Homemade Stuffed Peppers Soup
Essentially, this recipe is a deconstructed stuffed pepper that’s served in soup form. Now you can have all of the comforting flavors of stuffed peppers in a comforting bowl of soup that’s perfect for chilly evenings! (You can also try these classic flavors in a pasta casserole that your family will love)
As a bonus, everything cooks in the same one pot, so there are fewer dishes to wash after the meal. We can always appreciate one pot meals… because who wants to do the dishes all night?! Enjoy the night of sharing a wonderful meal with the family instead or make a double batch for a gathering of friends.
This soup is also known as “unstuffed pepper soup” or “stuffed bell pepper soup.” Instead of stuffing the bell peppers with the ground beef and rice mixture, the bell peppers are IN the soup along with other ingredients. It’s a lot less work but all the same great flavors we know and love.
How to Make Stuffed Peppers Soup
- Prepare. This is great to do before you get started. That way, everything is ready to go! Dice all of the vegetables and set the aside.
- Sauté the vegetables. Preheat a Dutch oven (or other large pot) over medium heat and add olive oil. Add the diced onions and bell peppers and cook until they begin to soften. Mix in diced tomato and cook for a few more minutes.
- Cook the ground beef. Move the vegetables over to the sides and add ground beef to the middle of the pot. Break it apart, cover the pot with a lid, and cook for a few minutes. After a few minutes, break up the meat some more and start mixing it with veggies. Close the lid and keep cooking until the beef is mostly done. Make sure to break up as many clumps as you can.
- Add the liquid. Mix in tomato paste, then pour in beef broth.
- Season and cook. Season with oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, mix well and lower the heat to low. Close the lid but leave a small crack for the heat to escape. Cook for about 20 minutes.
- Add rice. Mix in rice, close the lid back up and cook until rice is done.
PRO TIP: If you know you’ll have leftovers, cook the rice separately instead and add it to the soup as needed. Otherwise, the rice will continue to absorb the liquid from the soup and the texture may become too mushy.
Variations & Optional Add-ins
- Adding more vegetables: Some good veggies to add are mushrooms, leeks, kale, carrots, green beans, and corn.
- Other meats: if you want to try another meat, some options include ground turkey, ground pork sausage, or ground pork.
- Rice options: you can use brown rice in this soup or wild rice. If you want to substitute rice in the soup, try quinoa, farro, or couscous. (Note, farro and couscous are not gluten free.)
- Herbs: you can use dried herbs or fresh herbs in the soup. While fresh herbs are more aromatic, they are not as potent as dried hers. So adjust amounts accordingly. You can also use Italian seasoning with some salt and pepper to season the soup.
Can I Make This Recipe in the Crockpot?
- While technically you can make this soup in a Crockpot, I do want to note that is is a fast soup made with ground beef, which is a soft meat, so there’s no reason to make it in a slow cooker. You will also have much more flavor making it in a pot rather than slow cooker.
- To make it in the slow cooker: Follow the instruction of cooking veggies and beef in the recipe and when beef is just about done, transfer everything to the slow cooker. Mix in tomato taste, beef stock, and season with oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Mix well, close the lid, and cook on LOW for 6 hours.
- You can add the rice during the last 20 minutes or so and cook until rice is just tender. (Or, you can cook rice separately and add rice to each bowl as you serve.)
Storing, Reheating, and Freezing Instructions
- Storage – Store the stuffed pepper soup and rice in separate airtight containers and keep in the refrigerator. Both will last up to 4 days before the texture starts to change.
- Reheating – Simmer the soup on the stove or heat in the microwave until warmed through. Then, mix in fresh rice or add cooked rice towards the end of reheating to warm it at the same time.
- Freezing – Again, store the unstuffed pepper soup without the rice for best consistency. Freeze in a zip-top bag or sealed container for up to 3 months, then thaw in the refrigerator before reheating. It may help to store the soup in individual portions so you can thaw just what you need.
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Stuffed Pepper Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion
- 1 green or red bell pepper*
- 1 yellow bell pepper*
- 1 large tomato
- 1 lb ground beef 85/15 recommended
- 3 cups beef stock
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4-1/2 tsp black pepper
- salt
- 3/4 cup Jasmine rice**
Instructions
- Dice all the vegetables first and set the aside.
- Preheat a Dutch oven over medium heat and add olive oil.
