Stuffed peppers are a family favorite meal, but they require so much work! This Crock Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup has all of the same flavors that we know and love, but is way easier to make.

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This stuffed pepper soup recipe, made right in the crock pot, combines flavorful ground beef, tomato sauce, onions, rice, and, of course, peppers to make a hearty, low-hassle soup the whole family loves. We top ours with cheese, so it’s just like stuffed peppers. Everyone gets so excited when this is on the dinner menu, and I love the ease of not having to de-seed and stuff a tray full of peppers!
If you like this unconventional soup recipe, you will love my Crock Pot Lasagna Soup, Crock Pot Cheeseburger Soup, and Crock Pot Chicken Pot Pie Soup!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- A Simple Comfort Meal: There’s nothing better than a bowl of warm soup on a cold or rainy day. This crock pot recipe for stuffed pepper soup allows you to prepare a hearty and comforting meal without spending the day simmering ingredients on the stove.
- All the Flavor of Stuffed Peppers Without the Work: Stuffed peppers are delicious! They are hot and flavorful, but they can be such a pain to make! This stuffed pepper soup captures all of the flavor of stuffed peppers without any of the work.
- Budget-Friendly: Ground beef and rice are excellent options for a hearty meal on a budget. This soup is filling and flavorful without a hefty price tag.
Ingredients
- Ground Beef: Stuffed peppers are a hearty meal, thanks to the ground beef. It is important to brown the beef before adding it to the soup because uncooked beef will taste mushy and make the soup greasy.
- Onion: Diced yellow onion is sweeter and a little more mellow than other onions. However, you can use a white onion or red onion for this recipe as well.
- Green and Red Bell Peppers: You can’t have stuffed pepper soup without peppers! I like to use a mix of sweet red bell peppers and zesty green bell peppers, but feel free to use yellow or orange peppers if you prefer.
- Tomato Sauce: Add some acidity and create a slightly thicker soup base with two cans of tomato sauce.
- Tomatoes with Green Chilies: Give this soup a spicy kick with a can of Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies. Use the whole can, including the juice, to get all of the flavor.
- Brown Sugar: Sweeten the soup with a little bit of brown sugar to help balance out the flavors.
- Beef Broth and Worcestershire Sauce: This combination creates the umami base for this dish. It's tangy, savory, and a little salty. Since this stuffed pepper soup uses ground beef, beef broth is the obvious choice. However, you could also use chicken broth if you prefer.
- Seasonings: Season the soup with dried basil, oregano, parsley, paprika, mustard powder, pepper, and salt. These spices will elevate the flavor and complement each other nicely.
- White Rice: The final step of this recipe is to stir in fully cooked rice. You don’t want to cook the rice in the soup as it will soak up too much of the broth. Plus, the crock pot won’t get hot enough on low to cook the rice properly. It will turn out to be a gummy mess.
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
Variations
- Use Minute Rice: If you don’t have time to make rice separately, try using Minute Rice. It is parboiled rice, so it takes less time to cook. Toss in the Minute Rice at the end of the cooking cycle and set the crock pot to high for 20 minutes. It’s an easy way to incorporate the rice without any extra work!
- Make It Vegetarian: Make this crock pot stuffed green pepper soup vegetarian with a few simple alterations. Use vegetable broth instead of beef broth, and use a plant-based “meat” instead of ground beef. You could also add more vegetables like corn, mushrooms, squash, or beans.
- Switch Out the Meat: Experiment with different ground meats to change the flavor of the soup. Use ground turkey or chicken instead of red meat, or make the soup with chicken breasts. You can also use different flavors of ground sausage. Chorizo is a spicy pork sausage that tastes amazing in stuffed peppers.
How to Make Stuffed Pepper Soup in the Crock Pot
Aside from a little chopping and browning of the ground beef, this slow cooker stuffed pepper soup is an easy dinner that doesn’t require much prep work. In less than 20 minutes, dinner will be cooking in the crock pot while you tackle the rest of your day.
- Step 1: Brown the Beef. Brown the ground beef and diced onion in a large skillet over medium heat. It will take 5-10 minutes to cook the beef. When it’s finished, drain off the excess fat in the skillet and add the beef and onions to a 6-quart crock pot.
- Step 2: Add the Other Ingredients. Add the bell peppers, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes with chilies, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, beef broth, water, and seasonings to the crock pot. Stir to mix all of the ingredients.
- Step 3: Let It Cook. Secure the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 2½ - 3½ hours.
- Step 4: Add the Rice. Around 15 minutes before the cooking cycle ends, stir in the cooked rice. Then, replace the lid and let it cook for the remaining 15-20 minutes.
Expert Tips
- Always Use Cooked Ground Beef: For this crock pot unstuffed pepper soup, you must use fully cooked ground beef. If the beef is raw, it will make the soup greasy, and it won’t be as flavorful. Browning renders off excess fat and locks in the flavor, plus it gives the beef a more satisfying texture.
