Dump Meals

Beef Freezer bag

Taco Soup

dumpmeals.com/recipes/taco-soup/

Browned ground beef with beans, corn, tomatoes and taco and ranch seasoning, ladled over chips and cheese.

Serves
8
Prep
15 minutes
Cook
Low 6 to 8 hours, or high 3 to 4 hours
Slow cooker
6-quart

Taco soup is all the flavors of a taco turned into a bowl. Browned ground beef, two kinds of canned beans, corn and tomatoes are seasoned with taco mix and ranch mix. There is no chopping beyond opening cans.

Serve it the way you would a taco: crushed tortilla chips in the bowl, then soup, then shredded cheese, sour cream and chopped lettuce on top. The soup holds well on a warm setting for a short time, and it is better made ahead for a busy night. The beef is browned first and drained, and all the beans are canned.

Serve it with whatever you would put on a taco: shredded cheese, sour cream, sliced olives, chopped lettuce. Go easy on the hot toppings if you plan to freeze leftovers.

Ingredients

Into the slow cooker

  • 1½ pounds ground beef, browned and drained
  • 1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (15-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
  • 1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chiles
  • 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 1 (1-ounce) packet taco seasoning mix
  • 1 (1-ounce) packet ranch seasoning mix
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped

To serve

  • tortilla chips, for serving
  • shredded cheese, for serving

Directions

  1. Brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat breaking it up as it cooks, until it reads 160°F on a food thermometer (no pink is not proof). Drain off the fat.
  2. Put the beans, corn, tomatoes, broth, onion and both seasoning packets in a 6-quart slow cooker. Stir.
  3. Stir in the browned beef.
  4. Cover. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours or on high 3 to 4 hours.
  5. Check the soup. It should be steaming hot and read at least 165°F in the center.
  6. Ladle over chips and top with cheese.

It's done when the soup is steaming hot and reads at least 165°F in the center. The ground beef was cooked to 160°F before it went in. Check with a food thermometer.

Leftovers go in the refrigerator within two hours. Reheat them on the stove or in the microwave until hot all the way through (165°F), not in the slow cooker. Slow cooker safety

Make it a freezer dump bag

Cook the beef to 160°F, drain it, spread it in a shallow container and refrigerate it until cold. Put it in one 2-gallon freezer bag with the beans, corn, tomatoes, broth, onion and both seasoning packets. Squeeze out the air, seal, label and freeze flat.

Bag: 2-gallon freezer bag. Keeps: 2 months for best quality; safe indefinitely at 0°F in the freezer.

Taco Soup

Frozen on:

Thaw in the refrigerator 36 to 48 hours, until no ice is left in the middle. Never cook it from frozen, and cook it within 2 days of thawing. Dump into a 6-quart slow cooker. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours. Check with a food thermometer that it reads 165°F in the center. Stir well.

Best within 2 months of the date above.

Plan several bags at once with one shopping list and printable labels.

The planner prints this label free. A designed set for all 17 freezer recipes, plus blanks, is in the Freezer Bag Labels pack ($7).

This recipe is one of the ten in The Freezer Session ($12): ten dump bags, one shopping trip, one afternoon.

Cooking for two

Use 3/4 lb beef, half of each can, 1 cup broth and half of each seasoning packet. Use a 3-quart slow cooker, so the food still fills it about halfway. Cook on low 5 to 7 hours.

More in Cooking for two in a slow cooker.

Tips

  • Do not drain the canned tomatoes. Their juice is part of the broth.
  • Add a little water if the soup seems too thick after cooking.
  • Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours, in shallow covered containers. Reheat them on the stove or in the microwave until they reach 165°F. Do not reheat them in the slow cooker.

Food-safety sources

More beef

  • Pepperoncini Pot Roast Low 8 to 10 hours, or high 4 to 5 hours Freezer bag Chuck roast cut into pieces with pepperoncini, ranch seasoning, gravy mix and butter. The dish often called Mississippi pot roast.
  • Beef Stew Low 8 to 10 hours, or high 4 to 5 hours Freezer bag Beef chuck cubes, carrots, potatoes and celery in a beef and tomato gravy. Peas go in at the end.
  • Italian Beef Low 8 to 10 hours, or high 4 to 5 hours Freezer bag Chuck roast pieces in Italian dressing mix and broth, shredded for sandwiches with pickled pepper relish.
  • Beef and Broccoli Low 4 to 6 hours, or high 2 to 3 hours Freezer bag Thin-sliced beef chuck in a soy, garlic and ginger sauce, with broccoli added at the end. Serve over rice.