Easy Taco Soup Recipe (One-Pot, 30-Minute Dinner!)

If you like tacos, here's a great idea for your next Taco Tuesday. It's make-ahead friendly because this only gets better with time. You guys are gonna love this taco soup and I'm hungry for taco soup so let's get started. Where's my hot pad? This really is the easiest soup recipe and it comes together in one pot. Set your dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat and add some oil. Now add your ground beef. I'm using one and a half pounds but you can use two Also add your onion at the same time and break it up with the spatula as you saute. It's going to cook for about six to seven minutes. You want that beef to brown. Browning equals flavor. If you see a lot of excess fat you can spoon it out but I like to leave it in for more flavor. Now add your minced garlic along with your tomato paste. Also taco seasoning, some ground cumin and paprika. Stir that for another minute or until the garlic is fragrant and the spices have bloomed. Sauteing the spices this way really brings out their flavor. Next add your stock. You can use beef stock or chicken. Also add your Rotel tomatoes with their juice. I'm using original Rotel but you can use spicy if you prefer. Finally add your drained beans and corn. Is this the same shirt you're wearing as in the book? It is the same shirt as in my cookbook. It's a famous shirt. I better never get rid of it. Stir everything together and bring it to a uniform boil. Then reduce the heat down to a simmer, partially cover and let that simmer for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile prep your toppings. It really is the easiest soup ever. Okay let's see what we've got here. My kitchen smells so good. Smells like tacos. Oh look at that, look at that. Just let it putter away. It develops all the flavor and it's like the perfect consistency. You can make it thinner if you like it a brothier soup but I think this is just perfect. And I cannot wait any longer. We're gonna serve this up. How I like to serve this is to make like a little taco bar with all the toppings and then just let everybody build their own bowl. I'm just gonna dig right in and look at all that beef. You can totally add even more beef if you want more protein. I'm not gonna stop you. Look at that steamy steamy hot. I love that this is a meal in itself. Do not skip the toppings. It just adds that little extra something something. I always think this soup is gonna last us a long time but then by the time my husband gets seconds, which he does with this soup, it's gone within like a day and a half. All right our soup is built. Now to add the toppings. Hot hot hot. Scooch that over. Now the magic happens. We're gonna start with some cheese. I like using shredded cheddar but you can use Mexican cheese, you can use cotija cheese, whatever kind of cheese that you enjoy. And I love that it like melts into the bowl. Irresistible. You get that little bit of cheese pull. I like to add a little bit of avocado. If you like a little extra spice, I do like to top it with a little bit of jalapeno. It's hard to tell which jalapeno is gonna be the hot one. Okay and then we're going to add some crushed tortilla chips. If you guys need a brilliant idea for using up the crumbs at the bottom of your chip bag, this is it. I'm always like what can I do with these and if you guys have ideas, more ideas for these, let me know because we eat a lot of chips. We eat a lot of guacamole so a lot of chips. Okay get a handful of chips, crush them up and just add it to the top. It's so good you guys. It adds that little bit of crunch, salty bite and then a little bit of Oh man I love me some cilantro. It's just like that nice little freshness. You can also add sour cream. If you love your taco soup to have a little bit of creaminess, you can even stir this in before you add the other toppings or just add a dollop on top. You do you baby and I'm gonna do me right now because I'm so hungry. Okay and look at this, look at this. I told you when you put the cheese on there, it kind of like melts on and then you get the gooeyness. Somebody pinch me. Is this real life? I feel like I need a bite of avocado on there just to cool things off in case things get too hot. Okay. Wow like seriously 10 out of 10. The seasoning is on point. I didn't have to add anything at the end because it's just right. If you guys do like it spicier, you can totally use the spicy version of the Rotel tomatoes. I usually stick with original or mild. If I want my kids to eat it, if it's just me and my husband, I do like it spicy or you can add some hot sauce. I love the little sweet bites of corn in it. The tomatoes make this so hearty and juicy. The amount of beef in here, it just like creates that rich flavored broth and then there's extra protein because I added beans which you can add more beans too. Just keep in mind if you're going to add stuff, it will get a little bit thicker and heartier so you can add more liquid until you have a double portion. You're not going to complain. I'm going to go enjoy the rest of this taco soup and I'm going to share with my husband because he's over there eyeing this. He loves, loves this taco soup and it keeps really well, reheats really well. Like I said, it only gets better with time. We're going to wrap it up. Let me know where you spotted Sharky in the video. If you guys have more recipe requests for me, I'd love to hear from you in the comments and we'll see you on the next episode of Natasha's Kitchen. You left one of the drawers in the back open. Oh dang it! When did I do that? When I was getting the hot pad. That's okay.