This hearty and healthy stuffed pepper soup is made with ground beef and bell peppers in a savory broth with diced tomatoes, rice, and the best blend of Italian seasonings. It’s easy to make on the Stove Top or the Crock Pot!
Be sure to try my Chicken Taco Soup recipe next!
Stuffed Pepper Soup
I am in love with this hearty, delicious, and healthy stuffed pepper soup. It is so satisfying and encompasses all of the elements of a complete meal in a single soup pot!
This recipe uses a combination of beef and chicken broth for depth of flavor. Tomato sauce and diced tomatoes with green chilies add a nice tomato base, and we offset the acidity of those tomatoes with a hint of brown sugar. (It adds the perfect touch!)
Simple flavor enhancers include a touch of hot sauce, mustard powder, and Worcestershire sauce– none of which you can taste outright. The seasoning blend is just perfect, and I love sprinkling in freshly shredded cheese at the end for a savory finish!
How to Make It
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Season the ground beef with salt/pepper and cook the beef and onions in a large soup pot. Drain grease. Add garlic and peppers and sauté for 3 minutes.
Add the seasonings, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and brown sugar. Stir to combine, then add the beef/chicken broth.
Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover partially and let it simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, cook the rice in chicken broth in a separate pot and add it to serving bowls.
Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the shredded cheese, (if using). Ladle the soup on top of the rice and serve!
Crock Pot Method
- Cook the ground beef and onions and drain grease. Transfer to the slow cooker along with remaining ingredients except for the rice and shredded cheese.
- Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Flip to warm and stir in the cheese, if using.
- Cook rice separately as outlined in the stove top method and add directly to serving bowls. Ladle the soup on top and serve.
- Store any leftover rice and soup in separate containers and refrigerate or freeze.
Can You Cook the Rice in the Stuffed Pepper Soup?
- I highly recommend that you cook the rice on the side in some chicken broth. As soon as the rice is added to the soup itself, it starts to absorb the broth. The longer it sits in the soup, the more broth the rice absorbs, which makes it overly soft and leaves you with little leftover broth.
Pro Tips
- You can’t taste the hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, or mustard powder in this recipe. They are used as flavor enhancers and add umami. I use Frank’s Hot Sauce for this recipe, but any variety is fine!
- Ground Turkey can be used instead of ground beef.
- 2 1/4 cups of leftover rice can be used for this recipe as well.
- Shred the cheese from a block to ensure it melts well and tastes the best.
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
- Be sure to freeze the rice in a separate container from the soup. The soup and the rice both freeze well.
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- 4.5 quart Dutch oven– This is a great size for this recipe.
- Food Storage Containers– These are what I use, they fit exactly 1 cup and are leak proof, microwave safe, stackable, and BPA free.
- Measuring Spoons– I have these magnetic ones which stay nice and organized in my utensil drawer.
- Pinch Bowls– for measuring out seasonings ahead of time.
- 16 oz. storage containers – I use these to store/freeze my soups. They have 8 oz. sizes as well. They’re stackable, leak proof, and dishwasher/microwave safe.
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Stuffed Pepper Soup
Ingredients
Seasonings
- 1 teaspoon EACH: dried basil, oregano, parsley, mustard powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
Soup
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 ¼ lb. ground beef, 90% lean
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- Salt/Pepper, to taste
- 1 large red bell pepper, diced
- 1 large green bell pepper, diced
- 10 oz. diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
- 16 oz. tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3 cups beef broth
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup Shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, (optional)
Rice
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- 3/4 cups white long grain rice, uncooked., (Or 2 ¼ cups cooked rice.)
Instructions
- Note: The rice is cooked separately in this recipe to ensure that it doesn’t soak up too much broth in the soup. This allows leftover soup and rice to be stored separately as well, as the rice continues to soak up broth during storage. This soup freezes very well, the rice can also be frozen in a separate storage container.
Prepare the Soup:
- Heat the olive oil in a 4 ½ quart soup pot over medium-high heat. Season the ground beef with salt and pepper and add it to the pot. Cook and crumble it for 3 minutes. Add the onions and cook for 5 more minutes, or until the beef is brown and cooked through. Drain grease.
- Reduce heat to medium. Add the garlic and toss to coat. Add the diced bell peppers and let them soften for 3 minutes.
- Add the seasonings, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and brown sugar. Stir to combine, then add the beef broth and chicken broth.
- Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover partially and let it simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Cook the Rice:
- Add 1 ½ cups chicken broth to a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. Add the rice and submerge it in the liquid. Bring back to a boil. Cover tightly and reduce to a gentle simmer, cook for 15 minutes. Turn heat off. Let the rice sit in the pot, covered, for 10 full minutes. Any rice stuck to the bottom will release during this time. This will yield 2 ¼ cups of flavorful rice. Note: Other varieties of rice can be used and will require different amounts of liquid and simmering time. (Refer to package for instructions.)
Serve:
- Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the shredded cheese, (if using).
- Spoon the rice into serving bowls and ladle soup on top. If you don’t anticipate leftovers, you can add the rice right to the soup pot. Serve!
Notes
- Cook the ground beef and onions and drain grease. Transfer to the slow cooker along with remaining ingredients except for the rice and shredded cheese.
- Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Flip to warm and stir in the cheese, if using.
- Cook rice separately as outlined in the stove top method and add directly to serving bowls. Ladle the soup on top and serve.
- Store any leftover rice and soup in separate containers and refrigerate or freeze.
Pro Tips
- You can’t taste the hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, or mustard powder in this recipe. They are used as flavor enhancers and add umami. I use Frank's Hot Sauce for this recipe, but any variety is fine!
- Ground Turkey can be used instead of ground beef.
- 2 1/4 cups of leftover rice can be used for this recipe as well.
- Shred the cheese from a block to ensure it melts well and tastes the best.
- The nutritional information includes the 1 cup of optional cheese.
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
- Be sure to freeze the rice in a separate container from the soup. The soup and the rice both freeze well.
Nutritional information is an estimate and is per serving. There are 6 servings in this recipe.
Nutrition
Delicious
I’m so happy that you loved it Roberta!! 🩷
I made this soup and had some left over mashed potatoes in the fridge so I heated them up and put a scoop in the bottom of each bowl. Hitting those spuds was a nice surprise! This recipe will be on repeat for us from now on.
And I am so enjoying your cookbook too! When is the next one coming, just asking.
Nice work! I’m so happy you’re enjoying the cookbook. I hope to have the next one available for sale this fall!❤️
This is the best recipe. It is even better than actual stuffed peppers, and much easier to make. We definitely have it in our dinner rotation.
Heyyy Lyndsay!! I’m SO happy that you love it even more than Stuffed Peppers, my husband and I are both pretty obsessed with it! Thank you soooo much for taking the time to leave a review, I really appreciate it!! ❤️
This is a family favorite! I made it for a friend whose husband had just had surgery and the whole family loved it. It freezes well too.
That was so nice of you, this is the perfect get well soon soup!💗 Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!
I’m usually not one to remark on recipes on line however this one requires a few words. IT IS ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!! Our new favorite without question. Please, follow as written and don’t omit a thing. The flavors are layered and well balanced. I almost prefer this soup a little cooler, more warm than hot. It seems to alow the depth of flavors to really shine through. The touch of hot sauce doesn’t add delectable heat just depth to the rich broth. Thanks for this delicious recipe.
Thanks so much for the wonderful comments and review Joan! Thanks for putting your faith in me, I’m so happy you enjoyed this one!💗
Absolutely delish!! I love your recipes. Thanks for sharing.
I’m so happy that you loved it Pam!! Thank you!!
Wow, this soup is delicious. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. I absolutely love it.
That makes me so happy Natalia! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!💖
This looks very good, I want to make this tomorrow. Please tell me why you use brown sugar?
Thank you,
Karen
Hi Karen! The brown sugar adds a subtle offset to the acidity of the tomatoes and rounds out the flavor profile. It doesn’t make the finished product taste sweet.
Flavor and color are textur made this a very appetizing dish.
I’m so happy to hear that Angela, thanks so much!🩷
I made this last night and we LOVED it! It has such a depth of flavor. This is definitely going in the recipe rotation.
I’m so happy you all loved it Katy! Thanks so much for the great comments!😃
Best soup I’ve had in a long time! Followed exact recipe-super easy but yet tasted like it took me all day to make. My family loved it as well, my 5 year old cleaned her bowl! Thanks Cozy Cook, your recipes are the best!!
Thanks so much for your support Kayla, and for taking the time to leave a review!💖 I’m so happy your 5 year old cleaned her bowl, such a success!
This is my new favorite recipe not just my favorite soup recipe! I cook for one and will eat it for a few days and freeze the rest in my soup freezer cubes. I add the cheese when I pour it into the bowl so I can do that fresh each time.
WOW!! What a huge compliment Helene!! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this review, I really appreciate it!! -Stephanie