Lantern Stuffed Peppers for Halloween
Halloween offers the perfect opportunity to craft playful (and yummy) food. From edible fingers to ghost-shaped mashed potatoes, creating Halloween-themed foods is so much fun!
This year, I have been on a stuffed pepper kick, and had the idea to grab an orange bell pepper and carve a jack o’lantern face into it! You do not have to be an expert pumpkin carver to do this (trust me!). Working with peppers is quite a bit easier than working with pumpkins.
Once my jack o’lantern peppers were cleaned and carved, I stuffed them with a delicious combination of ground turkey, quinoa, and tomatoes.
These adorable jack o’lantern stuffed peppers turned out perfectly! They look deliciously festive on a plate and are sure to impress any family member or guest that you serve. The blend of turkey, quinoa, and tomatoes is savory and pairs brilliantly with the pepper. This is also a healthy lunch or dinner, which is a great offset to the abundant candy that Halloween brings!
Ingredients
- 6 orange bell peppers
- 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup diced tomatoes
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Slice the top of the peppers off and set aside. Clean out the inside of the pepper, removing the seeds and membranes. Use a knife to make triangle slits for the eyes and nose of the jack o'lantern, then cut out the mouth.
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Rinse quinoa well. Bring 1 cup of salted water to a boil and stir in uncooked quinoa. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes, or until quinoa is soft and has absorbed all of the water.
- Meanwhile, warm olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add in garlic and tomatoes, and sauté an additional minute. Add ground turkey and continue cooking until cooked through and no longer pink.
- Stir in cooked quinoa and tomato paste to the turkey mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
- Stuff the 6 peppers with the turkey mixture and place stuffed peppers on a baking sheet or other oven-safe dish. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Return the top of the pepper, and serve!
Notes
Home Chef Tip: You can cut off thin slices of the bottom of the pepper to make it sit evenly on a plate; just be sure not to cut off so much that the stuffing falls out.
I hope you enjoy these healthy jack o’lantern pumpkin stuffed peppers and that you find many more ways to make fun and scary treats this October!
We hope you love this Halloween-themed recipe for Jack O’Lantern Stuffed Peppers from SoFabFood Contributor, Andrea from Homemade for Elle, as much as we do. If you love this recipe, be sure to check out our other Halloween Recipes for more ideas for the upcoming holiday. For daily recipe inspiration, like us on Facebook, follow us on Pinterest, and stop by our Google+ Community to see all of the amazing recipes our community members are sharing. Enjoy!
Jackie says