Crock Pot Stuffed Bell Peppers

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Crock Pot Stuffed Bell Peppers are a hearty and flavor-packed meal that will melt in your mouth. Bell peppers are hollowed out and stuffed with a seasoned ground beef filling and slow cooked until tender.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

I am very blessed with kids that will eat anything. Well, mostly anything. Bell peppers are a food item that my kids don’t love. Emma will not touch her plate if she knows it’s in certain dishes. Well, one day when I was cooking them in the crock pot Emma came down and asked, ‘that smells so good, what are you making?’ You should’ve seen how surprised she was when my response was, “Crock Pot Stuffed Bell Peppers.” That moment of realization on her face was one I’ll never forget. I am happy to report that when I served her one she almost licked her plate clean! 😃

CROCK POT STUFFED BELL PEPPERS

Let’s begin with the star of the show, bell peppers. Cut the top off each pepper and remove the seeds and ribs. A little kitchen hack I’ve learned over the years is if you cut the top off and turn the pepper upside down over a bowl and tap the sides all the seeds will come out. It’s like magic! Once the peppers have been hollowed out then you fill them with an incredible mixture of lean ground beef, seasonings, enchilada sauce, yellow onion, Mexican Rice, and Colby-Jack cheese. Stuff each pepper to the brim! The peppers then go into a slow cooker with just a bit of water at the base, and cook until they are tender and the meat filling is fully cooked.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

INGREDIENTS

  • 5 bell peppers
  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 can (10 ounces) red enchilada sauce
  • ½ cup of diced yellow onion
  • 2 cups Mexican rice
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded Colby-Jack cheese, divided

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Cut the tops off of each bell pepper. Remove the seeds and ribs from the inside. Dice the tops of each bell pepper. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the raw ground beef, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, enchilada sauce, onion, Mexican rice, diced bell peppers, and 1/2 cup of the cheese. Season mixture with salt and pepper. Stir to combine with a spatula. Stuff each pepper with the ground beef mixture.

Fill the crock pot with a half inch of water. Place the stuffed bell peppers inside. Cover with lid and cook on Low heat for 6 hours OR on High heat 3 hours.

Top each stuffed pepper with the remaining shredded cheese. Cover with lid until cheese has melted.

Serve warm with favorite toppings. Enjoy!

Stuffed Bell Peppers

SERVING SIZE

This recipe makes 5 stuffed bell peppers. One stuffed bell pepper equals one serving.

TOPPINGS

One of the fun things I love about this dish is that you can customize your individual meal. I like to treat this recipe as if I were serving my family a taco bar. I set out bowls full of tomatoes, olives, cheese, sour cream, salsa, guacamole, and jalapenos. Sometimes I’ll make a side of black beans or pinto beans to make sure that everyone leaves the dinner table totally satisfied. 

SIDE DISHES

These peppers are filling on their own, but I always like to have a few sides just to make sure the plate is good and full. As previously mentioned, I like to serve extra Mexican Rice with this dish. It’s the perfect complement to the peppers. A green salad is also another great side option.

LEANER MEAT

You can use ground turkey or ground chicken to replace the ground beef, and the meal will still turn out just as flavorful! You can’t go wrong with using any of these meats.

Crock Pot Stuffed Peppers

VEGETARIAN OPTION

This is such an easy dinner to make into a meatless meal. You can substitute the ground beef for black beans or pinto beans. If you are using beans from a can, make sure to drain and rinse them first. Mix them with the seasonings and ingredients that you would with the meat. The best part is that the beans pack protein just like the meat would.

ENJOY THIS RECIPE? HERE ARE A FEW MORE OF MY CROCK POT CREATIONS!

Crock Pot Beef and Broccoli – This Asian inspired dish is loaded with tender pieces of beef and florets of broccoli slowly cooked in a savory sauce.

Crock Pot Shredded Beef Tacos – Juicy and flavorful beef is simmer until it practically falls apart on its own. Served in taco shells and perfect for Tuesdays!

Crock Pot Beef Stew – This hearty meal is one that is full of comfort. Pieces of meat stewed in a thick sauce with veggies like potatoes, carrots, and onions.

Crock Pot Creamy Mashed Potatoes – This side dish is one that goes well with any Sunday dinner. Let these cook on low all day, and they’ll be ready by supper.

