Roasted Stuffed Bell Peppers

Instant Pot Stuffed Bell Peppers

There are some meals around here that I only make once in a blue moon. One of those is stuffed bell peppers. Besides me, there's only one other person here that likes them. How sad is that? They are so yummy. It's just one of those recipes I don't make often because when I do, I make two meals. Which is something I rarely do, who has time for that? The good thing is I can make a double batch
The original recipe I was given for these uses minute rice. I never have this on hand. I usually have to buy rice just for this. Which isn't wise, because this would be the only recipe I use it in. I asked around about using regular white rice. Some people said they used raw rice, some used under cooked, some used cooked that was day old. Because I like to keep the meat raw and not precook it in a skillet, raw or under cooked rice works best. Fully cooked rice gets a bit mushy. I also discovered that we much prefer the peppers roasted first. The flavor reminds me of roasted Hatch Green Chile. So good, and there's no skin on the peppers which I don't really like. It's perfect.

Roasted Stuffed Bell Peppers

These peppers heat up well in the Instant Pot also. I place them in a container, and cover with foil. Place the container on a trivet in the Instant Pot with one cup of water under the trivet. Set the Instant Pot to MANUAL on HIGH pressure for 5 minutes or until heated through.

Roasted Stuffed Bell Peppers

4 Medium bell peppers
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes, no salt
1 pound lean ground beef
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning or 1-1/2 teaspoons Fox Point seasoning
1 teaspoon mushroom seasoning
1-1/2 cups under cooked rice or 1/3 cup uncooked white rice *
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup beef stock or broth, no salt
4 slices of mozzarella cheese

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Roast whole peppers over a flame just until the skin is black and blistered, place in a covered container for five minutes. Do not cook the peppers until soft, they need to hold their shape and be raw on the inside. You can also do this under a broiler.*
3. Peel the skin off of the roasted peppers, cut off the tops. Clean the insides of the peppers out and discard seeds and stem*.
4. Dice the tops of the peppers and add them to the ground beef mixture.
5. Mix beef with 1/2 can of diced tomatoes, reserving the juice. 
6. Mix in minced garlic, seasonings, rice, salt, and pepper. 
7. Stuff each pepper lightly with filling and nestle them in a baking dish so they are standing upright.
8. Mix remaining tomatoes and juice from the can with the beef stock and pour over the peppers.
9. Cover with foil.
10. Bake for 1-1/2 hours or until the meat is cooked through.
11. Top each pepper with a slice of cheese and bake until melted.
12. Spoon broth from pan over each pepper and serve.

Instant Pot method

1. Poke a few small holes in the bottom of the peppers to let some of the liquid drain during cooking after roasting.
2. Follow instructions above for stuffing peppers, 
3. Place stuffed peppers on a trivet.
4. Add an additional cup of stock, or water to the pot under the trivet.
5. Cook on MANUAL HIGH PRESSURE for 15 minutes. 
6. Once done cooking let the peppers sit for five minutes before releasing the pressure. 
7. Check to see if the meat is cooked through, add more time if needed.
8. Top with cheese and place the lid back on the pot, the residual heat from the pot will melt the cheese. (Or place peppers under the broiler in the oven to brown and melt the cheese as desired.)
9. Spoon broth from pot over each pepper and serve.

* Cook time on the peppers depends on which rice you use, how much you pack into your peppers (I suggest lightly stuffing them), and how big the peppers are. Adjust until the meat is cooked through.
*Ground turkey, chicken, or even pork (sausage) can be used.
* Other grains like quinoa can be used in place of the uncooked rice. Longer cooking grains, brown rice, and wild rice do better pre cooked.
* Garlic can be sauteed with a chopped onion and the rice toasted in this mixture before mixing with the beef if desired.
* The tops of the peppers can be chopped and added to the meat mixture for stuffing the peppers also.
* Roasting the peppers is optional, I love the flavor it gives.
* If the peppers don't sit up straight the bottoms can be trimmed to make them more flat. I just nestle them so they hold each other up.

That's it! So easy and delicious. I hope you'll try them. Let me know if you do and how you like them!

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