- Add diced onions and bell peppers and cook until they start to soften. Mix it diced tomato and cook for a few more minutes.
- Move vegetables over to the sides and add ground beef to the center of the pan. Break it apart, cover the pot with a lid, and cook for a few minutes. After a few minutes, break up the meat some more and start mixing it with veggies. Close the lid and keep cooking until the beef is mostly done. Make sure to break up as many clumps as you can.
- Mix in tomato taste and then, pour in beef stock.
- Season with oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, mix well and lower the heat to low. Close the lid but leave a small crack for the heat to escape. Cook for about 20 minutes.
- Mix in rice, close the lid back up and cook until rice is done.
- Serve right away.
Alternate option:
- If you don't plan to eat all of the soup right away, you can cook rice separately and add some to individual soup servings. Cook the rice in salted water according to the package instructions and add it to each bowl of soup as needed.
- Store cooked rice separately from the soup. Make sure to keep it refrigerated in an air-tight food storage container.
Video
Notes
- * When it comes to the bell peppers, feel free to choose any colors you want. Choosing a couple of different colors will make the soup more fun though.
- **Jasmine rice is a personal preference but you can substitute long grain rice, Basmati rice, or even brown rice.
- Ground Beef – You can use lean ground beef like 90/10, but it tends to be chewier due to the lack of fat. I prefer to use 85/15 or even 80/20 ground beef for juicier and tastier beef. You can also substitute ground turkey for a leaner version of this recipe.
- You can also use lean ground turkey meat instead of ground beef. (Not extra lean!)
- Storage – Store the stuffed pepper soup and rice in separate airtight containers and keep in the refrigerator. Both will last up to 4 days before the texture starts to change
Nutrition
More Comforting Recipes To Try
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in January, 2014.
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Categories:
Beef Recipes, Dinner Recipes, Gluten Free Recipes, Most Popular Recipes, Rice Dinner Recipes, Soup Recipes,All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
Soup was really good..I seasoned my meat with some Adobe, complete and salt n pepper. Overall the soup was delicious. I will be adding more bell pepper and ground beef next time..
I am so glad you liked it!
My favorite pepper soup
I am so happy to hear that! 🙂
Made this today, next time I will cook meat seperate and drain than add, also added 2 smalls of tomato sauce for more tomato taste. Otherwise we loved it
Glad you liked it!
This looks delicious!!
Texturally, I’m not a fan of cooked tomato though. Would you recommend I replace that with a tomato sauce instead to stay close to the recipe? How much? Also would be interested to hear what other suggestions you have in this case?
If you’re not a fan of fresh or canned tomatoes in your food, you can add 2 to 4 oz of tomato sauce instead, then taste and adjust as needed. Another option but it is an extra step is to blend half a can of whole or diced tomatoes and use that in place of whole tomatoes.
I made this for dinner last night. Only change I made was adding a can of Rotel tomatoes instead of diced fresh tomato. It was delicious!
I am so glad it turned out well for you, Lynette!
Made this recipe tonight and it turned out really great! The only thing is I didn’t see the recipe say to strain the grease from the meat/veggie mixture and I would suggest that. I used 80/20. Additionally, for the veggies I sautéed, I used the amount of oil the recipe calls for but less would have sufficed. I opted to keep the rice out since we weren’t going to eat it all tonight and that was a good suggestion!! Will definitely make again.
Yes, you definitely could drain the meat for 80/20, since that ratio has a lot more fat in it. I am so glad you liked the recipe though! Thanks for stopping by and letting me know.
Hi,I’m planning to make this meal soon, looks so tasty! Can you tell me what brand of beef stock you use? Thank you!:)
I usually do this 3 hour crock pot recipe. I think I’m going to give this a go though it sounds just as good. And I like the fact that I don’t have to wait 3 hours. Thank you for the recipe
I hope you try it! It is very easy. Let me know if you have any questions.
Can’t wait to try this recipe! Do you happen to know the calories for without adding the rice in the soup?
Tried this recipe after seeing it on the Car Mom’s instagram page. Truly a HIT. My kids and husband loved it. Tasted even better as second day leftovers which means it’s a winner!!
I am so glad you liked it, Rachel!
Can I use fresh basil for this recipe?
This is my boyfriend’s favorite thing I make. Its easy and the leftovers are just as good.
I am so glad he likes it, Karen!