Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers are filled with a ground beef and rice mixture with marinara sauce and topped with mozzarella cheese. The crock pot gets the peppers wonderfully tender and really brings out their flavor.
Weeknight dinners are so much easier when you use your crock pot as a kitchen helper. After 5 hours on LOW in the slow cooker, these peppers are perfectly tender.
Stuffed peppers are one of my favorite meals. They’re kind of a retro meal that makes good use of peppers at the end of the growing season.
Tips For Making Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers
- Any color of pepper will do. Green are usually less expensive. Red, orange, and yellow have a sweeter flavor.
- I like to pre-cook the ground beef in a skillet along with the onion and chopped peppers. But this step is not necessary. If you do not pre-cook the beef, add 1 hour to the cooking time and be sure to use lean ground beef so that your peppers are not greasy.
- The flavors are really easy to switch out. For a Mexican twist, use salsa instead of marinara sauce and add some green chiles. Use pepper jack cheese instead of mozarella.
- Ground turkey can be used instead of ground beef.
Varaiations and Substitutions
- Change up the meat. Instead of using ground beef, use ground Italian sausage or Ground turkey.
- Make it spicy. Add half a teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes to the filling.
- Change up the cheese. Add half a cup of freshly grated Parmesan or use Monterey Jack or an Italian cheese blend instead of mozzarella.
Storage
Leftovers will keep refrigerated for 3 to 5 days. Reheat in the oven or microwave.
More Stuffed Pepper Recipes To Try
- Italian Sausage Stuffed Peppers
- Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Peppers
- Jambalaya Stuffed Bell Peppers
- Lasagna Stuffed Peppers
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Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers
Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers are full of a ground beef and rice mixture in marinara sauce. Topped with melted cheese for a delicious family meal!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5 bell peppers, any color
- 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 small onion,, diced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 (24-ounce) jar marinara sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 1/2 cups cooked long grain white rice
- 1½ cups shredded mozzarella
Instructions
- Cut the top off of each bell pepper and scoop the seeds and white membranes out. Cut up some of the peppers that is around the tops to equal about 1/2 cup diced pepper.
- Brown the ground beef in a large nonstick pan, crumbling it as it cooks.When it is about halfway cooked, add the onion, diced bell pepper and garlic.Continue to cook until there is no more pink in the ground beef.
- Add 1 cup marinara sauce, the salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and white rice. Stir well. Spoon mixture into the peppers and place them in a 6-quart slow cooker.
- Pour the remaining marinara sauce around the peppers and spoon any extra filling around the peppers as well.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 5 hours.
- Remove the top and sprinkle on the mozzarella cheese. Cover for 5 minutes to melt the cheese.
Notes
You can skip pre-cooking the ground beef and add 1 hour to the cook time.
Make it spicy. Add half a teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes to the filling.
Nutrition
Calories: 421kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 41g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 111mg | Sodium: 1184mg | Potassium: 1199mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 4550IU | Vitamin C: 163mg | Calcium: 226mg | Iron: 6mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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