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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.
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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!
Can these be cooked in a slow cooker one at a time? I love the idea of freezing them and just taking them out and cooking one at a time since it’s just me.
I cooked the ground beef first, made red rice, mixed then together, and wallllaa…perfect. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I’m only one person, and I’m not a fan of reheating leftovers, but I don’t mind eating the same thing for a few days in a row, or I could freeze them like others mentioned. Could I cook one at a time in the crockpot using the same settings and time, or do I need to adjust?
just curious if anyone has tried freezing these? cooked or uncooked? and if so, did you individually wrap each one in plastic wrap and then put in a freezer bag?
I have made a recipe similar to this and it worked well. I am not a fan of the stuffed peppers cooked with Rice, do yo have another recipe that you would use Bread Crumbs instead. I am not saying that this was not good but would prefer one with Seasoned Bread Crumbs . Any idea what the exchange would be?
Thank you
Hello!
This recipe looks and sounds great! I was reading through the comments and am wondering if you ever ended up making these with uncooked rice?
Thank you
Yes I did! They turned out great! I am going to try them with Quinoa next time. 🙂
Hello! When you used uncooked rice, did you use the same quantity of uncooked/cooked rice? Doesn’t rice expand when cooked? So if you use 1 cup of uncooked, was it too much?
What kind of cheese do you use? It looks like cheddar in the picture.
Yes I used cheddar. 🙂
I’m making this now! Instead of wild rice I’m using a package of the “Knorr brand rice sides” fajita flavor. I am cooking the rice before mixing. Also, I did like someone else commented above. I am using tomato sauce poured over top.
I make these but am not a rice person.Instead of rice i use orzo.They are a lot more filling when you eat them then rice.
I bet you get tired of answering the SAME questions over and over again!!! But Thanx for the recipe… It looks amazing… Never tried them in a slow cooker… Think I’m gonna try these today… I love anything I can make in a crock pot… Only bad thing is, most revipies I find don’t give many instructions on preparation… Thanx for filling in all the info needed…
I made this today and it was DELICIOUS! Easy to make. Of course I tweaked mine a little bit, but the recipe is perfect!
A few people asked, but I didn’t see a response… Should I drain the tomatoes or not? Thanks 🙂
I didnt drain mine. But if you want your filling more chunky without the liquid then drain them. It is totally up to you. 🙂
Would corn bread be a good side to eat with this or any other suggestions?
Yes! That sounds amazing! It is kind of a meal in one so a side of corn bread would be great!
This is something I think I can manage. My girlfriend is coming over to my place tomorrow and she said, “What are you cooking?” Usually I would just fry something, I’m a simple man. She apparently can taste things so I have to try a little harder.
I’m going to try real tomatoes instead of a can of diced. 3 tomatoes = 14 oz diced? Does that sound right?
This might be silly.. but just double checking.. you don’t have to cook the meat before putting it in the pepper?
No you can put the meat in raw. 🙂
Okay, I was jut alittle confused because your recipe stated that the rice is suppose to be cooked before.. But I went on to read some comments and you told one of them that it was uncooked? So.. I was confused on what to do? Sorry, just wanted to double check that. Thanks
I cooked mine before it went it BUT I do believe that you can also put it in uncooked. I am going to test this one out the next time I make it.
Did you ever test your recipe with uncooked rice?
I would like to know also…