All the flavors of classic stuffed bell peppers in a soup cooked low and slow in your Crock Pot. This Slow Cooker Stuffed Pepper Soup is a hearty, delicious and EASY weeknight meal.
If you love stuffed peppers, try my Italian Stuffed Peppers and easy Stuffed Pepper Skillet.
This Stuffed Pepper Soup recipe is all things cozy and right. The list of ingredients may be simple, but they create a soup packed with flavor that will satisfy the heartiest of appetites.
This Crock Pot method is mostly hands off which makes it perfect for those busy days.
Walk in the door, warm some bread, and you are good to go!
Table of contents
Recipe Highlights
- Easy Prep – Get this Stuffed Pepper Soup started in your Crock Pot in the morning with just minutes of prep.
- Simple Ingredients – It calls for a short list of easy to stock ingredients and is very budget-friendly.
- Great Method – Dry, uncooked instant rice is added towards the end of the cooking time and cooks up perfectly tender.
- Satisfying – Ground beef and rice make this easy soup a hearty, satisfying meal.
Ingredient Notes
- Lean ground beef – Browned, seasoned with a little salt and pepper, and drained well. You can substitute ground turkey, if you’d like.
- Broth – You can use either low sodium chicken or beef broth.
- Tomato sauce
- Canned diced tomatoes – Undrained.
- Diced bell peppers – I like to use red and green bell peppers for good flavor and color contrast.
- Diced white onion
- Minced garlic
- Dried oregano
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Rice – Dry uncooked instant rice, like Minute Rice.
- Shredded mozzarella cheese – To finish the individual bowls of soup with a cheesy topping.
How to Make Slow Cooker Stuffed Pepper Soup
Before beginning, cook the ground beef in a skillet on the stove, breaking it up with a spoon. Season it with a little salt and pepper and then drain it well.
- Add everything but the rice and cheese to a 5-quart or larger slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
- Remove the lid and add the uncooked instant rice and stir. Cover and cook for an additional 15 minutes or until the rice is tender.
- Serve topped with cheese and enjoy!
What is Instant Rice?
Instant rice is white rice that has been fully cooked and dehydrated and cooks quickly to a tender and fluffy state. It’s a great choice for adding dry to soups and casseroles so you don’t have to cook the rice separately in advance.
Can I Use Regular Rice?
Absolutely. If you use regular long grain rice, it should be cooked separately and stirred into the soup just before serving. If you add cooked rice earlier in the process, the rice will take on an unappealing mushy texture as it continues to cook and absorb additional liquid.
Storage Tips
- Refrigerator – Transfer leftovers to an airtight container and refrigerate promptly. Leftover soups that contain rice should be eaten within 2 or 3 days for the best quality. Rice has a tendency to soak up liquid so add a little additional broth when reheating, as needed.
- Freezer – Soups with rice are not the best candidates for freezing. Instead, omit the rice and transfer the soup to freezer-safe plastic storage bags. After defrosting safely in the refrigerator, you can add the instant rice when reheating the soup as directed in the recipe.
Make-Ahead Stuffed Pepper Soup
To make Slow Cooker Stuffed Pepper Soup for future meals, omit the rice and store as directed above. When ready to serve, cook rice separately and warm the soup through on the stove. Add as much rice as you’d like to each bowl and ladle the warmed soup over the top. This allows you to control the soup to rice ratio and the texture of the rice will be perfect!
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Slow Cooker Stuffed Pepper Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 32 ounces low-sodium chicken or beef broth
- 15 ounces tomato sauce
- 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes
- 2 bell peppers, diced (a variety of colors)
- ½ cup diced white onion
- 2 garlic cloves,, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ¾ cup dry white instant rice, like Minute Rice
- Shredded mozzarella cheese, for serving
Instructions
- Place a nonstick skillet over MEDIUM heat and add the ground beef. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring to break up the beef, until browned and cooked through. Drain off the grease and transfer the cooked beef to a 5-quart or larger slow cooker.
- Add all of the remaining ingredients except for the rice and cheese to the slow cooker with the cooked beef. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours.
- Remove the cover and stir in the uncooked instant rice. Cover and cook for an additional 15 to 20 minutes on LOW or until the rice is tender. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if needed.
- Ladle into bowls and serve topped with cheese.
Notes
- Refrigerator – Transfer leftovers to an airtight container and refrigerate promptly. Leftover soups that contain rice should be eaten within 2 or 3 days for the best quality. Rice has a tendency to soak up liquid so add a little additional broth when reheating, as needed.
- Freezer – Soups with rice are not the best candidates for freezing. Instead, omit the rice and transfer the soup to freezer-safe plastic storage bags. After defrosting safely in the refrigerator, you can add the instant rice when reheating the soup as directed in the recipe.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
This recipe was original published on September 10, 2015. It has been updated with new text and images.
This recipe is courtesy of Sarah Olson of The Magical Slow Cooker where she shares simple, creative meal solutions that can all be prepared in your slow cooker. If you’re busy and have a family to feed you need to get to know Sarah!
More Soup Recipes to Warm You Up
I make my stuffed pepper soup almost exactly to this recipe. I also add the following: 1 stalk celery diced, 1/2 Tablespoon of Oregano, 1/4 Tablespoon basil and 1/2 cup dry white wine. I use either brown rice or quinoa. I think it may also be good with orzo. I use lean ground beef and sometimes mix with turkey or veal. Either way, it comes out delicious.
Thanks so much for this recipe! I’ve probably made it over 20 times (with minute brown rice and ground turkey, btw) and I’m always amazed at how rich and complex the flavors are for such a simple recipe!
I put mine in the Crock-Pot this morning.I put the rice in with everything else,I didn’t read the instructions thoroughly.And I put rice in uncooked.I hope the rice cooks up right!
Hi Sharon. Since I didn’t develop this recipe it’s hard for me to comment but I’m crossing my fingers for you that it turns out okay!
How did it turn out with the uncooked rice?