Crock Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup

This easy crock pot stuffed pepper soup recipe is seriously one of the best we’ve ever made and it instantly became a new family favorite! With all the classic ingredients of stuffed pepper, this unstuffed pepper soup recipe is so simple and can be made as a crockpot stuffed pepper soup or in a pressure cooker.

With the traditional ingredients of ground beef, rice (or cauliflower rice), bell peppers, seasoning, cheese, and tomatoes, we doubled this recipe and made it TWO WAYS…. the classic way with rice AND as a low carb keto crock pot stuffed pepper soup version. 

Our family has a variety of health, diet, and allergy concerns so I often double meals and test variations. I honestly can’t say one option (slow cooker vs stovetop or with rice vs cauliflower rice) was better than the other.

If you love stuffed peppers as we do then you’ll also love our Philly cheesesteak peppers and our keto stuffed peppers with cauliflower rice instead of white rice. 

Stuffed Pepper Soup (Crock Pot)

This past summer we had an insane amount of green and red peppers growing in our garden. And since we were also recent empty-nesters, we had a tough time getting through the green peppers as fast as they were growing!

This began our love affair with stuffed peppers! They make the perfect “bowl” for so many of your favorite dishes, whether it be for our super popular keto stuffed peppers, taco stuffed peppers, fajita stuffed peppers, or basically anything you can think of. 

Since it’s now “soup season” and anything hot in a bowl shoots to the top of our dinner menu, we decided to turn our beloved traditional stuffed pepper recipe into a crock pot stuffed pepper soup instead.

This truly makes the BEST stuffed pepper soup crock pot recipe and it’s even kid-friendly since it’s not spicy. We made this crockpot stuffed pepper soup version with rice and also make it low carb with cauliflower rice. 

Why This Recipe Works

• The crock pot stuffed pepper soup recipe only takes 15 mins to prep and then your crockpot does the rest
• Mixing in multiple aromatics makes for a bold and deep flavored broth
• Using an 80/20 ground beef means more flavorful meat
• Adding shredded cheddar at the end makes this recipe the ultimate comfort food
• It’s easy to adapt to dietary restrictions or to make it lower fat, low carb/keto, paleo, or vegan

On Keto? Grab our FREE keto foods list here OR  Snag our Keto  Binder HERE

Ingredient Notes

Since diced tomatoes and tomato sauce form the basis of so many fabulous soup recipes, we love to stock up at Costco and keep a case of each in our pantry. 

And since this crock pot stuffed pepper soup recipe freezes well, this is also easy to double if you have a large slow cooker! I don’t know about you, but some nights just being able to pull dinner out of the freezer is a lifesaver.

ground beef (85/15 ratio)
bell peppers (green or red)
beef broth
onion, medium size diced
minced garlic
diced tomatoes
tomato sauce
Worcestershire
 garlic salt
ground black pepper
Italian seasoning
cooked white or brown rice (or cauliflower rice)
cheddar cheese, shredded

And yes, you can see in the photos I mixed two different brands of diced tomatoes, gotta use up what’s in the pantry first!

Feel free to add seasoned tomatoes like a Rotel with mild green peppers mixed in for a little kick.

The type of white rice we used was short-grain rice, but long-grain rice like Jasmine would work just as well. Short grain rice is often more sticky, but in a soup, it separated perfectly fine.

Dietary Restrictions

• Paleo/Whole30– Skip the dairy and Worcestershire sauce, swap the rice for cauliflower rice, and this is a paleo pepper soup recipe too
• Keto/low carb– swap the rice for cauliflower rice, buy canned products that don’t add sugar and use shredded cheese from a block instead of pre-shredded cheese
• Vegan– use vegetable broth and don’t add the cheese or use a vegan cheese product

Step by Step Instructions

Making slow cooker stuffed pepper soup is the best option when you don’t want to keep an eye on a stovetop soup or just simply want to have an option where you dump the ingredients and check back 4 hours later.

Preheat the slow cooker on the Low setting while you prep the rest of the crock pot stuffed pepper soup.

Cook the Beef & Onions

On medium heat in a large skillet, cook ground beef (we used 80/20 ratio) until cooked through, which will take about 6-7 minutes. 

