December 13, 2020

Taco Soup

I love tacos. Who doesn’t love tacos? I love all kinds, tacos on flour tortillas and corn tortillas, street tacos with a squirt of lime juice and a sprinkle of chopped onion and cilantro. I love fish and shrimp tacos with crema. Even the American crispy shell version a lot of us grew up eating makes me happy. Sometimes I make them, especially since they are my younger daughter’s favorite. However, they are often more work than I want. It can be tiresome having to cook the meat, chop a lot of tomatoes, shred lettuce, and heat the shells. I would eat tacos every few weeks, but I just don’t want to make them myself. I’m glad the weather is cooler because I can throw the poor kid a bone. That bone is taco soup.

Taco soup may not be the same thing as an actual taco, but it does have a lot of the same flavors. I still have to brown the meat and onions, but then I can basically throw everything else in. Not having to drain the beans is a welcome change and a big relief. It saves me a lot of back and forth in the kitchen.

Taco soup has a good amount of canned and jarred ingredients in it. However, outside of the amount of sodium, it is all pretty healthy stuff. I usually use frozen corn, and sometimes I can get low sodium versions of the beans. This recipe can easily be made on the stovetop as well. Sometimes I use the Instant Pot to shorten the cooking length. Both sets of directions are in the recipe. To give the soup more of the flavor of a crispy taco, I serve it with a big bag of tortilla chips on the side. My family will either munch on them separately or crumble them into their taco soup. I also put out a bowl of shredded Mexican 4 cheese for them to sprinkle on top.

Print Recipe

Taco Soup

A soup with ground beef, corn, beans and taco seasonings.

Prep Time20

Cook Time50

Course: Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: Tex-Mex

Keyword: Beans, Soup, Tacos

Servings: 6

Ingredients

For Soup:

2 lbs Ground Beef
1 large Onion chopped
2 1/2 cups Corn Kernels preferably frozen
10 oz Original Rotel
2 cups Salsa (I use Pace hot or medium for this)
15 oz Can of Red Kidney Beans undrained
15 oz Can of Black Beans undrained
15 oz Can of Pinto Beans undrained
3 cups Water
2 Tablespoons Chili Powder
2 teaspoons Cumin
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt (optional)

For Serving:

Shredded Mexican 4 Cheese Blend
Crushed Tortilla Chips

Instructions

In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, over medium heat, saute the ground beef and onion until fully cooked, about 7 to 8 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients (corn kernels, Rotel, salsa, red kidney beans, black beans, pinto beans, water, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, smoked paprika and optional salt).Stir.
Heat until the soup reaches a low simmer. Cover and continue with low simmer for 40 minutes.
Stir and serve each bowl with a handful of shredded Mexican 4 cheese blend or any cheese you would serve with tacos. Serve tortilla chips either on the side or crumbled into the soup.

Modifications

I chose and adapted this recipe because it is so physically easy. Not having to rinse and drain the beans is a HUGE help.

I brown the ground beef until it is just cooked through. In a lot of recipes I brown it a little further to get some caramelization but it is unnecessary in this recipe.

The other part that can be a little difficult is opening cans and jars. I just have a handheld can opener but I think an electric may be easier for some people. I also have a jar opener to help pop open the lid of the jars. A few occupational therapists have also given me pieces of Dycem. Dycem is this super cool non slip material that I can use to grip a jar or to twist a lid. I also put it under things to keep them from slipping.