Slow Cooker Taco Soup combines ground beef, taco seasoning, ranch seasoning, salsa, pinto beans, olives, and fire-roasted corn – slowly cooked into Tex-Mex flavored perfection. This is a classic recipe with some upgrades you will enjoy.
This is our favorite soup for feeding the entire family for weeknight dinners, game days, or potlucks! We also make Minestrone Soup and Tomato Soup in our crockpot.
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.
Recipe Ingredients
- 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: grab what you have on hand in the refrigerator or pick up a container of refrigerated Rojas restaurant-style salsa (our favorite) from the local grocery store. There is so much flavor (and less vinegar taste) in refrigerated-style salsa. If your family does not like chunky tomatoes or onions, you can use a canned tomato sauce instead.
- 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!
- Water: helps with mixing ingredients and providing a soupy base. If you leave out the water, you will end up more with a taco casserole.
Step-by-Step Directions
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 (except water). 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.
How to serve
- As-is: Because this taco soup is packed with flavors and fillers, it can be served as is in a bowl.
- Add toppings: If you want to spruce up your soup, consider adding classic toppings such as tortilla strips, shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream, pico de gallo, fresh-squeezed lime juice, chopped green onions, and fresh cilantro.
- On a bed of rice: Make this even more of a filling meal by adding a few scoops on top of a bed of white rice. You can also serve it alongside Mexican rice.
Variations
- Switch up the meat: 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.
- Add vegetables: In addition to the corn, you can add diced tomatoes, green chiles, onions, and jalapenos.
- Exchange the beans: If you don’t like pinto beans, change them for black beans or kidney beans.
- With sides: You can’t go wrong with serving a fresh bowl of guacamole and tortilla chips on the side.
Recipe FAQs
Since you’ll be adding salsa, taco seasoning, and ranch seasoning, those help flavor the meat. And truthfully, you won’t be able to taste anything over those packets. However, if you want to season your meat, add a dash of salt, pepper, and garlic powder while browning your meat.
Pour the remaining soup into an airtight container (or bag) and place it in your freezer. It will keep for 3+ months (don’t forget to add the cook date).
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.
Use a very lean ground beef, 4% fat if you can find it. The toppings actually contain more calories than the soup; skip the high-fat toppings such as cheese, chips, and sour cream and opt for crunchy onions instead.
Yes, this recipe does very well in an electric pressure cooker. If I make taco soup in the instant pot, I use this Instant Pot Taco Soup Recipe from iFoodreal.
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Slow Cooker Taco Soup Recipe
Equipment Needed:
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. lean ground beef
- 30 oz. pinto beans (two 15-oz. cans) drained and rinsed
- 14 oz. salsa I use a refrigerated salsa such as Baja Fresh Refrigerated Style Salsa (any size salsa works, 14-16 oz.)
- 15 oz. can fire roasted corn drained (or regular corn) Can use 2 cups frozen corn.
- 1 oz. Ranch dressing seasoning mix
- 1.25 oz. mild taco seasoning
- 6 oz. can whole black olives drained (or a 3.8 oz. can sliced olives)
- 3 cups water
Instructions:
- Cook and crumble the ground beef on a skillet on the stove top. Drain the grease if any, add the ground beef to the slow cooker.
- Add the pinto beans, salsa, corn, olives, ranch seasoning mix, taco seasoning and water to the slow cooker with the beef. Stir.
- Cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours or LOW for 6-8 hours.
- Serve with desired topping and enjoy!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
I switch beef for chicken (I pulled the chicken with forks once it was cooked). It was delicious. However, I followed the recipe for the quantity of salsa, taco spices and ranch seasoning and it was way too spicy (for me). So next time, I will reduce by half.
This looks delicious, but a bit thin for my tastes… what would you recommend for thickening it up? (Or can I just cut how much water is added?)