Taco Soup
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes | Serves: 8
Taco Soup brings the flavors of taco night to your table, but with less work. Sometimes combining the Tex-Mex ingredients into one pot beats making the whole spread for tacos. And this soup does not disappoint in the flavor department.
I season my Taco Soup with my homemade DIY Taco Seasoning made of several chili powders, smoked paprika, and Mexican oregano, amongst other spices. Feel free to sub out a packet of store-bought taco seasoning if you’d like. One (1-ounce) packet per pound of meat is ideal.
The cans of whole tomatoes can be substituted with diced tomatoes. I like the non-uniform look and texture of hand-crushed tomatoes. It’s just a personal preference here. Either way, don’t drain the liquid, but add it to your soup.
I strongly suggest you use a very flavorful beef stock. Some brands are watery. Generally, “You get what you pay for.” Beef stock, beef broth, or beef bone broth will be fine in this recipe, just be sure it tastes really, really good on its own. If you pour bland broth or water into your soup, you will have to compensate with more spices, etc. But, adding flavorful ingredients will produce a flavorful meal.
If you don’t care for the beans I have listed in the ingredients, feel free to sub them out for other varieties… red beans, cannellini beans (aka white kidney beans), butter beans, etc. Drain and rinse them before adding to your soup.
Use 2 pounds of ground beef if ground pork is not available or if you prefer all ground beef. Shredded chicken would be a yummy substitute for ground beef, too.
If you need to keep the soup warm for a few hours, whether for a party, or before dinner is served, you can pour the fully prepared soup into a slow cooker and heat on low or warm setting. I would not leave the soup on low for more than 3 hours so the meat is not cooked twice.
This recipe is adapted from Paula Deen’s Taco Soup from the Food Network.
If you enjoy “Tex-Mex” flavors, try my Chicken Enchilada Soup.
Taco Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) taco seasoning, DIY Taco Seasoning, or 2 1-ounce store-bought packets
- 2 28-ounce cans whole, peeled, plum tomatoes, undrained, (or 2 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes, undrained)
- 1 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15-ounce can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 7-ounce can diced green chiles, undrained
- 10 ounces frozen corn kernels, optional
- 2 - 4 cups beef broth, low-sodium
- kosher salt, to taste
- freshly-cracked black pepper, to taste
Toppings:
- Tortilla chips or Corn chips
- Sour cream
- Sliced green onions
- Shredded cheese, (cheddar, Monterey Jack, etc.)
- Pickled or fresh sliced jalapenos
- Sliced black olives
- Avocado, guacamole
- Cilantro, chopped
- Hot sauce
Instructions
- In an 8-quart pot or Dutch oven, brown the ground beef and pork over medium-high heat until no pink remains. Drain. Set aside.
- In the same pot, add the onion and cook until softened, stirring often. (There should be some grease left in the pot from the beef, but at this point, you can add a teaspoon or two of oil to the pan to cook the onions.) Add the garlic and taco seasoning and stir for one minute, allowing the spices to become very fragrant.
- Begin adding the tomatoes, crushing them by hand as you add them. Add any remaining liquid in the cans to the pot.
- Add the drained beef, beans, green chilies, and corn, if using. Stir well.
- Begin adding the beef stock, stirring and adding more stock until the desired consistency. Some people prefer a thick, hearty soup while others would like more broth.
- Taste for seasoning and adjust as desired. (The DIY Taco Seasoning does not contain salt, so most likely you will need to add more salt, depending also on the salt content of the stock, beans, etc.) Feel free to add more of the taco seasoning also.
- Bring the soup up to a gentle simmer. Simmer for approximately 15 to 20 minutes (or longer), stirring often, to allow the flavors to marry.
- Serve the soup with any desired toppings.
0 Comments