Best Taco Soup Recipe is More Like a Chili; Perfect Nutritious Meal for Your Family or a Crowd.

Best Taco soup is one of our family's all-time favorite meals.

This Taco Soup is more like a chili. It is rich and thick with lots of vegetables and smoky spices.

We love this Taco Soup on a chilly Winter's day, but it is also perfect for a summer lunch or dinner.

I have adjusted the ingredients and spices over the years to fit my family's tastes and preferences. Feel free to do the same! Add an ingredient or leave something out. If you want a thinner more soup-like consistency, just add chicken stock or water. Also, reduce or add more spices to fit your tastes. This is a very versatile and forgiving soup/chili!

The fixings are one of my favorite parts of the soup and really add to the meal. We usually include cheese, avocados, cherry tomatoes, yellow/red sweet peppers, sour cream or yogurt, multigrain tortilla chips, salsa, cilantro, etc. The possibilities are endless!

This Taco Soup is already nutritious, but the added fixings can add to the nutritional value of the meal. This is an easy way to get your kids to eat their veggies!

Best Taco Soup is a great meal for a crowd. I make a giant pot of Taco Soup/chili the day before. It gets better overnight! The next day I warm up the Taco Soup. I let everyone help themselves to the soup, and make individual bowls by adding the extras they prefer. This makes entertaining easy and fun for everyone and frees up the hostess to engage with the guests and enjoy the party.

First, gather your ingredients:

These are the basic ingredients not including 2.25 pounds of ground meat.

I usually use lean ground beef. However, you can use ground turkey, chicken, pork, etc.

I also usually include a chopped onion, grated garlic, a jalapeño pepper, spices, etc... and the ingredients for the fixin's. See below.

The ingredients:

This makes a really big pot of chili that will feed a crowd. Reduce by half to feed 4-6 people. I like to make the full recipe regardless because it tastes better the next day!

• 2.25 pounds of lean ground beef or ground chicken/turkey

• 1 medium onion chopped

• 1 jalapeño finely chopped (Optional)

• One green or red pepper chopped (optional)

• 4 grated cloves of garlic

• 28-30 ounces of tomato product such as San Marzano Peeled Tomatoes mashed up, or diced/chopped tomatoes, etc. Add one more 15 oz can if you want it saucier.

• One 15 oz can of Rotel or other diced tomatoes with green chilis

• One 4 oz can of Hatch Diced Green Chilies (Optional)

• One 15 oz can of Chili Beans. Do not rinse.

• One 15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed

• One 15 oz can of corn, drained and rinsed

• 1-2 tablespoons of Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce, blended (optional). Very hot and smoky. Use sparingly or leave out if you don't like spicy food. If you do like spicy/smokey food...this ingredient is the bomb! *See below for details regarding how to blend and freeze.

• 2 packets or 4 tablespoons of taco seasoning

• 1-2 packets of dry ranch dressing mix. You may substitute 1/4 cup or so of ranch dressing.

• 1 tablespoon of cumin

• 1 tablespoon of smoked paprika. This is not hot, just smokey. I love smoked paprika. In reality, I probably add 2 or more tablespoons! 😂

• Salt and pepper to taste. With all the ingredients, you may not need to add S & P.

Don't forget the Fixings!

• Shredded cheese

• Avocados

• Cherry tomatoes

• Yellow/red sweet peppers

• Sour cream or yogurt

• Multigrain tortilla chips

• Salsa

• Lime wedges

• Cilantro, etc. The possibilities are endless!

*You can tell from the ingredients above that I like a lot of spice in my Taco Soup/Chili. If you like a milder chili, use less of the spicy ingredients at first, then taste and adjust once the chili has simmered for 15-20 minutes. That is pretty much the way I cook anyway. I put in the basic ingredients, then taste and adjust the spices.

The Recipe:

1. Brown the beef/chicken in a large pot/pan sprayed with cooking spray over medium heat. Remove and set aside.

Brown beef

2. Sauté the chopped onion, green pepper, and jalapeño in one tablespoon of olive oil for several minutes until soft. Add the grated garlic, and cook for one more minute or until fragrant. Be careful not to burn the garlic.

Sauté onions and jalapeño peppers

In this pic, red peppers were added as well.

3. Add the meat back into the pot. Then add all the other ingredients.

Add all the ingredients

Simmer for at least 30 minutes.

_______________________________________________________________

* Note: If adding Chipotle Peppers in Adobe sauce

*Tip: Take a whole can of Chipotles in Adobo Sauce and blend in a blender, and then freeze it and put in a zip-lock bag-flattened. Then take it out of the freezer and break off a chunk when needed.

______________________________________________________________

4. Simmer for at least 30 minutes up to a couple of hours. Serve with your fixings of choice! Yum!! Enjoy!

Taco soup with fixings!