Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers – Flavor packed ground beef, chopped veggies, mexican rice and melty cheese are cooked and served inside colorful bell peppers. Just ten minutes on high pressure for amazing stuffed peppers in the Instant Pot!
Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers
These stuffed peppers are so easy and delicious. The ground beef cooks right in the bell pepper so prep is so easy! I use my favorite Instant Pot Mexican Rice or Stovetop Mexican Rice Recipe for the stuffing.
I love this recipe, it’s so versatile and packed with flavor. These stuffed peppers are adapted from my CrockPot Stuffed Peppers recipe that has been a reader favorite for years. I love that the Instant Pot version only takes 10 minutes on high pressure.
How to Make Stuffed Peppers in the Instant Pot
- Trim tops off of bell peppers and dice.
- Heat chopped onions in tomato sauce mixture to soften onions.
- Combine uncooked ground beef with rest of filling ingredients in a large bowl.
- Pour 1/3 cup of water into Instant Pot and place bell peppers on rack.
- Fill bell peppers with ground beef mixture and top with additional cheese.
- Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes, then use a quick pressure release.
How Long to Cook Stuffed Peppers in the Instant Pot
This is an Instant Pot recipe that actually cuts down on cooking time. So many Instant Pot recipes, mine included, use the Instant Pot as more of a multi cooker than a pressure cooker. It’s convenient to use the Instant Pot as a one pot multi cooker, but with the time it takes to build pressure, cook and release pressure, it doesn’t always cut down on actual cooking time.
These stuffed peppers cook in just ten minutes on high pressure and use a quick pressure release, so with the time it takes to build to pressure it’s about 25 minutes total cooking time. This same recipe takes about an hour in the oven.
What to Serve with Stuffed Peppers
- Black Bean and Corn Salad
- Mexican Rice
- Slow Cooker Refried Beans
- Frozen Margaritas
- Homemade Salsa
- Baked Tortilla Chips
More Stuffed Pepper Recipes
One Pan Stuffed Bell Pepper Casserole
Flavor packed ground beef, chopped veggies, mexican rice and melty cheese are cooked and served inside colorful bell peppers. Just ten minutes on high pressure for amazing stuffed peppers in the Instant Pot!
- 4 bell peppers
- 1 pound 85/15 ground beef
- 1/2 cup onion finely diced
- 8 oz can of tomato sauce
- 3/4 cup mexican rice cooked use leftover mexican rice
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 1/4 cups colby jack cheese shredded and divided
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
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Pour tomato sauce into a heat proof bowl and add diced onion. Heat the onion/tomato sauce mixture in the microwave for about 5 minutes to soften onions. Set aside to cool.
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Cut the tops off of bell peppers. Remove stems and seeds and dice the tops of the bell peppers. Pour 1/3 of a cup of water into the bottom of the Instant Pot, add cooking rack and place bell peppers on top.
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In a large mixing bowl, combine one pound of uncooked ground beef, cooled onion/tomato sauce mixture, diced bell peppers, 1 cup of shredded colby jack cheese, 3/4 cup of cooked mexican rice, 1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, smoked paprika, and chili powder.
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Fill bell peppers with ground beef mixture and top with remaining cheese. Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes, Instant Pot will take about 10 minutes to come to pressure. Then use a Quick Pressure Release. You can test mixture for doneness with a meat thermometer. It should be cooked to 160 degrees.
You must used pre-cooked rice. I used leftover mexican rice, but you can also use cooked white rice. Just bump up your seasoning so that the mixture is not too bland.
These stuffed bell peppers are great frozen and reheated.
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What an amazing recipe! I am adding this to my dinner line up for the week; looks delicious!
LOVE stuffed peppers! Definitely trying them in the instant pot now!
What an amazing recipe! So quick and easy; perfect for busy school nights!
I LOVE stuffed peppers and just made them recently…Instant Pot looks like a much quicker way and I’ll give your recipe a try!
This is such a great idea! One of our favorite meals to make!
So so good. We loved every bite!
Made a similar variation of these tonight. FIrst time using the instant pot. The instructions and cook time was perfect. The peppers came out delicious.
Great to hear! Thank you!
Tried in my ninja foodie and it was great!!! Thanks
We have stuffed peppers on the menu for tomorrow, I never knew you could make them in the Instant Pot! Trying this ASAP!
This was such a great meal! The whole family approved!
Made this for the family and it was a hit!
This is so great. I love stuffed peppers but have never tried it in my instant pot. It never even occurred to me. Thanks!
Why would you want to put the peppers in the pot, then stuff them? Wouldn’t it be easier to stuff them first, then place them in the pot? Thanks!
I tried both ways and found it easier to stuff them in the pot. Once they are stuffed they are heavy and mine kept tipping and spilling into the pot when trying to place them.
We used turkey instead of beef so we had to cook them for about 15 minutes to get the turkey cooked all the way through . Froze the left over mix for another meal in the future .
This is the second time I’ve cooked these in the instant pot. We absolutely love them!! However, it takes it double the time to cook them each time. And then tonight it actually took even longer! What could I possibly be doing wrong?
Hi Ashley! Are you remembering to add the water to the Instant Pot before cooking?
This is so quick and easy to make!! Really delicious too!
Toni recently posted…Triple Citrus Chicken Marinade Recipe
Briliiant! Another great reason to love my IP!
instnat pot recipes are my favorite because they’re so easy. this one is super easy and tastes amazing!
OMG best stuffed peppers ever I used white rice did everything to recipe but added 3 more minutes in cooking delicious