This Taco Soup is one of my family’s FAVORITE meals! I love this recipe because it’s super easy–make it on the stovetop or toss everything into your crockpot and let it simmer all day. Plus, it uses up a whole bunch of refrigerator and pantry staples: canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, corn, taco seasoning (you can even make your own in bulk!), and kidney beans. Oh, and a fresh onion and some fresh garlic. It’s cheap, packed with protein, and feeds a smally army. In fact, my oldest son, who has always been a die-hard chili fan (this Easy Weeknight Chili and Sara’s Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili are two of his favorite meals) declared this his favorite. So. That’s saying a lot.
My favorite topping is a big spoonful or two of Pico de Gallo. It adds a lot of fresh flavor with almost no extra calories. I also love adding some sour cream, shredded cheese, and some crushed tortilla chips (or, if you’re feeling fancy, you could fry your own tortilla strips.
Ingredients Needed
- Lean ground beef
- Diced onion
- Fresh garlic
- Taco seasoning packet – Or make your own Taco Seasoning and use about 1/4 cup.
- Diced canned tomatoes
- Tomato sauce
- Canned kidney beans
- Canned or frozen corn
- Desired toppings
- Pico de gallo
- Sour cream
- Shredded cheese
- Crushed tortilla chips
- Tortilla strips
- Guacamole
How to Make Taco Soup
Stovetop
- Heat 1-2 teaspoons olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. When hot, brown the ground beef with the onion and garlic. When almost brown, add the taco seasoning and 1 cup water. Add the remaining ingredients, including the remaining 2 cups water, bring to a medium boil, then, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for at least 15 minutes. Serve with desired toppings.
Slow Cooker
- Heat 1-2 teaspoons olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. When hot, brown the ground beef with the onion and garlic. When almost brown, add the taco seasoning and 1 cup water. Transfer to slow cooker, add remaining ingredients and cook on low for about 6-8 hours.
Storing and Other Tips
- Store cooled soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator and consume within 3-4 days for best results.
- Freezer Instructions: Because of all the canned goods, you’ll just take up a lot of space in your freezer if you freeze the whole recipe. However, after it’s been cooked, the leftovers freeze extremely well. You can even try freezing individual portions in 12-oz. freezer-safe containers and then reheating them for a quick lunch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ground turkey would work well, just avoid the extra lean variety, as it tends to be dry and lacks flavor. You could also use rotisserie chicken.
If you follow the slow cooker instructions you can toss everything together in the morning and come home to dinner already made! Leftovers also taste great from the fridge or freezer, so feel free to make it one day and enjoy it later.
Taco Soup
Equipment
- 1 Slow Cooker optional, you can also cook this just fine on the stovetop
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean or extra-lean ground beef
- 1 onion chopped
- 4-5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 1.25- ounce packet taco seasoning or make your own and use about 1/4 cup
- 3 cups water divided
- 2 28- ounce cans diced tomatoes
- 1 15- ounce can tomato sauce
- 2 15- ounce cans kidney beans rinsed and drained
- 1 can corn, drained or 1 cup frozen corn
Toppings
- Pico de Gallo, sour cream, shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips, tortilla strips, guacamole
Instructions
Stovetop
- Heat 1-2 teaspoons olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. When hot, brown the ground beef with the onion and garlic. When almost brown, add the taco seasoning and 1 cup water. Add the remaining ingredients, including the remaining 2 cups water, bring to a medium boil, then, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for at least 15 minutes. Serve with desired toppings.
Slow Cooker
- Heat 1-2 teaspoons olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. When hot, brown the ground beef with the onion and garlic. When almost brown, add the taco seasoning and 1 cup water. Place remaining ingredients into a slow cooker and cook on low for about 6-8 hours.
- See notes for Freezer Instructions.
Notes
- Store cooled soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator and consume within 3-4 days for best results.Â
- Freezer Instructions: Because of all the canned goods, you’ll just take up a lot of space in your freezer if you freeze the whole recipe. However, after it’s been cooked, the leftovers freeze extremely well. You can even try freezing individual portions in 12-oz. freezer-safe containers and then reheating them for a quick lunch.
- Nutritional information was calculated without the use of any toppings.
Questions & Reviews
Hi just wondering if you know how many carbs there are in this recipe?
Thanks for the info Kate. Very helpful!
Thank you so much! I was just trying to figure out what was for dinner when the daily email came across my desk. This is what we are having tonight! I am like a previous poster and also have a weird texture thing when it comes to chunks of cooked tomatoes so I will be using crushed tomatoes. Glad you think it will work. These are all ingredients I have on hand. Yipee!
This looks so good! I love tacos and soup so I'm sure it tastes great. I just wish I had seen it before I hit the grocery store. It will definitely be on my list next week though. And thanks for the info on the new WW system. My husband did it about 5 years ago and just said he wants to do it again. I had no idea the point system had changed.
Funny that you would post this today. Every Wednesday in my office, we have 'soup day'. 2 people make soup and everyone else pays $5 for unlimited (while supplies last LOL). Today was my turn to make. I had decided almost a month ago that I was going to make Taco Soup. Wasn't sure how it would go over but made a large crock pot of it any way. Within 30 minutes, the taco soup was gone.. The only thing I did different from your recipe was using a can of black beans in addition to the kidney beans. YUMMMMMM
I love Taco soup! Yours looks amazingly delish!!
Yay! I'm so glad you posted this! I just rejoined WW a week ago and kept thinking I needed to find a good taco soup recipe to make. This looks perfect!
I'm going to try and get everyone's questions! If I missed you, please let me know! 🙂
Banana Pancakes: On the old system, I got around 20-22 points, but with their new system, I get 29. Foods that are high in refined carbs are now higher in points, but nearly all fruits and veggies are free. I've honestly not felt hungry or deprived the whole time!
Denises aka wererich: I'll definitely try and include carbs with the nutritional info, especially since I need it to calculate the points. I just forgot this time! 🙂
Jenn–Yep, you can use light kidney beans. Or black beans–they're also super tasty!
MollyE–They just revamped EVERYTHING. You get more points than you used to, but a lot of the values have changed. Like…my Subway sandwich when I did it before was 4, but now it's 7. However, most fruits and veggies are 0 points (whereas bananas used to be 2). When you calculate points, it's no longer calories, fat, and fiber; instead, you calculate them using fat, fiber, protein, and carbs. Really, it's just guiding you toward eating healthy, high-quality complex carbs, lean proteins, and lots of fruits and veggies.
What is the deal with new weight watchers points? How is it different? I am still using the old books I have had for 3 years.
I make this soup all the time!!. My kids love it. But my recipe calls for black beans instead of the kidney which are 1 point lower per 1/2 cup then the kidney beans. and I use frozen corn (my kids won't eat canned veges)
This is also really good with diced avocado and a squeeze of lime. Yum!!! Thanks for all the posts this is by far my favorite food blog spot and I can't wait to see what the new points would be for your creamy tomato soup!