Crockpot Taco Soup Recipe (2024)

This crockpot taco soup recipe is a hearty but healthy soup loaded with your favorite taco ingredients and flavors! No sauteeing and crockpot ready in just 15 minutes.

Like my favorite Smoky Turkey Chili, this crockpot taco soup is hearty, but good for you and perfect for colder weather.

Minimal prep work and simple ingredients makes this soup ready to cook in just 15 minutes, and it can cook for up to 8 hours, which makes it a great dinner on those busy days when you are out of the house or running around all day.

And this recipe is SUPER meal prep-friendly: assemble ahead and freeze as a freezer crockpot meal OR cook ahead and freeze for easy meals later.

Recipe Video

This is one seriously easy recipe. Want proof? Watch the video below! You can find more of my recipe videos on my YouTube channel.

Don't forget to pin this post to save it for later!

Ingredients you'll need

• lean ground beef- or swap for ground turkey
• canned ingredients- black beans, corn, green chiles and diced tomatoes (or rotel for a real kick!)
• fresh ingredients- diced red onion and bell peppers
• spices- taco seasoning (make my homemade taco seasoning for a cleaner recipe or use store-bought as a shortcut!)
• broth- I used my homemade bone broth but you can use store-bought chicken stock

Beef- to cook ahead or not to cook ahead

Almost every crockpot recipe I've seen calls to cook ground beef ahead, but I decided to test out whether this was 100% necessary.

Honestly? We didn't notice it at all. The texture of the beef was slightly less 'chewy' than it normally would be and it clumped together a little less than if we had sauteed it first. If you would prefer to sautee first, you should do that!

• Note- we use grass fed lean ground beef which naturally does not have a lot of fat in it. If you use ground beef with a higher fat content, you may wish to cook first and drain the fat off before adding.

Prep ahead for easy dinners

You can meal prep this recipe in one of two ways:

1. Freezer crockpot- assemble all ingredients except the broth in a large meal prep container (I like the 3 quart ones from Ikea!), gallon-sized reusable silicone bag, or gallon-size freezer bag.
   • squeeze out air, and freeze flat for up to 3 months.
   • thaw completely, and cook in the slow cooker as directed (low 6-8 hours)
2. Cook ahead- alternatively, you can cook up this slow cooker taco soup, cool, portion out and freeze. I like freezing my soups in 1 quart mason jars (leave ¼ empty and lids ajar to account for expansion) or these reusable plastic freezer jars.
   • thaw, transfer to a bowl, then reheat in the microwave until steaming hot

Can I cook this in the Instant Pot?

I bet you could, but I haven't tried. I would guess 5 minutes high pressure with 10 minutes of natural pressure release before releasing the rest. Let me know in the comments if you give it a try!

Can I make this soup lower carb?

Sure, leave out the black beans and corn. You might want to double up on the ground beef.

Can I make this recipe vegan?

Yes, I would leave out the beef, double up the beans, and swap the chicken stock for vegetable stock. I bet that would be delicious! You might also want to check out my Vegan Crockpot Chili!

More crockpot soup recipes

• Slow Cooker African Peanut Stew
• 42 Healthy Crockpot Soup Recipes
• Crockpot White Chicken Chili
• Hearty Lentil Soup