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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Very delicious. I read the comments before making it and tweaked it all a little . I feel like this will be my go to recipe now. Thanks so much.
Very good soup. I took the advice of others and added some tomato paste. Also used one can of fire roasted diced tomatoes and one of the regular diced tomatoes. Dash of garlic and onion powder and used 15oz of tomato sauce. The Parmesan cheese was just perfect. Thank you!
I really love how flexible this recipe is. It is great, as written, but it is super easy to customize it to the flavors you like in your own stuffed peppers. This recipe is one of my favorites if we have a bunch of leftover rice to use up. I generally loathe when people review a recipe and change a thousand things about it and then rave about how good it is with the changes so I will make it super clear, this recipe gets 5 stars as written, because I’ve made it that way. And I’ve also modified it over time as I’ve used up stuff in the pantry and fridge so here’s my experience with that…
I’ve found that we prefer to add the rice to each bowl as you serve it because it does suck up a LOT of the liquid as it sits. If you have leftovers (we typically do with a smaller family), by the time you eat it the next day, it comes out basically as really saucy broken down rice instead of soup with rice. Yeah – you have to store 2 containers in the fridge, but I think it is better for it!
I am making this as a slow cooker recipe today. I started late so it is 4 hours on high, but have had great success doing 8 hours on low as well. Do NOT add the rice into it until just before you serve (or add it to each bowl as you serve, as suggested above). The rice texture will be super mealy if you add it at the start, and you’ll have to add more liquid.
Also – I buy tomato sauce in a 15 oz can and this recipe calls for 8oz. Rather than waste half a can, I just dump the entire thing in and it is still fine. I made per recipe the first time and it was delicious, and since I had put the rice in all at oncre, it needed extra liquid the next day so I dumped the rest in anyway. Now I just start out that way!
Best advise is definitely add cooked rice to the bowls. I also add some uncooked in the pot (1/2 cup) for body to the soup. Add extra flavourings as needed, for us hot sauce and topping with cheese is great!
I used this recipe as a base. I had giant marconi sweet peppers, a hot banana pepper & tomato’s from my garden to use so I added 1/2 small can of tomato paste I reduced the broth amount & the rice, every thing else was added & prepared as described. It turned out great.
Great recipe! Added pinch of baking soda to tame the acidity of the tomatoes. I maybe would add more beef broth & less tomatoes or sauce next time. Also substituted #4 orzo (tiny) for rice.
This was awesome. I left out the red pepper but everything else followed the recipe. Will make again!
I made a double batch of this; it was easier since I had a 6 cup carton of beef broth. I made this without the red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. It’s awesome! I think it would be great without meat, also. Thanks for the recipe!
So delicious, healthy and super easy to make!
I’ve made this several times now. I add green chilies, chopped mushrooms, about a cup of peas and a lot more stock.
It was delicious!
so good! i chose yellow + orange bell peppers to add a level of sweetness to the acidity/robust flavor & added cumin & cayenne pepper for a little kick but other than that, i stuck to the recipe! 10/10 sooo good
Just made this and wish I doubled the recipe. I like to try new recipes every week and this will be in my note book as a keeper.
I don’t like peppers much, but during the summer I have a lot of peppers and tomatoes to cook with, so I made this for my extremely picky husband, because we grow or raise most of the ingredients. I used my roasted tomatoes in place of all the canned stuff.
I was “eh” about it the first night, but lunch as leftovers on croissants with Brie (and then buttered toast) it was amazing. And my husband absolutely loved it.
This was the best soup I’ve made in ages. My husband is not a fan of soup, but he loved it! I used brown rice for extra nutrients.
I want to say this, this was the best Damn stuffed Pepper Soup. Thank you for sharing with all of us.
Amazing
Is tomato sauce just ketchup ?
It is not Ketchup. It is closer to spaghetti sauce than ketchup. If I didn’t have tomato sauce, I might substitute tomato puree or tomato paste. Tomato juice might work as well.
I made this according to the recipe, I feel 2cups of rice is way too much, when I added the rice to the soup it absorbed all of the liquid. I had to add a half cup of water and another 2cups of stock! I was good. Will make it again using less rice!!
I am making this for dinner tonight and almost added 2 cups of uncooked rice, but realized that the recipe calls for 2 cups of already cooked rice!! Maybe that’s what you did? I haven’t finished cooking yet, so cannot speak to how it turns out for me.
I agree. There’s too much rice. I thought of that before I added it so I added it a little at a time. Another thought would be adding a little rice in the bowl then add the soup mixture. It was really good though.
We do use that much rice, but we add to each bowl as it is served. I don’t find that it is lacking in flavor, but it keeps the soup, soupy.
Excellent! Made exactly according to recipe. Wouldn’t change a thing. Everyone thought it was very tasty and and an easy meal. Thank you!
Are you able to can this soup?
Hi Carol, note this is not recommended by the FDA or other canning “experts.”
I have canned this multiple times in pint jars, processed in pressure canner for 75 minutes (near sea level). I don’t add rice when canning. I serve it over cooked rice when I open a jar.
Note I simmer this at a low boil for 10 minutes after opening jar and before eating (which would kill any undetected botulism). Everyone raves about this canned soup.
I also double the recipe when I’m going to can it.
Made this a day ahead for dinner last night. Very good and tasting like stuffed peppers. I did add one more pepper extra vegie’s. Another great winter soup from DD. Would not change anything.