My kids would eat tacos five nights a week if I let them, but on a Tuesday I don’t have it in me to warm shells, chop eight toppings and then sweep half of it off the floor afterward. So this taco soup recipe is what happens instead. You brown some ground beef, dump in two cans of beans, Rotel and corn, add my homemade taco spice mix, and about 40 minutes later there’s a pot of something that tastes like taco night (minus the mess).
The basics, if you’re in a hurry:
| Quick facts | |
|---|---|
| Total time | 40 minutes (10 prep, 30 cook) |
| Servings | 8 bowls, about 1½ cups each |
| Difficulty | Easy, one pot |
| Key ingredients | Ground beef, black beans, pinto beans, Rotel, corn, taco seasoning |
| Make ahead | Yes, it’s better the next day and freezes well |
| Other methods | Crockpot and Instant Pot (chart below) |
I usually make a pot on Sunday afternoon, and then I’m not thinking about lunch again until about Wednesday, which honestly is the main reason this one stays in rotation.
Taco Soup Recipe Card
Taco Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp chili powder (American-style, mild)
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt plus more to taste
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper optional
- 1 tbsp olive oil (15 ml)
- 1 1/2 lb lean ground beef (680 g), 85% lean
- 1 medium yellow onion diced (about 1 cup / 150 g)
- 1 medium green bell pepper diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste (32 g)
- 3 cups low-sodium beef broth (720 ml)
- 2 (10 oz / 283 g) cans Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles undrained
- 1 (15 oz / 425 g) can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 oz / 425 g) can pinto beans drained and rinsed
- 1 1/2 cups frozen corn (210 g)
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice (15 ml)
- shredded cheddar, sour cream, avocado, green onions, cilantro, crushed tortilla chips, lime wedges
Method
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and onion and cook 7 to 8 minutes, breaking up the meat, until no pink remains (160°F / 71°C) and the onion is soft.
- Spoon off most of the fat, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the pot.
- Add the bell pepper and garlic and cook 2 minutes, until the pepper starts to soften.
- Stir in the tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, onion powder, salt and cayenne. Cook 60 seconds, stirring, until fragrant and the paste turns brick red.
- Pour in the beef broth and both cans of Rotel with their juice. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Add the black beans, pinto beans and corn. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer.
- Simmer with the lid slightly open for 20 minutes, until the broth thickens a little.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the lime juice. Taste, adjust the salt, and serve with your favorite toppings.
Nutrition
Notes
Private Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Why This Easy Taco Soup Works
The version I grew up with was the church-potluck kind where you open a seasoning packet, tear open every can in the pantry and boil the whole thing. And look, it’s fine. Trouble was, the broth came out thin and weirdly salty every single time, and the beef tasted, well, boiled. Gray and kind of sad.
The fix I stumbled on? Spices go into the hot fat first, a whole minute, before a drop of broth. Straight from the jar my chili powder smells kind of like dust. Sixty seconds in the pan and it’s deep and toasty, almost smoky. You’ll notice it the second it happens.
A spoonful of tomato paste goes in at that same moment. It sticks to the bottom a bit and darkens, and once the broth comes in and you scrape it all up, the soup tastes like it’s been going for hours (it hasn’t, it’s been 25 minutes).
Then there’s the lime. Just a tablespoon of juice, stirred in after the heat’s off. I skipped it once because I was out of limes and the whole pot tasted kind of muddy, so now I keep a bag of them in the fridge door just for this.
Ingredients for Taco Soup (and Smart Swaps)
Pretty much everything here comes out of a can or the spice drawer. Fresh stuff is just an onion, one bell pepper, a couple garlic cloves and the lime. Great for those nights you forgot to plan dinner (so, most nights at my place).
Quick tomato tangent. Folks say “Rotel” like they say Kleenex, but it’s a real brand, diced tomatoes plus green chiles, out of Texas in the 1940s (the Ro-Tel story is kind of fun if you like food trivia). The original can is pretty mild. Pour the juice in too, because that’s half the flavor.
If you’re missing something, this is what I’d swap and what you’ll notice:
| Ingredient | Swap | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Ground beef | Ground turkey or chicken | Lighter; add 1 tsp more oil and a pinch more salt |
| Rotel (2 cans) | 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes + 1 (4 oz) can green chiles | Same flavor, a bit milder |
| Pinto beans | Kidney beans or more black beans | Firmer bite, same cook time |
| Homemade taco spice | 1 packet (1 oz / 28 g) taco seasoning | Saltier; skip the added salt |
| Beef broth | Chicken broth | Lighter, slightly sweeter broth |
| Frozen corn | 1 (15 oz) can corn, drained | Softer kernels |
Homemade Taco Seasoning or a Packet?
Either one works, I’m not going to judge you for the packet. I mix my own, mainly ’cause packets are a salt bomb. Nothing fancy in mine: chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, onion powder, salt. If you’ve made our white chicken chili, it’ll smell familiar.
Do You Need Ranch Seasoning?
