This Stuffed Pepper Soup features.....you guessed it....bell peppers. They come in a variety of colors including red, green, yellow and orange. In the video we used a red and a green pepper but you can use whatever colors you have on hand.  Bell peppers are a wonderful source of vitamins A and C, folic acid, and fiber. They have a sweet and mild flavor, making them the perfect snack or addition to your meal.

Stuffed Pepper Soup is a great option to add to your meal prep (making and packaging meals ahead of time) cycle. We suggest keeping the rice separate if you plan to do this so that you don't end up with a hotdish (which was a happy accident we discovered while testing....it's delicious either way). If you are hoping to have soup the next day, just add in the rice before heating up. Having ready-to-go, healthy meal options whether you are at the office or working from your couch can help you save time and money. Check out these options for Building a Healthful Lunch.

Ingredients

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1½ tsp. garlic, minced
2 bell peppers, diced
14.5 oz. can petite diced tomatoes
15 oz. can tomato sauce
14.5 oz. can low sodium beef broth
2 cups water
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
2 c. brown rice, cooked

Directions

In a large stock pot cook ground beef and drain any fat if needed. Add the onion and sauté until softened. Next add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the bell peppers to the pot and cook for 2-3 minutes. Finally add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth, water and Italian seasoning to the pot. Stir mixture together and bring to a simmer. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until peppers are tender. Stir in rice and season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.

*TIP: If you don’t plan to serve and eat all of the soup at one sitting, add the rice (1/4 cup) to each serving bowl. This will prevent the rice from absorbing all of the liquid when stored as leftovers.

Make eight (1 cup) servings. Each serving has 220 calories, 7 g fat, 17 g protein, 24 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber and 580 mg sodium.

This recipe is part of the Social Eats Project. To learn more about the Social Eats campaign and see recipes like it go here