Smoked stuffed peppers were a weeknight staple growing up, and they’re still one of the first things I reach for when I want a full meal out of one pan. Moving them to the pellet grill was the best change I ever made to this recipe. You get that little bit of smoke running through the beef and rice, the peppers hold their shape instead of going to mush, and the cheese melts down over the top in the last few minutes. My kids clean the filling out and sometimes leave the pepper behind. I eat the whole thing.
The honest hard part: none of it is difficult, but the cheese timing matters more than people expect, and if you skip chilling the rice you’ll fight the filling the whole way.
Here’s what I’ll walk you through:
- The filling I build every time, and how I adjust the rice-to-beef ratio
- Three ways to core a pepper depending on what knife you’re comfortable with
- Why I oil the outside of the peppers before they go on
- My pellet picks for a 350°F cook
- Exactly when to add the cheese so it melts instead of dries out
Let’s get started!
Why Make Stuffed Peppers on a Pellet Smoker?
Most stuffed pepper recipes send you to the oven, and the oven does a fine job. But the pellet grill gives you something the oven can’t, and it does it without any extra work on your end. You’re running the same temperature you’d run inside, so nothing about the timing changes. You just get more flavor out of it.
- You pick up real smoke without a long cook. Forty-five minutes at 350°F is enough to put a light smoke through the filling. It’s not overpowering, it just tastes like something you couldn’t have made indoors.
- Almost all of it is prep-ahead. The rice and the beef are both cooked before anything goes on the grill. If I’ve got a busy night coming, I’ll build the filling the day before and keep it in the fridge.
- It’s one pan and it feeds a family. Four big peppers, one sheet pan, and dinner is done. No sides required unless you want them.
Gear Used
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- Traeger Timberline XL — what I run these on. Any pellet grill that holds a steady 350°F works.
- Half sheet pan with a wire rack — the rack is the part that matters. Keeps the pepper bottoms off the pan.
- Box grater — for the Colby Jack. A block off a grater melts better than bagged.
- Small fillet knife — easier to core a pepper with than a chef’s knife.
- Instant-read thermometer — for checking the beef hits 160°F before it goes in the bowl.
Ingredients
Meat
- 1 lb ground beef, browned and drained
Produce
- 4 large green bell peppers
- 1 cup cooked white rice, cooked ahead and chilled (plus a little extra to adjust)
- 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- Olive oil, for the outside of the peppers
Sauces, Rubs & Cheese
- 15 oz can tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons Rock’s Summer Que rub (that one’s mine), or any all-purpose BBQ rub
- 8 oz block Colby Jack cheese, shredded
A note on the rice: cook it hours ahead and get it cold in the fridge. Warm rice clumps up and fights you when you try to mix it. Cold rice breaks apart and spreads through the beef evenly.
Best Wood Pellets for Smoked Stuffed Peppers
You’re cooking hot and fast here, so you’re not going to build heavy smoke no matter what you burn. I want something that complements the beef and tomato without running them over.
- Traeger Signature Series — This is my default for this cook. It’s a hickory, maple, and cherry blend, so you get a little of everything and nothing dominates. If you only keep one bag around, keep this one.
- Hickory — Go here if you want the smoke to be the thing people notice. It leans savory and bacon-y, which works well with ground beef. Easy to overdo on longer cooks, but at 45 minutes you’re fine.
- Cherry — The mildest of the three and the one I use when I’m cooking for people who say they don’t like smoked food. It’s slightly sweet and it gives the peppers better color.
Step 1: Fire Up the Smoker (5 minutes)
- Set your pellet grill to 350°F and let it come up to temp with the lid closed.
- I run these on a Traeger Timberline XL, but any pellet grill that holds 350 will do the job.
- Get it started before you build the filling. By the time the filling and peppers are ready, the grill is ready too.
Step 2: Build the Filling (15 minutes)
- Add 1 cup of cooked, chilled rice to a large mixing bowl.
- Brown 1 lb of ground beef with the diced onion, then stir in the minced garlic and season it. Cook the beef to an internal temperature of 160°F — that’s the safe minimum for ground beef, and it’s fully cooked before it ever goes near a pepper. I drain mine in a paper towel to get the grease out.
- Add the beef to the rice.
- Pour in the whole 15 oz can of tomato sauce.
- Add about 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire. I don’t measure this one, I just count it out over the bowl.
- Hit it with a couple tablespoons of BBQ rub. The beef is already seasoned, but this pulls the rice and the sauce into the same flavor.
- Mix it until everything is incorporated.
- Taste it now. Everything in the bowl is already cooked, so there’s no reason to guess. This is where I decide if I want more rub, more Worcestershire, or more rice.
Step 3: Prep the Peppers (10 minutes)
- Cut the top off each pepper.
- Cut around the inside edge to free the core, then pull it out along with the seeds and the white ribs.
