This Stuffed Pepper Soup has all the awesome flavors of stuffed peppers, like ground beef, bell peppers, fire-roasted tomatoes, garlic, and rice, with a lot less time and effort. Just think of this recipe as deconstructed stuffed peppers. Serve up this hearty soup with corn muffins or garlic cheese bread for a down-home memorable meal.
This Stuffed Pepper Soup has the same awesome flavors as stuffed peppers with a lot less work. Just think of it as deconstructed stuffed peppers in soup form. It only takes about thirty minutes to prepare this soup, making it absolutely doable for weeknights.
How do you make Stuffed Pepper Soup?
First, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the ground beef and brown it breaking it up as it browns. About halfway through the browning process, add the onions and bell peppers. Stir several times to keep the meat browning and the vegetables from burning. Drain any excess grease from the pan. Reduce the heat to low and add the minced garlic, oregano, basil, and thyme, stirring constantly.
Add the fire-roasted tomatoes, tomato, sauce, beef broth, brown sugar, and rice. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer and cover with lid. Simmer for about 30 minutes or until the rice is tender. Season with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. Top each bowl with a little shredded cheese, fresh parsley, or red pepper flakes. This soup is best served promptly.
Recipe notes and helpful tips
- You can also substitute ground turkey, ground pork, ground chicken, or Italian sausage for the ground beef.
- If available, use sweet Vidalia onions. A little sweetness really makes this recipe stand out.
- Dice your bell peppers into small bite-size pieces. You can use any combination of colored bell peppers.
- You can use any long grain rice or short-grain rice, including white rice, brown rice, jasmine, basmati, or even quinoa. Please keep in mind that brown rice will require a slightly longer cooking time.
- Fire-roasted tomatoes really give this dish extra flavor, but you can use any canned diced tomatoes.
- If you know you will be saving leftovers, cook rice separately and spoon a small amount into each bowl before adding the soup. This way, the rice will not continue to soak up the liquid and swell.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. When reheating, use a reduced power level on the microwave and an extra low on the stove top to keep from cooking the rice more.
- To freeze first, completely cool. Then ladle into marked freezer zipper bags and freeze for up 3 months.
What to serve with stuffed pepper soup
This is a hearty soup that is quite thick and filling. Good options are cornbread, corn muffins, cheese garlic bread, or baguettes with sweet cream butter. Other ideas include a simple salad, grilled cheese, or cheese quesadilla.
Can you freeze stuffed pepper soup?
You most certainly can, although the peppers will be a little softer. First, cool the soup completely. Then ladle the cooled soup into quart or gallon-sized heavy-duty freezer zipper bags. Lay the soup bags down in a single layer on rimmed baking sheets and place the sheet in the freezer. Once fully frozen, stack the bags up on their side in the freezer to save on space. Thaw the soup in the fridge overnight.
Stuffed Pepper Soup is so quick to come together, and it is one of those recipes that you can cut and prep as you go. It does not require much simmering time, so it is perfect for a weeknight meal.
Other soup recipes you will love!
Stuffed Pepper Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 green bell pepper finely chopped
- 1 red bell pepper finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 14.5 ounce cans fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- 2 cups low sodium beef broth
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3/4 cup uncooked white or brown rice
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- Shredded cheddar cheese garnish
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the ground beef and brown it breaking it up as it browns. About halfway through the browning process, add the onions and bell peppers and cook until the veggies are soft. Stir several times to keep the meat browning and the vegetables from burning. Drain any excess grease from the pan.
- Reduce the heat to low and add the minced garlic, oregano, basil, and thyme, stirring constantly.
- Add the fire-roasted tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth, brown sugar, and rice. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer and cover. Simmer covered for 25-30 minutes or until the rice is tender. Stir several times.
- Season with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and if desired, cheddar cheese and serve.
Notes
-
- You can also substitute ground turkey, ground pork, ground chicken, or Italian sausage for the ground beef.
-
- If available, use sweet Vidalia onions. A little sweetness really makes this recipe stand out.
