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Crockpot Taco Soup

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Crockpot Taco Soup simmers all day long for a comforting meal at the end of the day. Making it couldn’t be easier!

Close up of a white bowl filled with taco soup, garnished with sour cream, cheese, and tortilla strips

As we’re easing our way back into our normal day to day lives after the holiday break, I am all about quick and simple dinners – especially if they are Crockpot friendly.

This Crockpot Taco Soup comes together in snap, is loaded with delicious flavors and textures and the leftovers are absolutely perfect for a quick lunch for yourself or your kiddos!

Ingredients for crockpot taco soup arranged on a white tiled countertop

TACO SOUP INGREDIENTS

This taco soup recipe came to be when I was trying to figure out what to do with an excess of leftover taco meat. My friend Amber wondered, “How would that be in soup?”

Well, you guys know me. I’m not going to leave a question like that unanswered.

So I grabbed my trusty crockpot and grabbed some pantry staples and got to work.

Cooked taco meat in a skillet, being stirred with a wooden spoon

I wanted this Crockpot Taco Soup to be simple to make with ingredients you likely have on hand, so it uses:

  • Ground beef
  • Onions
  • Garlic
  • Homemade taco seasoning
  • Canned diced tomatoes with green chilies
  • Canned tomato sauce
  • Canned black beans
  • Canned corn
Ingredients for taco soup in the crock of a slow cooker

If you don’t want to use canned corn, you could always swap it for frozen corn or even fresh corn cut from the cob.

You could also swap the canned beans for home-cooked black beans.

You could even use ground turkey instead of ground beef if you want! That’s the beauty of recipes like this – they’re easy to customize with ingredients you have on hand.

Taco soup in a slow cooker, ready to be cooked

IS TACO SOUP SPICY?

Whether you love your food spicy or mild, this Crockpot Taco Soup is for you. Just like when you’re making Spicy Guacamole, you can make this soup as mild or as spicy as you like.

If you like your soup mild, use homemade taco seasoning and regular canned tomatoes with green chiles.

If you want your soup to be spicier, use a hot and spicy taco seasoning and tomatoes with hot green chiles. You can even add as much of your favorite hot sauce as you like; Cholula, Melinda’s, or Tapatío would be great here.

Overhead view of cooked taco soup in a crockpot, topped with cheese

HOW TO MAKE CROCKPOT TACO SOUP

Thanks to the trusty slow cooker, this soup is super quick to throw together. I let it simmer all day long and am happy to have dinner ready at the end of a long day.

Start by browning the ground beef, onions, and garlic together. Drain any excess oil or grease, then add the taco seasoning. Transfer this mixture to your slow cooker.

Ladle holding a spoonful of taco soup topped with shredded cheese, with the crock full of soup in the background

If you are using the slow cooker function on your Instant Pot or have a slow cooker with a saute function, you can do this all in your crockpot without having to dirty up a skillet!

Add the tomatoes with green chiles, tomato sauce, black beans, corn, and water to the pot. Give it a stir, then cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

When the soup is done, season with salt and pepper to taste and serve!

White bowl filled with taco soup and garnished with sour cream and cheese and tortilla strips

SERVING AND FREEZING TIPS

There are so many ways you can top your taco soup. We like to garnish ours with tortilla strips and sour cream, shredded cheese, and green onion. 

Sliced fresh or pickled jalapeños would be great as well, as would pickled or fresh onions. And don’t forget the hot sauce!

Close up of a spoonful of taco soup, with the bowl visible in the background

Whenever I make Crockpot Taco Soup, Tortilla Soup, or Easy Chicken Chili, I like to put out small bowls of a bunch of different toppings so everyone can dress up their soup exactly the way they like it.

This soup also freezes well. Just let it cool and store it in an airtight container in the freezer for up to three months. 

For quick lunches, store it in smaller containers that you can grab and toss into your lunchbox as you run out the door.

