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I made this easy stuffed pepper soup on a chilly night, and my entire family loved it! It’s ground beef, red AND green bell peppers, and fire-roasted tomatoes simmered in beef broth in a Dutch oven. Jasmine rice is stirred in at the very end, and each bowl is topped with shredded cheddar. It’s on the table in about 50 minutes and a complete meal in one pot!
Quick Look: Gluten-Free Stuffed Pepper Soup
- ⏱️ Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 🍳 Cook Time: 25 minutes
- 🕒 Total Time: 35 minutes
- 👥 Servings: 8
- 📊 Calories: ~358 kcal per serving (based on nutrition panel)
- 🔥 Cook Method: Stovetop
- 👩🍳 Flavor Profile: all the flavors of stuffed peppers in a brothy, hearty soup!
- ⭐ Difficulty: Easy, perfect for cool nights or lazy weekends
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Stuffed Peppers in Soup Form!
This dish is stuffed peppers in soup form: seasoned ground beef, peppers, tomato sauce, rice, and cheddar, all in a bowl instead of stuffed inside a bell pepper. The beef browns first, the onion and peppers cook right in the drippings, and then everything simmers together in a tomato and beef broth base.
It’s a really doable weeknight dinner. It takes about 10 minutes of chopping, one Dutch oven for the soup, and a second pot for the rice only if you don’t already have some cooked. It makes 8 servings, so there’s plenty to go around (or plenty to save for lunches!).
Want stuffed pepper flavor without the soup pot? My one-pan deconstructed stuffed peppers skillet is a 30-minute dinner. And if you’re stocking up for soup season, here are all of my gluten free soups.
Ingredient Notes
- Red AND green bell peppers: I like a variety of peppers for color and flavor. But you can switch up and choose any color pepper that you like.
- Fire-roasted diced tomatoes: Fire-roasted gives it better flavor! Add them, juices and all.
- Rice: I use jasmine rice, and add it in already cooked. If you have leftover rice in the fridge, use that, and you can skip the second pot completely.
- Swaps you can try: ground turkey instead of beef, brown rice, instant rice, or a different shredded cheese on top are all swaps that work well. Let me know how you customize yours in the comments!
How to Make Stuff Pepper Soup
Step 1: Break the beef into small crumbles as it browns. It’s ready when there’s no pink left and you see browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Scoop the beef out with a slotted spoon and leave the drippings behind (no draining!) - the onion, garlic, and peppers cook right in them.
Step 2: Sauté the veggies until the onion looks translucent and the peppers are just starting to soften but are still bright red and green, about 4 to 5 minutes. They keep cooking in the soup, so don’t overcook them here.
Step 3: Add the tomato sauce, fire-roasted tomatoes, Worcestershire, broth, and seasonings, then the beef. Give it a good stir and scrape up those browned bits from the bottom of the pot as you go. Bring it to a full boil, then turn it down to a gentle simmer.
Step 4: After 15 minutes, the peppers should be tender, and you can start cooking the rice if it’s not already prepared.
Step 5: Stir in the cooked rice.
Step 6: Let it simmer just until the rice is hot all the way through, 5 to 10 minutes. It should still look like soup, with plenty of broth around the rice. Give it a taste and add more salt if it needs it.
The 30-Minute Rice Lesson
I cook the rice in a separate pot while the soup simmers. Then I stir it in for the last 5 to 10 minutes, just long enough to heat through. Once it’s hot, it’s time to eat - do NOT let it hang out in the pot!
After my soup sat for 30 minutes with the rice in it, it turned into more of a casserole and kind of mushy. Still delicious…but not soup. So if you’re feeding a crowd (or saving some for later), add a scoop of rice to each bowl instead of the pot.
Serving & Leftovers
I like to serve this with some gluten free bread, like my gluten free drop biscuits. Cheddar and parsley on top, and dinner is DONE!
Fair warning: the soup thickens as it sits in the fridge, so the recipe card below has the storing, reheating, and freezing details.
More Cozy Soups
Healthy Chicken Pot Pie Soup
The BEST Dairy Free Loaded Baked Potato Soup Recipe
Easy Instant Pot Jambalaya Soup
Creamy Slow Cooker Green Chicken Chili Soup Recipe
Easy Stuffed Pepper Soup with Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 lbs lean ground beef
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 15 oz canned tomato sauce
- 15 oz fire-roasted tomatoes, with juices
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, make sure it says GF
- 4 cups beef broth
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper
- 2 tsp salt, + more to taste
- ½ tsp pepper
- 2 cups cooked white rice, I used jasmine
- 1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese, for topping
- fresh chopped parsley, for topping, optional
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven or pot over medium high heat. Add the ground beef and a generous amount of salt and pepper, and cook for 5-7 minutes, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon until cooked through. Remove using a slotted spoon and set aside.
- To the same pan, add the onion, garlic, and red and green peppers. Saute for 4-5 minutes until beginning to soften. Add in the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, beef broth, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper. Add the beef back into the pot. Stir and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make sure you are cooking your rice according to package directions in a separate pot if not already done.
- Add the cooked white rice, stir, and continue cooking for 5-10 minutes until heated through. Taste and add salt if needed.
- Serve the soup topped with some shredded cheddar cheese and fresh chopped parsley.
Notes
- Rice and storage: If you are not serving all of this soup right away, I highly recommend cooking the rice and keeping it separate, and adding it to individual bowls. Store the soup in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days, with the rice kept in a separate container. The rice absorbs a lot of the broth when it sits for awhile!
- Dairy free: Omit the cheese on top!
- Reheating: Reheat the soup on the stovetop over medium heat or in the microwave until hot. It thickens in the fridge, so add a splash of beef broth to loosen it, then add warmed rice to each bowl.
- Freezing: Freeze the soup without the rice.
Nutrition
All nutrition facts are an estimate and automatically calculated. While I fact check them using My Fitness Pal, please note that they may not always be 100% accurate and depend on ingredients used. Weigh your total and divide by the number of servings for the most accurate grams per serving size.
