This recipe originally appeared on A Food Lover’s Kitchen.
Instant Pot Stuffed Bell Peppers are packed with ground beef, rice, and onions, then cooked to perfection in the Instant Pot in just 10 minutes. They turn out so flavorful and fork tender.
» You might also like these Instant Pot Brats, Instant Pot Frozen Meatballs and this Instant Pot Spaghetti.
» Check out our Instant Pot Cooking Times Cheat Sheet so you never have to look up times again for your favorite foods you make in the pressure cooker. Print or bookmark it so you always have it handy!
I love the way these stuffed bell peppers turn out in the Instant Pot. I used to cook them in the oven and they’d take so long to get cooked through in the center so the pepper was always soggy. Cooking them in the Instant Pot not only saves time, it ensures that the filling is cooked and the pepper is still firm.
If you just got your Instant Pot or you haven’t used it yet, this is a great recipe to start with. It’s impossible to mess it up, even if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Why Use An Instant Pot?
The Instant Pot is one of the most useful kitchen appliances you can buy, because it drastically cuts down on the cooking time for developing flavors in soups and stews, getting tough cuts of meat tender, and even baking a cheesecake. And there are many accessories that will help you get more out of your Instant Pot.
If you don’t have one yet, check out our guide on which one to buy. Also see our guide to How to Use an Instant Pot for more information.
- Don’t Have an Instant Pot Yet? This guide can help you choose the right one.
- See reviews and prices for Instant Pots on Amazon.
- Learn some great Instant Pot Tips & Tricks.
- Click to find more recipes to make in your Instant Pot.
What Peppers to Use
In this recipe, we use red bell pepper, but you can really use any pepper for stuffed peppers. Even if you use oblong Romano peppers, they’ll still cook up nicely in the Instant Pot.
Bell peppers are my choice because they stand upright, are firm enough to hold the ingredients, and have a mild sweetness to them.
There is a slight difference in sweetness between red and green peppers. Green are more bitter and slight more firm, but you can use green or yellow bell peppers, if you wish.
If your bell peppers don’t have flat bottoms, they won’t stand upright and will be difficult to serve, so pick them carefully. In addition, you want peppers that are about the same size so they will cook at the same rate. A medium size red bell pepper with a flat bottom is what I usually choose.
Instant Pot Pro Plus
Now you can control your pot wirelessly through an app. Cool-touch handles on the pot itself, and an automatic locking pressure release valve for greater safety. This one does it all.
How to Make Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers
Start by cutting the tops off the peppers. Take the seeds and membranes out. You don’t have to get too technical about it, just shake out the pepper and pull out the thickest of the white ribs.
It’s also a good idea to poke a few small holes in the bottoms of the peppers so the accumulated water can drain through. This will keep the peppers from retaining a bunch of water in the bottoms.
You can keep the tops and put them back on the peppers, if you want. It would just be for looks though. There’s no technical reason to keep or use the tops.
In a bowl, combine the ground beef with the remaining ingredients. I just mix it up with my hands. It’s easiest to get everything well incorporated that way. You can mix it with a spoon or even put it in the food processor, if you want.
For the ground beef, I use a 15% fat ground beef. This gives the beef the fat it needs to be really tender and juicy. It adds a lot of great flavor to the peppers.
Once it’s all mixed up, stuff the mixture evenly into each pepper. If you have medium peppers, the mixture will fill each pepper to the top.
Pour 1 cup of water into the bottom of the Instant Pot’s inner pot and insert the trivet. Place the peppers upright on the trivet. Lock the lid and set the vent to sealing.
Set the Instant Pot to pressure cook for 10 minutes. You can then do a manual pressure release. Allowing the pot to naturally release pressure will continue the cooking process for longer, which isn’t ideal for these because the pepper can easily become overcooked.
Test the internal temperature of the peppers with an instant read thermometer to make sure it reached 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
Serve the peppers with fresh parsley or basil for garnish. You can also serve it with extra tomato sauce or some sour cream, if you want.
Variations for Stuffed Bell Peppers
As mentioned, there are many variations you can make to these peppers to mix things up a bit.
- Serve them with cheese melted over the top (cheddar, smoked gouda, or mozzarella are our favorites)
- Mix the ground beef with 1/4 cup of cream cheese instead of tomato sauce
- Use different rice, such as brown rice, Mexican rice, or cilantro lime rice
- Mix in 2 teaspoons of homemade taco seasoning and serve with fresh tomatoes, shredded lettuce and salsa on the top
- Use cauliflower rice instead of white rice, for a low-carb alternative
Related Posts:
- Instant Pot Frozen Chicken Tenderloins
- Instant Pot Potatoes & Carrots
- Sweet Potatoes in the Instant Pot
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Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers
Note: Made in a 6-qt Instant Pot
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 medium bell peppers
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef 85/15 (750g)
- 1 cup cooked rice 150 g
- 1/4 cup tomato sauce 55 g
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon oregano
- Parsley or basil for garnish
Instructions
- Cut the tops off the peppers. Take the seeds and membranes out. Poke a few holes in the bottoms of the peppers with a fork to allow built up water to escape.
- In a bowl, combine the ground beef with the remaining ingredients. Mix well to fully combine.
- Stuff the mixture evenly into each pepper.
- Pour 1 cup of water into the bottom of your Instant Pot and insert the trivet. Place the peppers upright on the trivet. Lock the lid and set the vent to sealing.
- Set the Instant Pot to Pressure Cook for 10 minutes. Manually release the pressure.
- Test the internal temperature of the peppers to make sure it reached 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
- Serve with fresh parsley or basil for garnish.
Notes
- Poking a few holes in the bottom of the peppers allows the liquid that builds up inside to drain out.
Nutrition
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Laura spends a lot of her time cooking and creating recipes to share. She loves traveling and learning about new foods around the world to bring into her own recipes at home.
Not only do these look and sound delicious, they are so easy to make. Such a fabulous meal.
Sounds delicious! Would I need to modify anything if I used ground turkey instead?
No, you can use ground beef or turkey interchangeably. Enjoy!
I am always looking for new ways to use my instant pot, and these stuffed peppers look amazing. So many ways to adapt them too. YUM!
Yes! Another amazing Instant Pot recipe to add to my collection! These were so meaty and flavorful, even the kids gobbled them up!
Never thought to make stuffed peppers in the IP, this is brilliant! Bookmarking!
These stuffed peppers sound amazing! I am going to have to make these for lunch today! Time to dust of the instant pot and have a healthy and delicious lunch!
I have not made stuffed peppers in my instant pot yet – cannot wait to try this.