Full of savory ground beef, smoky fire-roasted tomatoes, rice, and a trio of red, yellow, and green bell peppers, this sensational stuffed pepper soup is an amazing recipe to make any time of year. It's a perfect way to use your fresh bell peppers and tomatoes towards the end of summer, but it's just as amazing during autumn and winter as a hearty, nutritious soup to keep the cold at bay.
This delicious soup has all the same ingredients as stuffed peppers but is a whole lot more convenient to make compared to stuffed peppers! Serve your stuffed pepper soup with some crusty bread, biscuits, and roasted veggies for a healthy, satisfying meal the whole family will love.
Anyone who has ever made stuffed peppers before will recognize the ingredients for this fantastic soup. Use lean ground beef for this soup. A 90/10 percent ratio is perfect and will ensure your soup doesn't become greasy.
Any combination of bell peppers will do. This recipe calls for red, yellow, and green, but go with your favorites. Red bell peppers have a sweeter flavor, while green ones have a more vegetal flavor.
You'll also need fire-roasted tomatoes, tomato sauce, garlic, onion, and dried herbs for flavor. Dried basil, oregano, and thyme give the best flavor.
Cooked rice helps bulk up the soup and make it extra hearty.
For the soup base, use beef broth or stock.
Finally, you'll need a sprinkling of cheese to garnish the soup. Mozzarella or cheddar are popular choices, but use whatever you enjoy most. No matter what type of cheese you use, shred it yourself. This helps it melt more evenly over your soup.
Making stuffed pepper soup is even easier than making stuffed peppers and has the same great taste! To make homemade stuffed pepper soup from scratch, start by sautéing the beef in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook the beef until it has browned. Drain away all the fat, then put the ground beef on a paper towel-lined plate. Set it aside.
Next, sauté the onions and peppers until soft. Stir in garlic. Cook it for about 45 seconds until it becomes fragrant. Mix in the tomatoes, beef broth, tomato sauce, herbs, and pepper flakes. Add the beef back to the pot, then turn down the heat and simmer the soup for 20 minutes. Mix in the cooked rice and serve the soup in bowls. Garnish with cheese and fresh chopped parsley, and enjoy!
Slow cooker stuffed pepper soup is just as tasty as making the soup on a stovetop and much more convenient. Cook the soup on high for 4 to 5 hours or on low for 6 to 8 hours.
Make sure to drain off all the fat that renders off the beef. You don't want greasy soup!
If you can't find fire-roasted tomatoes, regular canned tomatoes work fine. However, fire-roasted tomatoes will give your stuffed pepper soup an amazing layer of flavor.
If you have fresh tomatoes on hand, fire roast the tomatoes yourself! You can also use homemade tomato sauce.
Stuffed pepper soup is a great way to use up leftover rice.
Instead of ground beef, use pork, chicken, or turkey. Sausage meat is another excellent option, especially Italian sausage.
For vegetarian stuffed pepper soup, use a vegetarian meat substitute.
Instead of white rice, use brown rice, cauliflower rice, or quinoa to make the soup even healthier.
You can use chicken or vegetable broth as a soup base instead of beef.
You can add croutons to make the soup even heartier.
This wonderful, richly flavored soup goes great with a green salad, sautéed vegetables, roasted vegetables, roast potatoes or roast sweet potatoes, homemade garlic bread, crusty French bread, dinner rolls, and cornbread.
Keep leftover stuffed pepper soup in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat it on the stovetop over a medium-low flame. If you need to, you can add more beef broth – the rice will soak up some of the broth over time.
You can totally make stuffed pepper soup ahead of time and freeze it for later enjoyment. If you do, freeze it without the rice – cooked rice won't freeze well in a soup. Frozen stuffed pepper soup lasts up to 3 months when kept in an airtight container. Thaw it overnight in the fridge, reheat, add in the rice, and enjoy.
Sauté the beef in a Dutch oven over medium heat for several minutes, until browned.
Sauté the beef in a Dutch oven over medium heat for several minutes, until browned.
Pour off the fat, then place the beef on a plate, better if paper towel-lined.
Pour off the fat, then place the beef on a plate, better if paper towel-lined.
Heat more oil in the pot over medium-high. Cook the onions and peppers for 3 to 5 minutes, until soft. Stir in garlic.
Heat more oil in the pot over medium-high. Cook the onions and peppers for 3 to 5 minutes, until soft. Stir in garlic.
Cook until fragrant, about 45 seconds.
Cook until fragrant, about 45 seconds.
Add tomatoes, broth, tomato sauce to the pot.
Add tomatoes, broth, tomato sauce to the pot.
Stir in ground beef.
Stir in ground beef.
Lower the heat, season with salt, pepper, basil, oregano, thyme, and pepper flakes.
Lower the heat, season with salt, pepper, basil, oregano, thyme, and pepper flakes.
Pour the homemade beef broth or the store-bought one.
Pour the homemade beef broth or the store-bought one.
Simmer for 20 minutes.
Simmer for 20 minutes.
Add in the rice.
Add in the rice.
Mix.
Mix.
Serve the soup and garnish with cheese and parsley.
Serve the soup and garnish with cheese and parsley.