Stuffed Pepper Soup
by Chungah
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Coziest stuffed pepper soup! Made with ground beef, bell peppers, tomatoes and rice. Budget-friendly and comes together so fast in one pot!
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Why you’ll love this stuffed pepper soup
- No-fuss comfort food. This soup has all the best, warm, cozy flavors of stuffed peppers with a fraction of the work – no more hollowing or stuffing peppers here! With a savory tomato broth and all the hearty fillings (ground beef, vegetables, and rice), this is simply ultra-cozy comfort food.
- Budget-friendly. This is an incredibly budget-friendly meal, utilizing inexpensive ingredients such as ground beef, rice, and pantry staples, yielding large servings to feed a big crowd.
- Flexible recipe. You can swap out for different proteins or grains, or incorporate additional vegetables for a true clean-out-the-fridge meal (more on that below).
- Freezes like a dream. Yes, this can keep in the freezer for up to 3 months, perfect for a rainy day or the busiest of weeknights, adding in freshly cooked rice just before serving.
What is stuffed pepper soup?
This is a deconstructed version of traditional stuffed peppers, where bell peppers are hollowed out and filled with a ground beef mixture, topped with cheese, and then baked until tender.
How to make stuffed pepper soup
- Prep the bell peppers. Core, seed, and dice the bell peppers into similar-sized pieces for a consistent bite.
- Brown the ground beef. Cook and crumble the ground beef in a Dutch oven over medium heat, draining the excess fat.
- Add the onion and bell peppers. Cook until the bell peppers are just softened and tender. The peppers will continue to cook in the soup.
- Sauté the aromatics. Stir in the garlic, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes.
- Simmer. Stir in the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth and ground beef, simmering for 15-20 minutes. The longer it simmers, the more it will naturally thicken.
- Add the rice. Add the cooked rice (always cooking the rice separately) and parsley.
- Serve. Serve warm topped with shredded mozzarella, or grated Parmesan, and crusty bread.
Helpful swaps
Meat
Use ground beef, ground chicken, ground turkey, or sausage, or omit completely for a vegetarian version.
Peppers
Mix green, red, yellow, and orange bell peppers.
Veggies
Add carrots, celery, zucchini, mushrooms, or leafy greens to bulk up the soup (and clear out the fridge).
Grains
Long grain white rice, brown rice, quinoa, orzo, and barley are all solid options. For a low-carb option, try cauliflower rice.
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Tools For This Recipe
Dutch oven
Stuffed Pepper Soup: Frequently Asked Questions
Green, red, yellow, and orange bell peppers all work very well here. A mix is ideal though, adding different flavors from each of the peppers. Green bell peppers are more savory (classic flavors) whereas red, yellow, and orange are more sweet.
Yes! The seeds (as well as the ribs) should be removed as they can be bitter and have an unpleasant crunchy texture.
Yes! Omit the rice or substitute cauliflower rice.
This soup pairs beautifully with crusty bread, a simple side salad, and a light vegetable side dish.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days, adding a splash of beef broth when reheating.
Stuffed pepper soup freezes so well! Freeze the soup (without the rice) up to 3 months in individual freezer bags, thawing overnight and gently reheating on the stovetop until warmed through, adding in freshly cooked rice.
Stuffed Pepper Soup
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Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 medium sweet onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
- 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 3 cups beef broth
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 cups cooked white rice
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Heat canola oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add ground beef and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks; drain excess fat and set aside.
- Add onion and bell peppers. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
- Stir in garlic, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth and ground beef; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until flavors have blended, about 15-20 minutes.
- Stir in rice and parsley until heated through, about 1-2 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- Use any colored bell pepper. Feel free to use any type of bell pepper (green, red, yellow or orange), or a mix of colors for a blend of different flavors.
- Remove the ribs and seeds. Always remove the white ribs (pith) and seeds from the bell peppers as they hold a tough, bitter texture.
- Use lean ground beef. 90/10 is ideal, often labeled as ground sirloin, because its low fat content keeps the meat juicy without yielding excess fat (grease) in the soup.
- Get the right consistency. If you prefer a thicker soup, let it simmer for longer (uncovered). If you prefer a thinner soup, add a splash of beef broth.
- Cook the rice separately. This will prevent the rice from soaking up all the broth, yielding a better texture. This also makes for easy meal prep!
- Add the toppings. Finish the soup with a sprinkle of shredded mozzarella or freshly grated Parmesan when serving.
- Prepare for leftovers. If you are planning for leftovers or freezing for later, store the rice separately and add just before serving.
Did you make this recipe?
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I make this every fall season !!! I let all my onion garlic green pepper ( I add a little celery finely chopped)slowly cook together until it fills my home with fragrance. When my husband says something smells so good then I know it’s properly cooked. Low and slow sauté then add my beef all with seasons mix and sprinkled in I use a little more spices onion and garlic powder basil oregano and herbs de Provence. I also add Knorr concentrated beef broth make sure your beef is med well done before adding your tomato sauce and I also use roasted canned tomatoes and I throw in some tomatoes I froze those seasoning. I get that simmering 20 min or so adding cup at a time of canned beef broth sometimes a tsp or so of better than bullion roasted beef flavor simmer 10 -15 minutes between adding 3ndand third cups of the broth. I turn my gas top to lowest burner for additional 30-40 minutes. I taste test add a little more garlic powder basil if needed but as long as it is slowly simmering, it comes out perfect. Next day even better. I do not put rice in with soup until we are ready to eat I use 1/2 c to bottom of bowl and then add the soup. Or I use Great Grains | seeds of change quinoa I find that the rice/quinoa soaks up too much soup if it’s added to the main pot of soup!!!
Amazing
Excellent soup for chilly days! We loved it. I’ll definitely will make it again. Thank you.
Delicious. I added extra amount of seasoning.
After reading some comments that this soup lacked flavor, I decided to add a can of mushrooms, one can of fire roasted tomatoes (in place of one of the cans of regular tomatoes) plus about 1/4 cup of red cooking wine. It was okay with the additions, but I don’t think I’ll make it again.
LOVE this soup! So easy and delicious
I feel like it lacked flavor. Not my favorite!
Good, but not great.
Made exactly to recipe, delicious!!!
Made it exactly as the recipe said. Made my own crusty bread to go with it and the meal was delicious.
I made this recipe it was fabulous. I will be making it again
Made this recipe. I added another cup of beef broth and doubled the tomato sauce. I did this because my family likes soup to have a lot of broth. I stepped the rice in some extra broth that I had made. I served the soup over the rice, instead of putting the rice in the soup. The soup was delicious. I will make it again.
This soup is amazing! I made a double batch and shared with my family. It was a big hit.
Love this recipe, so delici
I made this using Beyond meat crumbles and vegetable stock and it was amazing!!
I use cauliflower rice when I make this less carbs.
Could you please tell me how many total carbs per serving?
I’m type 2 diabetic so total NOT NET carbs is very important.
Thank you so much. I’m really anxious to make this delicious soup.
So delicious and easy! Recipe was so easy to follow.
I just made it , I like it ,excellent recipe
Can I can the green pepper soup after I make it, so I can have it for a later time and date?
My experience was that just with regular leftovers, the rice continues to soak up moisture and becomes very mushy, and it was worse (though not bad) reheated. I imagine this would be the main problem with canning.