You don’t, though plenty of people swear by it. There’s an old church-cookbook version where a packet of dry ranch goes in right along with the taco seasoning, and it gives the broth this creamy, herby kind of tang. If you want to try it, leave out the salt in the recipe completely and taste once it’s done simmering, because ranch packets bring a lot of sodium on their own.
What Pot Should You Use?
Big heavy pot (5 or 6 quarts; my Dutch oven basically lives on the stove all winter), a wooden spoon, a can opener. Done. Going the crockpot route? A 6-quart one holds the whole batch with stirring room. A thermometer’s nice for the beef, but no thermometer, no problem, just wait for the last pink bit to vanish.
How to Make Taco Soup Step by Step
All the measurements are in the card up above, so this part is more about what you should be seeing and smelling as you go.
- Beef and onion first. Oil in, medium-high, then in go the beef and onion and you keep mashing at the meat with your spoon. Give it 7, maybe 8 minutes, until there’s no pink and the onion’s gone floppy. (Safe temp for ground beef is 160°F, or 71°C.)
- Get rid of most of the fat. Tilt the pot and spoon it out into a bowl, leaving roughly a tablespoon behind. If you skip this, you get those greasy orange puddles floating on top of every bowl.
- Add the bell pepper and garlic and give them about 2 minutes, just long enough for the pepper to soften around the edges.
- Stir in the tomato paste and all the spices and keep things moving for a minute. The paste will darken to a brick red and the kitchen will start smelling like a taco truck.
- Pour in the broth and both cans of Rotel, juice and all, then scrape the bottom of the pot so all those browned bits come loose into the liquid.
- Add the beans and corn, bring it up to a boil and then turn it down to a lazy simmer.
- Now just leave it 20 minutes, lid cracked. Go fold laundry or something. It thickens a bit while the beans soak up all that spice.
- Heat off. Lime in. Taste it, and if it’s a little flat, salt.
If you’ve never made soup from scratch before, this is a good one to start with, because you’d really have to try to mess it up (even a heavy hand with the cumin just makes it taste more like taco night).
Stovetop, Crockpot or Instant Pot?
I make it on the stove most of the time because it’s the fastest, start to finish. That said, it doesn’t care much what pot you use, so go with whatever fits your day:
| Method | Time | Texture | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stovetop | 40 minutes | Brightest flavor, beans hold shape | Weeknights |
| Crockpot | 6–8 h LOW or 3–4 h HIGH | Softer beans, very blended flavor | Busy days, game day |
| Instant Pot | About 35 minutes (8 min high pressure + 10 min natural release) | Tender, a little thicker | Last-minute dinners |
For crockpot taco soup, please still brown the beef and onion in a skillet first. I tried skipping that once to save a pan, and raw ground beef in a slow cooker ends up gray and clumpy, plus there’s no way to drain the fat. After that, everything except the lime goes into the crockpot for 6 to 8 hours on LOW, or 3 to 4 on HIGH if you got a late start. Lime goes in right before you serve it.
In the Instant Pot, do steps 1 through 4 on the Sauté setting. Pour in the broth and scrape the bottom really well (that’s what keeps the burn warning from popping up), then add the Rotel, beans and corn on top and leave them alone without stirring. Cook at high pressure for 8 minutes and let it release on its own for 10.
What’s New With Taco Soup This Fall
It’s not just my family that’s into taco soup right now. On Pinterest, searches for “taco soup” went up about 30% in one week and roughly doubled over the month, going by Pinterest Trends data through October 21, 2026. “Cold weather recipes” shot up something like 700% over that same month, so I guess everyone hit soup season early this year.
The soup aisle caught on too. On September 16, 2026, Old El Paso announced its first broths and two new canned soups, one of them a Cheesy Beef Taco Style Soup, along with a Birria Style Beef Broth. Confession, I grabbed a carton of the birria one last week and used it in place of beef broth. Smokier! Pretty great. It’s pre-seasoned though, so hold the salt till you taste.
Also, Thanksgiving’s Thursday, November 26 this year. Leftover turkey on Friday? Shred about 3 cups, skip the beef, toss it in with the beans. Way better than turkey sandwich number three, according to my husband.
Common Taco Soup Mistakes (and Easy Fixes)
When taco soup goes wrong it’s nearly always one of three things, too much salt, too much fat, or a broth that’s too thin. Here’s how I fix each one:
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Too salty | Packet seasoning + regular broth + canned beans | Add a can of no-salt beans or water and more lime |
| Greasy top | Fat not drained | Lay a paper towel on the surface for a second to lift it off |
| Thin, watery broth | Too much liquid or short simmer | Mash ½ cup beans against the pot and simmer 10 minutes uncovered |
| Tastes flat | No acid | Add lime juice and a pinch of salt at the end |
| Mushy beans | Too long in the crockpot on HIGH | Add beans in the last hour next time |
Taco Soup Variations to Try
After you’ve made the classic once or twice, it’s fun to play around. These are the versions that come up most at my house.
