Taco Soup is everything you know and love about tacos….in soup form! A quick and easy hearty soup made with taco flavoured ground beef, corn and beans, first timers are always cynical but with one bite, they are converted for life!
Don’t skip the toppings. They seal the deal. 🙂
Taco Soup
Even if you’ve never had Taco Soup before, if you enjoy Chili and Tacos, I guarantee that you will absolutely LOVE this.
Basically, it’s everything you know and love about beef tacos, toppings and all, except it’s in soup form. It’s kind of like Chili – thick and hearty with a fragrant broth that’s quite heavily flavoured with spices. Like any soup, it intended to be eaten with a spoon but to fully experience all that Taco Soup is intended to be, it should be served with at least a few corn chips for dunking!
This is a really quick and easy Taco Soup that can be made with either store bought seasoning OR a homemade taco seasoning
To make this super quick and easy, use a store bought packet of seasoning for convenience. But if you prefer, make your own – I don’t know about you, but I always have spices for taco seasoning in my pantry!
Homemade Taco Seasoning for Taco Soup
Quick and easy
This is a terrific quick and easy recipe. Kind of like making Bolognese – except we add taco flavourings! Cook onion and garlic until translucent, then brown the beef. Add taco seasoning, corn, beans, beef, canned tomato, beef or chicken broth, and canned green chili if you have it.
Simmer for just 10 minutes to bring the flavours together, then it’s ready to ladle into bowls.
Toppings for taco soup
Taco Soup is all about the toppings. You cannot skip the toppings.
Let me repeat – you cannot skip the toppings!!! You may omit one of the toppings. Leaving out two is really pushing my boundaries…. ?
But let me explain – I’m not being difficult, it’s what this recipe is! The soup itself is lovely, don’t get me wrong. It’s seasoned enough that you’d want to eat it plain.
But in all honesty, once you add the toppings…. woah. That’s when this Taco Soup goes from yum to Can’t-Stop-Eating-It-Delicious. THAT is when you will say “OMG! Where has this been all my life!”
A pinch of grated cheese plus sour cream or yoghurt is my absolute bottom line, preferably with some fresh coriander/cilantro leaves. This is the way I serve it most of the time.
But when I want to go all out, I add a handful of corn chips for dunking/scooping along with a few crushed to sprinkle over the surface really takes it to the next level. When you do this, it totally makes it irresistible. Think – the flavour of crispy taco shells in soup form. Nachos – in soup form.
Crazy irresistible!! – Nagi x
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WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Easy Taco Soup recipe video!
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Easy Taco Soup
Ingredients
Homemade Taco Seasoning (Note 1)
- 1 tsp EACH garlic powder, onion powder and cayenne pepper
- 2 tsp EACH dried oregano and paprika
- 2 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Soup
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 onion , finely chopped (brown or yellow)
- 500 g / 1 lb ground beef (mince), lean
- 400 g/ 14 oz can black beans (1 can) , drained and rinsed (Note 2)
- 400g / 14oz can corn kernels (1 can) , drained and rinsed
- 120 g / 4.5 oz canned green chili (Note 3)
- 800 g / 28 oz canned crushed tomato
- 2 cups beef broth
Toppings (Don’t skip these!)
- Shredded cheese (essential!)
- Sour cream or yoghurt (essential!)
- Fresh coriander/cilantro leaves or shallots/scallions , finely sliced
- Corn chips
- Other options: diced avocado, squeeze of lime juice
Instructions
- Heat oil in a pot over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook until softened (3 min).
- Add beef and turn up the heat to high. Cook, breaking it up as you go, until it all changes from pink to brown.
- Add remaining Soup ingredients and Taco Seasoning. Bring to a simmer then turn heat down to medium.
- Simmer for 10 minutes to bring the flavours together. Adjust thickness with water if desired.
- This is how I like to serve it: place a handful of corn chips in the bowl. Ladle in soup. Top with sour cream, cheese, coriander and a few crushed corn chips. For a healthier option, skip the corn chips in the bowl and/or serve more on the top / side of the soup.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
This Taco Soup recipe was originally published in February 2017, updated September 2018 for housekeeping matters. No change to recipe – readers love it as is!
LIFE OF DOZER
When I travel, I send Dozer off on his own holiday to a Golden Retriever boarder. He stays in her house, knows his place in the pecking order (he is way down the bottom), and has an absolute blast. Despite hopeful questioning, I am told there is never any signs of pining for me (see below for evidence).
