These Jack-O-Lantern Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers without rice are perfect for Halloween.
You can make them anytime of course, but cutting out the Jack-O-Lantern face makes them so fun for Halloween time.
Stuffed Peppers Instant Pot Recipe
If you’re looking for something that’s easy to prepare, requires minimal ingredients, and tastes great, then this recipe might just fit the bill.
Using your Instant Pot to make the filling for your stuffed peppers without rice is a great way to save time.
You can even “carve” your bell pepper pumpkins while the filling is cooking, to save even more time.
What Makes This Recipe Great
KID FRIENDLY: Kids will love to see one of these stuffed bell stuffed peppers sitting on their plates for dinner before heading out to do some trick or treating.
FAST: Using your Instant Pot pressure cooker is a great way to speed up the time this recipe takes to make.
HEALTHY: This is a grain-free, healthy stuffed pepper recipe that is packed with nutrients.
Ingredients
- Bell Peppers – You can use any color bell pepper for these stuffed peppers. If you want them to look like little pumpkins for Halloween dinner, make sure to choose orange bell peppers for the best look.
- Ground Beef – adding inexpensive black beans to your ground beef tastes great and is a great way to make your meat stretch in this recipe.
- Mozzarella Cheese– this recipe calls for mozzarella cheese, however you can use any other shredded cheese that you prefer.
Expert Tips
- Choose firm bell peppers for this recipe. This will help when it comes to carving out the eyes and mouth of your Jack-O-Lantern.
- Use a small, sharp knife. Avoid knives or cutting tools with wide blades in this process.
How to Make Stuffed Peppers Without Rice
I love stuffed peppers but hate the mushy rice inside. For years, I’ve searched for a way to get rid of the rice without losing out on the flavor and texture. I finally found a solution!
Most classic stuffed pepper recipes use some kind of rice in the filling.
This recipe skips the rice and uses black beans instead. These low-cal beans are jam packed with fiber, protein and antioxidants.
They are filled with phytochemicals that protect your cells from damage, which is why black beans make it on to the superfoods list.
Step 1: Add onion, diced pepper and seasoning to the Instant Pot and cook. Add Beans and cook on High pressure for 35 minutes.
Step 2: Add the beans over the cooked hamburger meat and combine. Make sure to add some broth from the beans to cover the meat. Cook for 15 minutes over high heat and until all the water is consumed.
Step 3: Cut the top of the bell peppers to form a lid. Using a small knife or a cutting tool with a sharp and thin blade, cut the faces on your bell peppers.
Step 4: Using a spoon, fill each bell pepper with the bean mixture at ⅔ of its capacity.
Step 5 – 6: Then, top your bell peppers with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 °F for about 25 minutes, or until warmed through and peppers soften.
No. You want to use nice and firm peppers for this recipe. This is the best way to cut them and they will soften while they cook.
Your stuffed peppers should be just the right amount of softened after about 25 minutes, when you bake them at 350 °F.
More Recipes to Love
We have a few other recipes that you can use to celebrate the Halloween holiday this year.
- Candy Corn Rice Krispie Treats: If you are looking for a fun fall treat this year then you should definitely try out these Candy Corn Rice Krispie Treats!
- Recipes for Leftover Candy Corn: We’ve got popsicles, fudge, pudding, pastries and more all using candy corn as one of the ingredients.
- Fruit Flavored Popcorn Recipe: I loved making this for holiday gatherings, movie nights, and more. Colored popcorn just gives it a bit more sweetness that leaves you wanting one more bite.
Stuffed Peppers
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1 cup black beans Dry, no need to soak
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 small onion Diced
- 1 orange bell pepper Cored, seeded, and diced
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 garlic cloves Minced
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 small bay leaves
- 3 cups water
- ½ lb ground beef
- 4 orange bell peppers
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
- Dried parsley For Garnish
Instructions
- Clean the black beans: rinse them and pick out any stones or bad beans. Once done, set aside.
- Set your Instant Pot to Sauté. Add the olive oil and wait for 5 minutes.
- Once the olive oil is hot, add the onion, the diced bell pepper and the salt. Cook and stir for about 5 minutes, or until softened.
- Add the minced garlic and then sprinkle in the cumin, dried oregano and bay leaves.
- Cook and stir for 1 minute, or until softened.
- Add the beans, water and stir.
- Cover and make sure to seal the Instant Pot. Cook on HIGH pressure for 35 minutes.
- When the timer goes off, allow the steam to release naturally and then remove the lid.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, add the ground beef and add salt to taste.
- Use a spatula to break the meat into small pieces and cook until brown.
- Add the beans over the cooked meat and combine. Make sure to add some broth from the beans to cover the meat. Cook for 15 minutes over high heat and until all the water is consumed. Then, remove the bay leaves and discard them. Let it sit.
- Cut the top of the bell peppers to form a lid. To make it look like a pumpkin, follow the curves of the upper side or the peppers. Carefully, cut the veins inside the peppers and remove it along the seeds using a spoon.
- Using a small knife or a cutting tool with a sharp and thin blade, cut the faces on your bell peppers. Avoid knives or cutting tools with wide blades in this process. Fresh bell peppers are very moist and easy to break by hand, for this reason, remove the cut pieces slowly to avoid breaking details in your bell pepper’s faces like teeth.
- When the faces of your bell peppers are cut, it is time to fill them with the bean-meat mixture. Using a spoon, fill each bell pepper with the bean mixture at ⅔ of its capacity.
- Then, top your bell peppers with mozzarella cheese. Preheat the oven to 350 °F.
- Move your bell peppers to a baking sheet with lined parchment paper and place them inside the oven. Bake at 350 °F for about 25 minutes, or until warmed through and peppers soften.
- Remove the bell peppers from the oven and let them sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is automatically calculated with ingredients and serving size and may not be accurate. Please always double check with your own nutritional apps as well.
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