Crockpot Stuffed Peppers With Beef and Rice

Choosing the Right Peppers and Filling

Bell peppers. Red, yellow, and orange peppers are sweeter and have thicker walls, so they hold their shape through hours of cooking. Green peppers turn softer and taste a little bitter. Look for ones with flat bottoms that stand up on their own.

Lean ground beef. Use 90/10. Since you're not draining anything, fattier beef leaves grease floating in the sauce.

Cooked rice. About a cup of white or brown rice, cooled. Leftover rice is perfect. Raw regular rice cooks unevenly in a slow cooker and can stay crunchy.

Drained diced tomatoes, Worcestershire, and Italian seasoning. Together they give the filling a savory, almost meatloaf-like depth.

Mozzarella. Half binds the filling. The other half melts on top at the end.

Tomato sauce. A plain can, thinned with a little water, becomes both the cooking liquid and the sauce you spoon over each pepper.

Filling and Cooking

1. Prep the peppers. Slice off the tops and pull out the seeds and ribs. If one wobbles, shave a thin slice off the bottom without cutting through.
2. Mix gently. Combine the raw beef, rice, onion, garlic, tomatoes, seasonings, and half the cheese with your hands, just until it comes together. Overmixing makes a dense filling.
3. Stuff loosely. Fill each pepper right to the top without packing it hard.
4. Stand them in sauce. Pour half the sauce into the pot, set the peppers upright, and spoon the rest over the tops.
5. Cook. LOW for 5–6 hours or HIGH for 3–4 hours. The filling is done at 160°F in the center, the safe temperature for ground beef.
6. Cheese. Top with the rest of the mozzarella, cover for 10–15 minutes, and finish with parsley.

A 6-quart oval slow cooker holds six medium peppers snugly, and snug is good because they keep each other upright. A round 4-quart fits about four.

Swaps and Variations

• Mexican-style. Taco seasoning, black beans, corn, and pepper jack. Top with salsa and sour cream.
• Italian sausage. Half beef, half sausage. Brown and drain the sausage first so the sauce doesn't turn greasy.
• Cheeseburger. Cheddar instead of mozzarella, plus a spoonful of ketchup and mustard in the filling.
• Low-carb. Use 1½ cups of cauliflower rice instead of rice.
• Ground turkey. Add an extra ½ teaspoon of salt since turkey is milder, and cook until the filling reaches 165°F.
• Instant rice. Use ¾ cup uncooked instant rice and add ¼ cup extra water to the sauce.

Love the flavor but want it faster? Instant Pot stuffed pepper soup has everything you like about stuffed peppers in a spoonable bowl, made fast in the pressure cooker.

Meal Prep and Storage

Each pepper is already a portion, which makes these great for lunches. Cool them, pack each one with some sauce, and refrigerate within 2 hours. They keep 3–4 days. For the freezer, wrap cooled peppers individually and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw them overnight in the fridge, then reheat covered at 350°F for 25–30 minutes, or microwave single peppers covered for 2–3 minutes, until 165°F in the center. They'll be softer after freezing, but still tasty.

Serve with a green salad, garlic bread for the sauce, or roasted zucchini or green beans. The oven-baked stuffed bell peppers are the classic version if you'd rather bake them, and chorizo stuffed bell peppers bring more heat. For another slow cooker dinner you can load in the morning, try crockpot marry me chicken. For a lighter ground-meat meal, there's ground turkey egg roll in a bowl.

Cook's Tips

• Cool the rice before mixing. Warm rice starts to heat raw beef unevenly and can hold the mixture in the unsafe temperature range. Spread freshly cooked rice on a plate for 10 minutes, or use cold leftover rice.
• Prep ahead in a container, not the crock. You can stuff the peppers up to 24 hours ahead. Keep them covered in a dish in the fridge, not in the ceramic insert, and add about 30 minutes to the cooking time. A chilled ceramic insert dropped into a preheated base can crack.
• Lift with support. Slide a spatula under each pepper and steady the side with tongs. Cooked peppers tear easily if you grab them from the top.

Stuffed Bell Peppers Questions

Can raw ground beef go into stuffed peppers in the crockpot?

Yes. Lean ground beef cooks through inside the peppers over 5–6 hours on LOW. Check that the center reaches 160°F before serving.

Do I need to cook the rice first?

Yes, unless you use instant rice. Regular raw rice cooks unevenly in a slow cooker.

How do I keep them from turning mushy?

Start checking at 5 hours on LOW or 3 on HIGH, and use thick-walled red or yellow peppers. Don't boil them first, since the slow cooker softens them plenty.

Can I freeze stuffed peppers?

Yes, cooked and individually wrapped, for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.