This website may contain affiliate links and advertising so that we can provide recipes to you. Read my disclosure policy.
Slow cooker stuffed bell peppers are packed with ground beef, wild rice, diced tomatoes, soft black beans, and melty cheese. They cook to perfection in the slow cooker and make a healthy, delicious dinner your whole family will love!
Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe
- Healthy: This is a great meal to add more fiber to your diet and get your vegetables in. It tastes amazing and it’s good for you! Winning!
- Easy to Make: This recipe comes together so quickly. The best part is, you only need 10 minutes of prep time, then you can set it and forget it! Dinner will be ready for you, thanks to your slow cooker!
- Meal Prep: Looking to get more veggie and protein into your diet? These are a great snack to reheat during the week and are very hearty and filling!
Ingredients For Slow Cooker Stuffed Bell Peppers
This list of ingredients isn’t long, and it isn’t complicated. You should have most of these in your kitchen already. You’re going to love how healthy and tasty this recipe is!
- Lean Ground Beef: Gives this recipe a hearty beef flavor.
- Bell Peppers: The larger, the better. All colors work great for this recipe.
- Yellow Onion: Adds a nice savory flavor and a bit of crunch.
- Can Diced Tomatoes: Adds moisture and a tangy tomato acidity.
- Cooked Wild Rice: Just make sure you cook it ahead of time.
- Worcestershire sauce: Adds a bold umami flavor you can’t get anywhere else!
- Salt and pepper: To taste.
- Colby Jack Cheese: Gives the perfect amount of salty, cheesy goodness!
- Water: This helps soften the peppers and ensure they don’t burn.
How You Make Stuffed Bell Peppers
This stuffed pepper recipe is so easy to make! You only need 10 minutes of prep time (not including cooking your rice), and then you can throw them into your slow cooker and forget it!
- Prep Peppers: Cut off each top of the bell peppers and scrape out the seeds and membranes. Set aside.
- Combine: In a large bowl, combine ground beef, onion, diced tomatoes, rice, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and 1 cup of cheese.
- Stuff: Stuff each bell pepper with the mixture. Pour the water into the bottom of the slow cooker, and then place the stuffed peppers in the crockpot. Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours until peppers are tender and the ground beef is cooked throughout.
- Sprinkle: About 15 minutes before serving, sprinkle on the remaining ½ cup cheese. Replace the lid and allow the cheese to melt before serving.
Stuffed Bell Pepper Variations and Tips
- Rice Variations: You can use any kind of rice in place of wild rice. I used a wild rice mix in mine.
- Cheese: While this recipe calls for Colby jack cheese, you can use cheddar, pepper jack, or Mexican blend cheese.
- Don’t Crowd your Crockpot: Your crockpot should be large enough so that you have some space between the bell peppers; this way, the meat can cook through evenly. On the other hand, crowding the slow cooker will cause the meat to take longer to cook.
- Don’t have a slow cooker: No worries! These stuffed peppers can still be made in the oven. Bake your stuffed bell peppers at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 35 to 40 minutes. Prepare the bell peppers in the same way as the instructions for the slow cooker. Place bell peppers in a pan and cover with aluminum foil so they don’t dry out. For the last 10 minutes, uncover and add the divided cheese and bake for 10 more minutes or until brown and the cheese is bubbling.
- Topping Ideas: These stuffed peppers are great, just as they are. But you could add toppings to spice things up. Here are some ideas for you. Guacamole, Sour cream, salsa, extra cheese, avocado, shredded lettuce, olives, pico de gallo, cilantro, onions.
Storing stuffed bell peppers
These are a great make-ahead meal! You can either freeze them to have for another time, or store them in the refrigerator for a pre-made meal that week.
- Freezing stuffed bell peppers: Prepare and make these stuffed bell peppers as normal. Let them cool completely. You can freeze them individually or together in a freezer bag or an airtight shallow pan. Wrap them in aluminum foil and place them in a freezer bag. They will last up to 1 month in the freezer. To reheat, thaw the bell peppers in the refrigerator overnight. You can add them back into the slow cooker or bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until heated through.
- Refrigerate: These stuffed bell peppers will keep in the refrigerator for about 3 to 5 days. Store in an airtight container for best results. To reheat, warm them up in the oven for about 5-10 minutes or in the microwave for 3 to 5 minutes.
More Stuffed Stuff to Try
Why is stuffing something so tasty? I swear it helps meld all of the flavors and make everything taste so good! It also feels convenient, and I don’t have to do as much work cleaning up! Here are some of my favorite stuffed recipes for you to try.
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It
Slow Cooker Stuffed Bell Peppers
Slow Cooker Stuffed Bell Peppers are packed with ground beef, wild rice, diced tomatoes, soft black beans, and melty cheese. They cook to perfection in the slow cooker and make a healthy, delicious dinner!
Ingredients
- 6 large bell peppers any color
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
- 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 cup cooked wild rice
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 ½ cups shredded colby jack cheese divided
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
- Cut off each top of the bell peppers and scrape out the seeds and membranes. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine ground beef, onion, diced tomatoes, rice, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and 1 cup of cheese.
