An “unstuffed” pepper soup recipe, if you will. 🙂 This small batch stuffed pepper soup recipe makes 1 1/2 quarts, and tastes even better as leftovers! I love to use lean ground beef, onion, green bell pepper, seasonings, beef broth, tomato sauce, and cooked rice for this soup recipe.
This recipe holds a special place in my heart because my dad really loves it! I originally created this soup for a social media collaboration with a Midwestern beef organization, but as soon as we all tried it, I knew I had to give it its own place on the blog. It tastes just like classic stuffed peppers, but in soup form. 🙂
Most of my soups are small batch recipes, and this is no exception. This makes 1 1/2 quarts of soup, or about 3-4 servings. The entire recipe comes together in about 45 minutes, but only 35 minutes of that is spent just simmering the soup. This soup is super delicious right away, but it’s REALLY great as leftovers, and tastes even better the next day!
Ingredients
- • 2 tsp. Olive Oil
- • 1/2 lb. Lean Ground Beef (80/20 or 90/10 are recommended)
- • ½ Yellow Onion, finely chopped
- Salt + Freshly Cracked Black Pepper
- • 1 Green Bell Pepper, stem and seeds removed; pepper finely chopped
- • 1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
- • 2 cloves Garlic, minced
- • 1 tbsp. Brown Sugar
- • 1 tsp. Tomato Paste
- • 1 can (15 oz.) Tomato Sauce
- • 2 cups Beef Broth
- • 1 cup Cooked Rice (brown or white)
I personally prefer to use brown rice for my stuffed pepper soup recipe, but you can absolutely use long-grain white rice or basmati rice if you prefer! Yellow onion can be substituted with white onion if necessary, too.
Ground turkey can absolutely be substituted for ground beef, as well. And if you prefer the sweetness of red peppers over green peppers, that’s OK! Feel free to use red bell peppers to make a stuffed red pepper soup instead. 🙂 However, I don’t recommend changing any of the other ingredients!
Green peppers vary in size, but any size will work for this recipe. If you really love green peppers (like my dad!), look for a huge one at the store so you can really add a lot of the green pepper flavor to this soup. If you want to use a smaller one, that’s totally fine, too! There’s no specific measurement of green pepper, just go with what feels right and what you enjoy. As long as the stems and seeds are removed, you’re good to go. 🙂
Directions
How to Make Stuffed Green Pepper Soup
- Heat olive oil in a medium-sized, deep saucepan or pot over medium heat. Add ground beef, onion, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Cook until beef is browned and cooked through, crumbling the beef into small pieces as it cooks.
- Stir in green pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic, brown sugar, and tomato paste. Stir and cook for 3-4 minutes until peppers are tender.
- Stir in tomato sauce and beef broth. Cover and cook for 25 minutes over low heat.
- Uncover and stir in the cooked rice. Cook for 10 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve hot!
See below for a full step-by-step guide on how to make this Stuffed Green Pepper Soup.
1. Heat olive oil in a medium-sized deep saucepan (or in this case, a medium-sized dutch oven)* over medium heat. Add ground beef, onion, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until beef is browned and cooked through, crumbling the beef into small pieces as it cooks. *(The dutch oven used in these photos is a 3.5 qt. dutch oven. Any saucepan or dutch oven sized from 3.5 qts. – 5 qts. will work!)
2. Stir in green pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic, brown sugar, and tomato paste. Stir and cook for 3-4 minutes until peppers are tender.
3. Stir in tomato sauce and beef broth. Cover and cook for 25 minutes over low heat.
4. Uncover and stir in the cooked rice. Cook for 10 minutes.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve hot!
I garnished my soups with some chopped fresh parsley for these photos, but parsley isn’t necessary if you don’t have any on hand. It adds a nice pop of color, but the flavor of the soup is awesome without any additional flavors.
This is such a simple soup recipe that is so satisfying! If you have time to let the soup simmer before adding the rice, it can easily simmer for up to an hour. The longer it simmers, the better it tastes! Just don’t let it simmer too long once the rice is added, or the rice could start to break down and lend a mushy texture to the soup.
