Hearty Stuffed Pepper Soup

Ingredients

• 1.25 lbs ground beef
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
• 1 large yellow onion, diced (~1.5 cups)
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, to start
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
• 7 cups beef broth
• 2/3 cup half-and-half

Brown the Beef and Soften the Vegetables

In a large pot or Dutch oven, get the ground beef browning over medium-high heat. Use a spoon to break it apart as it cooks. Once it’s cooked through, drain off the extra fat.

Add the chopped carrots and diced onion to the pot with the beef. Let them cook for ~5-7 minutes, just until they start to soften up.

Then, stir in the chopped red and green bell peppers and let them cook for another 5 minutes.

Simmer Until the Rice is Tender

Add the uncooked rice, kosher salt, black pepper, bay leaf, tomato sauce, and beef broth to the pot. Stir it all together, making sure the tomato sauce dissolves into the broth.

Bring the soup to a boil.

Once it’s boiling, turn the heat down to low, put a lid on the pot, and let it simmer for ~20-25 minutes. The rice should be tender at this point.

Finish with Half-and-Half

Stir in the half-and-half and let the soup warm through for a few more minutes; don’t let it come back to a boil or the half-and-half might separate.

Pull out the bay leaf before you serve it. The soup is good as is, but you can top it with sour cream or some fresh herbs if you have them.

Hearty Stuffed Pepper Soup

This is basically a deconstructed stuffed pepper; all the same components are there without the work of actually stuffing anything. Adding half-and-half at the end cuts the acidity from the tomato and gives the soup a smoother finish.

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 1.25 lbs ground beef
• 2 medium carrots chopped
• 1 large yellow onion ~1.5 cups, diced
• 1 red bell pepper chopped
• 1 green bell pepper chopped
• 1/2 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt to start
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 can tomato sauce 15 oz
• 7 cups beef broth
• 2/3 cup half-and-half

Instructions

• Brown ground beef in large pot over medium-high heat, breaking apart. Drain fat.
• Add carrots and onion, cook 5-7 minutes until softening.
• Add bell peppers, cook 5 minutes more.
• Stir in rice, salt, pepper, bay leaf, tomato sauce, and beef broth.
• Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 20-25 minutes until rice is tender.
• Stir in half-and-half and warm through without boiling.
• Remove bay leaf before serving.

Notes

Optional toppings – sour cream or fresh herbs.