- Stuff each bell pepper with the mixture. Pour the water into the bottom of the slow cooker. Put the stuffed peppers in the crockpot. Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours until peppers are tender and the ground beef is cooked throughout.
- About 15 minutes before serving, sprinkle on the remaining ½ cup cheese. Replace the lid and allow the cheese to melt before serving.
Notes
Originally Posted 9/13/2019
Updated 9/21/2023
Nutrition
Calories: 307kcalCarbohydrates: 17gProtein: 27gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 78mgSodium: 814mgPotassium: 737mgFiber: 4gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 856IUVitamin C: 104mgCalcium: 278mgIron: 4mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tried this recipe?Mention @alyssa_therecipecritic or tag #therecipecritic!
I can’t wait to make this. Should the tomatoes be drained or undrained?
just unsure about what to do with the water its not in the instrustions do you put it in the slow cooker to help it cook?
I’ve never tried stuffed peppers before and i plan on trying these.
Sorry, the water goes into the bottom of the crockpot. This just helps give the peppers moisture while cooking.
is the rice uncooked as well? i’m a newbie crockpot user, so the beef is uncooked and the rice as well? also, the water goes in the bottom of crockpot right?
thanks!
Yes everything is uncooked and the water goes in the bottom of the crockpot. 🙂
im so confused…in the recipe it says cooked rice..but now u just said everything goes in uncooked? im assuming u cook the rice first…
I am making this recipe this week to test out the uncooked rice. I believe it will be fine uncooked but I did cook mine in the original recipe first.
The recipe states 1 cup of cooked rice, but here you say the rice is uncooked? I’m preparing them now and I had originally cooked the rice according to the recipe…was this correct?
Wait, is the rice uncooked? Or cooked rice? Sorry, I’m a little confused. Thanks.
Do You happen to know the nutritional information on this recipe??
I made conventional oven stuffed peppers and they were delish.
Then I made the ground beef mixture, stuffed them in peppers and froze them so they just need to bake in the oven (thawed first) when we are ready for them.
After reading your crock pot recipe, I’m thinking I might just put them in the crock pot to cook (the beef mixture has already been cooked so it would be reheating and steaming the peppers in the crock pot.
What do you think?
I think that would work great! Will you let me know how it turns out? 🙂
Am I correct in assuming the 1/4 cup water goes in the bottom of the crockpot before you put the stuffed peppers in?
Yes! I need to change that. Thanks!
Looks lovely! Do you have to add some water so it won’t burn? I can imagine the down side of the bell pepper will turn black if you don’t…
Yes thanks for catching that! It is 1/4 cup in the bottom.:)
Oh, girl, I am right with you on marrying my crock pot! It is my BFF, especially when I want dinner on the table right when I get home 🙂 These stuffed peppers look absolutely dreamy! I’ve never made them in a crock pot but I’m dying to try now!
Great idea thanks for sharing! I love adding quinoa in place of my rice in stuffed peppers:)
When you replace rice with quinoa, do you cook it first? Thank you, Deb
These look so yummy! But wondering about the ground beef… How much to use and if you precook it? Thx!
Thanks for catching that! 1 pound.
Umm. how much ground beef do you use?
1 pound. Thanks for catching that.
I love stuffed peppers. I can’t wait to try them in the slow cooker. I don’t see how much ground beef you need listed. And, do you cook it first or put in in raw?
Sorry about that! It is 1 pound and yes you put it in raw.
How much ground beef? These look good!
1 pound. Thanks for catching that!
Ground beef isn’t in the ingredient list, but I’m assuming it’s one pound, uncooked, right? Can’t wait to try this!
Yep I fixed that! Thanks!
Is the water suppose to go in the cooker to moisten the peppers? i didnt see what to do with the water?!
Yes! Sorry it is supposed to go into the bottom.
How much water do I add to the slow cooker?
Love how quick and simple these are! I’ve made stuffed peppers before, but never in the slow cooker, going to have to try them, means I can come home to my dinner being ready, printed and pinned 🙂
Mmmm, I love this idea and I can’t wait to try it and have it waiting for me when I get back from uni. One question though, as I can’t see the minced beef on the ingredients list, how much do you use? About 1 lb? Sorry if I’m being really dumb!
Thanks for catching that! It is 1 pound uncooked lean ground beef.
what is a slow cook? i can cook this in the oven?thanks
slow cooker = crock pot 🙂
I wanted to know, since the ground beef is uncooked when it goes into the crockpot, doesn’t this create ALOT of grease?
If you are worried about it, just cook the ground beef before hand. 🙂
That’s why you would lean ground, or extra lean 🙂
I just tried this recipe and uncooked ground beef in the crock pot created a ton of grease. I’m not a fan.
Did you use lean (93% lean) ground beef? I use that all the time and normally there’s so little grease I don’t even bother draining it.
I make mine with in cooked rice. It must help soak up the grease (sure, it’s still ingested) because I never notice them being greasy. And not cooking the rice ahead is a huge time saver.
The rice, is it one cup cooked or uncooked rice?
I used cooked rice but I have heard uncooked works just as well.
How do you count this on 21 day fix?