Overhead view of three bowls of taco soup, topped with sour cream, cheese, and tortilla strips
White bowl filled with taco soup and garnished with sour cream and cheese and tortilla strips

Crockpot Taco Soup

Yield: 10-12 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours
Total Time: 8 hours 20 minutes

Crockpot Taco Soup simmers all day long for a comforting meal at the end of the day. Making it couldn’t be easier!

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1.5 pounds ground beef
  • 1 cup diced onions
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 3 tablespoons homemade taco seasoning
  • 2 10-ounce cans of diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
  • 2 8-ounce cans tomato sauce
  • 2 15-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 14-ounce can corn
  • 2 cups water
  • salt and pepper to taste

For topping:

  • shredded cheese, optional
  • sour cream, optional
  • sliced green onion, optional
  • tortilla strips, optional

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in ground beef and cook until the beef starts to brown. Add in onions and garlic and cook until the beef is completely browned. Drain excess oil.
  2. Return the pan to medium heat and stir in homemade taco seasoning. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
  3. Transfer ground beef mixture to a slow cooker.
  4. Stir in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, black beans, corn and water.
  5. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 3 hours. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  6. Before serving, top with shredded cheese, sour cream, green onion and tortilla strips.

Notes

  • If you prefer to cook this taco soup on the stovetop, simply cook the beef mixture in a large Dutch oven, add in the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, black beans, corn and water. Cover and simmer on low heat for about 1 hour.
  • I included directions for making the taco meat at the same time as the soup, but please feel free to do what we did and use leftover taco meat. If you do that, start the soup with ingredients from the cans of diced tomatoes with green chiles forward.
Nutrition Information
Yield 10
Amount Per Serving Calories 369Total Fat 17gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 9gCholesterol 64mgSodium 1168mgCarbohydrates 29gFiber 8gSugar 5gProtein 27g

Did you make this recipe?

Tag me on social! I want to see what you made! @jamiemba

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Nina

Saturday 26th of November 2022

Very easy and delicious! I made the Taco meat per the Taco Seasoning packet and then added the other ingredients. Ended up adding a half cup of beef broth and another half cup water but only because I like a more broth-y soup. This will definitely go in the rotation. Thank you!

Jamie

Monday 5th of December 2022

So glad you liked the soup, Nina! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your feedback. -Jamie

Joan

Wednesday 26th of January 2022

Can use del Monte Mexican style tomatoes, if you can find them, and a jar of salsa

Jan

Friday 14th of January 2022

The soup sounds so good, but soups just have too much sodium for my...my limit is 1200mgs a day...so one bowl of soup and about 30mg of sodium for the rest of the day. It is not just your web site, most are so over what makes a day of sodium for me. But I keep looking at things I can exchange, you have 7 cans of various things which is where the sodium is...it does sound so good.

Paula

Monday 11th of September 2023

@Jamie, you can cook dry black beans, frozen corn, etc. to control the sodium. It’s easy to stewed tomatoes and freeze them so you can have them to use instead of the canned. I don’t usually add tomato sauce to my soups, but I do use tomato juice, and I think you can find that with reduced sodium. (I’ve been trying to watch my sodium levels for a while now, but it not easy unless you do most of the prep work yourself. No canned shortcuts for us.)

Jamie

Monday 17th of January 2022

Hi Jan- Maybe try using lower sodium ingredients to cut the sodium down a bit - that might help. -Jamie

karen

Saturday 25th of April 2020

Soup sounds wonderful--nut I have already seasoned uncooked  chopped Taco meat-was going to cook kidney or black beans and after their almost cooked I will add taco meat and everything else to slow cooker 4 a few hours.

Jamie

Saturday 16th of May 2020

Thanks so much for stopping by, Karen! I appreciate you taking the time to comment. Happy Baking! -Jamie

Loris

Friday 10th of January 2020

Used up leftover taco meat in this soup and it was a hit! Hubby asked if I would make sure to print out the recipe so we can have it again - definitely a keeper! Thanks for the yummy soup. Added cheese and sour cream to each bowl  for a warm and satisfying winter meal.

Jamie

Sunday 12th of January 2020

So happy to hear you enjoyed the soup, Loris! Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your feedback! -Jamie

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