Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers

5 from 7 votes

Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers are a hit for busy weeknights! The cheesy beef and rice filling is so satisfying and bakes beautifully in brilliant green or red peppers. Your family will love them!

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Total Time25

Course: Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Instant Pot, Stuffed Peppers

Servings:

Calories: 519kcal

Author: Erica Walker

Equipment

Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

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.

Video

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