We had so much fun blogging about Kev’s mom’s key lime cake recipe, we thought we’d share another one of the yummy things she makes here on our blog today. It’s a fast and fund-friendly recipe for delicious taco soup!
Start by pouring one can of kidney beans, one can of corn, one can of pinto beans, two cans of petite diced tomatoes, and one can of Rotel diced tomatoes & green chiles into a large pot or dutch oven. Once they’re all in, begin cooking the vegetables on medium heat.
Next, brown some ground beef (sprinkle in some garlic salt while it’s cooking) and when the meat is good to go, use a colander to drain out any excess fat…
Next, mix in one package of taco seasoning mix, and one packet of Ranch seasoning mix to your browned ground beef…
Then, pour your seasoned ground beef into your vegetable pot. Katie also mentioned that you can use some of the (hot) vegetable liquid to loosen the ground beef that’s stuck to the skillet if you want to scrape that into the veggie pot, too…
Simmer the soup for 30 minutes (with the lid on, stirring occasionally), and that’s it!
Katie suggested serving it with tortilla or corn chips, and sprinkling the top with shredded cheese. Onions and/or sour cream are also optional toppings.
We really enjoyed spending the afternoon in Katie’s kitchen with her, and we were especially tickled when she told us why her (darling) colander had so many dents in it. Apparently Kevin’s older brother, Kerry, used to “drag it out and bang it around” when he was a little boy.
These days, Kerry directs an amazing orchestra at a church in Montgomery, so I guess all those early years of “practicing” on the kitchen floor really paid off- ha!
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
- 1 pkg. Ranch salad dressing & seasoning mix
- 1 can of whole kernel corn
- 1 can of pinto beans
- 1 can of light red kidney beans
- 2 cans of diced tomatoes
- 1 can of Rotel tomatoes
Instructions
- Place corn, pinto beans, kidney beans, diced tomatoes and Rotel tomatoes in a large pot or dutch oven and begin cooking on medium heat.
- Place ground beef in a skillet, sprinkle with garlic salt, and cook until no longer pink.
- Drain meat using a colander, then return it to your skillet.
- Add taco seasoning mix and Ranch seasoning mix to the ground beef, and mix well.
- Add ground beef mixture to the vegetable pot and simmer (with the lid on, stirring occasionally) for 30 minutes.
- Serve with tortilla chips or corn chips. Optional toppings: shredded cheese, onions, or sour cream.
Myra @ My Blessed Life
YUMMO! I love me some taco soup! 🙂 P.S. Katie is a beautiful lady!!
Linda
I make variations of this…and it is so easy and sooo good!
Krystle @ Color Transformed Family
My mom always made taco soup. This recipe is really similar to hers. It always makes a deliscous soul for cold weather.
Fairfield House
Thanks for sharing Katie’s taco soup recipe. Love the last photograph you have of her. I’m sure there is another pot in her cabinets that Kevin ‘played’. I think artistic ability runs in families — Kevin and Kerry both being musicians supports that.
Your Friend,
Deborah
Shari @ Turnstyle Vogue
Oh my gosh, that looks so good. I happen to have all of those items in my pantry right now so I think you just determined what I’m making for dinner tonight! One thing off my list! Katie looks so sweet.
Sarah
I make taco soup really similar to that and its super low calorie! My favorite it to put it over lettuce as a taco salad… nom nom nom
hannah singer
oh, i love this! we use a nearly identical recipe. almost once a week:)
thank y’all for sharing!! happy monday!
now i’m off to check out that key lime cake…
cath
Oh we are so having this tonight!
Thanks Layla for posting and thanks Katie for sharing!
Barbara Allen
I have my mom’s colandar and it looks exactly like the one in the picture. Some would say it looks like junk and needs to be thrown away but to me it’s a priceless treasure now that my mom has gone home to Jesus.
TalkingCat
OMG! I have the same colander and it’s just as well-loved as the one in the pic! It was my grandma’s/great grand’s and I still use it. Some folks see it as junk, but to me, continuing to use these unique and wonderful utensils passed down from loving hands keeps me connected to my family and the many memories made in the kitchen.
Dawn
Thank you for sharing your story and recipe! I can’t wait to try it!
Carrie - The Corson Cottage
Sounds yummy! Your adorable place setting makes it even more appealing! Ha, my Mom has that very same colander, makes me think of home:)
tracyo
Just so happens, I am going to the grocery store right now anyway. I am going to add these ingredients to my list. It sounds SO delicious and I am going to try it! I’m sure my family and I will thank you for this recipe. I will let you know how we like it later today!!
Liz@HoosierHomemade
We love Taco Soup! I loved seeing Katie and her kitchen! What fun! I wish my Mother were alive so I could show her making her recipes. What a great memory you will have for the future.
~Liz
Kelly
Looks good! I’ve never had taco soup. Since we love Mexican food I will definitely have to try this!
Jude
beautiful-tasty-fun post…glad you had a fun weekend 😀
love ya’! mom
Lynda
That sounds yummy. might have to give it a try! We had a colander just like that growing up…the pic takes me back 🙂
Maria
WoW! This looks so delicious! Add a generous helping of Tabasco and count me in!
Joanne B.
soup! it’s what’s for dinner!
Debby Messner
Soup looks good. I make soup all the time and it is constantly changing. I will try this one as well.
