I made my favorite soup today, Stuffed Bell Pepper! My fave soup use to be Green Chili Chicken Lime, but not anymore! It’s still delicious but I have to side with the Stuffed Bell Pepper Soup! If you like bell peppers and Italian sausage, you will love this recipe!

I will share the recipe with you but before I do that, let me tell you that you can morph this recipe to make it your own. There IS wiggle room to make changes! Of course, if you don’t like bell pepper then that will be a problem because it’s not Stuffed Bell Pepper Soup without bell peppers! BUT — there are other changes you can make.

If you don’t like spicy Italian sausage (the kind I use), then you can use sweet Italian sausage instead. You could also use ground beef or ground turkey if you like — but neither of those is not as flavorful as Italian sausage! This recipe calls for a can of diced tomatoes with green chilis, but you can use plain diced tomatoes if you don’t want the added spicy flavor of the green chilis. If you DO like green chilis you could add more to accommodate your tastes! I use boxed chicken broth but I have used beef. You can use canned broth, low sodium, and your own homemade stock is great too! If you’re in a pinch and all you have is bouillon then that works but bouillon adds a LOT more sodium. If you like onion, you can add onion. If you like green bell peppers better than other colors, that’s fine! You can use a variety of colors as I do sometimes. You can use white rice or brown rice, instant or regular. It’s totally up to you!

Now, on to the recipe! Be sure to let me know how you like it if you decide to make it and also, what you did to change it to make it your own!

Aunt Debbie’s Stuffed Bell Pepper Soup

Ingredients:

1 lb. spicy Italian sausage (bulk or removed from casings)

14.5 oz. canned tomatoes with green chilis

3 bell peppers (roughly chopped, green or variety of colors)

64 oz. chicken broth

2 cups cooked rice (if using instant, can be added directly to soup without cooking first. Be sure to use the amount that gives you 2 cups cooked)

Cheddar cheese, shredded, used for garnish if desired.

Directions:

Remove sausage from casings and brown in a soup pot. Drain fat. Add can of tomatoes and extra green chilis if desired. Add chopped bell peppers and chicken broth. Let cook on medium heat for about 30 minutes. Then add rice. Let cook an additional 30 minutes, or until bell peppers are tender. Scoop into bowls or large soup mugs and top with shredded cheddar cheese.

There ya go! Great for a cold, winter’s day!