BBQ Meatloaf Stuffed Peppers
Healthified Meatloaf Stuffed Peppers
We love to “healthify” quintessentially comfort food dishes.
And these turkey meatloaf stuffed peppers are so delicious, especially when you use a tasty BBQ sauce to top it off!
We like Rib Rack BBQ Sauce because it’s gluten free and contains only a few clean ingredients.
To make the filling we add in grated yellow squash and ground oats. Plus a little gluten free non-GMO coconut aminos for flavor.
This recipe is an adaptation of the meatloaf recipe from Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s cookbook, Deliciously G-Free.
But we stuff the meatloaf mixture into halved bell peppers and modify some of the ingredients:
- like using oats instead of cornmeal
- and coconut aminos instead of GF soy sauce
Ground oats are a wonderful healthy option to use as a filler in meatballs or meatloaf instead of breadcrumbs. I especially like them with ground turkey because they give it a sturdier texture – ground turkey can be pretty soft sometimes.
And oats feed good bacteria in our gut, too!
Tip: Make sure to find certified gluten-free oats (and organic to avoid glyphosate)!
To make them, I add about a cup of Bob’s Red Mill certified gluten free rolled oats to a miniprep (small blender) and chop until they are ground down.
Then store them in the freezer to use in recipes like this one. You could probably use a variety of GF flours instead of oats (almond flour, almond meal, millet, etc.).
We also use coconut milk creamer instead of milk so it is dairy/casein free, too. It works really well as a replacement for milk in lots of recipes.
Because I’m just cooking for two, this recipe makes enough filling for four small pepper halves (two per person).
If you want more, you can double the recipe and use more peppers or larger ones. So tasty and such a great way to eat more veggies!
Healthified Meatloaf Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 2 medium red or green bell peppers
- 2 tbsp certified GF oats, chopped
- 1/4 cup grated yellow squash
- 2 tbsp coconut milk creamer
- 1 1/2 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1/2 lb lean ground turkey
- 1 egg
- 1 clove garlic, pressed
- GF BBQ sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Wash, rinse and dry the red bell peppers and squash.
- Cut the bell peppers in half and remove the seeds and veins. Place on a small baking dish skin side down. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake in the oven for about 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool down while prepping the meatloaf mixture.
- Certified gluten free chopped oats are a wonderful healthy option to use as a filler in meatballs or meatloaf instead of breadcrumbs. To make ground oats, I usually add a cup of gluten free steel cut rolled oats to a miniprep (small blender) and chop until they are fine. Then store in the freezer and use when needed. We only need 2 tablespoons for this recipe.
- Grate a small yellow squash and squeeze any excess water out of the squash with a paper towel. Mix the squash, oats, coconut milk creamer and coconut aminos together in a medium bowl and let sit for about 5 minutes.
- Add the ground turkey, egg and garlic and stir until well combined.
- Divide the mixture into each of the bell pepper halves. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with a few tablespoons of your favorite gluten free BBQ sauce. Then cook for another 5 minutes.
- Let rest for a few minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes
Adapted from Deliciously G-Free
