This yellow pepper soup is bright, colourful, healthy, easy and comforting. What makes this soup so special is the addition of cream cheese which is what gives it a velvety smooth texture while keeping it light and full of flavour. It’s perfect to serve for lunch or as a light and easy weeknight dinner.
Yellow bell peppers are less common in cooking than their red and green counterparts, but they are still great to use. They have a lovely sweet taste, yet not as sweet as red peppers, and are mild and subtle in flavour. The bright yellow colour gives this soup a lovely spring and summertime feel. The addition of cream cheese makes this soup so comforting and creamy that it’s also perfect to eat during the cold winter months too. The lovely bright yellow colour will brighten up any dull and dark winter day.
Which ingredients to use
- Yellow bell peppers: Sweet yellow bell peppers are the star ingredient of this dish.
- Garlic and onions: Adding garlic and onion intensifies the flavour of any soup as is the case with this yellow bell pepper recipe.
- Broth: Either use homemade chicken or vegetable stock or add water with stock cubes.
- Olive oil: I always use olive oil to fry the vegetables before adding the broth. It’s healthy and adds an extra Mediterranean aroma to this soup recipe.
- Cream cheese: Use either natural cream cheese or chives and onion.
- Herbs: This recipe calls for additional herbs while cooking. I have added dried rosemary and thyme which pairs really well with the smooth and subtle taste of yellow bell peppers.
How to make yellow pepper soup
Note: All the exact quantities of the ingredients can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
This bell pepper soup recipe so is easy and fast to make. It doesn’t call for many ingredients since the yellow pepper is the hero of this dish.
- Prepare the vegetables:
Core, seed and roughly dice the bell peppers. Dice the onions and mince the garlic. - Cook the vegetables:
Heat some olive oil in a medium sized pot over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until translucent. Add the garlic and bell peppers and continue cooking until softened. - Add broth and seasoning:
Pour in the broth and add the salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary. Cover with a lid and bring to the boil. Leave to simmer until the vegetables are soft. - Blend the soup and add the cream cheese:
Pour the ingredients in to a blender or use an immersion blender to mix it all into a smooth soup. Add the cream cheese and continue blending for a few minutes until the cheese is melted and completely dissolved. - Serve the soup:
Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with croutons and chopped fresh parsley.
Interesting tips and tricks to make the best soup
Do I need to peel the bell peppers?
I never peel bell peppers for any recipe, including for this soup. However, if you have problems digesting the peel, I would recommend peeling the peppers before using them. Since we are not roasting the peppers, they’re easier to peel, so you can just remove the skin with a normal potato peeler before chopping.
Why does the cream cheese not melt properly?
Sometimes cream cheese does not melt properly and might leave lumps in the soup. There are various tricks to avoid this:
- Pour a ladle of mixed soup in to a separate small bowl and stir in the cream cheese. When the cheese is completely melted, pour everything back in to the soup and continue to mix.
- Add small amounts of cream cheese to the soup and mix immediately each time after adding the cheese.
- Melt the cream cheese in the microwave for 10-15 seconds before adding to the soup.
Can I add other colours of bell peppers?
You can. On the other hand, it will alter the beautiful and bright yellow colour of the soup, unless you just use orange or even red peppers. I would however not use green bell peppers since they are more bitter in flavour and will change the taste of the soup.
Can I make this soup in advance?
Yes, you can. I even recommend making this soup at least an hour in advance before serving. It will allow the flavours to fully develop and the consistency to become even creamier and slightly thicker. This creamy yellow pepper soup can be stored in the fridge in a sealed and airtight container for up to 3 days. Allow to cool to room temperature before putting in the fridge.
Can this soup be frozen?
You can make a large batch of this soup, I always do, and I store it in small plastic containers in the freezer for up to 3 months. Take it out a day in advance and leave to thaw in the fridge overnight, then reheat on the stove or in the microwave.
How to serve this soup?
This soup can either be eaten as a light lunch or an easy weeknight dinner. It also tastes good all year round. It’s warm and comforting during the cold winter months or is light and healthy during spring and summer.
Serve with chopped fresh parsley and chives. Consider adding some croutons, or these crispy oven roasted chickpeas. Crispy bread or a farmer’s loaf to dip will also work well with this soup.
More of my favourite soup recipes
- Fennel soup with zucchini and star anise
- Arugula and zucchini soup
- Carrot and ginger soup
- Roasted chestnut and mushroom soup
- Spanish gazpacho soup
- Salmorejo – cold tomato soup from Spain
Creamy yellow pepper soup
Ingredients
- 2 pounds (3 cups or 500 grams) yellow bell peppers seeded, cored and chopped
- 2 medium onions chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 4¼ cups (or 1 litre) vegetable stock
- 5 ounces (or 140 grams) cream cheese
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- salt and pepper to taste
Garnish
- croutons
- fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté for 3 minutes until translucent. Add the chopped bell peppers and garlic and sauté for 3 minutes while stirring frequently.2 pounds (3 cups or 500 grams) yellow bell peppers, 2 medium onions, 2 cloves garlic
- Pour in the vegetable stock, add the thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.4¼ cups (or 1 litre) vegetable stock, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, salt and pepper
- Cover with a lid and leave to boil until the vegetables are soft. This will take around 10-15 minutes.
- With a hand mixer or in a blender, purée the soup until smooth. Add the cream cheese and blend again until all the cheese is dissolved. Season to taste.
- Serve with croutons and fresh parsley.croutons, fresh parsley
Notes
- Stock: use either vegetable or chicken stock depending on personal taste and if you want to make it vegetarian or not.
Did you make this recipe? I’d love to hear how it turned out! Leave a comment with rating below and share a picture with the hashtag #thetastychilli and tag me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.
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I made this yesterday but….2# of peppers was 6 cups (8 peppers)! I subbed 1 onion with 1 small seeded minced jalapeno, used 2 tsp of Italian seasoning, and cooked it all day in the crock pot then pureed with the cream cheese. EXCELLENT!
You call for 1 /4 c (1 liter) of broth. A liter contains roughly four cups, not 1 ¼ cups.
Thanks for pointing it out, it was a typo. I’ve changed it now 🙂