How to Make Slow Cooker Taco Soup
This taco soup is a great alternative to chili, and it’s a warm and hearty meal on a cool day.
This recipe was passed down by a family member, and I’ve made some adjustments to make it my own. It’s a versatile. You can omit beans or corn if you don’t like them, substitute the black beans for other beans such as pinto or kidney, use dried beans instead of canned, or add other ingredients such as diced peppers, jalapenos, and fresh cilantro.
Soups like this are great for cleaning out small amounts of chopped peppers and onions in your freezer. You can also top taco soup with the leftover crumbs in the bottom of the tortilla chip bag. You know all those little pieces no one wants to eat with salsa and nachos?
This taco soup cooks easily in your slow cooker, but it also could easily be simmered in a Dutch oven on the stove top. If you have a large amount of leftover soup, it can be placed in a freezer-safe plastic container or freezer-safe Ziploc-style bag and frozen to give you an easy meal later.
Slow Cooker Taco Soup
Ingredients:
- 1 onion, diced
- 1-2 cans black beans
- 1-2 cans whole kernel corn, undrained (or use a similar amount of frozen corn, about 2 to 3 cups)
- 1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 can Ro-Tel, undrained
- 1 lb. ground turkey or ground beef
- 1 envelope Ranch dressing mix
- 1 envelope taco seasoning
- Optional tomato juice, as much or as little as you want. (Use more if you want a soup with a lot of “broth,” or use less if you want a thicker soup. If you don’t use the entire container/can of tomato juice, pour it into a freezer-safe container, label, and freeze for later use in chili, vegetable soup, or another batch of taco soup.)
- Optional toppings: shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips, large Fritos scoop chips, diced avocado, green onion, and/or sour cream
Directions:
Brown the diced onion and ground turkey or ground beef in a skillet on the stove. Place meat in slow cooker and add all ingredients except for optional toppings (cheese, chips, sour cream). Cook on low heat for 4 to 6 hours until soup is warm.
*To cook on the stove top, brown the ground turkey or ground beef in a skillet, and then place all ingredients except the optional toppings in a Dutch oven and cook until heated through.
Top individual servings with shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips, and other optional toppings if desired.
Enjoy!
