We may earn a commission when you click on the affiliate links in this post.
These Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers have all the classic flavors I grew up with. Tender bell peppers stuffed with the traditional beef, rice, tomato sauce, and cheese filling, but made even quicker and easier in the Instant Pot!
A Traditional Meal With A Modern Twist
Stuffed Bell Peppers always remind me of the dinners we had growing up. And honestly, when I was little, I really just ate the filling. I would scoop out all the beef and rice and leave the pepper sitting on my plate, which drove my mom crazy. Now I actually love the peppers just as much as the filling, especially when they are cooked until tender but still hold their shape.
I especially love making stuffed peppers in the Instant Pot because they cook so much faster than baking them in the oven. The peppers get perfectly tender, the filling stays moist and flavorful, and everything cooks together in one pot. It’s a super easy dinner that feels hearty and homemade without taking hours to make.
🩷Erica
Table of Contents
- A Traditional Meal With A Modern Twist
- Ingredients in Stuffed Peppers
- How To Cook Stuffed Peppers in the Instant Pot
- How to Slice Peppers for Stuffed Peppers
- Does the Ground Beef Need to be Cooked?
- What Kind of Rice to Use for Stuffed Peppers
- Frequently Asked Questions About Stuffed Peppers
- What To Serve With Stuffed Peppers
- Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers Recipe
Ingredients in Stuffed Peppers
- Bell peppers: We like using red, orange, and yellow peppers for the sweeter flavor and the pop of color, but green bell peppers work great too and give them a more classic stuffed pepper flavor. To be honest, I’m not a fan of the flavor of green bell peppers but that’s just a personal preference.
- Ground beef: Ground pork, Italian sausage, or turkey can also be used, or even a combination of two meats (like beef and pork) for extra flavor.
- Rice: Cooked white rice or brown rice both work great. This is one of my favorite ways to use up leftover rice from another meal. It doesn’t even need to be reheated first, just stir it right into the filling mixture. Long grain rice holds up the best, but honestly almost any cooked rice will work, even seasoned rice. I will list some of my favor seasoned rice recipes to use below.
- Vegetables: Onion and diced tomatoes add great flavor and texture. If you want to sneak in more vegetables, diced celery, carrots, mushrooms, or zucchini all work well too.
- Tomato sauce: Tomato sauce keeps the filling moist and gives it that traditional stuffed pepper flavor. My dad prefers ketchup instead of tomato sauce because it makes it taste more like meatloaf (which he’s not wrong). If you like things a little saucier, you can spoon extra sauce over the top before serving.
- Seasonings: For seasonings I just use a mixture of Parmesan cheese, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Nothing too crazy.
- Cheese: Sharp cheddar, mozzarella, or Colby Jack all melt great on top. Pepper Jack is also delicious if you want a little heat. You can add a full slice of cheese if you want to make it extra cheesy.
How To Cook Stuffed Peppers in the Instant Pot
- Wash the bell peppers, cut around the stems, and slice them in half horizontally. Remove the seeds and membranes from the inside.
- In a large bowl, combine the beef mixture ingredients and stir until everything is evenly mixed together. Save the shredded cheese for the topping.
- Spoon the filling into each pepper half. Don’t worry if they are piled a little high, they cook down slightly as they cook.
- Place the trivet in the bottom of the Instant Pot and add 1 cup of water. Arrange the stuffed peppers on top of the trivet. If you want to cook all 8 at once, add a second trivet over the first layer and stack the remaining peppers on top.
- Secure the lid, set the valve to sealing, and cook on high pressure for 9 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 1-2 minutes, then carefully quick release the remaining pressure.
- Sprinkle cheese over the peppers, place the lid back on for a few minutes until melted, then serve hot.
How to Slice Peppers for Stuffed Peppers
Vertical or horizontal, which is best for Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers? Honestly, there are pros to both. If you slice the peppers horizontally through the middle, you can get two stuffed peppers out of one pepper. Costco actually prepares their stuffed peppers this way. I personally like this method because you get a better filling-to-pepper ratio. Sometimes when the pepper is left whole, it can feel like too much pepper and not enough filling. The halved peppers also tend to be easier to eat and serve.
If you cut just the tops off and leave the peppers whole, you can usually fit more into the Instant Pot since they stand upright. This method also gives you that more traditional stuffed pepper look. One thing to keep in mind is that horizontally sliced peppers cook a little faster because there is more surface area exposed, while whole peppers tend to hold their shape better. At the end of the day, it really just comes down to personal preference and how you like your stuffed peppers best.
Does the Ground Beef Need to be Cooked?
Nope! The beef and filling go in completely UNcooked! That is the best thing about this recipe. Of course, if you would like to pre-cook the beef, you absolutely can. The only reason for pre-cooking the beef would be so you can drain the grease from the beef if you are using ground beef with a higher fat content. If you pre-cook the beef, you can reduce the pressure time to only 3-5 minutes.
What Kind of Rice to Use for Stuffed Peppers
Using leftover cooked rice is definitely the way to go when making stuffed peppers. I honestly just use whatever leftover rice is on hand. Brown or white, seasoned or plain, it really isn’t going to make a huge difference. I especially love using leftover Yellow Rice, Mexican Rice and Garden Vegetable Rice. Seasoned rice just kicks it up a notch. I will often make a little extra rice when serving it as a side dish for one meal with the intent of using the leftovers for these stuffed peppers. It’s a great way to knock out two meals with one recipe. When I don’t have leftover rice on hand, I usually just cook up rice quickly in the Instant Pot and then wash the Instant Pot out before using again for the stuffed peppers.