- Cook Your Rice: The rice added to this soup must also be pre-cooked. Rice cooked at a low temperature over a long time will turn mushy and gummy instead of fluffy.
- Try It with Leftover Rice: This easy stuffed pepper soup is a great way to use leftover rice! Take it out of the fridge and stir it into your soup.
- Make Stuffed Pepper Soup in the Instant Pot: If you don’t have time to prep a crock pot meal, you can make this stuffed pepper soup in the Instant Pot. Use the saute setting to cook the ground beef and onion. Then, drain the excess fat and add the other ingredients. Set your Instant Pot to manual high for 10 minutes, then do a quick release and add your rice. Dinner is served in 30 minutes or less!
Storage Directions
- Storing: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Freezing: You can freeze this recipe, but if you intend to freeze it, do NOT add the rice directly to the soup. The rice will continue to absorb liquid as it cools and then again when you thaw and reheat it. This will result in mushy rice when you heat your leftovers. Either freeze the rice separately or make a new batch. Thaw frozen leftovers for 24 hours in the refrigerator before heating.
- Reheating: Reheat the crock pot green pepper soup in the microwave at 60-second intervals, stirring occasionally, until it is heated through. You can also reheat the leftovers in the crock pot on high for 2-3 hours.
- Make Ahead: Cut down on your day of prep work and cook the rice and ground beef the day before. Promptly store cooked meat and rice in the refrigerator in an airtight container to avoid compromising food safety.
Serving Suggestions
There’s nothing better than a hot bowl of soup that tastes delicious but doesn’t require you to stand at the stove all day. This crock pot stuffed green pepper soup is full of flavor and pairs so well with many different dishes. It’s an excellent meal on its own or with a few vegetable side dishes. The whole family will devour this soup!
- Make this soup even more like stuffed peppers and add shredded cheese on top. If you add it immediately after serving it from the slow cooker, the cheese will melt into the soup. You can also add sour cream, cilantro, or avocado on top.
- Make it a total slow cooker meal, and make this slow cooker white rice. Keep the rice separate and add it directly to your soup bowl to make freezing leftovers easier.
- Name a better pairing than soup and bread. You can make garlic bread using a store-bought loaf, or make a batch of crock pot cornbread, or slow cooker focaccia.
- Serve this delicious soup with a side of crock pot roasted potatoes, crock pot corn casserole, or crock pot corn on the cob for a well-balanced meal.
More Crock Pot Soup Recipes
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Crock Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 medium yellow onion (diced)
- 1 medium red bell pepper (chopped)
- 1 medium green bell pepper (chopped)
- 2 (15 oz) cans tomato sauce
- 1 (10 oz) can rotel tomatoes with green chilies (do not drain)
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 4 cups low sodium beef broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 ½ cups cooked white rice (fully cooked)
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, add ground beef and onions. Cook until beef is browned. About 5-7 minutes. Drain and add to a 6-quart slow cooker.
- Add bell peppers, tomato sauce, rotel tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, beef broth, water, black pepper, salt, basil, oregano, parsley, mustard powder, and paprika. Mix until well combined.
- Cover and cook on high for 2½-3½ hours or on low for 6-8 hours. Cook until bell peppers are soft.
- Fifteen minutes before cook time is up, add cooked rice and mix until well combined. Cover and continue to cook for 15 minutes.
Notes
- Use fully cooked ground beef to avoid making the soup greasy. Cooking renders the excess fat and locks in the flavor of the beef, which makes for a better soup.
- Don’t cook rice in the soup. It will turn mushy and gummy.
- If you plan to freeze leftovers, don’t mix the rice directly into the soup. It will absorb too much of the broth and turn mushy when you reheat it.
Nutrition
*Nutrition information is an estimate. It may vary based on ingredients, brands, and changes in cooking methods listed in the recipe. If you need exact ingredient numbers, I recommend calculating them with your preferred nutrition calculator.
Leah says
I loved this recipe and I'm definitely adding it to my favorites!!
Ryan Allen says
That makes me so happy to hear.
Liz says
This looks & sounds amazing. Can hardly wait to make it!
Ryan Allen says
I'm excited for you to try it! Enjoy and let me know how it turns out!
Kathy says
This soup is yummy! I have made it several times now and it has a special place in my heart. My dear sister was in the hospital most of last year, just watching her wither away the only thing I could do for her was feed her. I made this soup for the first time and she loved it, she wasn’t eating the hospital food. Every day I would heat it very hot then bundle it up so it was still warm when I got to the hospital. I wish I could say it saved her life, but at least I know she ate a little and it made her happy.
Ryan Allen says
This makes me so happy to hear. It is one of my family's favorite soups as well.
Jenna Luciani says
I made this tonight and although it tasted good it was extremely runny even after I added the rice, next time I’ll omit the extra 2 cups of water.