Instant Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup

This Instant Pot stuffed pepper soup combines extra lean ground beef with frozen Mexican-style cauliflower rice and fire roasted corn to make a high protein, lower carb soup with minimal effort. While the recipe calls for fresh poblano or bell peppers, you can make a few adjustments to make this pepper soup with only five ingredients!

Stuffed Pepper Soup Ingredients

Here’s a look at everything you’ll need to make this soup along with a few substitution notes.

• Extra Lean Ground Beef – Ground chicken, turkey, or pork all work great. You can even use a plant based meat crumble for vegetarian or vegan stuffed pepper soup.
• Poblano or Bell Peppers – To make a deconstructed pepper soup with zero knife work, you can omit the fresh peppers altogether. I would recommend adding frozen peppers like in my taco soup or taco chili recipes.
• Frozen Mexican-Style Riced Cauliflower – I used a Trader Joe’s product (pictured below), but you can find other brands with similar products. You can also use plain frozen cauliflower rice and add more fresh or frozen peppers.
• Frozen Fire Roasted Corn – An optional ingredient that can be omitted or swapped for any frozen or canned (drained) corn.
• Crushed Tomatoes – Use fire roasted, if possible.
• Taco Seasoning – Use reduced sodium so you can salt to taste. I also like to use chili seasoning for this soup.
• Beef Broth – Swap for chicken or vegetable broth depending on your protein selection.

Can I Make This Soup with Real Rice?

Definitely! While you could cook rice directly in the soup, I prefer adding cooked rice to the finished soup to avoid mushy rice. You also avoid the hassle of getting the ratio of soup broth to rice just right as well.

If you’re not a fan of cauliflower rice but still want a macro friendly soup, you might look at something like the Right Rice in my Mediterranean ground chicken and rice skillet.

How to Make Stuffed Pepper Soup in an Instant Pot

This soup starts by browning a pound of ground beef using Instant Pot’s sauté function. Be sure to let your Instant Pot fully preheat before adding the beef. The Instant Pot should alert you and start a timer once it’s preheated.

Leave the ground beef untouched for 4-5 minutes until a browned crust has formed on one side. The Instant Pot will likely take a bit longer to brown meat than a skillet or Dutch oven, so exercise patience. Color is flavor!

Poblano peppers, in my opinion, pack a bigger flavor punch than bell peppers without adding too much heat to a dish. But you won’t lose that much making stuffed bell pepper soup if that’s what you have on hand.

On the Scoville heat scale, poblano and bell peppers are both on the lower end of the spectrum. If you want to add a kick to your stuffed pepper soup, consider adding a diced jalapeño or Serrano chile. Learn more about the Scoville Scale.

Like I mentioned in the ingredients section, using plain frozen cauliflower rice is definitely an option here. You can use something like the frozen fajita vegetables in my ground pork chili to add the missing Mexican flare.

You might also be interested in the frozen chopped spinach in that recipe, as it’s a great way to sneak veggies into your diet.

I like using a reduced sodium taco seasoning so I can salt to taste before serving my soup. You can also make a homemade no salt taco seasoning if you’d like.

For the tomatoes, I highly recommend finding any form of fire roasted tomatoes. Crushed, diced, or stewed—they all work. But roasting the tomatoes brings out another layer of flavor you’ll otherwise be missing out on.

Can I Make This Soup without an Instant Pot?

Yes, you can use a Dutch oven instead of an Instant Pot. Start by browning the ground beef and cook with poblano peppers over medium heat. Add the remaining ingredients, stirring everything together, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low heat, cover, and simmer for about an hour.

This deconstructed pepper soup gets better over time, and it’s even better the next day. Don’t rush things!

How to Serve Instant Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup

Being a vital ingredient of stuffed peppers, my recipe calls for serving with shredded cheese. However, I think I prefer serving with a dollop of light sour cream or fat free Greek yogurt and a pinch of crumbly cotija cheese. This gives you a protein boost and makes the soup extra creamy.

Fresh toppings like pico de gallo, chopped cilantro, and diced avocado brighten things up nicely. And never, ever forget tortilla chips or some kind of crunchy textured pairing. If calories are a concern, make oven baked tortilla chips.

Okay, that’s everything you need to know. If you love this unstuffed pepper soup, I always appreciate recipe reviews! And the next time you’re ready for traditional stuffed peppers, be sure to check out my buffalo chicken stuffed peppers, ground chicken stuffed peppers, air fryer stuffed peppers, or stuffed and smoked poblano peppers.