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Roasted Red Pepper and Chorizo Soup
Roasted red pepper and chorizo soup is smoky, rich, and packed with bold savoury flavour. Sweet roasted peppers are blended into a smooth tomato-based soup, while chorizo adds warmth, spice, and a lovely depth that makes the whole thing feel far more substantial. It’s easy to make, wonderfully comforting, and perfect with crusty bread for a simple lunch or dinner.
Roasted Red Pepper and Chorizo Soup
This roasted red pepper and chorizo soup is one of my all-time favourite cold weather dinners. The sweetness of the roasted peppers mixed with the smoky heat of chorizo makes every spoonful rich, bold, and comforting. I blend it smooth, stir through crispy chorizo, and serve it with crusty bread for dunking. It’s a brilliant make-ahead soup, freezes beautifully, and brings a bit of Mediterranean warmth to even the chilliest Adelaide evenings.
Ingredients
- 1 chorizo sausage, finely diced
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 150g roasted red peppers
- 400g tinned plum tomatoes
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 cups chicken stock
- Maldon sea salt flakes, to taste
- Sour cream, to serve
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium-high heat, fry the diced chorizo for 3-4 minutes, or until just turning golden and the oils have been released. Remove the chorizo from the pot and set aside.
- In the same pot, cook the onion in the chorizo oil over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until soft. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute, or until fragrant.
- Stir through the smoked paprika and cumin and cook for another minute.
- Add the roasted red peppers, tinned tomatoes, and chicken stock. Use a wooden spoon to break down the tomatoes. Season with a large pinch of Maldon sea salt flakes.
- Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a gentle simmer. Remove from the heat and use a stick blender to blitz until smooth.
- Stir the chorizo back through the soup and serve with a dollop of sour cream.
Notes
- This is a deeply smoky, slightly spicy soup that's ready in under 30 minutes. The chorizo does most of the flavour work so there's very little effort involved for a seriously impressive result.
- Frying the chorizo first and then cooking the onion in the released paprika-rich oil is the technique that layers flavour into every element of this soup. Don't skip this step.
- Spanish chorizo is essential here. It releases its smoky, paprika-rich oils as it cooks, which flavours the entire base of the soup. Fresh chorizo sausages won't give you the same result.
- Roasted red peppers from a jar are ideal. Drain them well before adding so they don't bring excess brine into the soup.
- Smoked paprika amplifies the chorizo's natural smokiness and gives the soup its characteristic deep red colour. Don't substitute with sweet paprika.
- Blending the soup before returning the chorizo gives you a silky smooth base with chunky, crispy pieces of chorizo throughout. It's a great textural contrast.
- I use this stick blender for soups. It's powerful enough to get a completely smooth result without having to transfer hot liquid to a jug blender.
- Sour cream adds a cool, creamy richness that cuts through the smoky heat beautifully. Greek yoghurt works just as well as a substitute.
- This soup keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat gently on the stovetop over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
- This soup freezes well without the sour cream. Portion into freezer-safe containers and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight and reheat gently on the stovetop.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 139Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 12mgSodium: 414mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 3gSugar: 8gProtein: 7g
Please note, this nutrition information is to be used as a guide only. Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.
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Serve this with
- Serve with my Proper Garlic Bread with Roasted Garlic for dunking into the smoky tomato broth. Your garlic bread is specifically written as a soup side, and the roasted garlic fits the pepper and chorizo beautifully.
- Pair with my Home-made Sizzler Toast for something a bit different. It’s buttery, cheesy and crisp, and your own post specifically says you serve it with soup.
- Add my Roasted Mediterranean Veg with Sopressa Salami Focaccia if you want to turn the soup into a bigger lunch. The roasted capsicum, salami, provolone and olives sit naturally alongside the same smoky Mediterranean flavours.
A Hug in a Bowl
You know those weeks that just drain you? The ones where every email feels like a battle, every conversation leaves a mark, and even the cat gives you side-eye like you’ve forgotten how to be a decent human? Yeah, it’s been one of those. By Thursday, I’d had enough. I didn’t want to cook anything fancy, but I wanted something proper tasty. Something that felt like love in a bowl. So I made my roasted red pepper and chorizo soup.
I first got into the rhythm of regular soup-making when I lived in Scotland. Over there, soup is more than a meal- it’s practically a national pastime. The second winter set in, everyone would dust off their soup pots. Ask what someone got up to on the weekend and chances are, they made soup. And fair enough too!! There’s something comforting about a kitchen filled with the smell of garlic and spice, a bubbling pot on the stove, and knowing dinner is going to hit the spot. This one – with smoky chorizo, sweet roasted peppers, and a bit of heat – is one I always come back to. It’s simple, it’s bold, and it tastes like you’ve made more effort than you have. My kind of cooking.
I’m not fussed about whether the peppers are fresh or from a jar. I always say – flavour first. And this one delivers. The chorizo does most of the heavy lifting, with smoky paprika and cumin giving it a real depth. Add in some chicken stock, a tin of plum tomatoes, and a swirl of sour cream, and you’ve got something that feels like a treat, even on the worst kind of Thursday.