The collander reminding me of the sweet little girl that still calls me her Nanny. One day she wore the collander on he head all day. We went to music class and climbed up to the second story, me carrying her……still had the collander on. She went through music class with it on. How adorable she was. I think the moms looked at me like, Whatever.” I wasn’t going to take her shining moment away. I hear the music teacher still talks about us, hah.
Katie
Debby, Layla didn’t mention it in her post, but my son Kerry also wore the collander on his head at times when he was playing with it.
Tricia
Oh my yummy~ this looks so delicious. and simple. i love that.
and i have the same colander, btw. my beloved grandma had one for eons and somehow it got lost after she passed. so I searched and searched until i found one (via tara at blondie ‘n sc) a couple of years ago. it makes my heart sing every time i use it.
xo*tricia
p.s. we will definitely be having taco soup for dinner this week. thank you for sharing.
Stephanie
First time commenter here 🙂 You and your honey are such an inspiration…thank you for sharing your lives with us….the taco soup looks fabulous I will definitley give it a try…and I have that exact same collander….my husband keeps telling me to get a new one but I just love it!!!!!!!!
Seriously Sassy Mama
My mom has that same colander. I love when people use things in their kitchens they have had for years. I have orange tupperware containers that I used for all my baking stuff that my mom used when I was a little girl. Taco soup is awesome!!!!
Flower Patch Farmgirl
This is one of my favorites, too! We’re twins, El. 😉
Julie
I used to make a similar recipe only it didn’t call for meat. I haven’t made it in about 10 years. I am married now. When I feed him a meatless meal, my husband suspects I am trying to starve him. So, I am going to make this — tomorrow. We are supposed to get a foot of snow. This will be just about perfect!
terrillr
I have that exact same colander! Well, maybe not with all the dents 😀 I’m sure my boys tried some “alternative uses” too. The soup sounds good, I’ll have to try it soon.
Sandra
I am going to have to try this recipe. I just wish it was colder in Alabama this winter to enjoy soups. I’m one who can’t eat soups in 70 degree weather. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Katy
What a sweetie Miss Katie is! I copied this recipe and can’t wait to make it. Thank you for sharing.
katie@impatientlyprayingforpatience
mmmmmmmm….. Can’t wait to make it.
Jill (GA)
The soup looks delicious, and your MIL is just precious, Layla.
jenn aka the picky girl
This is exactly how my mom makes taco soup, and I LOVE it. When I make it myself, I sub black beans for kidney beans and leave out the meat, but it’s always a treat when mom makes it the original way. Yum!
Debbie W.
Thanks for the recipe! I love love taco soup, but I don’t like ground meat, so I use shredded chicken in mine. Can’t wait to try this yummy recipe!
colleen
wowsers I am drooling ha ha. also looked at the keylime cake even better ;). I am really surprized that hgtv didn’t figure you guys out they have sooooo many stupid waste of time shows anyway I would certainly watch you two!!!!!!!!!! their loss
Heather
So I remember seeing Katie’s Key Lime Cake on your blog a few months ago and recently made it for a bake-off my office was doing to raise money for the local American Cancer Society, and I WON!!!!! Even those who normally did not eat lime flavored anything, loved, and I do mean LOVED that cake.
I can’t wait to try this Taco Soup. 🙂 If it is anything like Katie’s cake, I know it will be killer!
hello haha narf
next time you see ms. katie, please squeeze her extra from the internet. it is a better place with her sharing her recipes! thank you!
Allison @ House of Hepworths
Oh my goodness, this looks so yummy. I’m printing it right now and am going to make it today! Thank you!!
Kristin S
Super fun! You will NEVER regret documenting these memories.
Rotel. Everything tastes better with Rotel. Have you tried the new one with cilantro? YUM!
Kimberly
I made this tonight and it was delicious! And of course it made A TON so I have plenty of leftovers! It occurred to me that you could make it a one pot meal by cooking and removing the ground beef, then throwing the vegetables into the same pot. I may do that next time. Thanks for sharing!
Bev
Oh my gosh, I made that same soup for dinner and it is so good !!!!!!
Lynn
Always loved Taco Soup, but can’t eat the beef. Swapped the beef for leftover, baked chicken and the whole family LOVED IT! Found it to be “lighter” and less acidic than the beef version and in my daughter’s words, “This is really flavorful.”
Sharon
Just wanted to tell you that I made the Taco soup today and it was delicious!! Thanks Katie, look forward to more of your recipes.
wendy
Thanks Layla and Katie,
I don’t really cook but I’m going to try this recipe for sure. Looks yummy and pretty easy. You are all such an inspiring bunch:)
April @ Queen Acres
Wow — I use that same recipe!! I had no idea where it came from though. I got it from a friend, who got it from a friend and so forth.
The only difference is, I let mine simmer in the crockpot:
http://queen-acres.blogspot.com/2012/02/taco-soup.html
Super-yummy!!
Kristin S
I’ve already commented but must say that I love your “print recipe” format. Some others are just difficult to see and tiny OR they are so big and long and take up way too many pieces of paper. Yours? Perfect.
The Undomesticated Wife
I made this soup last week, and it was excellent. It was even better the next day after the flavors melded.
I am a vegetarian, so I didn’t use meat. I simply added the taco seasoning and ranch dip powder to the soup. Also a lot of garlic salt. Yum!