Shawarma-Stuffed Peppers

Here at Delish, we love stuffed peppers, and we love chicken shawarma. So we thought: What would happen if we combined these two crowd-pleasing classics into one delicious, mostly hands-off recipe? The resulting one-pan recipe is definitely a keeper. Here’s what we think makes it great:

The filling:
While shawarma is usually made from spit-roasted meat, often chicken or lamb, we use ground turkey for our peppers. The ground turkey filling is still packed with shawarma spices: ground cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, and just enough cayenne to give it a little kick. Chopped garlic, scallions, parsley, and mint also add freshness to the filling. Instead of bread crumbs or panko, we use uncooked couscous. As the peppers bake, the couscous cooks too, absorbing all of the flavorful juices, and turning the filling into the most delicious turkey shawarma meatball.

The peppers:
While the filling is being assembled, the peppers get a quick head start in the oven, just 12 minutes. The par-cooked peppers are barely tender and still very easy to fill. The stuffed peppers bake for 35 minutes, and at the end of this time, the peppers are tender, juicy, and perfectly cooked. If you want a slightly more al dente pepper, you can skip the par-cooking and stuff the raw pepper halves instead.

The toppings:
While many stuffed peppers have cheesy tops, we finish our shawarma-stuffed variation with some of the toppings you might add to a chicken shawarma sandwich. We like juicy chopped tomatoes for a little acidity, chopped mint and parsley for brightness, and a generous drizzle of our halal cart-style sauce to bring everything together.

Make ahead:
Want to get ahead of this budget dinner? If you want to prep this a day ahead, cut and core your peppers, then store in an airtight container in the fridge. Prepare your filling as directed, then store it in a separate airtight container in the fridge. When you're ready to serve, simply fill and bake until tender.

Made these peppers? Let us know how it went in the comments below!