This stuffed pepper soup is a hearty meal loaded with ground beef, onions, rice and bell peppers in a tomato based broth. It tastes just like classic stuffed peppers, but without all the work!
I love stuffed peppers, but it seems like they take forever to bake, and I always end up with peppers that are either too crunchy or too mushy. Stuffed pepper soup has all the same flavors but is so easy to put together on a busy weeknight. Looking for more amazing soup recipes? Don’t miss my albondigas soup, pasta e fagioli soup, turkey soup and matzo ball soup!
When we have cool fall and winter nights, I like something warm and hearty. My kids love stuffed peppers so I started thinking about stuffed pepper soup. It’s delicious any time of the year, but it’s best on a chilly night!
Serve this soup with a baguette slices, cheesy pull apart bread, homemade dinner rolls or my elegant butterflake rolls!
Table of Contents
Stuffed Pepper Soup Ingredients
To make this stuffed pepper soup recipe, you will need olive oil, ground beef, onion, garlic, salt, black pepper, a red bell pepper, a green bell pepper, a can of diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth, Italian seasoning, white rice and fresh parsley.
How Do You Make Stuffed Pepper Soup?
When you make stuffed pepper soup, start by heating olive oil in a large pot, then add the ground beef. Cook the beef, breaking it up into small pieces as you go, then add onion. Cook until the onion is soft, then add garlic. Season the beef and onion mixture with salt and pepper. Add the cut bell peppers, then cook for a few minutes until the peppers start to soften. Next add tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth and Italian seasoning. Bring the soup to a simmer, and cook until the peppers are tender. Add in the rice, and season the soup with more salt and pepper. Sprinkle with parsley, then serve.
Tips For The Perfect Dish
- I recommend using 90% lean ground beef. It has a lot of flavor without excessive amounts of grease. If you use beef with a higher fat content, you may need to drain any excess grease from the pot before continuing with the recipe.
- This recipe calls for cooked rice. It’s important to use cooked rice because if you use raw rice, it will soak up all the broth from the soup.
- I recommend a long grain rice. You can use white rice or jasmine rice. I wouldn’t use basmati rice or a short grain rice.
- Stuffed pepper soup can be made up to 2 days before you plan to serve it. I recommend storing the rice separately and adding it when you reheat the soup.
- Leftovers will stay fresh in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- The soup will last in the freezer for up to 2 months. Again, it’s better to freeze the rice separately so it doesn’t absorb all the liquid. You can reheat the soup by letting it thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then you can heat in a microwave or on a stove top.
Quick Tip
You can use any type of bell pepper in this dish. Green, red, orange and yellow all work great!
Recipe FAQs
Stuffed pepper soup contains ground beef, bell peppers, rice and tomatoes, all in beef broth with onion, garlic and herbs.
You need to remove the seeds from peppers before you cook with them. Pepper seeds have a hard texture which is unpleasant in most dishes. Use a small paring knife to cut the seeds out of peppers before you use them.
Peppers are done cooking when they are tender. You can check to see if your peppers are tender by piercing them with a fork. If the fork goes in easily, the peppers are ready.
To cut bell peppers for soup, simply cut off the top and bottom off the peppers. Next Cut the peppers in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and ribs. Finally cut the outside of the peppers into vertical strips and cut them again horizontally so that you have squares that are approximately an inch long.
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Flavor Variations
While this soup is delicious as-is, you can swap out some of the ingredients to customize the flavors to your tastes.
- Protein: You can swap out the ground beef for ground chicken, sausage, ground turkey or even ground pork with good results.
- Rice: Many people have substituted cauliflower rice to turn this into a low carb dish. Brown rice also works well, or experiment with other cooked grains such as quinoa or farro.
- Vegetables: Feel free to add more veggies to the mix. Some great options include spinach, carrots, mushrooms or celery.
- Broth: If you prefer chicken broth, you can use that instead of beef broth.
- Vegetarian: Omit the meat and use vegetable broth instead of beef broth for a vegetarian version of this soup.
- Flavorings: Amp up the flavor of the soup with some spices such as smoked paprika, cumin, garlic powder, oregano or onion powder. You can also substitute green onions or a little chopped basil for the parsley.
