Taco Seasoned ground or diced Beef, Chicken or Pork with Vegetables and a Taco Soup base. For a wonderful eating experience, serve this bowl with Quesadillas on the side with Sour Cream to dip the Quesadillas in. This is a combination that just works so well.
Taco Soup Base
An excellent and simple soup base to which the heat level can be adjusted to suit your taste.
Add 1/2 C of Pimento Paste to up the Pepper Flavors. Either Sweet or Hot Pimento Paste for a Spicy Taco Soup, or Half & Half for a Medium Taco Soup.
Taco Soup Base
Add all the ingredients together in a bowl and whisk well.
- 5 C Broth
- 3 C Tomato Juice
- 1/4 Tomato Paste
- 2 Tbl Lemon Juice
- 1 Tbl Corn Starch
- 1/2 tsp Cilantro – optional
- 1 Pack Old El Paso Taco Seasoning
- Hot Paprika to taste for desired heat level
Broth
Pair the broth with the type of meat you are using. Chicken or Pork broth for Chicken Meat, Pork or Beef broth for Beef or Sausages.
This recipe uses 5 Cups of broth, and for this I use 2 Maggi Bouillon Cubes to 5 Cups of Water. For Pork, I use Knorr Pork Bouillon Cubes. If using a Broth Powder, then use 4-5 tsp of Broth Powder.
Maggi Bouillon Cubes
Maggi Bouillon cubes really do have the best Flavor & Value. Check out the Food for Thought article written just on Maggi Bouillon Cubes.
Thickener
Corn Starch is used to thicken the soup very slightly. With Tomato Paste to assist in thickening a bit more. The Old El Paso Taco seasoning mix also has some thickener in it.
If you want it thicker, combine another Tbl of Cold Water and Cornstarch and Mix. Slowly pour it into the Soup before removing from the heat to thicken the soup more until the desired consistency. To thin out if you accidentally thicken it too much, add Tomato Juice.
Taco Seasoning
Use 1 Pack of Old El Paso Taco Mix. You can also adjust the individual components of the Taco Seasoning by adding in extra Paprika, Onion, Garlic, Chili Powder, Cumin, Oregano & Pepper individually and to taste. Paprika is especially good, and the use of Hot Paprika can be used to adjust the heat level.
Old El Paso Taco Seasoning
1 Packet for the Soup and another for the Quesadillas. Because they are just so good together.
Taco Soup Vegetables
The Vegetables used are Onions, Tomatoes, Jalapeño or Serrano, with Bell Peppers (Green, Orange, Red, Yellow or mixed), Corn & Garlic. Other Vegetables can be included, such as canned Beans (Pinto, Black Beans), Green Onions and various Chili Peppers.
Taco Soup Vegetables
- Tomato
- Onion
- Bell Pepper or a mix of Bell Peppers
- Garlic Cloves
- With 1 Jalapeño or Serrano Pepper and 1/2 C Corn Kernels
Taco Soup Meat
No matter what type of meat you go with, add in 1 lb of ground or diced meat. Cook the same whether you use ground or diced meat.
1 lb of Chorizo Sausages, skin removed or chopped, can be used too for a Chorizo Taco Soup. This is different from Portuguese Chourico, but that too works exceptionally well.
Beef Taco Soup
Either ground Beef or diced Steak. Optionally, with Beef Suet for the fat to add extra beefy flavors.
Chicken Taco Soup
Either ground Chicken or diced Chicken Breast with rendered Chicken fat or lard.
Pork Taco Soup
Either ground Pork or diced Pork with rendered Pork fat or lard.
Portuguese Chourico Sausage
Both 1 lb of Mexican Chorizo or Portuguese Chourico Sausage can be used. With Portuguese Chourico, you don’t have to make the sausages either. You can just dice the meat into 1/2 inch and marinate just the same for Chourico Kebabs.
Rendered Fat
If using Ground Beef or Pork, this will already contribute sufficient fat. So additional fat isn’t really needed.
Rendered Fat is always preferable, adding more flavor. If the rendered fat is slightly more than 1/4 C, that’s perfectly fine. If it is less, top it up with lard. You’re looking for about 1/4 C of Fat when using diced Meats. Trim the fat from the Pork, Beef or if using Chicken use the Skin. Else, lard can be used in place of.
Rendered Fat
- With diced Pork, replace the Lard with Rendered Pork Fat.
- If using Ground Beef or Pork, then additional fat is not needed since the Fat that is already in the Ground Meat. Beef Suet or rendered Beef Fat can be used with diced Beef.
- For Chicken Breast skin on, render the skin and replace the lard, else just use or add in extra lard if you don’t have quite enough.
Taco Soup Heat Level
There are a few different ways the heat can be elevated by either using Old El Paso Original, Mild or Hot & Spicy Taco Seasoning, including the seeds from the Peppers or not, to using Hot Pimento Paste or half Sweet & Half Hot.
A bit of Hot Paprika can also be used to adjust the heat level to your preference, and is perhaps the easiest way to adjust the heat. Just add a bit of Hot Paprika to taste.
Taco Soup with Quesadillas
The combination of Taco Soup and Taco Quesadillas with Sour Cream is just Fantastic and makes for a Delicious & Satisfying Taco Tuesday Meal.
Equipment
- 1 Stockpot
- 1 Large Mixing Bowl For the Soup Base
Ingredients
- 1 lb Ground Meat - Ground Beef, Pork or Chicken
- 3 cloves Garlic - Minced
- 1 large Onion - Diced
- 1 large Bell Pepper - Or a mix of Diced Bell Peppers
- 1 large Tomato - Diced
- 1 Jalapeno or Serrano - Minced without or with seeds for spicy
- 1 Pack Taco Seasoning - Old El Paso
- 1/2 C Corn Kernels
- 1/2 C Canned Pinto Beans - Or other kinds – Optional
- 1/2 C Sweet Pimento Paste - Optional
Soup Base
- 5 C Stock
- 3 C Tomato Juice
- 1/4 C Tomato Paste
- 2 Tbl Lemon or Lime Juice
- 1 Tbl Corn Starch
- 1/2 tsp Cilantro as desired - Optional
- To Taste Hot Paprika
Instructions
- Combine soup base ingredients together in a bowl and set aside until needed. Prepare your Vegetables and set aside.
- In a Soup pot or deep pan, cook ground beef over medium high heat for about 3 minutes, breaking it up and mixing. Add Vegetables and continue to cook another 3 minutes, mixing it around, or until the meat is cooked through.
- Add the soup base and bring to boil over max heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes. Adjust the heat level with Hot Paprika.
- Cover the Soup, remove from the heat and let rest 20 minutes.
- While the Soup is resting, you can prepare the Quesadillas and Sour Cream Dip or other sides. Adjust the seasoning of the Soup if needed before serving.