Instant Pot/Slow Cooker Mexican Stuffed Peppers–bell peppers are stuffed with brown rice, black beans and salsa and cooked perfectly in your electric pressure cooker or your crockpot. You can make them vegetarian or with meat, it’s up to you. Top with a dollop of sour cream and enjoy this healthy weeknight dinner.
Instant Pot/Slow Cooker Mexican Stuffed Peppers
My daughter helped me plan our meals this week and has been helping cook too. She requested that we try stuffed peppers. I happily obliged since stuffed peppers is a dish that I love but don’t make very often. I don’t why because these instant pot/slow cooker mexican stuffed peppers were amazingly easy and so tasty. I topped mine with a dollop of sour cream. I also used some of my prepped chicken in the recipe. However you don’t need to use any meat at all if you don’t want to.
My son took one of the leftover peppers to lunch the next day in his mini lunch crockpot*. He has become quite the talk of his classroom. Each kid wonders and guesses what he will bring in it. Sometimes it’s pasta, sometimes it’s soup. His teacher even got on board and ordered herself one. She lets Skyler plug his crockpot into the outlet in their classroom.
Give these stuffed peppers a try! Add them to your menu. I bet you’ll be surprised at how much flavor comes from just a few ingredients.
More recipes you’ll love…
Slow Cooker Quinoa and Black Bean Stuffed Peppers
Easy Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce
Instant Pot Tomato Basil Parmesan Orzo
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What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot/Slow Cooker Mexican Stuffed Peppers I used my 6 quart oval Kitchenaid slow cooker* and my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
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Instant Pot/Slow Cooker Mexican Stuffed Peppers
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 21 minutes
- Yield: 4-5 servings 1x
Description
Bell peppers are stuffed with brown rice, black beans and salsa and cooked perfectly in your electric pressure cooker or your crockpot. You can make them vegetarian or with meat, it’s up to you. Top with a dollop of sour cream and enjoy this healthy weeknight dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups water (Instant Pot version only)
- 4 large green peppers or 5 medium green peppers
- 1/2 cup uncooked instant brown rice
- 2 cups picante sauce (I used mild Pace’s Picante sauce)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 (14 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- Optional: 1 cup cooked and chopped chicken or 1 cup cooked ground beef or turkey
- Grated cheddar and sour cream, for topping
Instructions
- Remove and discard the tops, seeds, and membranes of the bell peppers.
- In a bowl stir together the rice, picante sauce, salt, cumin, garlic powder, beans, and meat, if desired.
- Scoop the mixture into the hollowed out peppers.
- If using the Instant Pot: Pour 1 1/2 cups water in the bottom of your pot. Place a trivet in the bottom of the Instant Pot. Place the peppers on top of the trivet. You may have to arrange them to fit.
- Serve the peppers topped with a bit of grated cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream, if desired.
Notes
I have only tried this recipe with instant brown rice. I believe that uncooked, rinsed quinoa or long grain white rice would also work. Let me know if you try it and how it turns out.
This recipe is gluten free.
- Category: Meatless
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: Southwest
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 stuffed pepper (no meat)
- Calories: 211
- Sugar: 11 g
- Sodium: 1594
- Fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 42 g
- Protein: 8 g
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If I used Boca Crumbles, would I need to thaw them first? I have made this recipe numerous times, but I never added a meat substitute.
★★★★★
I bet you wouldn’t have to thaw them but I am not 100% sure!
Thanks! I had the same thought because they are messy to handle when they are thawed.
This is only the second thing I cooked in my Instant Pot (The other was just chicken thighs which I put BBQ sauce on) and it was good but frustrating. Maybe because I am new at it. I used everything exactly as the recipe calls for but I had two problems. 1) getting them out of the pot without them falling apart or falling over. I tried initially with my hands (fingers) but they just tore apart. Then I tried with tongs and that didn’t work. 2) I drained the beans completely but the finished product was very soupy. As it turned out, I pretty much had to scoop everything out with a ladle because they tore and everything went into the pot itself along with the 1 1/2 cup of water used to generate the steam/pressure. I don’t know if taking them out at 5 minutes instead of waiting the full 10 would have made a difference or not. Thanks for recipe though. I appreciate it.
★★★
Keep trying! I am sorry this recipe didn’t work well for you. But don’t give up on the IP yet…it is a great tool!
I’m not giving up at all. On this one, I just have to figure out how to keep the peppers intact, not so soupy, and how to get them out of the pot. It was very good. Just difficult to manage.
Thanks
Good!
I use red, yellow or orange peppers and I cut them lengthways as I can pile up the filling more and put more grated cheese on top.
If I’m feeding four I would cook two in the pot and then another two whilst the cheese on the first two is melting and colouring under the grill.
Sounds like an awesome idea to me!
Hi, I got inspired, and changed up the recipe a bit. First I had no trivet, so I used 2 forks, put them in the IP face down and crossed, that worked well. Then I used a small vegetable ceramic dish and did one Red Bell pepper. I stuffed it with: spices, shredded broccoli (my Instacart thought that was same as shredded cabbage.lol), black beans, corn, cooked/cut potatoes (my IP fav) and with roasted red salsa and sprinkled w nutritional yeast (a great vegan sub for cheese). It came out delicious, served w a side salad of greens/cherry tomatoes/avocado. TY for the recipe and the other ideas!
