Crock Pot Stuffed Green Pepper Soup

The stuff:

1 lb extra lean ground beef

1 medium onion, diced (at least one cup)

2-3 tsp. dried basil

2-3 tsp. dried oregano

2 cloves garlic, crushed (can also use 2-3 tsp. minced jarred garlic)

1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes

2 cups chopped green peppers (generally two green peppers is enough)

1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce

3-4 cups beef broth

¾ cup brown rice (not minute rice), uncooked

Pepper to taste

*I forgot to include the green peppers in this photo and then they didn't photograph well,

so don't forget to include them. :)

The execution:

Brown beef with onion over medium heat and place in the crock pot. Add the remaining ingredients and cook on low for 6-8 hours. *As shown, will be soupier at the beginning before the rice cooks.

Less beef broth will give it more of a chili consistency; adding more will make it soupier. I usually add 4 cups, but generally have a bit more than 1 lb of meat.

Can also be cooked on the stove – add all ingredients to a large pot and simmer for 1 hour.

Makes about 12 cups. 1 cup is approximately 3 WW points. I think it’s about 150 calories per serving but I wasn’t able to figure it out exactly.

Tips:

Some recipes say to cook the rice beforehand, but I wouldn’t recommend it, as it cooks just fine over time in the crock pot. I also add some ground-up herbs de provence and a few dashes of crushed red pepper flakes for a bit more flavor.

If you want to make it even leaner, cook the ground beef and onion separately and then drain and rinse the beef before adding to the crock pot. Since there are so many other flavors in this recipe, it won’t be lacking.

An additional variation would be to substitute barley for the rice.

I usually find the long grain brown rice it in the bulk section of the grocery store.

The beef broth can be done with pre-made beef broth or by making it with bullion cubes. I’ve done both with success.

The review:

Fantastic – great comfort food!

This has become one of our favorite meals. If you don’t love cooked green peppers (as my husband doesn’t), this soup is still worth a try. There are enough ingredients and flavors that the green peppers aren’t everything in the soup, but still have a presence.

I rarely made soup before coming across this recipe. Soup is generally not one of my favorite dishes but this particular soup has me wanting to make it again and again! Very flavorful AND filling for not a ton of calories.

It really doesn’t need much to round out the meal since it’s pretty sturdy on its own, but a bowl goes well with some crusty, whole grain bread.

Overall, it’s a great winter-time dish (or early spring when it’s still cold out, as it is here!).

If the amount of soup in this recipe is a lot, I still recommend making the full amount. It will cook the best in the crock pot that way. I’ve frozen part of a batch before and it worked well.

*Recipe originally inspired from a handout at a Weight Watchers meeting. Has been adapted quite a bit.

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