Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers

Our easy Instant Pot stuffed peppers recipe with ground beef and rice will be your favorite one pot meal. No blanching required to make these classic stuffed green peppers with spaghetti sauce and cheese on top.

Ninja Foodi Stuffed Peppers

I have been making these for years in my oven but then I made these. Fast forward a few years and I also made them as one of my easy Ninja Foodi recipes with the lid that is not attached. Plus to that is you can crisp the top when done with the one that is attached, a great option but any brand of pot will work.

Do you have to blanch peppers?

With my original stuffed green peppers you have to take an extra step to blanch bell peppers first in boiling water. NO need to do this in your pressure cooker though! What a time saver right? If you have your own favorite filling by all means use that but this technique to cut down the cooking time dramatically.

What Color Bell Peppers to Use

Now when it comes to choosing the color and/or shapes of bell peppers at the store there is a rhyme and reason to which I do. Now green will typically be the cheapest, the other colors are a bit sweeter. I don’t care so much about that but I like females which have 4 bumps on the bottom. Allows them to sit flatter and not fall over.

Made with Ground Beef

We always add meat and have a lot of lean ground beef on hand so that is our go to however you could use Jimmy Dean spicy ground sausage if you preferred or a meat alternative. You’ll need to precook it for best results.

Can you use frozen ground beef?

You could follow our Instant Pot Frozen Ground Beef steps first, break up, drain and combine with other ingredients too. A great trick when you have had a forgetful morning but want to save dinner.

Best Type of Rice to Use

It doesn’t really matter whether you love arborio rice, wild, or jasmine you could use any of them. We prefer the first but honestly I use what I have at home, and what I have time for (white is fastest).

Do you have to cook rice first?

Yes you will need cooked rice to make these, so start off with that because it will take the longest. Sometimes I use minute rice or make Ninja Foodi white rice first before I start sauteeing the meat and onions together.

Can you use brown rice?

Yes, you have to make it ahead of time so if you don’t want to cook Instant Pot white rice but rather a healthier brown or even wild varieties you can. It does take longer for the healthier ones to cook so start them early and as soon as done start on sauteing your meat and continue from there.

Stuffed Peppers Without Rice (Option)

You can skip the rice and carbs all together if you’d like, we don’t. If you leave it out you will likely need to increase the amount of meat to fill each one (but won’t be as yummy if you ask me without the fluffy texture).

For the sauce I use a jar of spaghetti sauce!! I know, might sound crazy but there are already tons of seasonings in there so that means less prep for me which is a huge win.

Mozzarella cheese is optional but seriously it’s an amazing addition. I have made these with a dairy free alternative from Daiya for my husband and it works but doesn’t melt as well as the real thing. Optional: you could add 1/2 cup of diced tomatoes is optional if you like it chunky, add into meat mixture and/or add a spicy kick with dry Sriracha or red pepper flakes.

Do you have to cook meat before stuffing bell peppers?

Yes, I have never done it otherwise and I don’t think it would work very well, plus you are able to drain the meat this way or else it would sit in the bottom and soak up into the meat. I do the same with our Air Fryer Stuffed Peppers so either way there is a bit of precooking beforehand but it’s not bad at all. Well worth it in the end I tell you.

I usually use ground beef, ground turkey is leaner, or omit if you want vegetarian stuffed peppers. You could make our chicken stuffed bell peppers and cook this way too

What can you use instead of a vegetable steamer?

If you don’t have a handy dandy vegetable steamer you could set on a trivet but they may fall over which would be a bummer. I suggest you buy one because it makes it easy peasy to make this and other vegetables and has a nifty and safe way to pull it out when it’s done too!

This is what I meant by the trick to lifting your steamer basket out safely and easily….this hook! This hook/rod comes inside the box with your steamer basket, and makes it SO much easier to lift, place on a plate, and serve…without needing an oven mitt. I am ALL about easy!

How Long to Cook Stuffed Peppers in Instant Pot

Ok so there is a bit of time it takes to cook the rice and brown the meat in the first step. Once you have that all combined and stuffed it takes 10 minutes under high pressure with about 10 minutes to come to pressure initially. With that said I would say it takes a total of 30 minutes or so.

My kids love these because everyone gets their own! Since the peppers are steamed inside your pressure cooker they lose their bitterness and are so soft. You can literally cut them with the side of a fork.

This is a great recipe for families I tell you! If your kids aren’t so sure about the peppers at first give it time. Allow them to just eat the insides first and eventually have them “try just one bite”. It took a bit but now my girls love the whole thing!