For several weeks now I’ve been buying these beautiful organic sweet peppers from the growers’ market and putting them in just about everything along with roasting them and freezing for winter. In addition to these sweet peppers, fresh red chile peppers are now available, and the organic red bell peppers are so abundant that prices have dropped considerably. Therefore, when the rains came a couple of weeks ago and brought cooler weather, it was a perfect time to make this Spicy Sweet Red Pepper Soup.
This soup is best made with fresh, roasted peppers. You can use a mix of sweet peppers and red chile peppers, or, if you can’t find fresh red chile, then substitute with a red chile sauce, or red chile powder. Throw in a nice, big, meaty brandywine tomato, and you have a a comforting soup bursting with flavor. Make a grilled cheese sandwich as a side and you’ve got a complete meal.
Spicy Sweet Red Pepper Soup Recipe
Serves 4
Prep and Cook Time: 30 minutes if you already have the roasted peppers and red chile sauce.
Recipe author: MJ of MJ’s Kitchen.
Ingredients
1 Tbsp. olive oil
½ large sweet onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
½ pound meaty tomato, peeled, coarsely chopped
2 pounds sweet peppers (~4 large bells), roasted, peeled, seeds removed, chopped
1/2 pound medium to hot red chile peppers, roasted, peeled, seeds removed, chopped OR ¼ – ½ cup red chile sauce OR 2 – 3 tsp. red chile powder (See Kitchen Notes)
2 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)
1 Tbsp. brine from a jar of olives
Juice from half a lime
½ cup half and half
Salt to taste
Toppings:
Grated Manchego or Pecorino Romano Cheese
Your favorite Red Chile Powder
Instructions
- In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. When hot, add the onion and garlic. Saute for 5 minutes or until translucent.
- Add the tomato, peppers, and chile sauce/powder (if using). Cook for 3 minutes.
- Add the chicken stock and brine. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Using an immersion blender (or regular blender) puree the soup until smooth.
- Add the lime and the half and half. If the soup is too thick for your liking, add more stock or water, ¼ cup at a time.
- Taste. Add more salt if needed.
- Reheat, but do not let it come to a boil.
- Pour into serving bowls and top with a little cheese and sprinkle of chile powder if desired.
Kitchen Notes
The Sweet Peppers – Any sweet peppers can be used and any color (except green). I like to use all red peppers, because I usually use red chile sauce and all red peppers make such a beautiful soup. For a spicy sweet yellow soup, you could use all yellow sweet peppers and yellow hots.
The Spicy Component – This soup is best with either red chile sauce or roasted red chile peppers. If you have neither, you could use chile powder, but of the three choices, it’s the one I prefer the least. Chile powder adds a little bit of “powdery” texture to this particular soup which, for some, can be off-putting.
Amount of Spice Component – The amount of spice is personal preference. The hotter the chile, the less I use. It’s easy for the chile to overpower the sweetness of the sweet peppers, especially if you using chile sauce or powder. Taste the red chiles or chile sauce prior to adding it to the soup. If it’s hot, then use the smaller amount. If you find it pleasantly spicy, then the larger amount indicated in the recipe could be used.
The Tomato – Any tomato could be used in this soup, including canned tomatoes if that’s all you have. If you use fresh tomato, you do want to peel it in order to have a smooth pureed soup. For this soup, the easiest way to peel the tomato is to cut the tomato into 4 to 6 large pieces and add to the soup. After about 30 seconds you’ll see the skin peeling off. Just lift it off the tomato pieces using tongs. This process save time in peeling the tomato separately.
This soup is a great warm me up for cooler fall temperatures and a fabulous way to use some of the beautiful peppers at the markets during the fall. It could be served as a starter to a meal or as the meal itself.
If you like it spicy, then here are some more spicy soups you will enjoy.
Thanks for the recent red pepper recipes, especially the soup!
You are most welcome! Hope you enjoy this soup. We do. 🙂
Hey there! I’ve been following your blog for some time now and
finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out
from Houston Tx! Just wanted to say keep up the great work!
Welcome! thanks so much for stopping by!
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You had me at grilled cheese 😀 I love the sound of a roasted pepper soup – so much more so than boring tomato soup. And the color is so beautiful… What a delicious soup, MJ!
Gorgeous soup!Love the color and I am sure is so tasty!
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What an amazing beautiful color soup, MJ! I love sweet red peppers, but haven’t tried them in soup. This is something I need to try this fall/winter. <3
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This is a never-heard-of soup to me! But it looks so inviting, provocative, pretty, breathtaking!
How can I not try it?
I fell in love with your lovely blog at the very first sight. So following you 🙂
Thanks so much Nusrat! So glad you dropped by and I hope to see you again! Your comments are greatly appreciated!
Love the combo of hot and sweet flavours, MJ. The soup must be very tasty and warming.
