A blend of Tex-Mex seasonings, pantry staples and some cooked chicken make for a quick and hearty chicken soup. Shown here with my Honey Jalapeno cornbread.
Chicken Taco Soup
I absolutely love this soup, whether it's made with ground beef or chicken. It's got such great flavor and it's about the easiest soup there is to throw together.
You can start with raw chicken that you poach, a deli chicken or chicken that you previously put up in the freezer, which I tend to have the most. Thanks to on-sale whole chickens, an Instant Pot and a Food Saver, there is always some cooked chicken in my freezer. I chose to chop up my chicken this time, though shredded is also good for this.
Today I used chili beans including the juices, along with drained and rinsed white beans, black beans and pinto beans - primarily because that is what I happened to have in the pantry! That's the beauty of this taco soup. Just use whatever your favorite beans are that you typically have on hand.
I'm using a can of regular diced tomatoes as well as Rotel, because both are also pantry ingredients for me. If you have no tomatoes but salsa or picante sauce, use that. Some folks like to use cream corn instead of whole kernel corn and you can also use frozen corn. I've even seen recipes using mixed vegetables. Some people use plain water, some chicken broth. I prefer Kitchen Basics stock myself. Some people even like to add pasta, like a small shell or elbow macaroni pasta.
I'm also using a mix of "packets," for the sake of convenience and I like the flavor combination of the two in this soup. These packets are a pantry staple for me, but you can certainly make homemade substitutes for both.
Bottom line? If you don't like or have the selection of "cans" here, mix it up and make it your own!
Here's how to make my Chicken Taco Soup. As always, full recipe text with measurements and instructions, as well as a printable document, are a little bit further down the page. Just swipe or scroll past the step by step pictures below.
Drain and rinse the white beans and pinto beans and add to the pot with the chicken broth and the corn. Drain and rinse the black beans separately and add to the pot. Bring up to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour, stirring occasionally. May hold longer over low heat.
Serve with a garnish of shredded cheese, chopped tomato, diced avocado, broken tortilla chips, green onion and/or a dollop of sour cream, or whatever your own favorite toppings, if desired.
Chicken Taco Soup
Yield: About 6 Servings
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 45 Min
A blend of Tex-Mex seasonings, pantry staples and some cooked chicken make for a quick and hearty chicken soup. Shown here with my Honey Jalapeno cornbread.
Ingredients
- 1/2 tablespoon bacon drippings or cooking oil
- 2 cups chopped or shredded cooked chicken
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 envelope ranch dressing mix
- 1 envelope taco seasoning mix
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder, optional
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can of diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 (10.5 ounce) can of diced tomatoes with green chilies (like Rotel), undrained
- 1 (4 ounce) can of green chilies, undrained
- 4 cups chicken stock or broth
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can of chili beans, undrained
- 1 (15 ounce) can of white beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 ounce) can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 ounce) can of whole kernel corn, drained
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
Garnishes:
- Finely shredded cheddar or pepper jack cheese, for garnish, optional
- Chopped fresh tomato, for garnish, optional
- Diced avocado, for garnish, optional
- Shredded lettuce, for garnish, optional
- Tortilla chips or strips, for garnish, optional
- Sour cream, for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Heat the bacon drippings in a soup pot over medium heat, add the onion and cook over medium until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute.
- Add the chicken and stir in the ranch dressing and taco seasoning packets and cayenne, if using; cook and stir for another minute.
- Add the un-drained, diced tomatoes, Rotel tomatoes, and green chilies; cook and stir for 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken broth and the undrained chili beans. Drain and rinse the white beans and pinto beans and add to the pot with the corn.
- Drain and rinse the black beans separately and add to the pot. Bring up to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour, stirring occasionally. May hold longer over low heat.
- Serve with garnishes, as desired.
Notes:
If you don't have already cooked chicken, cube one large boneless skinless chicken and sauté in the cooking oil until cooked through. With a well stocked pantry, you may vary the recipe according to your own tastes, using a variety of your favorite beans.
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