Drain the grease and add the chopped onion and garlic to the pan. Cook for a few minutes until the onion starts to soften. You do not need to completely cook the onion, it’ll finish cooking in the slow cooker.

Add Most Ingredients to the Crockpot

Add the ground beef and onion mix to the crockpot.

Add the diced bell peppers, we used a mix of half red and half green bell pepper.

 Mix in all remaining ingredients except for the rice and cheese, which includes the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt, ground pepper, and Italian seasoning.

Add Rice (or Cauliflower Rice)

Mix in the pre-cooked white or brown rice in the last 30 minutes of cooking. If you don’t plan to eat all of the soup at one time, do NOT mix in all of the rice since it will absorb the liquid and turn this into a stew by the next day. If you’re just eating part of the soup for dinner, add about 1/4 cup+ of warmed and cooked rice to each bowl.

If you’re substituting cauliflower rice, you’d just add pre-cooked or defrosted frozen cauliflower (which is what we did) at the same time as you would have with the rice.

Garnish

Add shredded cheddar to each bowl before serving. Garnish with cilantro or fresh parsley if desired.

Traditional stuffed peppers come with a layer of shredded cheddar cheese on the top, for some reason, many crockpot stuffed bell pepper soup recipes out there don’t include cheese? It’s definitely optional if you aren’t eating dairy or want to make this lower fat, but a heavy sprinkle of shredded cheddar makes this soup MAGNIFICANT!

Since the crock-pot stuffed pepper soup doesn’t require all day to cook in a slow cooker, this is the perfect soup to make on a lunch break or on a weekend! Freezes well too for meal prep.

Recipe yields 6+ servings.

Our version truly makes the BEST crock-pot stuffed pepper soup!!

Recipe Tips

• Preheat the crockpot before you add the ingredients. To cook the beef and add it warm to a cold pot just sets back the cooking time. Preheat while you’re prepping the other ingredients.
• To make the soup lower fat and healthy, substitute lean ground turkey, ground beef, or chicken. Skip the cheese.
• Save yourself some prep time by using frozen cut bell peppers and defrost before adding to the pot.
• Any grain works well…short or long grain rice, brown rice, cauliflower rice
• Make the soup paleo by skipping the cheese and Worcestershire sauce
• Turn this into a vegetarian soup with vegetable broth and swap the meat for beans
• Add more broth to the soup if it thickens up too much
• Instead of mixing in the rice, add 1/4 cup of cooked rice to each serving to prevent the rice from absorbing the broth

Common Questions

How Do I Make This in an Instant Pot?

• Set Instant Pot to Saute High and cook the ground beef with garlic salt, Italian seasoning, and ground black pepper.
• Add the beef broth to the pot and stir, scraping up any browned bits of meat from the bottom.
• Add the diced peppers, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, uncooked rice (or cauliflower rice), and Worchestershire to the pot and mix it all together.
• Cook on Manual high pressure (or Pressure Cook high depending on your model) for 10 minutes.
• Once done, let the soup sit in the pot for 5 more minutes before doing a quick release.
• If you’re using pre-cooked rice that’s still cold, put the pot on Saute and heat until the rice is heated through. 
• Add the shredded cheddar cheese and other garnishes to each bowl, as desired.

Is Stuffed Pepper Soup Keto?

To make this a keto stuffed pepper soup, simply swap the pre-cooked rice for cauliflower rice, when the recipe says to add the rice. It’s that easy. We used frozen cauliflower rice which I defrosted first and then added to the pot 30 minutes before serving.

Worcestershire sauce has 1 net carb and includes a trace amount of sugar. If you’re on a strict keto diet swap you can leave it out completely. And be sure to use no sugar-added tomatoes, tomato sauce, and broth too!

Can I Freeze Unstuffed Pepper Soup?

One of the things we really love about crock pot stuffed pepper soup is that not only does it come together quickly, but you can easily double it, and freeze half of the cooked soup for another meal.

Soups that are cream-based do not freeze well and turn grainy, but since this is a broth and tomato-based soup, it makes an ideal candidate for freezing.

Tip: If you plan to freeze the stuffed pepper soup recipe, do not add the rice or cheese, and put in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. 

IF you already mixed in the rice and decide after the fact to freeze some, you might need to add more broth when you go to reheat the soup.

How to Reheat Stuffed Pepper Soup?

