One thing we always loved making here in the fall is stuffed peppers. What way can we make them even better? By making them into a soup! The Instant Pot stuffed pepper soup is so much easier then stuffing and baking. You won't be missing any of the flavor either. It makes a great back to school meal.
I actually started to make this soup a while back because of the ongoing pepper issues around here. This year we are growing peppers, but in the past they started looking kind of blah in the store. You had to dig through to find a couple decent ones. When we make them, we make a lot so just a couple peppers wouldn't cut it until now. The kids ask for this often and hey, when kids ask for stuff with veggies in it go with it! We are not sure which one we like better, this soup or our Instant Pot kielbasa soup.
Are you ready for delicious? Oh and easy, did I mention easy? Ok great here we go!
Making Instant Pot stuffed pepper soup
This isn't very involved so please don't let the list of ingredients scare you. One thing I recommend doing first is soaking your rice. I always rinse the rice and then let it soak before cooking. Put it in a bowl of cold water and swoosh it around. Drain the water and add fresh cold water. Let it sit in the bowl of cold water for at least 10-15 minutes, 30 minutes is best but not required if short for time. Drain and rinse.
Getting the vegetables ready
While the rice is soaking, cut up your vegetables. Chop them into bite size pieces and keep the peppers separate from the onion and mushrooms. The mushrooms are optional but I will say that the kids won't notice them in there and I won't tell them on you.
You will use more peppers then shown here, but this is the idea of the size of the vegetables. You can also use a variety of peppers if you choose - have some fun with it. The last time we made it we used red, green and even a cubanelle pepper.
Cooking the soup
Turn the Instant Pot to saute and make sure it is set to normal. You can use the up and down buttons to adjust it. Once it reads hot, add in your oil, onions, mushrooms and ground beef. Saute for a couple minutes breaking up the beef until the beef is almost cooked through. Hit cancel.
Stir in the spices, broth and rice. Add in the diced tomatoes (without stirring) and place the peppers on top. Pour the tomato sauce on top of the peppers. Place the lid on and turn the vent to sealing. Hit pressure cook/manual and set to 21 minutes. When done, allow it to do a natural release for 10 minutes before manually releasing the rest of the pressure. Stir and you are ready to serve!
We like to add shredded cheese on top of our soup in our bowls. This is also optional.
Other great Instant Pot recipes:
As a note:
Updated 1/9/2020 to add these important notes.
Please note that this is written using brown rice. Jasmine brown rice will work as well but with a shorter cook time - about 13 minutes. I have not had success with white rice as it soaks most of the liquid up every time I have tried.
A natural release for 10 minutes helps to retain some of the liquid in the soup.
Also note that rice gets soaked in cold water for at least 10-15 minutes, 30 minutes is best. This is an important step, it helps to reduce the cook time and turns out to be a better texture in the soup.
Instant Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1 lb ground beef lean
- 3 bell peppers chopped
- 1 white onion chopped
- 3 brown baby bella mushrooms or white mushrooms - chopped
- 4 cups beef broth low sodium
- 1½ cups brown rice see notes
- 29 oz diced tomatoes no salt added - see notes
- 15 oz tomato sauce no salt added - see notes
- 1 cup shredded cheese for topping - optional
The Spices
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- ½ tbsp cumin
- 1 tsp salt see notes
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper if preferred
Instructions
- Rinse the rice by putting it in a bowl of cold water and swooshing it around. Drain and add cold water. Soak the rice in a bowl of cold water for at least 15 minutes - 30 minutes is better but not required. Drain before cooking.
- Turn the Instant Pot to saute and adjust so it is on normal. Once it displays hot add in the oil, onions, mushrooms and ground beef. Break up the beef while cooking it. Cook until the beef is just about done. Hit cancel.
- Add in the spices, broth and rice. Stir well. Add in the diced tomatoes, juice and all. Do not stir. Place the peppers on top and pour the tomato sauce on top of the peppers - do not stir.
- Place lid on and set the vent to sealing. Hit pressure cook/manual and set the time for 21 minutes.Allow it to naturally release for 10 minutes before manually releasing the rest of the pressure. Once the pin drops, carefully remove the lid and stir. It is ready to serve.
Linsey
This recipe is good but I believe there is too much rice. Mine was not soup. It looked just like the filling for stuffed peppers. And my rice burnt. But I will know for next time.
Dawn
Linsey, I am sorry to hear you had a problem with the rice! Did you soak your rice first? Also did you use brown rice? White rice tends to soak up all the liquid no matter how much liquid I put in. I have tried to come up with the perfect science for it, but I have not found a solution for white rice in it.