Pineapple Barbecue Stuffed Peppers: Cooking With Courtney

From Feed the Soul Blog:

Cutting into a stuffed pepper is like unwrapping a present. A present hot out of the oven, smothered in cheese and stuffed with meat. And if it comes wrapped up in a vegetable, that totally makes it healthy, right?

Well, dear eaters, fear not! While stuffed peppers are usually made with beef, these Hawaiian barbecue-style stuffed peppers are best served with a lighter meat such as turkey, chicken or pork. I opted for turkey, for what it’s worth.

In this recipe, colorful bell peppers are also stuffed with pineapple, smoky barbecue sauce, fresh cilantro, a dash of garlic powder, (optional) jalapeno for a dose of sweet heat and rice to keep you nice and full. They’re topped with cheese — cheddar or mozzarella are fabulous here — and the perfect combo of savory meets sweet!

Skip to the full recipe here.

Fresh pineapple cut into smaller bite-sized pieces is great in this recipe because it adds a nice tang, but it will still work if you use canned, crushed pineapple!

This stuffed pepper recipe is way faster than others you might be used to. That’s because I prefer to cook mine by inserting the raw meat filling directly into the pepper and baking in the oven, while most recipes call for meat to be browned on the stove.

You are welcome to take another few minutes to use the traditional stovetop method, but here’s why I prefer to cook the pepper filling in the oven:

• Moist filling: The stovetop cooking method results in a drier and crumblier filling, but think of the filling in this pepper as more akin to a meatball or meatloaf. You might get a little extra liquid collecting in the bottom of the pepper that will seep out when you cut into it, but I prefer that to a crumbly filling.
• Less time, fewer dishes: No pan to wash and you save another 5 to 7 minutes in prep time. That’s a big win in my book, especially on busy weeknights!

Get the full recipe here, including ingredients, instructions, tips and more photos from feedthesoulblog.com.

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