Now that the temperatures are cooling down our local McDonald’s has returned soup to its daily menu. (The McDonald’s here in Wisconsin takes soup off the menu during the summer months while the McDonald’s in my hometown in Hawaii keeps theirs on year-round—-go figure!) This in turn has me itching to make a batch of my favorite taco soup.
If you read my food blogs on a regular basis you know that I am by no means a gourmet chef. While I love spending time in the kitchen and experimenting with new recipes and unique kitchen gadgets, I mainly cook out of necessity. Which is why I tend to gravitate towards recipes that begin with the word: EASY. When I saw the following recipe on celebrity chef Paula Deen’s website I knew I had to try it. After all, I love tacos, I love soup, and the recipe included that all-important word—-EASY.
Guess what? It was a breeze to prepare (your hand gets a workout from opening all the canned ingredients, but that’s as much of a workout as you’ll get) and the end product was delicious. You can tinker with the garnishes; add more if you desire or leave out the ones you are not a fan of.
Bottom line: If you are looking for a quick and easy way to warm up on a chilly autumn day I highly recommend whipping up a pot of Easy Taco Soup.
EASY TACO SOUP
Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef
2 cups diced onions
2 (15 1/2-ounce) cans pinto beans
1 (15 1/2-ounce) can pink kidney beans
1 (15 1/4-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can tomatoes with chiles
2 (4 1/2-ounce) cans diced green chiles
1 (4.6-ounce) can black olives, drained and sliced, optional
1/2 cup green olives, sliced, optional
1 (1 1/4-ounce) package taco seasoning mix
1 (1-ounce) package ranch salad dressing mix
Corn chips, for serving
Sour cream, for garnish
Grated cheese, for garnish
Chopped green onions, for garnish
Jalapenos, for garnish
Directions:
Brown the ground beef and onions in a large skillet; drain the excess fat, then transfer the browned beef and onions to a large slow cooker or a stockpot.
To the slow cooker add the beans, corn, tomatoes, green chiles, black olives, green olives, taco seasoning, and ranch dressing mix, and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. If you are using a pot on the oven simmer over low heat for about 1 hour.
To serve, place a few corn chips in each bowl and ladle soup over them. Top with sour cream, cheese, green onions and jalapenos.
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