To reheat stuffed pepper soup, defrost overnight in the fridge. Reheat in a crockpot for 1-2 hours on low until heated through. On the stovetop, bring the soup to a low bowl over medium-high heat, and then reduce the heat to simmer and reheat with the lid on for 3o minutes, or until warm and heated through.

More Bell Pepper Recipes

• Fajita Baked Chicken
• Stuffed Peppers without Rice
• Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers
• Pizza Soup

Continue to Content

Crock Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup Recipe (IP too)

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours

Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes

A delicious crock pot stuffed pepper soup recipe that preps in 15 minutes and then simmers until done in either your slow cooker or pressure cooker. With all the traditional flavors of the classic stuffed pepper, this easy stuffed pepper soup is perfect for cozy season! Swap the rice for cauliflower rice to make this low carb or paleo.

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Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef, (85/15 ratio)
• 2 bell peppers, red or green
• 3 cups beef broth
• 1 onion, medium size diced
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 cans of 14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes
• 14 1/2 oz can tomato sauce
• 2 tsp Worcestershire
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 cup uncooked white or brown rice (or 1 1/2 cup cauliflower rice)
• 1+ cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions

1. Preheat the slow cooker on the Low setting while you prep the rest of the crockpot stuffed pepper soup.
2. On medium heat in a large skillet, cook ground beef (we used 85/15 fat ratio) until cooked through, which will take about 6-7 minutes. 
3. Drain the grease if there's a lot left in the pan and add the chopped onion and garlic to the pan. Cook for a few minutes until the onion starts to soften. You do not need to completely cook the onion, it’ll finish cooking in the slow cooker.
4. Add the ground beef and onion mix to the crockpot.
5. Mix in all remaining ingredients except for the cheese, which includes the diced bell peppers, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, uncooked rice, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt, ground pepper, and Italian seasoning.
6. Cook on low for 4-5 hours.
7. If you have pre-cooked white or brown rice in the last 30 minutes of cooking. If you don't plan to eat all of the soup at one time, do NOT mix in all of the rice since it will absorb the liquid and turn this into a stew by the next day. If you're just eating part of the soup for dinner, add about 1/4 cup+ of warmed and cooked rice to each bowl.
8. If you're substituting cauliflower rice, you'd just add pre-cooked or defrosted frozen cauliflower (which is what we did) at the same time as you would have with the rice.
9. Add shredded cheddar to each bowl before serving. Garnish with cilantro or fresh parsley if desired.
10. Recipe yields 6 servings.

Instant Pot Instructions

1. Set Instant Pot to Saute High and cook the ground beef until just browned. Add the onion and cook for 3 more minutes until it's just starting to soften.
2. Add the beef broth to the pot and stir, scraping up any browned bits of meat from the bottom.
3. Add the diced peppers, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, uncooked rice (or cauliflower rice), garlic salt, black pepper, Italian seasoning, and Worchestershire to the pot and mix it all together.
4. Cook on Manual high pressure (or Pressure Cook high depending on your model) for 10 minutes.
5. Once done, let the soup sit in the pot for 5 more minutes before doing a quick release.
6. If you're using pre-cooked rice that's still cold, add it to the pressure cooker after the soup is done cooking by putting the pot on Saute and heating it until the rice is heated through. 
7. Add the shredded cheddar cheese and other garnishes to each bowl, as desired.

Notes

• Preheat the crockpot before you add the ingredients. To cook the beef and add it warm to a cold pot just sets back the cooking time. Preheat while you're prepping the other ingredients.

• To make the soup lower fat and healthy, substitute lean ground turkey, ground beef or chicken. Skip the cheese.
• Save your self some prep time by using frozen cut bell peppers and defrost before adding to the pot.
• Any grain works well...short or long grain rice, brown rice, cauliflower rice
• Make the soup paleo by skipping the cheese and Worcestershire sauce
• Turn this into a vegetarian soup with vegetable broth and swap the meat for beans
• Add more broth to the soup if it thickens up too much
• Instead of mixing in the rice, add 1/4 cup cooked rice to each serving to prevent the rice from absorbing the broth

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Nutrition Information

Yield 6 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 371Total Fat 20gSaturated Fat 9gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 9gCholesterol 86mgSodium 1310mgProtein 29g

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