Slow Cooker Taco Soup

Apr 21, 2022Updated Jul 14, 2025

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Slow Cooker Taco Soup blends ground beef, taco seasoning, ranch seasoning, salsa, pinto beans, black olives, and fire-roasted corn, simmering into a rich and flavorful Tex-Mex classic with a deliciously upgraded twist!

This is our favorite soup for feeding the entire family for weeknight dinners, game days, or potlucks! We also make Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup and Slow Cooker Tomato Soup often!

Taco soup in slow cooker with whole black olives

Taco soup is a classic recipe, but you must try this one! The mixture of the ranch seasoning with the taco seasoning can’t be beaten! It’s a meal that is a crowd pleaser and great topped with cheese and sour cream. Another spicy soup we love to make is Nacho Soup, or Slow Cooker Creamy Taco Soup.

The Ingredients

Canned goods and fresh ingredients come together for this perfect soup. Find the full recipe in the recipe card below the images.

Ground Beef: any type will do; however, it’s best to use ground sirloin or ground round beef if you want less fat content.
Seasonings: mild taco seasoning and ranch seasoning combine to create a classic Tex-Mex flavor customary to most taco-based meals.
Salsa: We like to use refrigerated style salsa from the store. The jarred variety tastes too vinegary.
Fire Roasted Canned Corn: adds a fire-roasted flavor to the soup and makes it unique from other recipes. If you have frozen corn on hand, you can use 2 cups.
Beans: a must-have in taco soup, and it adds an additional filler and flavor. We use canned pinto beans in this taco soup recipe.
Black Olives: can be left whole (as pictured) or sliced. We LOVE the black olives in our taco soup. We accidentally bought whole olives once and haven’t looked back. SO GOOD!

Variations

In addition to the corn, you can add diced tomatoes, green chiles, onions, and jalapenos.
The meat can easily be changed out for ground chicken or ground turkey. The overall flavors of the soup will not be affected much, if at all.
If you don’t like pinto beans, change them for black beans or kidney beans.
To get a spicier soup, choose hot taco seasoning mix, add a can of hot green chiles, and/or add some hot sauce like Cholula.

How to Make Slow Cooker Taco Soup

You can make this in four easy steps with my guide.

All the ingredinets for taco soup in a crockpot.

Step One – Brown and crumble the ground beef in a skillet on the stovetop over medium heat. Drain any excess grease before adding it to the crockpot.

Step Two – Add all ingredients into the slow cooker. Be sure to drain the corn, beans, and olives before adding.

Step Three – Pour water into the slow cooker.

Step Four – Stir everything until well combined and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or HIGH for 3-4 hours.

ladle of taco soup coming from slow cooker

My Serving Suggestions

Toppings: Add classic toppings such as tortilla strips, shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream, pico de gallo, sliced green onions, and fresh cilantro. Crunchy topping options are fritos, tortilla chips or saltine crackers.

Rice: To make this serve more people, ladle over white rice.

Other Sides: Serve with slow cooker cornbread or charred flour tortillas.