Taco Soup

 

Freezer-Friendly Taco Soup

This hearty homemade taco soup is loaded with seasoned ground beef, black beans, corn, tomatoes, and just the right amount of spice. It's easy, filling, and perfect for a cool evening or a busy weeknight.

But one of the best things about this recipe is what happens to the leftovers!

We purposely make a double batch of our taco soup so we can enjoy it for dinner and then portion the rest into 1-cup freezer containers. They're the perfect size to grab for a quick lunch to take to work or an easy evening meal when we don't feel like cooking.

One big pot gives us dinner tonight and homemade meals ready for the freezer.

Why You'll Love This Taco Soup

  • Makes a large batch for dinner and meal prep

  • Freezes beautifully in individual portions

  • Uses simple, budget-friendly ingredients

  • Made with dried black beans instead of canned

  • Uses our homemade, home-canned beef stock

  • No taco seasoning packets needed

  • Easy to adjust the heat to your family's taste

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds ground beef

  • 2 cups dried black beans

  • 2 cans (15 ounces each) diced tomatoes with green chiles

  • 2 cups corn kernels, fresh or frozen

  • 1 medium onion, diced

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

  • 2 teaspoons chili powder

  • 2 teaspoons paprika

  • 2 teaspoons cumin

  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder, or to taste

  • 4 teaspoons onion powder

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1 teaspoon black pepper

  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional

  • 6 cups homemade beef stock or broth

Don't have homemade stock? Store-bought beef stock or broth works just fine.

Optional Taco Soup Toppings

  • Shredded cheddar cheese

  • Sour cream or plain Greek yogurt

  • Chopped cilantro

  • Sliced jalapeños

  • Diced avocado

  • Lime wedges

  • Crushed tortilla chips

How to Make Taco Soup

Step 1: Cook the Black Beans

Rinse and sort through the dried black beans, removing any debris or damaged beans.

Place the beans in a large pot and cover them with water by about 2 inches.

Cook the beans gently until tender. If you're using soaked beans, begin checking them after about 45–60 minutes. Unsoaked beans will generally take a little longer.

We usually check ours the old-fashioned way—we taste one!

You can also gently mash a bean against the side of the pot. When it's tender and creamy on the inside, it's ready.

Drain the cooked beans and set them aside.

Step 2: Brown the Ground Beef

In a large Dutch oven or stockpot, brown the ground beef over medium heat, breaking it into small pieces as it cooks.

Drain any excess grease if necessary.

Add the diced onion and cook with the ground beef for another 3–4 minutes, or until the onion begins to soften.

Add the minced garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, just until fragrant.

Step 3: Make the Soup

Add the cooked black beans, diced tomatoes with green chiles, corn, chili powder, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and beef stock.

Stir everything together until well combined.

Bring the soup to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to low.

Cover and simmer for about 15–20 minutes to give all those flavors time to come together.

Taste the soup and adjust the seasonings if needed.

Serve It Up

Ladle the taco soup into bowls and let everyone add their favorite toppings.

We love ours with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream, but avocado, jalapeños, cilantro, lime, and crushed tortilla chips are all delicious additions.

We Use Our Own Home-Canned Beef Stock

One of the ways we save money in our kitchen is by making and canning our own beef stock.

There's usually a jar sitting on our pantry shelf ready whenever we're making soup, stew, gravy, or another recipe that calls for broth.

For this taco soup, we use 6 cups of our home-canned beef stock instead of buying cartons from the grocery store. It adds great homemade flavor while helping us make the most of ingredients we already have.

If you don't make your own stock, don't let that stop you from making this recipe. Store-bought beef stock or broth works perfectly, too.

Dinner With Durf Tip: Having home-canned stock in the pantry is one of our favorite time and money savers. Just open a jar and it's ready for your next meal.

Turn the Leftovers Into 1-Cup Freezer Meals

This is one of the main reasons we make a double batch!

After we've had taco soup for dinner, we portion the remaining soup into 1-cup freezer-safe containers.

One cup is a convenient size for us to grab for a quick lunch to take to work or for an easy evening meal when we don't want to cook.

Allow the soup to cool safely before freezing, portion it into your containers, and label each one:

Taco Soup | 1 Cup | Date

Then place the individual portions in the freezer.

Keep your cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, avocado, and other toppings separate and add them after reheating.

Instead of having one giant container of taco soup taking up space in the freezer, you'll have individual homemade meals ready whenever you need one.

How to Reheat Frozen Taco Soup

For an easy work lunch, move a container from the freezer to the refrigerator the night before and let it thaw.

Reheat the soup until it's steaming hot throughout, then add your favorite toppings.

You can also reheat taco soup from frozen if your freezer container is microwave-safe. Reheat in intervals, stirring periodically so the soup heats evenly.

How Many Servings Does This Recipe Make?

This is a double-batch recipe designed for meal prep.

Because the exact amount can vary depending on how long the soup simmers and the ingredients used, measure the finished soup into 1-cup portions if you want an exact serving count.

Dinner With Durf Note: We portion ours into 1-cup bowls because that's the size that works best for our quick lunches and light evening meals.

Nutritional Information

Serving Size: 1 cup

Nutritional information is an estimate and can vary depending on the ground beef, stock, toppings, and other ingredients used.

  • Calories: approximately 310

  • Protein: 23g

  • Carbohydrates: 28g

  • Dietary Fiber: 9g

  • Sugars: 4g

  • Fat: 12g

  • Saturated Fat: 4g

  • Cholesterol: 55mg

  • Sodium: 680mg

Toppings are not included in the nutritional estimate.

Items We Use for This Recipe

A few kitchen basics make preparing and storing our taco soup even easier:

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Dinner Tonight. Lunches for Later.

That's what we love most about this recipe.

We get a big pot of warm, hearty taco soup for dinner and individual homemade meals to put away for another day.

Using dried beans and our own home-canned beef stock also helps us use what we already have in the pantry and keep the cost of each serving down.

It's simple, filling, freezer-friendly, and exactly the kind of meal we love making at Dinner With Durf.

Make it once. Enjoy it tonight. Freeze the rest for later.