Nutrition: 478 Calories | 15.6g Net Carbs | 42.9g Protein 21.4g Total Fat
A fun and tasty meal, these Instant Pot stuffed peppers are filled with cheesy ground beef and black beans and finished with your favorite taco toppings.
A while back, I was planning my menu for the week, and I wanted something different for taco night. So, I made these delicious taco stuffed bell peppers. Most stuffed peppers contain rice in the filling, but I left that out to lower the carb count and up the nutrition. This recipe is easy to put together and great for making ahead. Stuffed with a cheesy, ground beef taco filling and finished with all our favorite taco toppings, the whole family enjoys this fun meal. (Ok, not all the kids like the outer bell pepper, but they all eat the pepper in the filling. And I count that as a win.)
Cook the Filling in Sauté Mode
The best part about the Instant Pot, is you can cook the whole meal in the pot. There’s no need for any other pan. Start, by heating up the Instant Pot using Sauté Mode. While, the pot is heating up, prepare your vegetables. Cut the tops off of 4 bell peppers. Any color will work. Green bell peppers have less carbs that the other colors, and they’re usually less expensive too. Discard the ribs and seeds, and save the cleaned out peppers for later. Then, dice up the pepper tops and throw away the stem. Also, chop half of an onion. Next, add about one tablespoon of olive oil to the hot Instant Pot and sauté the diced onion and peppers.
Let the onions and peppers cook for about 5 minutes, until they soften. Then, add one pound of lean ground beef to the pot. Break up the ground beef as its cooking and stir it together with the vegetables. Season the ground beed with taco seasoning. You can use store bought seasoning or make your own with chili powder, season salt, ground coriander and ground cumin. Also add crushed garlic to the pot. Cook the beef for about 10 minutes until it’s browned and cook through.
Finish the Filling and Stuff the Peppers
Once the ground beef in fully cooked, cancel the Sauté Mode on the Instant Pot. Take out all the ground beef mixture and put it in a mixing bowl. Add one can of black beans (drained and rinsed) to the mixing bowl along with one cup of shredded cheese. Mix the filling together, and then divide it evenly between the 4 bell peppers you cleaned out earlier. If you are eating low carb, you might want to reduce or remove the black beans. Beans are a great whole food and have lots of fiber, but they might have more carbohydrates than you’re looking for. Another great option is cauliflower rice instead.
Pressure Cook and Remove Immediately
Once you have your peppers stuffed, add 1 1/2 cups of water to your pressure cooker and a steaming rack. Place the stuffed peppers inside the steamer and top with a little bit more cheese. If you’re making your stuffed peppers ahead of time, stop here until it’s time to cook. Remember it takes about 15 minutes for the cooker to come to pressure before cooking. Or, use the Timer Function, to delay when the peppers start cooking (video instructions below). Pressure cook the peppers for 7 minutes and release the pressure manually as soon as it’s done pressure cooking. If you let the pressure naturally release, the peppers become really soft. They will still taste great, but they won’t hold their shape on a plate.
This is a great video showing you how to use the Timer Function on your Instant Pot.
Low-Carb and Keto Variations
Once you can open your pressure cooker, use tongs to carefully move the stuffed peppers to a plate. Then, it’s time to have fun with toppings. On the peppers pictured below, I used sour cream, chopped fresh tomato, minced cilantro and salsa. Some other great toppings ideas are Pico de Gallo and Roasted Salsa Verde. If you’re eating keto, use higher fat toppings like sour cream and avocado. If you’re looking for lower carb options, use green bell peppers instead of the yellow, red or orange varieties. Also skip the beans (or use less) and add cooked cauliflower rice to the recipe instead.
More recipes you might enjoy: Ground Beef Taco Bowls, Cheesy Taco Pepper Poppers, and Pizza Stuffed Peppers.
Easy Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers with Taco Filling – No Rice
A fun and tasty meal, these Instant Pot stuffed peppers are filled with cheesy ground beef and black beans and finished with your favorite taco toppings.
Total Time: 35-40 min
Prep Time: 15 min
Inactive Time: 10 -15 min
Cook Time: 10 min
Ingredients
- 4 Bell Peppers
- 1 lb Ground Beef
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1/2 Onion, Chopped
- 4-5 Cloves Garlic, Crushed
- 1 Can Black Beans, Drained and Rinsed
- 1 Cup + 4 Tbsp Shredded Cheese
- 2 tsp Chili Powder
- 1 Tsp Season Salt
- 1/2 tsp Ground Coriander
- 1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
- 1 1/2 Cups Water
- Topping Ideas:
- Fresh Cilantro, Chopped
- Salsa
- Sour Cream
- Pico de Gallo
- Salsa Verde
Directions
- Turn the Instant Pot on using Sauté mode. Remove the tops from the bell peppers.Then, remove and discard the seeds and ribs. Set the bell peppers aside. Dice the pepper tops, discarding the stem, and chop the onion.
- Add the olive oil to the Instant Pot along with the onions and diced pepper. Sauté about 5 minutes. Add the crushed garlic and sauté for another minute until fragrant.
- Add the ground beef to the pot and brown the meat about 10 minutes. Break up the beef as it cooks. Add the chili powder, season salt, ground coriander and ground cumin to the meat and vegetable mixture and mix together.
- Once the beef is cooked, remove the ground beef mixture from the instant pot and put it in a large mixing bowl. Cancel the Sauté function on the Instant Pot. Add the rinsed black beans and 1 cup of shredded cheese to the bowl with the meat and mix the filling together.
- Add the water to the Instant Pot and a steaming rack. Divide the filling evenly between the 4 bell peppers. Put the filled peppers in the Instant Pot and top each pepper with 1 tablespoon of shredded cheese. Put the lid on the Instant Pot and make sure the valve is set to Sealing. Pressure cook for 7 minutes (it takes 10-15 minutes to come to pressure). Manually release the pressure once the peppers are done cooking. Carefully move the peppers to a plate. Top with desired toppings and enjoy.
Nutrition:
Yield: 4 servings, Serving Size: 1 Stuffed Pepper
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 478, Total Fat: 21.4g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Cholesterol: 117.5mg, Sodium: 661.2mg, Carbohydrates: 26.9g, Fiber 11.3g, Sugars: 6.8g, Protein 42.9g
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