Creamy, cheesy, hot, and spicy (or mild, if you prefer) - this (un)stuffed banana pepper soup is a hearty and delicious way to enjoy the flavors of stuffed banana peppers.
Here in the Buffalo area we have stuffed banana peppers on the menu at almost every pizza place, Italian restaurant, or bar/pub in the area. I'm not sure if they are a local thing or what, but a Google search has led me to believe that they aren't something that is very popular outside of the region.
Basically, they are hot banana peppers stuffed with cheeses, Italian seasonings, sometimes sausage/pork, and the topped with breadcrumbs and baked til bubbly. I like to make this cheese version. They are delicious. Some places even have pizza versions and macaroni and cheese versions.
This time around, I decided to take the flavors of these stuffed banana peppers and turn them into a thick and hearty soup. I used ground pork here, but I often use bulk Italian sausage.
I frequently make it with bulk mild Italian sausage and it's delicious that way. I've used both pork and chicken sausage with success. I use mild sausage, especially if I'm adding any hot peppers. You can use a hot Italian sausage if you prefer.
Now that we are feeding kids, we frequently have this soup with mild sausage and sweet banana peppers and it's absolutely still delicious that way, too. It's customizable to your and your family's preferences.
My husband and I like to add a few hot pickled banana peppers to the top of our soup before we doing the broiling.
This lets us add a bit of heat, while still keeping the soup mild for the rest of the family. I always can hot pickled banana peppers each year, so we have them on hand. They add a nice punch of flavor.
Some people have told me that they've used extra peppers and added diced potatoes for a meat-less version of this soup. I have not tried this yet myself though.
You can freeze this soup at the end of summer or early fall when banana peppers are in season. I know many people grow them in their gardens.
I have had people report success by stopping the cooking process before adding the cream cheese and letting to soup cool and freeze. Then they heat it up and add the cream cheese and proceed from there when they are ready to eat it.
This soup is something we make a lot in the late summer and throughout the fall when we have fresh banana peppers from our garden. You can't beat a bowl of warm and creamy soup as the weather starts to cool down.
You can also skip the breadcrumb and mozzarella cheese topping, especially if you are bringing this soup to a gathering or serving a crowd. I really enjoy those toppings and think they add something extra special.
I've had many people report that they've taken this soup to some family and work soup cook-offs and competitions and won, even without the topping!
Serve this soup as a main dish with a side of warmed crusty bread and butter, or a loaf of garlic bread Plus, the bread will help cool down your mouth, if needed!
(Un)Stuffed Banana Pepper Soup
Ingredients:
- 1 lb ground pork or bulk Italian sausage
- 1 large sweet onion, chopped
- 7 medium/large banana peppers (I used a mix of sweet and hot), seeded and chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, plus more for serving
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups chicken stock or broth
- 1 cup milk
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened and cubed
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella, for topping
- 4 tablespoons breadcrumbs, for topping
Instructions:
- In a soup pot or Dutch oven, cook the pork over medium heat, breaking apart with a wooden spoon. Cook until browned and cooked through. Drain the fat, leaving about two teaspoons. Add the onion, peppers, garlic, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables become just tender. Stir in the flour and cook for about one minute.
- Stir in the chicken stock/broth and milk. Let the mixture come to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Continue to cook and stir often until the mixture thickens.
- Stir in the cream cheese until melted. Taste and season with salt and pepper, as needed. Preheat the broiler.
- For each serving, fill a small crock or other broiler-proof serving bowl (such as these soup crocks). Top each with 1/4 cup mozzarella and a tablespoon of breadcrumbs. Broil until the cheese is melted and the breadcrumbs just turn golden (watch carefully so they don't burn). Top each bowl with an extra sprinkle of Italian seasoning. Serve hot with crusty bread.
I hope you give this soup a try! Let me know what you think in the comments below.
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I think banana peppers are my husbands love language. Well that and Frank's Red Hot. But it has truly not occurred to me how it would be possible to turn it into a soup.And we love soup here! And I thought I could never tire of warm weather. Wrong!!! Maybe I'll make this soup to celebrate some unbelievable news, good news, I got today.
ReplyDeleteI love banana peppers but never thought of making them as a soup. Such a genius idea. This look superb — absolute yum! ♥
ReplyDeleteBanana pepper soup? wow that's new to me and I love creamy and comforting it looks.
ReplyDeletethis sounds super interesting! i've never had stuffed banana peppers but see how they could work...jalapeno popper-ish, right? :) yum!
ReplyDeleteAmy, this soup sounds delicious, lots of flavors...a perfect meal for the cold weather.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful week ahead :)
I love a good pepper soup, but banana peppers just take it to that next level of yum! Saving to enjoy soon!
ReplyDeleteWOW! Stuffed Banana peppers is actually new to me. I don't think we have banana peppers here but I'm sure I would love this soup.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen stuffed banana peppers on a menu, so it's certainly not a thing here in New Mexico. :) However, I am growing banana peppers this year. They did great at the first of the season then struggled in the heat and not that it has cooled off, the plants have exploded. I'll be picking tons of peppers by next week, so this soup is on the menu. It looks wonderful. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWow, what a neat soup! Loads of flavor. Funny about regional food differences -- I don't often see banana peppers around here (although of course they're found in every grocery). Good stuff -- thanks.
