Instant Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup
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Instant pot stuffed pepper soup is a great meal to make when you want to feed a crowd. The prep is simple, the cooking is hands-off and the pressure cooker takes care of it all without any fuss.
It’s also way easier than making stuffed peppers in the instant pot, where you can only fit three or four at a time.
It is my go-to one-pot recipe when in a rush but also perfect for meal prep days.
How to make stuffed pepper soup in instant pot
Ingredients:
- Cooking oil – Any mild oil is a good option here.
- Onion – Choose either a yellow or a white onion.
- Red, yellow or orange bell pepper – One large or medium should be plenty.
- Ground beef – It is possible to make it with ground pork, if that is what you prefer.
- Garlic – I always recommend fresh!
- Salt and black pepper.
- Dried oregano – If you don’t have it on hand, use Italian seasoning or Herbs de Provence instead.
- Fire-roasted red peppers – My “secret” ingredient and a delicious one! You can use only these if you don’t have bell peppers at home. They add a nice touch and flavor to the soup.
- Tomato juice – Another not-so-traditional ingredient in stuffed pepper soup, but it works so well. If you don’t want to use it, you have a few options: Tomato sauce (pureed tomatoes) or passata (smooth tomato puree), which are the closest and best choices.
- Long-grain rice.
- Beef broth – Vegetable or chicken stock or broth can be used too.
- Water – Optional.
Kitchen tools and gadgets
- Measuring cups and spoons – Or a scale.
- Cutting board and knife – To prep the vegetables.
- Instant pot – It is possible to make this soup recipe on a stove if you don’t have one.
- Wooden spoon – For stirring.
- Garlic press – A fine cheese grater will also do the trick!
The process of making this recipe is very similar to my chicken and lentil soup made in instant pot.
It starts with sauteing onion, pepper and ground beef. The next step is adding the rest of the ingredients and pressure cooking on high. It’s best to wait ten minutes before doing the natural release manually here and your meal is cooked!
Serving suggestions
Like many hearty soups and stews, it goes well with fresh bread. I like serving it with homemade potato bread or wholemeal soda bread.
To make it extra rich and add another flavor, serve shredded cheese on the side or add some to each bowl. Fresh parsley is also an option as a garnish.
For a filling meal, serve either some bite-size appetizers or a light salad with chicken or without.
Julia’s tips
Choose the right peppers: My original recipe called for green Italian peppers. They are milder than green bell peppers and not as bitter. I personally don’t recommend green bell peppers at all, but if you don’t mind their bitterness, go ahead and use them. My latest preference and recommendation are red or yellow peppers for their sweeter flavor.
Storing leftovers: Stuffed pepper soup keeps well in the fridge for up to three days. Please remember that it does thicken a lot overnight as the rice continues to soak up the liquid. You can enjoy it as is or thin it with some broth or stock…
Inactive time: This is the time to remember when making any instant pot recipes. The pot needs time to come to pressure, and then, after cooking, it needs time to drop the pressure. Now, you can also release it manually, but I don’t recommend this with all the recipes, so you have to be careful. It is better to wait a bit. Now, this time always varies and can be anywhere from 5 minutes to 20+ minutes, depending on the meal and its quantity. For this recipe, it takes about 10 minutes.
FAQs
Yes, you can. An optional vegetable would be celery and you could try baby spinach too.
Transfer the soup into a saucepan and reheat on medium-high heat until hot. Frequent stirring helps to speed up the heating process! Only reheat as much as you will eat! Don’t reheat the whole soup.
But, if you are planning to feed a large crowd and you know there won’t be any more leftovers, you can also reheat it in the instant pot using the “SAUTE” function.
You can do so, but I highly recommend you don’t. It does make a difference and only takes five minutes!
If you tried this recipe, please let us know what you think in the comment section! Is it one of your go-to instant pot recipes or do you have any recommendations you would like to share with us?
Watch the video below to see just how easy it is to make this hearty stuffed pepper soup in the instant pot!
Instant Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil (see note 1)
- 1 yellow onion (minced)
- 1 bell pepper (red/yellow, diced), see note 2
- 1 pound lean ground beef (450 grams)
- 3 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper or to taste
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano (see note 3)
- 4 cups beef broth (1 liter), see note 4
- 2 cups tomato juice (480 milliliters), see note 5
- 1 cup water (480 milliliters)
- 1 cup fire roasted red peppers (drained and sliced), see note 6
- ½ cup uncooked long-grain rice (100 grams)
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Instructions
- Turn on the instant pot and press the “SAUTE” button. Add in oil, minced onion and diced bell pepper. Sauté for about 3 minutes before adding ground beef and minced garlic. Break up the meat into smaller pieces and partially brown it.
