Insanely Flavorful Crockpot Taco Soup (2024)

Crockpot Taco Soup doesn’t just get it’s robust flavor from our signature homemade seasoning blend or carefully curated ingredient list. Cooking taco soup low and slow after browning ground beef on the stovetop ensures peak flavor. Top it just like your favorite tacos, but slurp it up with a spoon!

If you’re looking at the photos in this post, you may be thinking “Doesn’t she just mean chili?” I do not. Cause thar be beans and here.

Chili = No Beans or corn. Taco Soup = Beans and corn.

Now, could you let this kid-friendly soup be called chili by your children who have no strong regional ties that would cause them to be ashamed by this statement? Sure, you could. Or, you could make sure you don’t raise heathens. But that’s your call as their parent.

I know it can be confusing because crockpot taco soup isn’t as soupy as chicken taco soup (which could not be confused for chili), but it is the same soupiness as stovetop taco soup, which could be confused with chili. Except it can’t because there’s beans in it! (and corn!)

I promise – it’ll be less confusing once you slurp it up 🙂

Why You Want to Slurp Up Crockpot Taco Soup

Unfortunately, Flavort**n is trademarked, so let’s call this the official Taco Soup of Flavorburg. And much like Flavortonians, us Flavorburgians are also looking to achieve EXTREME FLAVOR. Just with way better hair.

We love crockpot recipes for their ease and simplicity, but also because they remind us that developing flavor is a key component in any successful soup recipe. While you might be tempted to just “dump and go”, there are a few reasons you shouldn’t. We learned a few critical flavor lessons when perfecting ground beef tacos, and those tips translate into creating a extra flavorful taco soup recipe, too:

• Homemade taco seasoning. On the one hand, making your own taco seasoning is cheap, easy, and uses spices you probably already have on hand. It’s also easy to adjust the heat or the salt to suit your needs. But most importantly, homemade taco seasoning is way more flavorful than any seasoning mix you can buy in a store.
• Well seasoned beef. Our method calls for cooking the ground beef and seasoning it with tomato paste and taco seasoning before adding it to the slow cooker.
• A Variety of Veggies. Bell peppers, crushed tomatoes, green chiles, and corn all play a part in the magical melody that is taco soup. Colorful veggies are visually appealing, but each also adds their own little flavor nudge to the finished soup.
• Layered Flavors. Season the soup with lime juice and fresh cilantro after the soup has cooked, just before serving. Lime juice adds acidity, which cuts through the rich tomato sauce for balanced flavor. Cilantro adds a bright, earthy finish to every bite.

Browning and Blooming

If there’s a series of steps we encourage you not to skip in this recipe, it’s this! Browning the ground beef, blooming the spices, and cooking the tomato paste adds so much extra flavor to the ground beef, boosting the flavor profile of the finished soup. Each step adds it’s own unique layer of flavor, resulting in a restaurant-quality soup make in your very own kitchen.

Ingredient Overview

• Ground Beef: 80/20 ground beef works great for keeping flavor from the fat without being too greasy.
• Olive Oil: we always brown ground beef in a splash of olive oil; it adds extra flavor and helps it get extra crispy.
• Homemade Taco Seasoning: it’s so simple, and rewarding, to make your own spice combinations; plus, you can adjust the heat (chili powder) and salt to taste.
• Tomato Paste: tomato paste is more concentrated than canned tomatoes, so the flavor is deeper. But here, we use just a few tablespoons to add body to the broth.
• Onion: use a yellow, white, or sweet (Vidalia) onion; yellow and white onions will remain firmer, while sweet onions tend to break down more after cooking.
• Bell Peppers: we use two colors for a more visually appealing soup and prefer the mellower flavor of yellow and orange bell peppers to keep this soup extra kid-friendly.
• Green Chiles: canned green chiles are milder than jalapeños, but still add a kick.
• Crushed Tomatoes: use fire-roasted tomatoes if available; they’re sweeter and more flavorful than regular crushed tomatoes.
• Canned Black Beans: black beans add plant-based protein and help stretch a single pound of ground beef into a meal with leftovers.
• Frozen Corn: frozen corn is way less sweet than canned corn, and of course, it’s available year-round while fresh corn isn’t.
• Beef Broth: use a good quality, reduced sodium broth.
• Lime Juice: this hit of acid, stirred in just before serving, really rounds out the flavor!
• Cilantro: stir in a bit of fresh cilantro just before serving for a bright, earthy finish.

How to Make Crockpot Taco Soup

Crockpot taco soup is a perfect candidate for a lazy low and slow cook that also packed with layered flavor. Start building flavors on the stove by browning the beef, blooming the spices, and cooking the tomato paste; then transfer everything to your slow cooker and let it do the rest of the heavy lifting!

1. Make the taco seasoning. Combine the taco seasoning ingredients in a small bowl and mix until well combined.
2. Brown the beef. Brown the ground beef in olive oil in a hot skillet until the fat renders and the beef is crispy around the edges. Be sure to stir and crumble with a wood spoon while the beef cooks.
3. Bloom the spices and cook the tomato paste. Add the taco seasoning and mix into the browned beef and rendered fat to bloom the spices. Then add the tomato paste, work into the beef mixture, and cook another 2-3 minutes.
4. Combine everything in the crockpot. Transfer the ground beef to the crockpot, then add the onion, bell pepper, crushed tomatoes, green chiles, black beans, corn, and beef. Give it all a good stir.
5. Slow cook. Seal crockpot and cook on low for 5-6 hours or high for 3-4 hours.
6. Add zing. Just before serving, stir in the lime juice and fresh cilantro. Make sure you taste for seasoning and add more salt, pepper, lime juice, or cilantro to taste!
7. Serve and slurp! Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with your favorite taco toppings (see below for suggestions!).

Recipe Notes and Tips

Toppings!

A taco isn’t a taco without toppings, and this holds true for taco soup. Otherwise some might call it chili. Heh. Here are some of our favorite family-friend toppings for crockpot taco soup:

Storing and Freezing

In the Fridge: store leftovers in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 4 days. Reheat single portions in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, stirring halfway through. Reheat larger portions in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the liquid bubbles around the edges and the soup is warmed through.

In the Freezer: freeze individual or large batch portions in airtight containers in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight, then reheat single or large-batch portions as noted above.

Did you make this crockpot taco soup? I’d love to know how it turned out! Leave a comment and a rating below.

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