How Long to Cook Stuffed Peppers

Want to know how long to cook stuffed peppers in the oven, air fryer, Dutch Oven or Instant Pot pressure cooker? We have all the cook times here so you can make them all and see which is your favorite. Start making our easy stuffed peppers recipe and we will walk you thru the rest.

How Long to Cook Stuffed Bell Peppers

There are lots of types of green peppers out there, some are yellow, red or orange too. The bell variety is the most popular to stuff since it is hollow with plenty of room to stuff. You can keep them vegetarian without ground meat at all but we like to add some ourselves. Include cheese or make them dairy free, all are delicious.

Let’s start with the star of the show first shall we? The vessel is the pepper itself. This variety is not spicy at all. Each color has a slightly different flavor with the red being the sweetest of them all. You can choose whichever you like best, or use a few of each to have a choice. Many bell pepper recipes call for you to blanch bell peppers first.

How Long to Cook Bell Peppers

If you wanted to char them ahead of time instead of boiling you can do so a few different ways. The cooking time as is without being filled can vary depending on the cooking method, and how charred you want the outside skins to be. Here are some general guidelines:

• Roasting whole bell peppers in the oven
  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F
  • Place on a baking sheet and roast for 20-30 minutes or until the skin is blistered and charred to your liking.
  • Turn each one occasionally to ensure even cooking and browning
  • Remove and let them cool for a few minutes before peeling off the skin
  • Remove the stem and seeds, discard, and this is how to cut bell peppers for this purpose.
• Grilling bell peppers
  • Preheat a grill to medium high heat
  • Slice off tops and cut in half, remove seeds and discard
    • or leave whole and follow our grilled stuffed peppers recipe
  • Brush halves or slices with oil and season with salt and pepper
  • Grill for 3-5 minutes on each side or until they are tender and slightly charred
  • Remove and serve immediately.
• Sauteing bell peppers
  • Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat
  • Add slices and sauté or stir fry for 5-7 minutes or until they are tender and slightly browned
  • Season with salt and pepper as desired.

Always keep an eye on them as they cook and adjust the cooking time as needed.

How Long to Cook Stuffed Peppers with Uncooked Meat

We shared a version of this with how long to bake stuffed peppers at 400 where ground chicken was used. Using a Dutch Oven and baking them with a tight lid makes it easy to steam everything to the correct internal temperature so it is safe to eat.

You could easily swap that meat out for ground turkey, beef or even sausage if you wanted to. I will say that this is an exception to the rule. It was kinda’ a test after years and years of cooking the meat first, cooling a bit and then blending in with the other ingredients. It surprisingly turned out well I must say but isn’t my go to.

I have never used uncooked rice I must say. This is how long rice takes to cook so you can choose whichever is your favorite. I am very picky about this grain. You need a decent amount of liquid to make it fluffy and the right tender texture. I don’t think it would be quite right without boiling or pressure cooking first. That is just me.

How Long to Cook Stuffed Peppers in Instant Pot

The first time I learned how to make this classic dish it was in the oven. I share the steps in the post at the top of this one. My husband’s grandma made it that way and when we got married he taught it to me. I tweaked it just a bit from tomato sauce to spaghetti sauce for more flavor but beyond that it’s the same.

Fast forward a few years we were together when I got a pressure cooker and that is all I used. At that time I thought about our meal rotations and just figured out how to make each one in that pot. I couldn’t believe how much faster it was. NO need to blanch first since they are steamed at high pressure. You could use raw meat or precooked with this.

You’ll need a steamer basket or trivet to keep Instant Pot stuffed bell peppers off the bottom. If not it will likely trigger the burn function and stop working. The bottoms would likely scorch too, no good. This is by far the fastest and least prep of them all.

How Long to Cook Stuffed Peppers in Crock Pot

This is another way that is fast because you don’t have to boil the peppers first. Same thing, they will steam nicely already filled with all the things until tender and to temperature. Super easy if you have a bit of time to prep in the morning.

You’ll want to keep the tops so you can place them on just for the cooking process to keep the steam off of them. That is a great way to keep the stuffing from getting wet with any of these. If you like them a bit spicy I would suggest using half and half with ground beef or for a lot of heat use the whole Jimmy Dean roll.

The size of your Crockpot will determine how many you can make at one time. Put in as many as will fit snugly. As they steam the outsides will shrink just a bit which will make a bit more room as your Crock Pot stuffed peppers shrivel and break down. Typically you’re looking at 6-8 hours, typical for slow cooking dishes.

How Long Does it Take to Make Stuffed Peppers

It depends on the cooking method you have chosen but just the prep if you precook the meat and rice will take you 30 minutes or so. With baking to melt give yourself 45 minutes or so basically. I use one cup shredded cheese, some inside the mixture and some cheese baked on top. That is up to you.

• Prepare by cutting the peppers top off and scooping out the seeds and membrane.
• You’ll need to blanch peppers before stuffing (any color) in boiling water over medium heat so peppers are tender and get rid of bitter flavor.
• Cook your rice in Instant Pot or rice cooker while you’re doing that
• Brown your lean ground beef, turkey, sausage or chicken until it is no longer pink.
• When rice and ground beef are cooked, mix them together with your tomato sauce (or diced tomatoes), salt, and 1/2 cheddar or Monterey jack cheese. 
• Put blanched peppers in a muffin tin or baking dish so they don’t fall over and fill them with your rice mixture. 
• Cook the peppers in the oven at 350 degrees for maybe 15 – 20 minutes just to meld all the flavors together.
• If you want to top with cheese do so the last 5 minutes or so just cheese is melted and lightly browned.

For an alternative method that doesn’t require an oven you can try air fryer stuffed peppers. This will get you a nice crisp along the edges and a bubbled cheese topping. A fun finger food you could make stuffed mini peppers which are more like an appetizer than main dish.

How to make Stuffed Bell Peppers

I have the most basic directions below you can start with, baked in the oven. Then move on to a few of the others linked in this post and see which is your favorite!