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0 from 45 votes

Best Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers

Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers are made with seasoned ground beef and rice, topped with marinara sauce and melty cheese. They're a great weeknight meal cooked to perfection in a fraction of the time in the Instant Pot. 

Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Total Time
1 hr
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 426 kcal
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian , American

Ingredients

Perfect Instant Pot Rice:
  • 1 cup basmati rice uncooked
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
Stuffed Bell Peppers:
  • 5 medium or 4 large bell peppers
  • 1 lb ground beef chicken or turkey
  • 1 - 1 1/2 cups cooked rice* see notes
  • 1 small sweet onion diced
  • 1 small tomato diced
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic 
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt or more based on preference
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 
  • 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
  • 1 cup water
Optional Garnish:
  • 8 tablespoons marinara sauce
  • 8 tablespoons shredded Mozzarella cheese
  • fresh parsley chopped

Instructions

Perfect Instant Pot Rice:
    Cup of Yum
  1. Add the rice, olive oil, salt, and 1 cup of water to an Instant Pot-safe dish. Stir to combine. Cover with foil and pinch a few holes, or use my favorite Stackable Pot.
  2. Add a long-legged trivet to the Instant Pot and the remaining 1 cup of water. Add the pot with the rice onto the trivet.
  3. Close the lid and pressure cook at High Pressure for 5 minutes + 10 minutes Natural Release. Turn off the heat, release the remaining pressure, and open the lid.
  4. Carefully remove the dish with the rice from the Instant Pot. Let it stand for 10 minutes, remove the foil, and fluff the rice using 2 forks.
  5. Measure 1 - 1 1/2 cups of cooked rice for the Stuffed Peppers and store the rest.
  6. Rinse the Instant Pot stainless steel insert.
Stuffed Peppers:
  1. Wash the peppers, cut off their tops (I like to keep them to use when serving the peppers), remove the seeds, and clean the inside well by gently removing all the veins.
  2. You can brown the beef in a skillet or the Instant Pot before mixing it with the rest of the ingredients. I prefer to skip this step and save time using raw ground beef.
  3. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients, starting with the ground beef and ending with the chopped parsley. Stir well to combine thoroughly.
  4. Stuff the prepared peppers equally with the mixture.
Cook:
  1. Add a trivet with handles to the IP or a steamer basket. Add 1 cup of water and arrange the peppers onto the trivet.
  2. Close the lid and pressure cook at High Pressure for 7 minutes + 5 minutes Natural Release. Turn off the heat. Release the remaining pressure manually and carefully open the lid.
  3. Using the trivet or steamer basket handles, carefully remove the peppers from the pot.
Optional Garnish and Broiling:
  1. Turn on the oven broiler.
  2. Add stuffed peppers to a baking dish.
  3. Top each pepper with two tablespoons of marinara sauce and two tablespoons of shredded mozzarella cheese.
  4. Transfer the baking dish to the oven under the broiler and cook for 1-2 minutes until the cheese is fully melted.
  5. Remove from oven, garnish with freshly chopped parsley, and serve.

Notes

  • *The recipe makes enough mixture to stuff 4-5 large bell peppers. You can cook them in batches, if you have more medium bell peppers that won't fit all in the Instant Pot. To make less filling, just enough to stuff 4 medium bell peppers, either use 1 cup of cooked rice instead of two, or use less ground beef, instead of 1 lb.

Nutrition Information

Serving 0g Calories 426kcal (21%) Carbohydrates 55g (18%) Protein 23g (46%) Fat 22g (34%) Saturated Fat 8g (40%) Cholesterol 69mg (23%) Sodium 651mg (27%) Potassium 727mg (21%) Fiber 4g (16%) Sugar 9g (18%) Vitamin A 3835IU (77%) Vitamin C 136.6mg (152%) Calcium 173mg (17%) Iron 3.4mg (19%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 6servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 426

% Daily Value*

Serving 0g
Calories 426kcal 21%
Carbohydrates 55g 18%
Protein 23g 46%
Fat 22g 34%
Saturated Fat 8g 40%
Cholesterol 69mg 23%
Sodium 651mg 27%
Potassium 727mg 15%
Fiber 4g 16%
Sugar 9g 18%
Vitamin A 3835IU 77%
Vitamin C 136.6mg 152%
Calcium 173mg 17%
Iron 3.4mg 19%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.