I love roasted peppers and the idea of turning it into soup. Luscious 🙂
This soup is great! I’d love that… and try and make risotto with roasted peppers… amazing! 🙂
Thanks Giulia! Oh – roasted peppers and risotto does sound amazing! I’ll try it!
The color is just lovely and I’m sure it tasted fabulous!
MJ, first of all excuse me such a long absence on your blog. I went on quite long holidays to Japan and it was so busy and exhausting, I had hardly any time to go on internet. Your soup looks absolutely gorgeous and I can well imagine it in a fancy restaurant, especially when presented in the way you did.
You’re so sweet Sissi! I figured since you haven’t been posting that you were off having fun. You know that your trips to Japan make me very jealous! 🙂 I hope you had a great time and I know I’ll be seeing some dishes from your visit soon. Thanks for your comments as always!
Love the vivid color of your soup. It is definitely soup weather here in New England and this would be terrific with a grilled cheese sandwich.
What a terrific soup…I’d love mine with a grilled cheese like you suggested. And the olive brine for a secret ingredient sounds perfect! Great idea.
Thanks Liz! It’s amazing what a little bit of olive brine does to a soup. I use it a lot.
So beautiful and your photo is stunning! I really need to learn to take better photos. I read a lot about it but just haven’t mastered it. I think I need a class.
Great soup, I’d love to have a bowl of this right now. I’m printing this off to try later. Thanks for sharing it.
Thanks so much Vicki! I do struggle with the photos because I am NOT a stylist. My husband is a professional photographer, so he taught me a lot when I first started, especially the technical stuff. It still doesn’t come easy. I hope you get a chance to make this soup. It’s really good!
The color is gorgeous! I want to dig in a spoon and never stop. Yumm!
The colors are amazing and the soup must have this distinctive pepper flavor I love!
I love how warm the color of that soup is and since I am a big fan of red peppers, I can’t wait to give it a try
That is delicious and beautiful red pepper soup. I love to dig in.
Absolutely love this recipe! I have always liked sweet red pepper soup, but make it spicy and now I love it! I, also, wanted to mention how much I enjoy your kitchen notes…very helpful! Thanks!
Thanks so much Jodee! It’s good to know what people like, so thanks for letting me know about the Kitchen Notes. I think my Kitchen Notes evolve because I never make anything the same way twice. 🙂
This is such a pretty soup and I am sure it tastes fantastic. Love a little spicy warmth in there too. Very curious about the brine from a jar of olives, great idea.
Thanks Evelyne! I use olive brine in a lot of dishes. It adds a little acid to the dish, and a little bite. You should give it a try.
The colour of your soup is gorgeous — as are the peppers too! We have similar peppers in season here, so I need to go buy some and give your soup a try. It’s making my mouth water. Thank for sharing, MJ:)
Thanks so much Nancy! I just love fresh peppers – sweet and spicy. It doesn’t matter. I roasted up a big batch of red chile peppers Saturday and they were so good in our breakfast grits. 🙂
Look at that rich chilli colour of that soup, the flavors must be robust
Thanks Raymund! The flavors are quite robust.
I love the combination of spicy and sweet… this is such a pretty fall soup recipe.I think tomato has to be a favorite of mine since I was small. xx
Thanks Barbara! It’s interesting that the tomato in this soup is more of a filler and adds some acid to the soup, but the pepper flavors are really the stars of the show.
I am ready for soup season! This would be delicious with a grilled cheese!
Grilled cheese is what we serve it with! 🙂 Thanks Debra!
The colour of this soup is so enticing in itself, the presentation and super spicy flavour is a bonus 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thanks so much Uru!
I thought that was coconut you had on top of your lovely soup and I was thinking, wow, what a courageous/interesting choice… red pepper soup is delicious — lately, we’ve been enjoying a combo of red pepper and lobster bisque but I confess it is store bought. Your homespun version would be so much better – love the olive brine! and that photo of the colourful peppers MJ… wonderful! We are heading to the market in a few minutes, I think I will pick up some pretty peppers :).
Thanks Kelly! Hum – coconut. Now that would be an interesting twist on this soup. You’ve got me wanting to try it. 🙂
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Love the picture of the pepper! So pretty – they have gorgeous color and luster. Great looking soup, too. I’ve never met a chile I didn’t like, and you’re bringing a ton of chile flavor to this soup. Good stuff – thanks.
Thanks John! It’s easy to take a pretty picture when you subject matter is so gorgeous. The peppers this year are amazing! Being a fellow chile lover, I think you would love this soup.
What a lovely recipe, and would be perfect to throw in thermos and travel with! Perfect recipe to kick off fall! Hugs, Terra
I never thought about putting it in a furnace for travel, but yes – this is the perfect soup for that. Thanks!
Beautiful soup..I love the color. I have never had a just a roasted pepper soup… so this is a must try. 🙂
Thanks Ramona! I’ll never forget the first time I had a roasted pepper soup. It was at a fancy restaurant and the moment I tasted it, I vowed to make one. It was so good!