- Not comfortable with a big knife? A potato peeler works great in there, and it’s what I’d hand a beginner. A small fillet knife gives you more control. My aunt does the whole thing with a spoon. Use whatever you’ll actually be steady with.
- If a pepper won’t stand up straight, shave a thin slice off the bottom. Do not cut all the way through or your filling runs out the bottom on the grill.
Step 4: Stuff Them (5 minutes)
- Spoon the filling into each pepper and fill it all the way to the top.
- Don’t pack it down. You want it full, not compressed. Packed filling heats unevenly and comes out dense.
- Set them on a sheet pan with a wire rack. The rack keeps the bottoms off the pan so they don’t crisp up and turn bitter.
Step 5: Oil the Outside (2 minutes)
- Rub a little olive oil over the outside of each pepper.
- This is optional, but it keeps the skins from shrinking and wrinkling as much during the cook.
- I do this after they’re built so I’m not handling slippery peppers while I’m trying to stuff them.
Step 6: Smoke at 350°F (35–45 minutes)
- Put the whole pan on the grill at 350°F.
- Run them 35 to 45 minutes. You’re looking for the peppers to soften and take on a little color.
- Everything inside is already cooked to 160°F, so you’re not chasing a target temp here. You’re cooking the pepper, not the filling.
Step 7: Shred and Add the Cheese (Last 10 minutes)
- With about 10 minutes left, shred a block of Colby Jack. Bagged shredded cheese works if you’re short on time, but a block off a box grater melts noticeably better.
- Pile it on top of each pepper. I go heavy here.
- Back on the grill for the last 10 minutes to melt it down.
- Adding the cheese at the end instead of the start is the whole trick. Melted for ten minutes gets you that gooey top. Cheese that rides the full cook dries out and goes rubbery.
Step 8: Rest and Serve (5 minutes)
- Pull the pan and let them rest 5 minutes before you cut in. This isn’t optional. The filling is molten straight off the grill and it will run out the second you slice one. Five minutes lets it set up enough to hold its shape on the plate.
- Slice one open and you should see the cheese, the pepper, and the filling all hold together.
Quick Recap
- Preheat the pellet grill to 350°F
- Brown the beef with onion and garlic to 160°F internal, drain it
- Mix with cooked chilled rice, tomato sauce, Worcestershire, and BBQ rub
- Taste the filling and adjust before it goes anywhere
- Cut the tops off the peppers and core them out
- Stuff them full without packing them down
- Oil the outside and set them on a wire rack over a sheet pan
- Smoke 35–45 minutes at 350°F
- Top with shredded Colby Jack for the last 10 minutes
- Rest 5 minutes, then serve
This Is Where People Mess Up
Using warm rice. This is the one step people skip and then wonder why their filling is a paste. Cold rice out of the fridge separates and mixes clean. Fresh warm rice clumps together and turns gluey the second it hits the tomato sauce. Cook it hours ahead and get it in the fridge.
Not fixing the ratio before stuffing. The first time I mixed this batch it looked a little beef-heavy to me, so I added more rice until it looked right. There’s no wrong answer, it’s personal preference, but it’s a lot easier to fix in the bowl than after it’s inside four peppers.
Skipping the wire rack. Sitting peppers directly on a sheet pan cooks the bottoms too hard and they turn out bitter and leathery. A cheap wire rack over the pan lets the heat move underneath and gets you an evenly cooked pepper.
Variations
- Oven version. Same temperature, same times, 350°F in your oven. You lose the smoke, everything else is identical.
- Charcoal or gas grill. Works fine with indirect heat at 350°F. Keep the pan away from the coals so the bottoms don’t scorch.
- Dairy free. Skip the cheese entirely, or use a plant-based shred. The filling itself has no dairy in it, so the recipe works as-is without the topping.
- Different meat. Ground turkey, ground chicken, or Italian sausage all work. Sausage brings its own seasoning, so pull back on the rub if you go that way.
- Lower carb. Swap the rice for cauliflower rice. Cook and drain it well first or the filling gets watery.
Common Questions
Do I have to use green peppers?
No. Green is what I grew up on and it’s what I like, because the slight bitterness balances the sweetness of the tomato sauce. Red, yellow, and orange all work and they’re sweeter. They also soften faster, so start checking them around 30 minutes.
Can I make these ahead?
Yes, and this is how I usually do it. Build the filling and prep the peppers a day ahead, keep them covered in the fridge, then stuff them and put them on the grill when you’re ready. You can also stuff them ahead, just add a few minutes to the cook since they’re going on cold.
What if I don’t have a pellet grill?
Same temperature, same times, in your oven at 350°F. You’ll lose the smoke but the recipe works exactly the same otherwise.
Can I swap the ground beef?
Absolutely. Ground turkey, ground chicken, or Italian sausage all work here. Sausage brings its own seasoning, so pull back on the rub if you go that direction.
Why is my filling watery?
Usually the rice. If it wasn’t fully cooked and cooled, it keeps releasing moisture into the tomato sauce. Drain your beef well too, that’s the other place water sneaks in.