Stuffed Bell Peppers
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5 from 1 vote

Crock Pot Stuffed Bell Peppers

Servings 5
Author Life in the Lofthouse

Ingredients

  • 5 bell peppers
  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 can (10 ounces) red enchilada sauce
  • 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
  • 2 cups cooked Mexican rice
  • 1 ½ cups shredded Colby-jack cheese divided
  • salt and pepper to taste

Optional Toppings

  • sour cream
  • salsa
  • guacamole

Instructions

  • Cut the tops off of each bell pepper. Remove the seeds and ribs from the inside. Dice the tops of each bell pepper. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, combine the raw ground beef, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, enchilada sauce, onion, rice, diced bell peppers and 1/2 cup of the cheese. Season mixture with salt and pepper. Stir to combine with a spatula. Stuff each pepper with the ground beef mixture.
  • Fill crock pot with a half inch of water. Place bell peppers inside. Cover with lid and cook on Low heat for 6 hours OR on High heat 3 hours. Top each stuffed pepper with the remaining shredded cheese. Cover with lid until cheese has melted.
  • Serve warm and with your favorite toppings. Enjoy!

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Stuffed Bell Peppers
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27 thoughts on “Crock Pot Stuffed Bell Peppers

      1. I also added 1 C of salsa to the taco/tomato sauce mixture. We like lots of sauciness to spoon over the cooked peppers.

    1. Made these today and they turned out delish, so easy too. Maybe next time, I’ll heat up another can of enchilada sauce and top them.

  1. What size crock pot is this recipe for and also if needing to cook more peppers in a larger crock pot , how far up does the water need to cover the peppers?

    1. I use my 7-quart for this recipe. The waters purpose is only so the peppers don’t stick to the bottom. You don’t need much.

  2. This looks great! What is meant by “Mexican rice?” Is it long-grain, short-grain, Spanish rice (e.g., Rice-a-Roni), or something else?

    1. I used la preferida boxed rice. Takes 1 and 2/3 cup water and I add 1 teaspoon taco seasoning and it takes 8 minutes to fix this rice and you can use it for all meals. I used to make my rice the mexican way but it takes too long.

  3. I always thought you couldn’t use raw ground beef in a crock pot because it is suppose to be cooked at minimum temp. of 360 degrees? I know it is cooking for a longer period and would be cooked through, but heard that at the beggining stages it should be a higher temp?, If I do anything with ground beef I brown it first and then put it in a sauce in the crock pot, I would love to skip that part if I don’t have to.

    1. I’ve made these a few times now, and it’s always worked out fine. I’ve made other ground beef recipes in the crock pot as well, with no problems. 🙂

    1. I use tomato sauce and season it instead of enchilada sauce. I’ve also used red lentils instead of rice and it comes out great.

  4. I made this last night and it was delicious! My husband loved them and they were gone that night. I wish my crockpot was bigger so I could have made more. They also taste just as good the next day heated up for leftovers. Thank you for this recipe. It’s going in my cookbook for sure =)

  5. Love this idea but should the bell peppers have ended up with liquid 3/4 of the way up…peppers were really soggy. Is this how it should be? Trying to figure out how to eliminate all the liquid. Flavors were great though. Any thoughts?

    1. Shannon, the recipe calls for a 1/2 cup of water to put in the crock pot, so if you’re using a smaller crock pot the water may fill up higher. My crock pot is a 7 quart so the water doesn’t go high at all. Glad you liked the flavor, though!

  6. Wonder if you could prepare and freeze these? Take them out that night before preparation and thaw in the fridge, then into the crock pot after they’re thawed. Thoughts?

  7. I didn’t have any rice or enchilada sauce so I just put some chili sauce in. We will see how it goes. I too am a little concerned about meat cooking all the way. I’ll post the end results. Thank you for this recipe

  8. 5 stars
    I made this recipe today. i didn’t start it until 5:00 pm. since It was TOo late to use my crock pot, i put A rack in a REGular pot, put the peppers in and cooked them for about 30 Minutes. they turned out perfectly. i have still got some hamburger mixture left. i am going to buy more peppers and try the CRockpot method. thank you for this delicious recipe. i will be making it again.

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