When Life Gets a Bit Much
This past week, I’ve been running on empty. It started with some truly painful work nonsense, ended with divorce papers, and somewhere in the middle I lost track of how many cups of tea I drank trying to stay calm. By Thursday night, I was over it. So I turned to the one thing I could rely on – a big pot of this soup and a generous glass of Shiraz.
I didn’t want conversation. I didn’t want plans. I just wanted to sit on the couch, fluffy socks on, with something warm and spicy in my hands. And that first spoonful? Heaven. It grounded me, reminded me I’m allowed to pause. To stop trying to fix everything. Sometimes it’s enough to just get through the day and feed yourself something that tastes good.
It’s funny how something as ordinary as soup can make everything feel a little more manageable. Like, no, it hasn’t solved the mess of the week, but it softened the edges. And for a moment, that’s all I needed. Just one warm, comforting moment to remind myself I’m still here. Still me. And still capable of looking after myself.
Family, Worry, and the Quiet Moments
With the long weekend coming up, I made this soup on Thursday instead of my usual Friday night wind-down. It was a bit of pre-Easter grounding before heading off to see the family. Rose and I are spending a few days with them before I head to Adelaide for work, which it’s the first time I’ve been, so I’m a bit nervous!
However, Rose loves family trips. The second she’s out of her carrier, she’s off like a shot – tail high, eyes wide, exploring every inch of the house. Her favourite spot is the landing, where she can perch like a tiny silver gargoyle and watch the world below. It’s hilarious., and comforting, because she’s so full of life and joy, even when I’m quietly carrying worry.
Dad’s been sick. He got a tough diagnosis just before Christmas, and while he’s still sharp as ever and probably more positive than I am, it weighs on me. He’s the most resilient person I know. He taught me strength, grace, and how to meet life’s curveballs with a quiet kind of courage. But he’s getting older, and I hate that his body is starting to betray him. Even with his usual humour and stubborn optimism, it sits heavy in my chest. This soup, this moment, this visit – they’re all ways to stay close, to hold onto something steady. And thank heavens, through it all, he hasn’t lost his wit.
Frequently asked questions
Why fry the chorizo first and then cook the onion in the leftover oil?
The chorizo releases a deeply flavoured, paprika-rich red oil as it fries, and cooking the onion in that oil rather than discarding it and starting fresh with neutral fat layers the chorizo flavour into the base of the soup before any other ingredient goes in. It’s the technique that makes this soup taste considerably more developed than the cooking time would suggest.
Why does the chorizo go back in after blending rather than being blended with everything else?
Blending the chorizo into the soup would make it smooth and uniform throughout. Keeping it separate and stirring it back in after blending gives you a silky, smooth base with chunky, slightly crispy pieces of chorizo distributed through it, which is a far more interesting texture than a fully blended soup.
Why Spanish chorizo specifically?
Spanish chorizo is cured and releases its smoky, paprika-rich oils as it fries, which is what flavours the entire base of the soup. Fresh chorizo sausages have a completely different fat composition and won’t render the same flavoured oil when cooked. The distinction matters significantly here.
Ingredient breakdown
Chorizo
Spanish cured chorizo, finely diced and fried until just golden and the oils have been released before anything else goes into the pot. Those released oils are the foundation the whole soup is built on. The chorizo comes out of the pot after frying and goes back in at the very end so it stays as distinct, slightly crispy pieces in the finished soup rather than disappearing into the blended base.
Onion and garlic
Cooked in the chorizo oil left behind in the pot after the chorizo comes out, which means they absorb the smoky, paprika-rich fat as they soften. The onion needs a full ten minutes over medium heat before the garlic follows for another minute until fragrant. This stage is building the flavour foundation of the soup.
Smoked paprika and ground cumin
Stirred through after the onion and garlic have softened and cooked for a minute before the liquid goes in, which blooms them in the residual oil and intensifies their flavour. Smoked paprika amplifies the chorizo’s natural smokiness and gives the soup its characteristic deep red colour. Don’t substitute with sweet paprika. The cumin adds a warm, earthy depth that sits underneath the smokiness.
Roasted red peppers
From a jar, drained well before going into the pot. They add sweetness and body to the blended soup base and contribute to the deep, vibrant colour. Drain them thoroughly so the excess brine doesn’t sharpen the finished soup.
Tinned plum tomatoes
Added with the roasted peppers and stock, broken down with a wooden spoon before the soup is blended smooth. They form the bulk of the liquid base alongside the stock and add acidity and a tomato depth that ties the smoky, spiced flavours together.
Chicken stock
The primary liquid that gives the soup its body and savoury backbone. Two cups is enough to produce a thick, substantial soup rather than a thin broth once everything is blended together.
Maldon sea salt flakes
A large pinch added with the liquid before blending. The chorizo brings significant saltiness so taste carefully before adding more at the end.
Sour cream
Spooned over the top of each bowl when serving, adding a cool, creamy richness that cuts through the smoky heat beautifully. Greek yoghurt works just as well as a substitute. Don’t stir it into the soup before serving because the contrast between the hot, smoky soup and the cool, creamy dollop is part of what makes this so good.
