Slow cooker stuffed pepper soup is what you make when you’re craving stuffed peppers but don’t have the time to make them. It combines all of the best elements of the classic stuffed pepper recipe, in a cozy, hearty soup done right in the slow cooker!
I love turning traditional recipes into soups. I’ve done it with slow cooker lasagna soup, Chick-fil-A tortilla soup, green enchilada soup with chicken, and unstuffed cabbage roll soup. It’s such an easy way to get those same flavors with less effort and extra coziness!
This crockpot stuffed pepper soup has everything from the juicy ground beef, both red and green bell peppers, and cooked rice simmered in a seasoned and savory, fire-roasted tomato and beef broth. Make life even easier and use leftover rice, and come home at the end of the day to a simple, nourishing meal everyone will love.
Serve it with a side of bread and finish it with a sprinkle of cheese, and dinner is served!
Crock Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup
Why you’ll love this recipe
- It tastes just like stuffed peppers without the extra work!
- A dump-and-set recipe that requires little monitoring.
- Flexible ingredients to make it your own.
- Makes great leftovers for a few days of easy meals!
Helpful Tools
Ingredients
Below is a list of the ingredients you’ll need to gather to make this recipe, why you need them, and possible substitutions. Scroll all the way down for the full recipe card with measurements.
Jump- Olive oil, lean ground beef, and white onion: You’ll sauté the beef and onion before adding it to the crockpot to add tons of extra flavor. I use lean ground beef (93/7 or 90/10).
- Seasoning and aromatics: Salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, minced garlic.
- Red bell pepper and green bell pepper: I use red bell pepper for sweetness to balance out the savory green pepper. You could also use orange bell pepper if preferred.
- Fire roasted tomato sauce: I love the flavor of the fire roasted sauce, but regular tomato sauce works too.
- Rotel diced tomatoes: Rotel diced tomatoes are tomatoes with green chilies. I use a combination of original and fire-roasted, but you can choose to use whichever you like.
- Beef broth: This base of the soup. You’ll need anywhere from 16 oz up to 32 oz, so if you’ve got some homemade beef broth on hand, now’s a great time to use it. Otherwise your favorite storebought broth is great.
- Cooked white rice: It needs to be cooked separately, otherwise it’ll soak up too much of the liquid as it cooks. I personally use pouches of ‘ready rice’ because I usually have them on hand, but leftover cooked rice works as well.
How to make Crockpot Stuffed Pepper Soup
This section shows you how to make this recipe, with process photos showing the steps to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
Jump- Step One: Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, then sauté the onion with salt until slightly translucent and smells amazing.
- Step Two: Add the ground beef, season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning, and cook until no longer pink, breaking it apart as it cooks. Drain excess grease, although if it’s very lean meat, you won’t have much.
- Step Three: Transfer the ground beef and onion mixture to the slow cooker basin. Add minced garlic, diced peppers, tomato sauce, Rotel, and beef broth.
- Step Four: Cover with the lid and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or HIGH for 4-6 hours until the peppers are tender.
- Step Five: Once the cooking time is finished, stir in the white rice and place the cover back on to let the rice heat through. Ladle the stuffed pepper soup into bowls, top with a little extra rice and some shredded cheese. Enjoy!
Every slow cooker runs differently. Times given are a general recommendation and should be tested in your own slow cooker and adjusted as needed.
- A mix of bell peppers is best for depth of flavor, but it also looks pretty!
- I used a packet of instant rice to speed things up. You can also use leftover rice, as mentioned earlier. I added 1 cup to the soup and saved 1 cup for topping.
- To make it a more brothy soup, add up to another 2 cups of broth (4 total). Add it later, as slow cookers tend to trap liquid, so you don’t want to add too much too soon.
- Season to taste. You can also add red pepper flakes for some heat.
- Swap the ground beef for ground turkey or sausage.
- Browning the meat first is what gives it that extra flavor. If your slow cooker has the sauté function, use it. That way, you get all the extra flavor from the brown bits when you deglaze.
Storage & Reheating
How to store leftovers
Keep leftovers stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge.
Freezing Instructions
You can freeze the soup for up to 2 months. If planning ahead for this, you can freeze it without the rice, and then add in fresh cooked rice once you reheat it.
Reheating Instructions
This reheats beautifully on the stove, back in the crockpot, or in the microwave.
Need more crockpot soup recipes? Try these:
Leftover Turkey and Wild Rice Soup
Click here to view my entire collection of soup recipes.
Slow Cooker Stuffed Pepper Soup Recipe
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 cup diced white onion approx. 1/2 an onion
- 1 pound lean ground beef I use 93/7 or 90/10
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 medium red bell pepper diced
- 1 medium green bell pepper diced
- 15 ounce fire roasted tomato sauce
- 20 ounces Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies see notes below
- 16 ounces beef broth up to 32 oz
- 2 cups cooked white rice divided
Instructions
- To a large skillet over medium-high heat add the olive oil. Once hot, add the diced onion, season with salt, and saute until slightly translucent and fragrant.1 teaspoon olive oil, 1 cup diced white onion
- Add the ground beef to the onions. and season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning, breaking apart and browning the meat until cooked through. Drain any grease, if necessary.1 pound lean ground beef, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- Pour the ground beef into a 6 quart slow cooker and add the minced garlic, diced peppers, tomato sauce, Rotel, and two cups of beef broth.2 cloves garlic, 1 medium red bell pepper, 1 medium green bell pepper, 15 ounce fire roasted tomato sauce, 20 ounces Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies, 16 ounces beef broth
- Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or HIGH for 4-6 hours. The peppers should be tender.
- Once the cook time is up, stir in a cup of cooked white rice and replace the cover until it heats through.2 cups cooked white rice
- When ready to serve, ladle into bowls and top with additional rice, shredded cheddar or mozzarella.
Notes
- I used fire roasted tomato sauce because I like the flavor. “Regular” tomato sauce can also be used.
- For the Rotel, I used one can of Original and one can of Fire Roasted. You need 20 ounces total of whichever you prefer.
- You can use any cooked white rice – I used a packet of instant rice – you can use leftovers or separately cooked rice. I add one cup of rice to the soup and reserve one cup to use for topping.
- If you prefer a more brothy soup, add up to 32 ounces (4 cups) of broth.
- Red or orange bell peppers can be used for their sweetness to balance the more earthy green pepper.
- Store leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I made this for the first time the other day and it has a lot of potential. I would 100% recommend adding some more of the spices or even different ones as well because it definitely was a fairly bland meal. And I opted to use less broth and I’m extremely glad I did because it was definitely liquidy enough with even less of what it called for. But otherwise, I loved the idea of it and will definitely continue tweaking it and making it!
Thanks for the feedback! Did you use fire roasted tomatoes?
I made this once and cannot wait to make it again! The fire roasted tomatoes definitely added great flavor.
Very good! This is a great alternative to making stuffed peppers. The fire-roasted rotel definitely gave it a kick, but adding cheese and serving it with bread and/or crackers helps defuse the heat. We will definitely be making this again!