Soups have a tendency to taste even better as leftovers because the flavors have a chance to sit with one another and really develop a loving relationship together. 🙂 This is a great recipe to make on a Sunday afternoon, then enjoy as lunch or dinner on a couple of days throughout the week when you find yourself strapped for time and can’t devote a lot of energy towards making dinner. Serve this soup with some crusty bread or a quick salad, and you’ve totally got yourself a cozy, comforting meal.
What to Serve with Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Crusty Bread
- Mixed Green Salad with Small Batch Maple Balsamic Dressing
- Small Batch Roasted Garlic Cheese Bread
- Steakhouse Style Homemade Caesar Dressing with crunchy romaine lettuce
- Greek Yogurt Caesar Dressing with crunchy romaine lettuce (a lighter version of Caesar dressing!)
How to Reheat Stuffed Green Pepper Soup
Easy! Just reheat this soup in a small sauce pan over medium-low heat until it is hot. A trick I use to help keep soups warmer longer is warming a bowl in the microwave for about 20 seconds, then serving the hot soup in it. Soups taste even better a day or two later, so leftovers are definitely welcomed!
If you make this Stuffed Green Pepper Soup and love it, I would love it if you left a rating and comment below! If you have questions about any of the ingredients or the process, feel free to shoot me an email so I can get back to you ASAP. Tag me on Instagram if you post it, too!
Be sure to sign up for my newsletter below so you can get more small batch recipes delivered to your inbox! (Usually once a week, sometimes twice a month – lol.) Either way, it’s a gorgeous newsletter and I think you’ll enjoy it. 🙂
xx Sara
Stuffed Green Pepper Soup (Small Batch)
Ingredients
- 2 tsp. Olive Oil
- 1/2 lb. Lean Ground Beef*
- 1/2 Yellow Onion finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
- Salt + Freshly Cracked Black Pepper
- 1 Green Bell Pepper stem and seeds removed, pepper finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
- 2 cloves Garlic minced
- 1 tbsp. Brown Sugar
- 1 tsp. Tomato Paste
- 1 can Tomato Sauce 15 oz. can
- 2 cups Beef Broth
- 1 cup Cooked Rice white or brown
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a medium-sized deep saucepan (or a small dutch oven**) over medium heat. Add ground beef, onion, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until beef is browned and cooked through, crumbling the beef into small pieces as it cooks.
- Stir in green pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic, brown sugar, and tomato paste. Stir and cook for 3-4 minutes until peppers are tender.
- Stir in tomato sauce and beef broth. Cover and cook for 25 minutes over low heat.
- Uncover and stir in the cooked rice. Cook for 10 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve hot!
Notes
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?
Make sure to follow on Pinterest @aflavorjournal and on Instagram @aflavorjournal
Comments & Reviews
This is one of the best! Love this soup!
Your love for it is the only reason I made it into a real blog post! 😍
Here’s a tip: if I’m making this and know that I want to freeze a cup or so, I take that amount out before adding in the rice. I adjust the rice that I add to the remaining soup that I’m serving. When I thaw out the soup, I add cooked rice to it and heat it up. No mushy rice!! 🙂 This is a fabulous recipe!!
That is a WONDERFUL tip!! Thank you so much for sharing!! And I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! 😍
Somewhat bland for me. I added some additional seasonings to bring out the flavor. Otherwise, very easy to make.
Anytime something tastes bland it’s almost always under-seasoned, and typically due to a lack of salt (and sometimes pepper). To help for next time, add a pinch of both salt and pepper (or at least of salt), stir, taste, and see what you think. If it tastes better, add just a little pinch more, taste, and see what you think. This typically makes a big difference! Even though this is an easy fix after you’ve made the recipe, it’s not the most ideal route. I highly recommend seasoning from the start to really build the flavor in this soup. Add salt from the start, taste as you go, and adjust as you go. It will make a big difference! Glad you thought the recipe was easy though, and that you were able to make adjustments at the end!
We LOVED LOVED this soup! I do have to agree that the proper salt and pepper make it taste better. Made a double batch because soup always tastes better in a couple days and I’m too hungry to not eat a bunch after making 😂 highly recommend this one. – it’s going in my recipe collection!
I’m so glad you love it, Brenn!! Totally an honor to have it added to your recipe collection! Thank you for taking the time to leave such a wonderful comment, too!