In the middle of winter with no signs of warm weather in sight, we put soup recipes into rotation at our house! And trust me when I tell you that nothing will warm you up faster than a comfort food like this vegetarian taco soup. With only one pot needed to make this soup, it's an easy-to-make dinner!
As written, the recipe is a healthy, high protein vegan meal, but I've included instructions for adding ground beef for the meat eaters in your family, so you can serve it either way. (We serve it both ways in our home!)
One Pot Taco Soup
Soup Ingredients
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz. can light red kidney beans, undrained
1 15 oz. can dark red kidney beans, undrained
1 15 oz. can canneloni beans, undrained
1 15 oz. can chili beans, undrained,
1 15 oz. can black beans, undrained
1 15 oz. can pinto beans, undrained
1 15 oz. can corn, undrained
1 15 oz. can Rotel, undrained
2 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 28 oz. can tomato puree
4 cups water
1 1/2 1 oz. packets Taco Seasoning Mix, or 4 1/2 Tbsp. homemade taco seasoning mix
1 oz. packet Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning, or 3 Tbsp. homemade ranch dressing mix
1 1/2 pound ground beef (optional)
Garnishes
green onions, chopped
fresh cilantro, chopped
jalapenos, sliced for serving
avocados, peeled and chopped
limes, sliced for serving
sour cream
hot sauce
shredded cheese
- Heat olive oil in a large 8-quart pot over medium heat. Saute onion until soft and translucent.
- Add the minced garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add tomatoes and spices, stirring to combine.
- Add remaining soup ingredients, and stir to combine.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer covered for 30 minutes.
- Serve topped with garnishes of your choice.
Notes:
If adding ground beef, brown it along with onions in step 1. Drain grease before proceeding with the rest of the recipe as written.
You'll notice that the beans in this recipe are not drained and rinsed, as in many recipes. This ensures that all of the vitamins and minerals in the beans are still there when you add them to the recipe. It also helps to thicken the soup. If you're worried about adding extra sodium to the recipe, make sure to use no salt added or reduced sodium beans.
This recipe makes a big pot of soup to feed a large group of people. Because our family has two vegetarians and two meat eaters, we typically follow all of the directions through step 4, combining all of the ingredients except the meat into an 8-quart pot. Then, we cook the ground beef in a separate 8-quart pot and split half of the combined soup ingredients from the first pot into the pot with the ground beef. This makes two 4-quart soups out of the recipe (one vegetarian soup and one meat-based soup).
Does Taco Soup Freeze Well?
Yes! You can either freeze taco soup before cooking, or you can cook it first and then freeze to reheat later. (This works well with leftovers.) Either way, the flavors in the soup will remain the same. Taco soup can be stored in the freezer for 4-6 months.
Serve Taco Soup With
- tortilla chips
- Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread
- Old-Fashioned Cornbread
- Cheesy Cowboy Cornbread
- Cornbread Muffins