ReplyDeleteSounds delicious. I love to make soup too. I need to put this on my list to make.
ReplyDeleteStuffed banana peppers must be a regional dish and certainly sounds like a good one just as does your soup.
ReplyDeleteThis is a new one and it sounds delicious, looks delicious too! A must try for me and thanks for the recipe!
ReplyDeleteHi Amy, I love soup too and can eat it all year round. Love that you added the banana peppers and cream cheese. This looks like a hearty soup and looks delicious. Take care!
ReplyDeleteI love the sound of banana soup!
ReplyDeleteI tweaked the recipe ... Used hot Italian sausage instead of the pork. I roasted the peppers in the oven first and put in some green peppers too. I used stuffing mix ground in the blender instead of bread crumbs and put some in the soup too. Delicious!
ReplyDeleteThis recipe sounds delicious. Getting ready for my garden this year and looking for tasty recipes to go along with what I am planting. This definitely is going to be a must try. Thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteI just sat down on this dreary rainy day....but I am now in heaven!! This soup is so flavorful and delicious. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe.
ReplyDeleteWow! This soup is like nothing I have ever seen or heard of before! Yum! Pinned :)
ReplyDeleteoh my!! this sounds amazing. I love banana peppers but have never seen a soup with them before. What a great idea. Looks spicy and creamy, I know I'd love this.
ReplyDeleteI loved this recipe. I made it exactly as written. I only had the mild banana peppers but this was such a tasty soup to use up my pepper crop. I will probably only add half of the cream cheese next time but that is because I thought it was tasty prior to adding it. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteDelicious! Didn't do the toppings- didn't need it.
ReplyDeleteI am loving these regional specialties you are sharing today. This looks fabulous!
ReplyDeleteHi I’m gonna try this quick low carb meals tonight for dinner and I’m so excited! What is the nutrition info for this? Carbs? Calories? Etc. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI've never had a stuffed banana pepper before but it sounds like something I'd love, along with your unstuffed soup version! Thanks for linking up the #Celebrate365 Soup Swap!
ReplyDeleteDecided to review as this is my go to recipe for banana pepper soup!!! My fiancé requests this soup often and is his top favorite thing I cook him now! Making it right now, even with 80 degree weather! Lol I also add in some hot italian sausage, yummy!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! That means a lot!! I am so glad!
DeleteThis soup is amazing! Entire family loves it and request me to make it often. I replace the bread crumbs with croutons otherwise soup is made exactly according to recipe.
DeleteQuestion: does this soup freeze well? I make this often and was wondering if I could make a double batch to save some time on a later date! Thanks in advance!
DeleteI've actually never tried freezing it, so I can't say. I would think it would be okay though. I always somewhat hesitant with things containing dairy when it comes to freezing. It may break/curdle. But you could try or freeze before adding dairy and then add the milk and cream cheese when reheating. Let us know if you try it.
DeleteI followed your suggestion on holding the dairy before freezing it and I made it for dinner tonight, WOW! It was delicious! I never thought it could be possible to be more flavorful but it knocked my fiancé’s socks off! I’m wondering if it’s also because the last two times I’ve made this soup I used a lb. of ground hot italian sausage rather than the usual cut up sausage. Thanks for the advice! I highly recommend making a double batch for a quick and easy reheat on a lazy chilly night (:
DeleteI'm so glad it worked out! I have been using sweet Italian sausage lately and it really makes it extra yummy! Thanks so much for your feedback and kind comments!
DeleteFound this 5th in a search for unstuffed banana pepper soup. Sounds amazing.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of this but it sounds great for a cold day.
ReplyDeleteI love this idea! I will be making this when the weather cools off.
ReplyDeleteI'm from the Buffalo area and love stuffed banana peppers. We had an abundance of them this year and I was running out of things to do with them. Wish I had come across this recipe sooner. Can't wait to try it!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping by! I hope you are able to try this soup out soon.
DeleteI've made this many times before and its on for dinner tonight!!! so amazing 👏
ReplyDeleteThanks so much!! It's a favorite in our house, too!
DeleteBest soup. I add little pieces of chicken....yummy!!! Freeze some too, taste just the same. Buffalo NY Mask up :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm so glad you enjoy it!
DeleteHi. Fresh banana peppers aren't available at my local sto
ReplyDeletere. Can you suggest a substitution? Thanks
Hungarian wax peppers are probably the next closest type of pepper.
DeleteMy family LOVES this soup! And it’s a great way to use up Banana Peppers from the garden.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm so glad!
DeleteCame across this recipe, I'm from Buffalo NY and several years ago we had a banana pepper soup at the soup fest, it was our favorite! I hope this recipe is just as tasty!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping by fellow WNYer. I hope you give this soup a try and enjoy it!
DeleteI would like to double this recipe and make it in a crock pot. Do you have any suggestions on how I should do this? Should I start it on the stove and then transfer to the crock pot when I add the Chicken Stock, etc? Any suggestions are appreciated! Many thanks!
ReplyDeleteI haven't made this in a crock pot. The problem with using a crock pot is that likely it won't get hot enough to really thicken the soup up. I'd probably make it all on the stove and once it reaches the thickness you like, transfer it and just keep it on low until serving.
DeleteThis is delicious ❤️
ReplyDelete