Southwest Turkey Cavatappi
with Green Pepper & Smoky Red Pepper Crema
- Wheat
- Milk
The Southwest meets Italy in this skillet supper, which boasts bold flavors that’ll warm you from the inside out. There’s twisty cavatappi, bites of flavorful ground beef, and sautéed green pepper, all topped with a Mexican cheese blend, smoky red pepper crema, tangy sour cream, and hot sauce for a little kick. A sprinkle of scallion greens adds an extra pop of color. Yes, one skillet really is all that!
Ingredients
1 unit
Long Green Pepper
2 unit
Scallions
6 ounce
Cavatappi Pasta
(Contains: Wheat)
10 ounce
Ground Turkey
1 tablespoon
Southwest Spice Blend
1 unit
Tomato Paste
2 unit
Beef Stock Concentrate
1.5 tablespoon
Sour Cream
(Contains: Milk)
4 tablespoon
Smoky Red Pepper Crema
(Contains: Milk)
½ cup
Mexican Cheese Blend
(Contains: Milk)
1 teaspoon
Hot Sauce
Not included in your delivery
Salt
Pepper
1 tablespoon
Cooking Oil
1 tablespoon
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Wash and dry produce. • Halve, deseed, and thinly slice green pepper into strips. Trim and thinly slice scallions, separating whites from greens.
• Once water is boiling, add cavatappi to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 9-11 minutes. • Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water (2 cups for 4 servings), then drain. • Meanwhile, heat a large drizzle of oil in a medium pan (large pan for 4) over medium-high heat. Add green pepper and season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, 4-5 minutes.
• Add a drizzle of oil to pan with green pepper. Add beef*, scallion whites, and Southwest Spice Blend; season with salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up meat into pieces, until beef is browned and cooked through, 4-6 minutes. TIP: If there’s excess grease in your pan, carefully pour it out. • Add tomato paste; cook, stirring occasionally, until combined, 30 seconds.
Swap in turkey* for beef.
• Add 1⁄2 cup reserved pasta cooking water (3⁄4 cup for 4 servings) and stock concentrates to pan with beef mixture. Season with 1⁄2 tsp salt (1 tsp for 4) and a pinch of pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, until thickened, 2-3 minutes.
• Reduce heat to low and stir in drained cavatappi, sour cream, smoky red pepper crema, half the Mexican cheese blend (you’ll use the rest in the next step), 1 TBSP butter (2 TBSP for 4 servings), and hot sauce to taste. Season with salt and pepper to taste. TIP: If needed, stir in more reserved pasta cooking water a splash at a time until pasta is coated in a creamy sauce.
• Top beef cavatappi with remaining Mexican cheese blend; cover pan until cheese melts, 1-2 minutes. Divide between bowls; top with scallion greens and serve.
Ground turkey is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 165°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Apr 2026- Flavor: Many loved the rich, bold Southwest flavors, comparing it to an elevated Hamburger Helper with great seasoning.
- Ease of prep: Most found it easy and fast to prepare, though some noted it has more steps than typical easy-prep meals.
- Suggestions: Add extra pasta water for creamier sauce; use less sour cream as some found it overwhelming. Skip extra salt since the spice blend provides plenty of seasoning.
- Portions: Generous servings that easily stretch to multiple meals — many enjoyed it for 2-4 days.
- Peppers: The long green peppers can be quite spicy; substitute bell peppers if you prefer milder heat 🌶️
Reviews from our home cooks
VERY tasty, Stroganoff adjacent dish. Tons of flavor, plenty of cheese and cremas to make a great sauce. We opted for ground turkey and it was truly amazing. Will order this one again. Makes a LOT of food!
Easy and good seasoning. Added a green pepper. Bit of a glorified "hamburger helper" but that hits the spot.
This is so delicious! It's like fancy Hamburger Helper, but tastes much better and fresher.
This is a pretty fun different way to use taco spice! I will be keeping the recipe to use at home.
Pretty good; wished more veggies; I had to sub the long green pepper with a regular green pepper so unsure if that affected taste etc; I did like the sauce
This had a lot of flavor. I skipped the additional butter and it was still good.
I like sauce, so I used all the tomatoes but the same amount of pasta water and it turned out well.
Perfect in every way. And the cooking times were actually accurate on the recipe card!
I always feel like there could be more veggies included in the HelloFresh meals, so I wind up supplementing with my own.
Kid favorite and easy for my little helpers to follow along.
