There are a million variations on taco soup. It’s easy, it’s
tasty, it’s filling, and you can often ad-lib the ingredients to compensate for
items you don’t have or use variations to suit your taste if there are
ingredients you don’t like.
Most recipes I have seen say to use a specific type of
meat. Realistically, you can use
anything that you have or omit the meat completely I like either
browned ground beef or browned steak pieces/stew meat, but you can also use
chicken and even kielbasa that’s been cooked prior to adding it to the pot.
Here’s the recipe.
Taco Soup
DO NOT DRAIN CANS OF INGREDIENTS.
1 to 1.5 lb. meat of
choice (if fatty meat such as hamburger meat, cook beforehand)
1 small chopped onion
1 can Ro-Tel diced tomatoes (or other diced tomatoes with
green chiles)
1 can plain diced stewed tomatoes
1 can kernel corn (not cream corn)
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can black beans
1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix
1 pkg. taco seasoning
(These are all the regular small-sized cans (around 14-17
oz.), not the large cans.)
Again, do not drain cans of ingredients. Combine all ingredients in
1 gallon zippered bag and freeze. When
ready to eat, add to crock pot and cook on high 4-6 hours or low 6-8
hours.
Stovetop variation: Combine
all ingredients in 5 qt pan, adding dry ingredients last. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes,
stirring occasionally.
Serve with crackers, tortillas, or Indian fry bread.
SUBSTITUTIONS:
Vegetarian: Omit meat completely or substitute cooked lentils, tofu, or TVP.
Meat: Use browned hamburger
meat, stew meat, or cut up pieces of round steak, boneless skinless chicken
breasts, or even cooked shrimp. You may
also use thinly sliced and browned Kielbasa or smoked sausage alone or added
with the other meats for an interesting taste combination. Just make sure when using any fatty meat,
such as hamburger meat or sausage, that it’s browned and drained before adding
it to the recipe.
Beans/corn: My hubby
isn’t a fan of corn but will eat it in stews.
I sometimes substitute navy beans, garbanzo beans, or black-eyed
peas.
Tomatoes: Use any
canned tomato combination that suits you based on what you have. I like Ro-Tel tomatoes because they already
have peppers in them, and we tend to like our food very spicy. However, you may substitute tomatoes with
chipotle peppers for an interesting combination or even tomatoes with basil,
oregano, and garlic. If you do not have
tomatoes with chiles in them, you can use regular diced stewed tomatoes and add
a couple of tablespoons of chopped canned green chiles. I have also used fresh tomatoes but added a
small can of tomato paste to thicken up the soup, as fresh tomatoes tend to have
more liquid.
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