Made this tonight and it is excellent! Wanted more veggies so I added some shredded carrots and zucchini. Maybe next time some cauliflower ‘rice’. So good! I doubled it for these cold Michigan nights! Thank you again for another winner!
Love hearing that! So glad you enjoyed this Patricia! N xx
Yum! Yum! Yum! Cold and wet weather and this taco soup just hit the spot. Took out the paprika so my 9-year old can eat it. I chopped up jalapeños and sprinkled that on top for some heat. We’ll make this again!
Thank you so much for sharing your feedback Ev, I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed this! N x ❤️
Try it with white hominy instead of corn! Yum!
OOOH!!!!
Hi! I made this twice, very yummy. But it’s just be eating it so i freeze it flat in a bag . How low do u think i can keep it in the freezer??
Gosh Thao! I think around 3 months easily! N xx
I made a double batch of this for the family tonight (we have 7 children) and this went over well! My pickiest eater cleaned her bowl! Only thing I did differently was refried beans instead of black beans, it made the soup thick and hearty and the kids didn’t know the beans were in there! 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
Ohhhh…..you just gave me the BEST idea! Using refried beans as a soup thickener, that’s brilliant! PS 7? Seven??? SEVEN???
Taco soup was so delicious , i would try today thanks for sharing simple and easy recipe.
I hope you do Jessica, it really is SO DELISH!
YARM…. its my favourite!!! Thanks for reminding me, I forgot about this delicious feed. 🙂
OMG this soup is seriously SO GOOD I make it in summer!
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but plan on making it this week. Sounds sooooo yummy. I have one question (and the answer is probably somewhere right in front of me), but how much taco seasoning do you add? I know it’s one packet if I use the store-bought kind, but I was planning on making your version, and don’t see how much to put in the soup. Love Dozer. We’ve always had Giant Schnauzers, and they’re the love of my life. I don’t know what people do who don’t have a (big) dog to hug…and ours hugs back:)<3!
Hi Julia! Use all the homemade seasoning mix 🙂 Oooh Schnauzers! I love them sooo much, their beards! ?
Another fabulous, delicious recipe!
We had unexpected guests coming for dinner the same day this recipe arrived in my inbox. Liked the sounds of “easy” so I threw this together in half an hour. I thought a tsp of cayenne pepper might make it too hot for me, but it was great. We all LOVED it!
RecipeTin Eats has become my “go to” recipe source. Thank you so much!
You keep hitting out of the park like this and you will be the next home run queen 🙂
I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed this Darlene!! Thank you so much for letting me know! N xx
Hi Nagi, I made this soup tonight and it was outstanding! It was so easy and so delicious! Your suggested toppings were so good, it really pushed this recipe over the top. Thanks yet again for another fantastic recipe.
I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed this Alana, thank you for letting me know! N x
Hi Nagi from Oz..
Wow you!! I love all your recipes..I really do!
This taco soup was outstanding it really was,but I did find it a wee bit on the thick side so I added 2 more stock cubes and 400ml boiling water…And hey… Fantastic!!
Japan looks amazing!! Lucky girl x
Take care Nagi
Phil from Scotland x
Nagi – this recipe looks DELICIOUS!!
Cant wait to try. Have scrolled thru the comments and couldn’t see that anyone had asked this already… but would this be as good in the slow cooker? How long would u do it for?
Hi Narelle! It would be great in the slow cooker, the meat would get SO tender and the extra flavour from slow cooking would be amazing! You could do anything from 2 hours up to 6 hours 🙂 Even 8 hours would be fine, but you probably won’t get anything better past 6 hours if you know what I mean? 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi, would you brown the mince first?
Wow wow! Thanks so much for letting me know Phil! I’m glad you were able to easily adjust the thickness to your taste, I’ll add a note in the recipe too. The amount of liquid that evaporates while simmering depends on how heavy the lid is and mine is pretty heavy! So glad you enjoyed it Phil, have a great weekend!
Another delicious recipe! I added a dried crusty ancho chilli i found in the back of the pantry, left over from a chilli festival a few years ago, scrumptious!!
WOO HOO! I’m so glad you enjoyed this Mel, thank you! PS Whoa – wait – you’re in Oz?? And you made this SOUP? Did you crank up the air con especially??? ?