Frequently Asked Questions About Stuffed Peppers
Read Next: 27 BEST Instant Pot Recipes
No, the meat will cook completely in the Instant Pot. That’s what makes this recipe so easy!
They can be! Just leave out the breadcrumbs or use GF breadcrumbs in the recipe instead. You can also just add extra rice instead.
They sure can! You can freeze them either before or after cooking:
Before cooking: Assemble the stuffed peppers and let the filling cool completely first. Place them in a freezer-safe container or wrap individually in plastic wrap and foil. Freeze for up to 2-3 months. When ready to cook, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and cook as directed.
After cooking: Let the peppers cool completely, then store in an airtight container and freeze. Reheat in the microwave, oven, or even back in the Instant Pot until heated through.
What To Serve With Stuffed Peppers
Have you tried this Stuffed Peppers recipe? I’d love to hear what you think! Drop a comment below and let me know how you liked ’em. And don’t forget to take a pic and tag us on Instagram @favoritefamilyrecipes! 📸🫑
Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers
Video
Ingredients
- 4 bell peppers, (I like using red, orange, and/or yellow)
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef, (see notes above)
- 2 cups rice, (pre-cooked, see notes above)
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 1 cup diced tomatoes
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs, (omit for gluten free)
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- kosher salt, to taste
- ground black pepper, to taste
- shredded cheese, for garnish
Instructions
- Wash bell peppers. Remove stem (cutting JUST around the stem) and slice horizontally (see notes above). Remove seeds and membranes.
- Combine remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl (except shredded cheese for garnish) and mix until well combined.
- Divide mixture evenly between the 8 halves (it’s ok if they are heaping).
- Place trivet in Instant Pot and pour in 1 cup water, covering the bottom of the Instant Pot. Place 4 of the stuffed peppers onto the trivet (I did this in my 6 qt). Now, you can cook them 4 at a time OR you can cook them all at once if you place the trivet with handles with the handles DOWN making kind of a table over the other trivet and first layer of peppers– the "table" will seem wobbly or lean to one side but it won't fall over, it has nowhere to go. Place the remaining 4 stuffed peppers over the top.
- Place the lid on the Instant Pot and seal, placing the tab to "sealing". Manually pressure cook on high pressure for 9 minutes. Slow release for about 1-2 minutes and then quick release. Open the Instant Pot and place cheese over all of the stuffed bell peppers (if you did 2 layers with the 2 trivets do this carefully removing the top layer and adding cheese to all the peppers and putting the top layer back).
- Place lid back on Instant Pot for about 3-5 minutes or until cheese has melted. Serve hot.
Equipment
- Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
Notes
Tips for this recipe:
- Instant Pot Note: We use a 6-quart Instant Pot brand pressure cooker that we bought in 2016. Different or newer versions may be more sensitive to the “BURN” notice. If you are concerned about the burn notice, please refer to this article: “What Does ‘Burn’ Mean on My Instant Pot?“
- If you slice horizontally down the middle, you can get two stuffed peppers out of one. Costco prepares their stuffed peppers this way. If you simply cut off the top and fill the entire pepper, the filling can overpower the pepper ratio.
- Slicing the pepper vertically will allow you to fit a lot into one pan, so it’s ideal for baking. How you cut the peppers really boils down to personal preference. But you can definitely fit in more in the Instant Pot when cutting vertically.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love this recipe?
We want to hear from you! Please leave a review.
Can one use riced cauliflower instead of rice as my family is mainly diabetic and can’t have the carbs from the rice. The way this recipe is not it has to many carbs and I really want to try as it sounds so yummy! Look forward to hearing from you.
Yes absolutely! Just make sure the cauliflower rice is drained from any excess liquid. Really try and squeeze it out if you can. Hope this helps!
If I make this recipe with only 2 peppers (4 servings), do I cook for same amount in Instant Pot? TYIA for reply.
I’m not sure – we haven’t tested it that way. Let us know how it turns out if you try it!
Cut the ground meat back to 1 lb and the rice and cheese to 1 cup each. The peppers were very amply filled with the reductions. I used both the trivit and a rack for the two layers.
I just made this recipe for dinner and it’s delicious! I doubled it bc we are meal prepping the peppers from the garden before frost. I love both the flavor and the texture. Some of our peppers were small so I have additional meat mixture left. I plan to make porcupines with it tomorrow. Thanks for a great recipe!
I meant to do that with my comment
I’m trying this recipe tonight for the stuffed peppers, I hope everyone likes them.
Absolutely delicious! I love stuffed peppers! I always feel like I’m eating just a little bit healthier when I eat this dish! Bonus that it also tastes SO good!
My husband loved these! I was happy to try them in the Instant Pot!
I added a little of the cheese to the filling, and it made them nice and cheesy all the way through. So yummy!
Going to make this tonight but please make a note that bread crumbs are not gluten free as the article states the recipe to be gluten free.
Thank you for catching that! I added a note!
Making this today with a cup of ground chuck and half a cup of fresh pork sausage! Fresh from our local meat market.
Yum! Let us know how it turns out!
The Stuffed Green Peppers came out absolutely delicious 😋 I will make these again and I highly recommend this recipe. Basic ingredients, great home coming.
So glad you liked them! Thanks for the kind comment and for the 5-stars!
Going to make this tomorrow
Let us know what you think!
Do you have a video showing how to make the stuffed peppers?
We don’t have a video for this recipe yet. It is on our “to-do” list. Thanks for the suggestion!
I’m wanting to try this recipe. If I use the peppers whole (slice to top off and clean out), do I adjust the cooking time?
Thanks!