Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers Recipe

Stuffed peppers make for a quick, easy, and nourishing meal option. The self-contained dish often consists of ground beef and rice, but there's plenty of room for creativity, making stuffed peppers as fun to make as they are easy. And, when you use an Instant Pot to cook the peppers, this recipe only becomes even easier to make. Recipe developer Kristen Carli has the perfect Instant Pot stuffed peppers recipe that is sure to become a go-to in your household. "I love this for dinner," Carli raves about the dish. "It is complete on its own — not requiring side dishes."

While these peppers are delicious, convenient, and super easy to cook with the Instant Pot, they also require less than an hour of time to make. If your family loves cheesy, savory meals, then give this Instant Pot stuffed peppers recipe a try — you'll find that it's perfect for even the busiest of lives.

Not only is the prep for these stuffed peppers quick, but you'll only need a few key ingredients to make them. Start in the vegetable section with six bell peppers, any color. As for the stuffing part, you'll need some ground turkey as the base. Additionally, you'll need some olive oil, brown rice, water, canned diced tomatoes, shredded cheddar cheese, chili powder, cumin, and onion powder. And, this is an Instant Pot recipe, so you'll want to have your trusty pressure cooker on hand to assemble and cook this meal to perfection.

Before you do anything else, preheat your oven to 350 F. Though your Instant Pot will do most of the cooking, the stuffed peppers will ultimately cook in the oven, so you'll want to be sure that it's ready to go once the peppers are. While the oven is preheating, turn your Instant Pot on to the sauté setting. Once it's heated up, add the olive oil. Let the oil heat up a little, then the ground turkey. "Ground turkey is a lighter meat and a leaner source of protein," Carli explains of her choice of meat for the dish, as opposed to traditional ground beef. Break up the turkey and keep cooking until it's no longer pink — this should take about 10 minutes.

Now that the turkey is cooked, it's time to finish the rest of the stuffing. Add the brown rice, water, and diced tomatoes into the Instant Pot, mixing these ingredients into the turkey so it all cooks evenly. Then sprinkle the chili powder, cumin, and onion powder on top and keep stirring to combine. Once all of your stuffing is thoroughly mixed, place the lid on the Instant Pot and set the valve to sealing. Turn to the pressure cook setting for 22 minutes and let the Instant Pot do all the work from here!

While the stuffing cooks in the Instant Pot, turn to your bell peppers. It's always good to wash off fresh vegetables, so start by doing that. Then, slice off the tops of each of the bell peppers and remove the inner membranes. "I go in and remove the inner membranes with my hands," advises Carli. "Then I rinse under running water to remove the inner seeds." Add the bell peppers to a small baking dish, standing them upright. Then set these aside while you wait for the stuffing to finish cooking in the Instant Pot.

When the 22 minutes is up for the Instant Pot mixture, quickly and carefully release the valve. Open the lid and spoon the stuffing into each of the prepped bell peppers. Finish off the stuffed peppers with some shredded cheddar cheese, divided equally over each pepper. Place the baking tray into the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Once they're finished baking, you're ready to serve and enjoy! Carli notes that this Instant Pot stuffed peppers recipe is a "great weeknight meal for busy families." Considering how fulfilling this dish is, it's easy to see why this recipe is so desirable for busy families!