- Press “CANCEL” to turn off the “SAUTE” function. Add in the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and lock the lid in place. Turn the steam valve to “SEALING”.
- Press “MANUAL” (PRESSURE COOK) and set the time to 5 minutes. When the cooking is finished, wait 10 minutes before releasing the pressure manually by turning the valve to “VENTING”.
- Taste and season more, if needed. Enjoy!
Notes
- Sunflower oil can be substituted with vegetable or olive oil.
- Green bell peppers can taste bitter, so I don’t recommend using those. Also, some people can’t eat them. My original recipe used Italian green pepper, which is milder. But red or orange bell peppers are the best options.
- Dried oregano can be substituted with Italian seasoning.
- Instead of beef broth, you can use chicken broth or vegetable stock.
- A good substitution for tomato juice is 1.5-2 cans (14-ounce (400 milliliters)) of tomato sauce, passata or pureed tomatoes.
- Roasted peppers work so well here. You can use them instead of the fresh ones, too.
- This recipe was developed for a 6-quart (6-liter) instant pot but will work just fine in an 8-quart (8-liter) pot.
- The cooking time does not include the time needed for the pot to come to pressure and release its pressure. This time may vary. In general, count with extra 20 minutes.
- This recipe yields 6-8 portions, depending on the serving size.
I have made variations on this recipe 5-6x using garden tomatoes and peppers. The first time I did not have tomato juice, so I blended frozen Roma tomatoes, instant juice, just not as red as in the picture. The second time I was short on bell peppers, so I used a bunch of jalapenos (seeds & core removed). Today it was just jalapenos (seeds and core removed). Comes out great every time. I think any green pepper will do.
Thank you for such a great base recipe to work from.
You are welcome, Fred! And thanks so much for your feedback with possible variations!
Wondering if I could substitute V-8 juice for the tomato juice since I have a slight stockpile of V-8? I might try it this weekend when I go to camp.
Hi Wayne, sorry but I have never tried nor cooked with V-8 juice so I am afraid I won’t be much of a help.
This recipe looks delicious! I can’t wait to make it in my new Instant Pot! I would like to make it with brown rice. Do you know if I should adjust the cooking time? Thanks so much!
I am afraid I won’t be able to help as I have never cooked with brown rice.
I made this recipe and it turned out pretty good. It was a little bland but I added more seasoning and cheese and it tasted a lot better.
Thanks for your feedback, Eric. I noticed that the quality of tomato juice and broth used make a difference but it’s easy to add more seasoning at the end like you did. Adding cheese sounds delicious too! :)
What can I use if I dont have roasted bell peppers on hand (you’re talking about the ones that come in a jar right?)
Yes, Kat. It’s the peppers in a jar. I’d say that you can just omit them and add an extra red bell pepper instead (this will go in altogether with the green pepper). Hope this helps.
I just made this as my first instant pot recipe and it’s amazing! I’ll eat it throughout the week. Definitely saving this recipe:) Thank you!
Yay! :) Thank you for the feedback, Keegan. Enjoy!
That looks gorgeous and I could easily make it veggie too. Thanks for the recipe.
You are welcome! :)
I just love this and need to get a instant pot soon!
Yay! :)
Oh my goodness this soup looks so rich and comforting! If only the weather here was a bit colder right now this recipe would have sent me right into the kitchen! As it’s so darn hot in here today, I just have to save it for later :) Thanks for a great recipe!
I am jealous of your warm weather :) We have still been waiting for warm days around here!
This looks mouthwatering! So simple to make, and it looks like its packed with flavor! I’m so glad to have found such a great recipe to make my weeknight cooking so much easier!
Thank you, Tina!
This Stuffed Pepper Soup is one of the most loved in my family! We especially love it during the cold winter months. Pinned for later!
It’s a great soup, isn’t it? :)
I have got to get an instant pot! I’ve been seeing so many awesome recipes. This one looks delicious!
Thank you, Liz :)
I love it!I got a 6 qt for Christmas. After using it a few times I returned it for the 8 Qt. I like to make enough dinner for two nights and I found I wasn’t really able to with the 6 qt. My recommendation…go straight for the 8 qt!