Chicken Taco Soup
Swap the beef for 1½ pounds boneless thighs, whole, right into the broth. Twenty-ish minutes and they’re at 165°F (74°C). Fish ’em out, two forks, shred, back in the pot.
Creamy Taco Soup
Last minute, flame on low, 4 ounces of cream cheese stirred in till it disappears. The broth turns rich and kind of queso-like, and my youngest calls this one “cheese soup.”
Vegetarian Taco Soup
My sister’s version: no meat, veggie broth, a third can of beans and one diced zucchini. Same spices. She swears nobody misses the beef and I mostly believe her.
Spicy Taco Soup
Grab the Hot Rotel instead of the original, cook a chopped jalapeño along with the onion, and add a quarter teaspoon of cayenne with the other spices.
Taco Soup Frios (Texas Church Version)
“Taco soup frios” is all over Pinterest right now. Think creamy Texas thing: shredded chicken, ranch packet, cream cheese, canned beans. From here, do the chicken version, throw 1 packet (1 oz / 28 g) dry ranch in with the spices, no salt, then melt 8 ounces cream cheese in at the end. It’s pretty rich, so smaller bowls are plenty.
Making Taco Soup for a Crowd
It doubles with zero fuss, which is why it shows up at basically every potluck and tailgate I go to. A double batch serves about 16, and you’ll want an 8-quart pot or a 7-quart slow cooker for it.
The one thing I’d hold back on is the spices. Use about one and a half times the amount instead of doubling, let it simmer, and then taste and add the rest if it needs it, because spices in a big pot tend to come on stronger than you’d expect.
At a party, I leave the soup on the WARM setting in the slow cooker so it stays hot (at least 140°F / 60°C) and put the toppings in a muffin tin, one per cup. It looks cute, it’s cheap, and there are way fewer little bowls to wash afterward.
Is Taco Soup Healthy?
For a comfort food, it’s a pretty balanced bowl. Per the card it’s roughly 345 calories a bowl, 23 g protein, 7 g fiber. The beans do a lot of the heavy lifting there.
Salt’s the catch. Cans, Rotel, broth, it adds up fast. Rinsed beans, low-sodium broth, no packet. Big difference. Lighter still? 93% lean turkey and more avocado, less cheese (yes, I hear you groaning).
Taco Soup Toppings and What to Serve With It
Honestly the toppings are half the reason people love this. I put out small bowls of shredded cheddar, sour cream, diced avocado, green onions, cilantro, pickled jalapeños, lime wedges and a big bag of crushed tortilla chips and let everyone build their own.
On the side, warm squares of Mexican sweet corn bread are my favorite match, since that little bit of sweetness takes the edge off the spice. Or a crunchy salad with lime on it, if bread feels like too much.
Feeding a lot of people? Make a second pot of our one-pot lasagna soup next to this one, add some bread and the toppings, and you’ve basically got a soup bar.
How to Store, Freeze and Reheat Taco Soup
Day-two taco soup is better. I’ll die on that hill. The spices settle overnight and the broth gets thick.
Fridge rule: cooled and put away within 2 hours, eaten within 3 to 4 days (that’s straight off the FoodSafety.gov storage chart). Freezer’s fine for 2 to 3 months. I freeze single portions in deli containers for work lunches.
Reheat over medium with a splash of broth, since the beans drink up liquid in the fridge. Heat it until it’s steaming all the way through, 165°F (74°C). And save the toppings for after reheating, never freeze them in.
Taco Soup FAQ
What is taco soup made of?
Classic taco soup is made of ground beef, onion, canned diced tomatoes with green chiles (Rotel), beans, corn, broth and taco seasoning. Some versions add a packet of ranch seasoning too. It’s a simple Tex-Mex soup that tastes like the filling of a taco.
Do you drain the beans for taco soup?
Yep, drain and rinse. That canned-bean liquid is starchy and salty and you don’t want it in there. Rotel’s the exception, juice and all.
Can I make taco soup without beans?
You can. Use an extra cup of corn, a diced zucchini and a second bell pepper instead. It’s lighter and less thick that way, so cut the broth down to 2½ cups.
How do you thicken taco soup?
Smash half a cup or so of beans on the side of the pot, lid off, 10 minutes. My sneaky move is 2 tablespoons masa harina whisked into a little water, which thickens it and makes it taste faintly of corn tortillas.
Is taco soup the same as chili?
Cousins, not twins. Chili’s thicker, cooks longer and is all about the chili powder. Taco soup is brothier, with corn, Rotel and a lighter taco spice, and you’re eating in 40 minutes.
How long does taco soup last in the fridge?
3 to 4 days, covered, if it went into the fridge within 2 hours of cooking. Past that, freeze it (good for 2 to 3 months).
Oh, and taste right after the lime. Every time. That’s when you find out it wanted one more pinch of salt.
So pick a night this week (game night, rainy Tuesday, whatever) and give it a try. If you do, I’d love a star rating on the recipe card and a comment telling me which toppings won at your table. Pin it to your soup board so you can find it again when it really gets cold out, and if you’re in the mood for another cozy pot after this one, the white chicken chili is my next pick.