More Cook with Rock Recipes
- Easy Shepherd’s Pie Recipe — another one-pan comfort cook with ground beef.
- Traeger Smoked Brisket Flat Recipe — when you want to run the smoker a whole lot longer.
- Mama Jan’s Brisket Chili — same comfort-food lane, made from leftovers.
Final Thoughts
This is one of those recipes that punches way above what it costs and how long it takes. An hour and change, one pan, ingredients you can grab at any grocery store, and you end up with something that tastes like you put real work into it. The smoke is what sells it, and nobody expects it from a stuffed pepper.
I’m not telling you how to make this. I’m showing you how I do it. Adjust the rice, swap the cheese, run whatever pellets you like burning. That’s the whole point.
Ready to try it? Fire up the smoker, and let me know how they turn out in the comments.
Traeger Smoked Stuffed Peppers
Equipment
- 1 RoseWood Block & Co RWB American Flag XL cutting board
Ingredients
Meat
- 1 lb ground beef browned and drained
Produce
- 4 large green bell peppers
- 1 cup cooked white rice cooked ahead and chilled (plus a little extra to adjust)
- 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- Olive oil for the outside of the peppers
Sauces, Rubs & Cheese
- 15 oz can tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons Rock’s Summer BBQ rub that one’s mine, or any all-purpose BBQ rub
- 8 oz block Colby Jack cheese shredded
Video
Instructions
Step 1: Fire Up the Smoker (5 minutes)
- Set your pellet grill to 350°F and let it come up to temp with the lid closed.
- I run these on a Traeger Timberline XL, but any pellet grill that holds 350 will do the job.
- Get it started before you build the filling. By the time the filling and peppers are ready, the grill is ready too.
Step 2: Build the Filling (15 minutes)
- Add 1 cup of cooked, chilled rice to a large mixing bowl.
- Brown 1 lb of ground beef with the diced onion, then stir in the minced garlic and season it. Cook the beef to an internal temperature of 160°F — that’s the safe minimum for ground beef, and it’s fully cooked before it ever goes near a pepper. I drain mine in a paper towel to get the grease out.
- Add the beef to the rice.
- Pour in the whole 15 oz can of tomato sauce.
- Add about 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire. I don’t measure this one, I just count it out over the bowl.
- Hit it with a couple tablespoons of BBQ rub. The beef is already seasoned, but this pulls the rice and the sauce into the same flavor.
- Mix it until everything is incorporated.
- Taste it now. Everything in the bowl is already cooked, so there’s no reason to guess. This is where I decide if I want more rub, more Worcestershire, or more rice.
Step 3: Prep the Peppers (10 minutes)
- Cut the top off each pepper.
- Cut around the inside edge to free the core, then pull it out along with the seeds and the white ribs.
- Not comfortable with a big knife? A potato peeler works great in there, and it’s what I’d hand a beginner. A small fillet knife gives you more control. My aunt does the whole thing with a spoon. Use whatever you’ll actually be steady with.
- If a pepper won’t stand up straight, shave a thin slice off the bottom. Do not cut all the way through or your filling runs out the bottom on the grill.
Step 4: Stuff Them (5 minutes)
- Spoon the filling into each pepper and fill it all the way to the top.
- Don’t pack it down. You want it full, not compressed. Packed filling heats unevenly and comes out dense.
- Set them on a sheet pan with a wire rack. The rack keeps the bottoms off the pan so they don’t crisp up and turn bitter.
Step 5: Oil the Outside (2 minutes)
- Rub a little olive oil over the outside of each pepper.
- This is optional, but it keeps the skins from shrinking and wrinkling as much during the cook.
- I do this after they’re built so I’m not handling slippery peppers while I’m trying to stuff them.
Step 6: Smoke at 350°F (35–45 minutes)
- Put the whole pan on the grill at 350°F.
- Run them 35 to 45 minutes. You’re looking for the peppers to soften and take on a little color.
- Everything inside is already cooked to 160°F, so you’re not chasing a target temp here. You’re cooking the pepper, not the filling.
Step 7: Shred and Add the Cheese (Last 10 minutes)
- With about 10 minutes left, shred a block of Colby Jack. Bagged shredded cheese works if you’re short on time, but a block off a box grater melts noticeably better.
- Pile it on top of each pepper. I go heavy here.
- Back on the grill for the last 10 minutes to melt it down.
- Adding the cheese at the end instead of the start is the whole trick. Melted for ten minutes gets you that gooey top. Cheese that rides the full cook dries out and goes rubbery.
Step 8: Rest and Serve (5 minutes)
- Pull the pan and let them rest 5 minutes before you cut in. This isn’t optional. The filling is molten straight off the grill and it will run out the second you slice one. Five minutes lets it set up enough to hold its shape on the plate.
- Slice one open and you should see the cheese, the pepper, and the filling all hold together.