Ha ha Nagi, I’m in Perth where we’ve had the coldest wettest Feb on record- needed a hearty winter warmer to keep the chills away- the east coast has stolen our summer!!! ??
Whaaat? You are in Japan? I am jealous 🙂 :)! Japan has been on my wish list for ages… Hopefully one day :). Didn’t know it’s a great place for skiing but making a note of it :). Have a lovely time.
Move it up your travel list! I promise you won’t regret it! From the moment you step out of the plane, you’ll be hit with the Japanese culture!
I was just thinking about the leftover ground beef from Taco Tuesday in our house, when my hubby insisted on cooking 2 lbs of beef?. And I thought, hey, bet I could make taco soup with it! Your recipe was the push I needed!
Your dear hubby….thinking ahead! See? It’s a sign!!!
This one is interesting, will Wait for autunm. Are YOU enjoying SNOW AND COLD SWEET COLD WEATHER. AH, LIFE OF DOZER,! Lucky ducky!
It is GORGEOUS here Vera! I will add some photos to my post tomorrow!!!
Nagi — This was so quick and easy to make — my ground beef was frozen, but no worry, I put it in a covered Dutch oven on low heat on my lunch break and it thawed presto — and then zoom, this soup was done. (minus green chilies, none on hand), but it was still really good. Chips are good, but an alternative suggestion is over rice. Thanks (again) for a quick and delicious idea.
Awesome!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed this Martin! (And yes, rice is definitely a much healthier alternative…. ?) N x
Dozer will be ecstatic to see you upon your return. For the now, he is living in, and enjoying the moment to its utmost potential. This, in my opinion, is an important lesson we can learn from our furry babies.
PS can’t wait to try the soup! I make something similar with a base of canned refried beans which you could add if you wanted a heartier version.
The thing is – Dozer’s entire LIFE is a holiday. ? PS Oooh yes! Refried beans, what a great option, thanks so much for the idea!
if you went to a dog party the golden would be the one wearing the lampshade on its head 😉
OMG so true so true (and I probably put it on him!)
Having owned Irish setters I thought there could be no dog with more inherent goofiness built in. I was wrong. The setters, while definitely goofy, somehow manage to look more dignified than goldens.
So at the dog party, I’m certain the Irish setter would be the dog who suggests wearing the lampshade, and the golden that thinks it’s a grand idea and does it. The labs would clean up before the humans got home.
Most taco soup recipes are too thin and make me shrug. Yours just got added to my meal plan for later this month. I promise to use the toppings!
BA HA HA!!! That is TOO FUNNY, and so so true! Dozer is a total follower. He is absolutely at the bottom of the pecking order, behind all the female retrievers in his “family” 🙂 If they suggested he wear a lampshade, he would do it!
You are so right about the toppings, and I totally agree with your choices. However, in California there are two things we add that I guarantee make a world of difference: fresh avocado and, perhaps most importantly, a squeeze of fresh lime. It adds a certain something to anything Mexican that just “makes the dish”. I use it on just about anything Mexican, but especially soups and chiles. BTW, how sad that you can’t get canned green chiles in Australia! I can’t imagine cooking Mexican food without them!
As for that darling Dozer…what a doll that boy is and his pals as well. And what a lucky find for his boarding! That’s always the tough part about going away, but he does look like he’s handling it pretty well… Happy vacationing to both of you!
Ah yes you’re right, avocado is another great topping! I will add it to the notes 🙂 Honestly, I am pretty sure Dozer wishes I would travel more often so he can go on his own holidays!!! N x
Love this idea, Nagi! I’ve been making lots of soups for lunch and Mr. Fussy is getting tired of red lentil, my go-to, lose a few pounds option. Enjoy your ski trip. Love the Dozer updates; I’m sure he misses you but wonderful that you have a great place for him to stay.
PS–What did Bobby Flay do to make this complicated?
Deep fried tortilla strips, pureed chipotles in adobo, soaking another type of chilli – you know, lots of extra steps!!!!
Well, since the toppings didn’t include avocado (which my husband doesn’t care for) or celery (which I hate), I can follow your orders about toppings for this soup. It sounds very good. I might give the recipe to my husband to try when he’s cooking (except I can’t see him mincing garlic – he doesn’t have the knife skills needed for that).
Too funny!!! Oh tell him to use a crusher like I do! Can’t live without it!! 🙂