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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!
Oh my goodness..great recipe but SO confused about cooking or not cooking the ground beef….I cooked everything 1st.
Could I use riced cauliflower in lieu of rice?
Sure! That sounds delicious and healthy!
This is delicious, but for my own self, I blanch the peppers in boiling water and lightly brown my ground beef. Other than that I follow the recipe exactly. It is sooo good and easy!
Do you put in cooked or uncooked rice???
The rice is cooked ahead of time but the other ingredients are raw and cooked together in the slow cooker.
If putting in the oven, do I need to add water to the pan?
It doesn’t hurt but it is also not necessary.
Hi, Confused as there are conflicting replies…do you or do you NOT cook the beef before putting mixture into peppers? I’ve made this recipe many times and never cooked the beef prior to stuffing
No, you do not need to brown the meat and mixture prior to adding it to the bell peppers.
Allergic to rice, can some other grain such as quinoa be used.
Yes, that sounds great and will be tasty!
Do you have to brown the beef before cooking in the slow cooker?
No, you do not need to brown the meat first. The slow cooker will cook it for you. Enjoy your peppers!
You stuff the peppers with raw ground beef correct?
For the stuffed bell peppers do not cook the ground beef first. Also, my husband is a hunter can I use ground venison
Ground venison will be delicious! I don’t brown the meat first, I let the slow cooker cook it through in the bell peppers.
My slow cooker only has low for 8 hours…will this be okay?
Yes, just watch it on the last hour but it should cook just fine.
Do you mix the beans and cooked rice and all other ingredients with raw meat or do you brown the beef with the onions?
Yes, that is correct! Let the slow cooker do all the work:)!
I cooked these in the oven. I did cook the peppers last night.
My husband loves this.
I added 4 oz tomato sauce, because I used cherry tomatoes from our garden. I didn’t have diced tomatoes. More Worcester was added
This recipe is definitely a keeper!
Recipe totally leaves out any mention of the black beans and amount to use. Only mentioned in description at top and shown in picture.
I am getting ready to try this recipe and initially in the description I see “black beans” but no where do I see black beans in the ingredients or directions. And I assume I can use uncooked minute rice or should I just play it safe and have it cooked? I’m also going to use cooked turkey meat.
Black beans are an extra. If you prefer to have them, that is great and you can add it to the meat mixture. Hope that helps clarify. You will want your rice prepared and cooked. It won’t be able to cook as well in the oven; however, if you try it let me know what you think! Turkey meat sounds delicious! Great idea! Enjoy your stuffed peppers!
The beginning of the recipe mentions black beans but the ingredient list does not?
Black beans are an option for you. You can add them to the mixture when they are cooking. Hope that helps! We love them with the black beans but know it is a preference.
So are we supposed to guess how much beans goes in it?
The beans are optional. If you prefer to have the beans in the peppers just add as much as you desire.
There are black beans in the description but not the recipe. Should I cook them first?
You will add them in without cooking them. Hope that helps! Enjoy! XOXO