Stuffed pepper soup has all of the fantastic flavors of a classic stuffed pepper recipe, with the comfort of a hot bowl of soup.
Stuffed pepper soup with ground turkey is a regular on the dinner menu around here. Knowing how much my family loves my Greek Stuffed Peppers, Chili Stuffed Peppers and Italian Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers, it wasn't a big risk to turn those recipes into a comforting soup.
If you have some ground turkey and peppers on hand, this is an easy recipe to pull off by dinnertime. It uses pantry staples, such as crushed tomatoes, chicken broth and Italian seasoning, and most of the cooking time is hands-off. For more easy dinner ideas, check out 15 Ground Turkey Recipes + Cooking Tips for some of my favorites.
Ground turkey soup recipes work well with a salad on the side. Also, we discovered that crumbling or dipping some tortilla chips into the soup is a great way to eat it. The Trader Joe's pumpkin tortilla chips are perfect for this!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Ground turkey: I chose to use lean (93%) ground turkey because it tends to have more flavor. However, if your goal is reduce the fat content more, feel free to substitute it with extra lean (99%) ground turkey. Ground beef can also be used.
- Peppers: A combination of green and red bell peppers works well, but if green peppers aren't your thing, use sweet bell peppers (red, yellow or orange) exclusively.
- Rice: Instant brown rice is added in the last 10 minutes. Not only does it add extra fiber, but the texture of brown rice tends to stay intact more than white rice for leftovers or when frozen.
- Canned tomatoes: I used a combination of crushed tomatoes and canned tomato sauce because a couple of my family members aren't fans of chunks of tomatoes. If preferred, petite diced tomatoes can used in place of the crushed tomatoes.
- Aromatics and seasoning: Sautéed onion, carrot, celery and garlic add a good base of flavor. Add some Italian seasoning and bay leaves to flavor the broth as it simmers.
See recipe card below for full ingredients list & recipe directions.
How to make stuffed pepper soup
This soup follows the basic formula of many broth-based soups: Cook the protein, cook the aromatics, simmer, add the starch. But let's get into the details.
- Brown the turkey: Start by browning the ground turkey in a large saucepan. Use a wooden spoon or wooden spatula to crumble the turkey as it cooks. Transfer the cooked ground turkey to a bowl using a slotted spoon and discard the liquid.
- Cook the aromatics: This recipe starts with a classic mirepoix of onion, carrots and celery, along with a good dose of minced garlic. Be sure to dice the carrot and celery into small pieces so that they become tender enough while simmering.
- Add the rest: Add the chopped peppers, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, cooked ground turkey and chicken broth.
- Cook the soup: Bring the soup to a boil, then simmer it, uncovered, for about 25 minutes.
- Add the rice: Last step? Add the Instant brown rice and cook until tender. Ready to serve!
Make-Ahead and Storage
Often soups made with white rice tend to take on a mushy, unappealing texture when frozen. That's one of the reasons that I prefer to use regular or Instant brown rice instead. It tends to hold its shape much better when sitting in the fridge for a couple of days (hello, leftovers) or when frozen.
IN THE FRIDGE: Allow the soup to cool, then transfer to an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave.
IN THE FREEZER: Allow the soup to cool completely, then transfer to freezer containers such as these glass ones or to resealable freezer bags.
If using freezer bags, lay the filled bags flat on a baking sheet and pop the whole baking sheet into the freezer. Once the contents are frozen, the flat bags can be store either flat or upright in the freezer.
Other ground turkey recipes
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Stuffed Pepper Soup with Ground Turkey
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean (93%) ground turkey
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt divided
- ¾ teaspoon ground pepper divided
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- ½ yellow onion chopped
- 1 medium carrot diced
- 1 stalk celery diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 large green bell pepper chopped
- ½ large red bell pepper chopped
- 1 (14 oz.) can crushed tomatoes (preferably no salt added)
- 1 (14 oz.) can tomato sauce (preferably no salt added)
- 3 ½ cups chicken broth
- ½ cup instant brown rice (dry)
- 3 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat a large nonstick saucepan over medium-high heat and lightly coat with cooking spray.
- Add the ground turkey and season with ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Cook, crumbling with a wooden spoon, until the turkey is cooked through. Transfer to a bowl and discard any liquid.
- Heat the olive oil in the same saucepan, reducing the heat to medium.
- Add the onion, carrot and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, Italian seasoning and bay leaves. Cook for 1 minute.
- Add the green and red bell pepper, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken broth, cooked ground turkey, ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper to the saucepan. Stir to combine.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat so that the soup cooks at a lively simmer. Cook for 25 minutes.
- Add the instant brown rice and cook for additional 10 minutes, or until the rice is tender.
- Remove from the heat, remove and discard the bay leaves, stir in the parsley and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Serve.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was first published on October 6, 2020 and updated on September 10, 2024.
Disclosure: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
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