I love stuffed peppers, but I need to make a confession: I love the stuffing much more than the peppers. In fact, I usually only eat a little of the pepper. I have tried making the stuffing without the peppers and it just did not work. It needed the pepper flavoring permeating the dish to be enjoyable…or even edible.
I had hope and skepticism when I first heard of stuffed pepper soup. Perhaps it would provided me with the balance of pepper to stuffing that I liked without the guilt of leaving much of a pepper uneaten. Or, perhaps it would be another disappointment in flavor. I decided to give it a try.
After reading several recipes in a few of my cookbooks, I decided to combine my basic soup concept with my favorite stuffed pepper recipe. The result was a tasty success.
I also find that this is a great soup for a meatless, vegetarian, or even vegan meal by just substituting a couple of ingredients. Instead of the ground meat, I find that brown or green legumes are great in the soup. You can also use vegetable stock instead of beef to make it vegetarian-friendly. To make it a vegan-friendly, simply also omit the cheese or use a vegan cheese substitute.
Stuffed Pepper Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef or other ground meat (2 c. cooked brown or green lentils may be substituted)
- 1 small onion, diced or dried equivalent
- 2 bell peppers (green, red, yellow, orange, etc), chopped
- 16 oz. beef or vegetable stock
- 32 oz. tomato sauce or juice
- 1 Tbsp. sugar (to taste)
- pinch of basil
- 1/3 c. brown minute rice or 2/3 regular brown rice that is partially cooked (use uncooked rice if cooking it in a slow cooker)
- salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
- cheese (cheddar, American, etc.), shredded OPTIONAL
Instructions
- In a heavy bottomed pot/Dutch Oven (or a skillet if finishing in a slow cooker, brown ground meat.
- When meat is almost cooked through add onion and peppers.
- Cook for several minutes and season with salt and pepper to tastes.
- Then add stock.
- Continue cooking until onions and peppers are softened.
- (Pour into slow cooker now, if using)
- Add tomato juice, sugar, basil and rice.
- Adjust seasoning to taste.
- Simmer until rice is tender, about 10 minutes (6 to 8 hours on low in a slow cooker).
- Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
- Serve warm topped with shredded cheese, if desired.