Easy Red Bell Pepper Bisque Recipe

This French-inspired, easy, roasted red pepper bisque is a comforting creamy soup to warm the entire family.

Want to use bell peppers that are nearing their best-before date? Don't fear—my easy red pepper bisque recipe is here!

Why Make This Soup

Make this simple, flavorful roasted soup and feel empowered as you reduce food waste and use up produce sitting in your refrigerator. You will be surprised at how easily this French-inspired recipe uses ingredients you already have on hand in your kitchen and keeps them from going to waste. 

Home cooks, I hear you. You search for a recipe, buy all the ingredients, use what is needed for the recipe and then what happens to the rest? It sits in your fridge waiting to be used up — and more often than not, it shrivels, smells until you throw it away with a guilty conscience. 

In fact, the statistics for 2024 show that Canadians create over 50 million tonnes of food waste per year—47 % of which is produced in the home. This could be avoided with better meal planning.

Cutting on Food Waste

Making the most of the food we already have is very important to me and my family. Blender soup recipes are a frequent solution to using that aging produce while providing a flavorful and comforting meal for all to enjoy. Plus, as a bonus, we teach our children the importance of practical and sustainable cooking (and feed them vegetables without them knowing!)

Today's roasted red pepper bisque is inspired by my travels to France. During my visit, I mostly consumed simple salads and a whole lot of cheeses! But one rainy evening in Paris, my friend and I decided to cook this smooth and creamy soup and it did not disappoint! 

Since then, this roasted red pepper soup has traveled with me through many countries, many apartments, and many sets of pots and pans. It's easy, comes together in mostly one pot, and feels luxurious while being easy to make. I'm positive you will love this recipe, too!

Ingredients

• Bell peppers: The main ingredient of this creamy roasted red pepper soup recipe. You can use a mix of colors (it doesn't have to be just red), however I recommend you limit the use of green peppers for this recipe. 
• Olive oil: The drizzle over the peppers before roasting
• Red onions: For flavor, you can use regular onions too
• Minced garlic cloves: For flavor
• Butter or oil: Used to sauté the vegetables
• Dry white wine: Optional as part of the base liquid
• Vegetable stock: The base liquid
• Water: To create the desired thickness, you can use more or less.
• Salt and pepper: To taste
• Heavy cream: For flavor and thickness, though you can use vegan cream as well.
• Parsley or cilantro: For garnish, optional

See recipe card for exact quantities.

 Equipment you will need

• Baking sheet
• Mixing Bowl
• Foil
• Plastic zip lock bag
• Knife
• Chopping board
• immersion blender
• Soup pot

Step-by-step-instructions

Roast red peppers

I start this roasted red pepper bisque recipe by roasting my own peppers. You can, of course, use jarred roasted red peppers if that's what you have on hand, but I find that it's incredibly easy to make roasted red peppers, and it helps me make use of any bell peppers that may be going soft.

Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with foil.

In a mixing bowl, drizzle the red bell peppers with olive oil and arrange on the baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Turn the peppers over and bake for another 15 minutes until blackened and charred. (Don't worry, the peppers are not burnt! Charring gives the roasted pepper flavor we want in our soup).

Peel peppers

Once out of the oven, transfer the roasted peppers to a zip lock bag, seal it, and then let them sweat for approximately 1 hour.

Take the peppers out of the bag, peel them and deseed. On a chopping board, chop the peppers coarsely ready to be blended using an immersion blender.

Make the soup

In a large soup pot, heat the butter or oil until hot. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes until translucent. Transfer to a blender.

Blend soup

Then add the roasted peppers, vegetable broth, wine, salt, and pepper to a blender to puree the soup. Process the soup until smooth (work in batches if needed). You can also puree this soup using an immersion blender.

Add Cream and Reheat

Once the entire mix has been blended, add the cream and blend again ensuring it is thoroughly mixed in.

Return the soup to the pot and heat up for 10 minutes before serving.

Serve Bell Pepper Soup

Top with croutons, garnish with parsley or cilantro, and drizzle with extra cream if desired.

Other easy red pepper recipes

Russian marinated red peppers are fiery and delicious. A cold weather favorite in our home!

Or for an easy 'wing it' salad inspired by middle eastern flavors, try my roasted red bell pepper salad and see how simple ingredients can offer bold and beautiful flavors.

Looking in your refrigerator and see peppers and cabbage going bad? Surprise, I have a recipe for that too! My sautéed cabbage and pepper dinner is a vegan, gluten-free and paleo recipe sure to satisfy. 

Another soup to try

Make use of all the vegetables in your home with this piquant roasted eggplant soup. Made all in one pan, this great recipe couldn't be easier!

Recipe