★★★★★
Cool! I’m glad you are so innovative. Sounds like it worked out great!
Delicious. I used 1 small jar mild picante and 1 small medium. I added 1 cup frozen corn, 1 jalapeño pepper seeded and finely chopped and 1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped. Nice flavor. My husband said these are his favorite stuffed peppers!
★★★★
Nice compliment from your husband! Thanks for sharing!
It was good. Used only 1 1/4 cups water in the bottom of the IP instead of 1 1/2 cups and it was enough. I salted and peppered the inside of the cavities, after using a grapefruit spoon to get the seeds and membranes out. It was good with rotisserie chicken cut up in in. I didn’t have any instant brown rice, so used instant jasmine rice.
★★★★★
I like that idea with the grapefruit spoon! I need to get one.
Not sure if you meant to say Pico De Gallo or mild salsa, but two cups of Picante sauce is just 16 ounces of straight up hot sauce. I was sceptical at first but decided to trust the recipe, and my suspicions were true. Both in prep and after being cooked, the stuffing was an extremely soupy mess, and more resembled a hot sauce soup than a stuffed pepper. Not sure how I was the only review with this issue (David benders review seemed to be close to mine) but I will try again with Pico De Gallo (what I’m assuming you actually used) and see if I have better results.
★★
Hi Troy, I used Pace Picante Sauce Mild and it was great for me. I will change the recipe to state the brand I used.
If the peppers don’t sit evenly, shave off some of the pepper, it will balance on the trivet nicely.
Thank you. I love this idea.
Made these tonight! Added a little more meat, about 1 1/4 cups lean ground turkey and used 1 cup of cooked cauliflower rice. Also used mango habanero salsa for some spice. Cooked on high pressure for 6 minutes with 6 minute natural release. Perfect and delightful!!! Will definitely make again! 😃
★★★★★
I love the idea of the cauliflower rice! I am going to try that!
I made the Mexican stuffed peppers by your instructions in the 6qt Instant Pot. It was perfect, one of my husband’s favorites! Any idea how nutritional values are affected by addition of ground beef or ground turkey?
★★★★★
Hi Anne I guess it would probably depend upon if the ground turkey or beef was lean and how lean it was. You can check nutrition info on myfitness pal. That’s what I do!
Is there a way I can use regular brown rice instead of instant?
If it’s cooked you could!
Loved it! So easy, quick & pocketbook friendly! I’ll be having this often.
★★★★★
Thanks Catherine. I’m so glad you liked it!
Tried with brown basmati rice since I’d had good success with your Mexican rice and beans. 22 minutes left me with a mess, with very soft peppers and a soupy slop in the bottom of the IP. Probably needed a pot in pot, which I have but did not use. Silly me. Beans and rice were just right. Tofurkey Italian sausage instead of meat – delicious.
oh shoot! sorry it didn’t work out for you. You would have had better luck with cooked brown rice.
Love this recipe!! I added spinach and corn to it. This will now be a staple in our home. Quick and easy and very nutritious, Thank you! 😊
★★★★★
Love the idea of corn!
If you add ground turkey how long do you cook it in the instant pot?
★★★★
Keep the same cooking time. The turkey should be browned first.
Made tonight, delicious. I did some changes to recipe.
I did use quinoa, worked nicely.
I added a chopped, sautéed in olive oil, half of a red onion.
I thinly sliced 6-8 green olives and added.
I added 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
My peppers were red and orange, we don’t like green peppers.
6 minutes at high pressure and 6 minutes before steam release was perfect timing.
Thanks for letting my husband realize he could like stuffed peppers after hating the ground beef with tomato sauce ones he had in school cafeterias.
Susan in No. California
yay!! win!!
Hi Susan
Did you use cooked or uncooked quinoa when you made it?
thank in advance
Rod
I made this last night and it was delish! I may add corn to the mixture next time I make this 🙂
★★★★★
For slow cook , whether the valve to be set as sealing or venting?
It doesn’t matter really. I would set it to sealing but it doesn’t matter because it isn’t reaching pressure.
Made these today. I didn’t use any meat. They are delicious! the trickiest part was removing them from the insert. I forgot to look for peppers with even bottoms and a couple of mine were kind of supported by others! When it came time to remove them, i had to keep some from falling over! Next time I will pay more attention to the bottoms of the peppers! So simple and delicious I will definitely make again!
Oh, yeah, good tip Linda. Thanks!
I always look for sturdy 4-lobed peppers. They sit nicely. Seems like most peppers are 3-lobed.
Can I use your recipes for a newcook silver 9 in 1 multi-purpose cooker please
I am not familiar with that cooker. As long as it has the pressure cook feature then yes you can use it!
Made this for dinner tonight. Missed the part where it’s “instant rice” so my rice was a little crunchy. The taste was amazing, easy to throw together, and I’ll definitely be making this again (with instant rice this time!!).
Thanks for the great recipes.
★★★★★
Oh oops! Yes I don’t use instant rice a lot but this recipe needed it.
Karen, I haven’t made stuffed peppers in my IP yet but I have used quinoa and frozen brown rice with other fillers. Both are very good. I tend to favor the quinoa more than rice. Especially over white rice. I also use the sweeter yellow and orange peppers for stuffing. I will definitely be trying this recipe and using my IP. This sounds delicious!!
I hope you like it!