I always love a good bowl of soup, especially during the fall and winter months. We enjoy our soup with a few toppings so I recommend trying shredded cheese, sour cream, or fresh herbs on top of this delicious stuffed bell pepper soup. Add a side of garlic knots or an Italian salad, and dinner is served!
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Stuffed Pepper Soup Video
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Stuffed Pepper Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef I use 90% lean
- 3/4 cup chopped onion
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic minced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 red bell pepper cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 green bell pepper cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 14.5 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 14.5 ounce can beef broth
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 2 cups cooked white rice
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the ground beef and cook until browned, breaking up into smaller pieces with a spatula (approximately 5-6 minutes).
- Add the onion to the pot and cook for 4-5 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Season the beef and onion mixture with salt and pepper.
- Add the bell peppers to the pot and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth and Italian seasoning to the pot; bring to a simmer.
- Cook for 15-20 minutes or until peppers are tender.
- Stir in the rice and season the soup with salt and pepper to taste as desired. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Notes
- I recommend using 90% lean ground beef. It has a lot of flavor without excessive amounts of grease. If you use beef with a higher fat content, you may need to drain any excess grease from the pot before continuing with the recipe.
- This recipe calls for cooked rice. It’s important to use cooked rice because if you use raw rice, it will soak up all the broth from the soup.
Would I be able to do this in the slow cooker? If so how long could I cook it for
Yes you can, cook on low for 3-4 hours, then stir in the cooked rice right before serving.
Love that a slow cooker can be used! After the meat is browned and strained, would you throw everything but the rice in the slow cooker all at once instead of going thru the above steps? Have everything out to make this for supper tonite!
Yes that would work just fine!
Thanks so much! Made it the regular way and my husband loved it!! So did I! Added a little too much rice, so tonight I’m going to add a small can of tomato sauce and put it over mashed potatoes. This is really a “keeper”!
Will this freeze good? Wondering if can substitute rice with like pearl barley or potato? If used rice and froze could add rice when thawed and warmed?
Yes it will freeze well. You can substitute something else for the rice, it just may need to cook a little longer!
I make the soup w/ everything but rice, cook rice separately and put in bowl and put soup base over it. Then I can freeze the base and make fresh rice when i reheat it. I do this with chicken soup also- add noodles, rice or tortellini when I eat it.
Sounds like a good idea!
Soups looks wonderfuk!
Yummmm going to try this tonight!
Made this last night it is so delicious!
So glad to hear you enjoyed it, thanks for reporting back!
This soup looks so delicious. I love all the hearty ingredients and I imagine that it has some savory flavor combinations.
This looks amazing and I’m a fan of the one pot meals!
I’m a vegetarian. This would be great with veggie crumbles. Going to make tomorrow.
I used vege crumbles and substituted beef broth with vegetarian broth. Sooo yummy!!
So glad you enjoyed it!
This looks really tasty and would make my house smell amazing while I cooked! This meal is definitely getting added to our fall lineup when it cools down a bit.
Can spaghetti sauce be used to omit the tomato sauce and the chopped tomatoes and the Italian seasoning
Yes that would work!
I would think spag sauce would be too heavy in this dish. It would be more of a chunky spag sauce for topping pasta.
THis looks delicious. We’re in for a cold spell here. This will be a great meal for one of those days!
This soup is how I like it, with tons of peppers and rice in it! So comforting!
I do love soup a lot and this STUFFED PEPPER SOUP looks really delicious and look so easy to follow the procedure. I will definitely make this for our dinner tonight.
That looks so delicious!!!
This is right up our alley and looks absolutely amazing! I love finding new recipes online, as we approach fall in the Northeast we get closer and closer to stew/soup time of year in our house 🙂
wow does this dish look tasty! It also seems easy enough to make, so I am going to give it a go over the weekend. Thanks so much 🙂
I love bell peppers but I can’t make my kids eat them. Maybe this recipe will them eat this nutritious veggie.
its looking so interesting and healthy.. Thanks for sharing
This recipe looks yummy, the pictures makes me crave for one. I am not a fan of much bell pepper but this one is a must try. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Yup! I am all about this life – minus the rice! I do love stuffed bell peppers!
I make this a lot. I add a little brown sugar to mine and really makes the difference. Sounds weird but try it.
What’s a little?