-
- Dice your bell peppers into small bite-size pieces. You can use any combination of colored bell peppers.
-
- You can use any long-grain or short-grain white rice or brown rice, jasmine, basmati, or even quinoa. Please keep in mind that brown rice will require a slightly longer cooking time.
-
- Fire-roasted tomatoes really give this dish extra flavor, but you can use any canned diced tomatoes.
-
- If you know you will be saving leftovers, cook the rice separately and spoon a small amount into each bowl of before adding the soup. This way, the rice will not continue to soak up the liquid and swell.
-
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. When reheating, use a reduced power level on the microwave and an extra low on the stovetop to keep from cooking the rice more.
-
- To freeze first, completely cool. Then ladle into marked freezer zipper bags and freeze for up 3 months.
Nutrition
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Samantha Donnelly
I cook with peppers a lot, and one of our favorites is stuffed peppers, so I knew this would be a winner. The whole family loved it.
Janice Mariano-Pratt
I haven’t tried this one yet, but im sure will love it specially when I add my tabasco hot sauce in it. Thank you for sharimg this unique recipe yum!
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Janice! Enjoy!
Sandra
I love everything about this meal! Easy, delicious, and comforting!!
Whitney Stewart
I do enjoy a good stuffed pepper every now and then. But I had no idea it could be made into a soup! Now I’m intrigued! Thanks so much for sharing! I’ll give it a go!
Erik
Such a creative dinner! Definitely gonna help spice up the weekday routine.
Beth Pierce
Yes indeed. So much flavor, and so incredibly easy!
Joan
What are “salsa” style tomatoes?
Beth Pierce
Something like this.
Lori
This is my second time making this. I have tons of peppers from the garden so I’ve been making a lot of pepper recipes. My husband really liked this soup as did I. I took the leftovers to my folks and they really liked it….they are big soup eaters. When I told my mom I was making it she didn’t think it was a soup they would enjoy but did they ever!!
Beth Pierce
That is great Lori! So glad that you and your parents liked it.
Deb
I made this today and wasn’t sure what salsa style tomatoes were, so I used Ro-tel tomatoes! I guess I should have researched that before starting the soup! Luckily we love anything with a kick to it😀 This is a very good recipe that I’m sure we’ll make again.
Beth Pierce
Rotel works just fine. So glad that you enjoyed it!
Sarah
My family loved this! We topped ours off with cheese and it was delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Beth Pierce
Happy to hear the family loved it. A little cheese on top would be delicious!!
Karen
made this and it was delicious 😋 👌 😍..those salsa style tomatoes were delicious
Beth Pierce
Thanks so much Karen! I love those salsa style tomatoes too!!
Tanya
I’m going to make this with riced cauliflower ..can’t wait to try it..
Beth Pierce
Thanks Tanya!! That sounds like a great idea! Enjoy!!
Kathy Mccarley
How was it with riced cauliflower? That’s my plans tonight?
Anna Marie
Just wondering if I should reduce the amount of broth, if using rice that has already been cooked. I am using long grain rice. If the amount of broth should be reduced, what do you suggest? Thanks.
Beth Pierce
You might reduce the broth by maybe 1/2 -2/3’s cup.
Mary
I would use some of the the broth in the recipe in place of water to cook the rice.
Tammy
This was awesome other then i added extra can of tomatoes and some basil and oregano
Beth Pierce
Thanks Tammy! So glad that you liked it!
Shelia
My family isn’t big on peppers so I chopped up some cabbage instead. Delicious 😋
Beth Pierce
Thanks Sheila! So glad that you were able to make it work!
Mary
Does this soup freeze well?
Beth Pierce
Yes it does! Enjoy!
Jennifer Smith
I’ve never heard of salsa tomatoes and even looked on amazon. Can you post a brand or a picture of the can?
Beth Pierce
Here is a link and Walmart sells them under the great value label and believe I have bought hunts brand before too. You can also use a can of fire roasted tomatoes.