Taco Soup

This dish is one that my family has made for years and years. It instantly makes me think of home. It’s like if chili and tortilla soup had a baby. I’ve tweaked it a bit to use both ground beef and ground turkey, but you could use one or the other depending on your tastes. I also use low sodium beans and make sure to rinse them so the soup isn’t overly salty or gummy. I loved this soup when I was a kid, but love it even more now because aside from browning some meat, the rest is just dumping cans. Something you can easily do one handed while you have a baby in your other arm (speaking from experience). I usually make this in my slow cooker, but you could easily make it in a dutch oven and have it simmer slowly on the stove for a couple hours. It gets better the next day in my opinion, leftovers worth eating for sure!

A note on slow cookers, if you don’t have one, get one! (And don’t get me started on the Instant Pot - not a fan. I can write about why another time) This is my favorite slow cooker and worth the investment (a must have on wedding registries!) because you can remove the insert and use it on the stove to saute meat or veggies. This is great not only because you have one less dish to clean, but you also won’t lose all of the flavor you get on the bottom of the pan while browning the meat. CAUTION: Do NOT try to do this unless your slow cooker has a cast-iron or cast-aluminum insert. If you try it with a regular one it will crack in half (again, speaking from experience). Really though, slow cookers changed my life when I was a working gal and help me out so much now that my two kids demand to be fed at 5:30, but don’t want me to ever leave them to go prepare dinner.

Now on to the Taco Soup recipe. Make sure to provide plenty of toppings for your diners. That’s the best part and I think helps kids eat it if they can doctor it up on their own. (I have one champion eater baby who devoured this and one extremely picky 4 year old who mixed in at least half a cup of cheese and then didn’t touch it). For toppings I like any or all of jalapenos, sour cream, hot sauce, cheese, pickled onions, radishes, cilantro, avocado, squeeze of lime, and you must have some crunchy chips (we used fritoes growing up, but I have been really liking this “healthier” version lately).

Taco Soup

Serves: 6-8 people Prep Time: 20 Minutes Total Time: 6-8 hours

Ingredients

• avocado oil spray (I like this brand)

• 1 lb lean ground beef

• 1 lb ground turkey (you could use 2 lbs of beef but I like to lean it up with turkey here)

• 1 onion, diced

• 1 (15 oz) can low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed

• 1 (15 oz) can low sodium pinto beans, drained and rinsed

• 1 (15 oz) can low sodium kidney beans, drained and rinsed

• 1 (15.25oz) can no salt added corn, drained

• 1 (14 oz) can stewed tomatoes

• 1 (14 oz) can fire roasted diced tomatoes

• 1 (14 oz) can Ro*tel

• 2 (4.5 oz) cans diced green chilies

• 1 packet taco seasoning (I like this organic brand)

• 1 packet ranch dressing mix (I like this organic brand)

• 2 cups low sodium beef stock

Toppings (any or all of these)

• shredded cheese

• sour cream

• cilantro

• radishes

• avocado

• jalapenos (fresh or jarred)

• scallions or pickled onions

• limes for squeezing

• hot sauce

• corn chips (I like this brand)

Instructions

1. Heat a cast-aluminum slow cooker insert (or regular skillet or dutch oven if your slow cooker insert cannot go on the stove) over medium high heat with a spritz of avocado oil spray. Saute the onions, ground beef and ground turkey, breaking up the meat as it cooks. Cook 7ish minutes until meat is no longer pink and onions are translucent. Wipe away any fat with a paper towel (you shouldn’t have to drain in a colander if you used lean beef)

2. Place insert into slow cooker (or transfer meat to slow cooker) and add remaining ingredients. Stir to combine. Season with a salt and pepper (especially if you used low sodium beans).

3. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours. If cooking on stove top, cover and cook on a low simmer for 2-4 hours. Once the cooking time has ended, make sure to taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.

4. Serve with toppings!

P.S. This makes a TON. A great dish for a large group. Or, if you’re like us you make it on a Monday and eat it all week!