Soup Series 5 - Stuffed Banana Pepper Soup

One of my favorite restaurants in Buffalo is Mooney's. I recently tried their Stuffed Banana Pepper soup and it was fantastic. Decided to make my own version. Which came out awesome! I didn't measure anything closely.

sweet or mild Italian sausage, casings removed

onion, diced or minced

carrots, grated or diced minced, or ground up in food processor

hot banana peppers, fresh (or mixture of peppers such as Hungarian wax peppers or jalapenos)

garlic cloves, minced

white American cheese, thick slices

white cheddar, shredded

provolone, a few slices

flour

butter

olive oil

pepper

chicken broth

chicken base

milk (or evaporated milk)

Sprayed hot banana peppers with olive oil and cooked in air fryer on "roast" until softened and blistered and browned. About 8 mins on one side, 5 minutes on the other side. Let cool. 

Sauteed italian sausage until fully cooked. Tried to break it up while cooking. Transferred to a bowl. After cooled, processed it in food processor to get a finer, more even grind (optional). 

Added butter and olive oil to the pan, sauteed the carrots and onion until softened but not browned. 

Added garlic, sauteed 1 min. 

Added 3 T flour, sauteed a few mins.

Added chicken broth slowly by whisking it in. Added milk. Brought to a boil and immediately turned it down a bit and let it thicken. 

Added more chicken base, to taste. 

Peeled banana pepper skin, removed stems and tried to remove as many seeds as possible. Processed in food processor, but could have easily just chopped it up with knife. 

Added banana pepper and sausage to soup.

Added sliced American cheese a few slices at a time. Whisked in. Used maybe 12 slices. 

Added shredded cheddar, stirred in. Maybe 1 1/2 cups. 

Seasoned with black pepper.

Absolutely incredible. I think Mooney's version had celery in it too, but I don't usually cook with celery. Mooney's version had the veggies and sausage in bigger chunks but I like very small almost pureed. I think you could make this with ham or chicken or polish sausage honestly. 

Update 3/4/26 I made this using Hungarian Wax Peppers and Jalapenos, because my grocery store did not have Banana Peppers. Also, instead of using flour to thicken the soup, I thickened it with instant mashed potato flakes. It came out great! Also this time I added some provolone slices also. I think you could use any kind of cheese you have. I think you could add in some jarred pickled banana peppers also, in a pinch.