This Creamy Taco Soup is the perfect weeknight dinner! This easy soup recipe is ready in 30 minutes for a delicious comfort food meal with pantry staples.
Taco Soup Recipe
When you need a quick, delicious meal that the whole family will love, this Creamy Taco Soup will fit the bill! Convenient canned goods like tender black beans, tasty corn, mild green chiles, and juicy tomatoes turn this ground beef recipe into a filling, flavorful meal you will want to repeat. Adding in cream cheese and thick heavy cream adds even more protein and fat for a dinner that will keep you full for hours!
Creamy Taco Soup Ingredients
Here’s a quick overview of what you’ll need for this easy soup recipe. Find exact measurements in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Ground beef – You could easily swap this out with turkey, chorizo, bison, or even venison if you would like. If using a very fatty meat, make sure to drain off the grease well for the best texture and taste.
- Onion – White onion will have a sharper, bolder onion flavor while a yellow onion gives a more mellow flavor. You could even use red onion if you like!
- Canned goods: Black beans, Corn, Tomatoes with green chilies, and Green chilies – If you can’t find the Ro-tel (tomatoes with green chilies), you could use regular diced tomatoes and increase the cans of green chilies if you need to. Pinto beans could be used if you don’t have black beans.
- Taco seasoning – I used a packet for the convenience, but feel free to use a homemade blend for a great, fresh flavor! A homemade blend lets you control the amount of salt, so it’s perfect for those who need to watch their sodium.
- Beef broth – You could use a chicken broth, homemade stock, vegetable broth, or even water with some boullion if that’s easier for you. I love using a good, rich broth for more flavor and more nutrition.
- Cream cheese and Heavy cream – Cream cheese should be room temperature for the smoothest texture. Full-fat cream cheese will have a creamier texture than the low-fat version, but you can use that if you prefer.
How to Make Creamy Taco Soup
This easy, creamy soup is so simple to make! Here’s a step-by-step guide for this weeknight dinner recipe.
Cook meat and onions
First, warm up a large pot with a lid or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add in your ground beef and cook, crumbling as it browns. Once there is no pink left, drain off as much grease as you can. Add in your chopped onion and saute for 3-4 minutes.
Simmer
Once the onions have softened, add in your drained cans of beans, corn, and green chilies. Add in your undrained can of tomatoes (great for a deep flavor), taco seasoning, and broth. Stir the ingredients well and raise temperature to medium-high heat. Once it reaches a simmer, place the lid on the pot, and turn the heat down to low. Let the soup cook for 10 minutes.
Make it creamy
After the soup has cooked about 10 mminutes, use a ladle to transfer some of the broth into a heat-safe bowl or measuring cup (about 2-3 scoops should do it). Add the room-temperature, softened cream cheese to the hot broth. For the smoothest texture, use an immersion blender to mix until you have a creamy texture without clumps. Add the creamy mixture back into the soup, pour in the heavy cream, and stir well until all ingredients are incorporated into the silky smooth soup.
If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can mix the cream cheese in by hand instead. Whisk as vigorously as you can to try to get it nice and smooth.
How to Serve Taco Soup
We love this soup topped with shredded cheese, chopped green onions, crusted tortilla chips, and sliced jalapenos! I bet avocado chunks, diced tomatoes, and a drizzle of your favorite salsa or enchilada sauce would be great, too. Consider serving an easy appetizer ahead of time like some salsa verde and smoked queso with chips. We love dunking some Mexican Cornbread or Jalapeno Bread into a big bowl of this, too.
More sides to serve with taco soup:
- Jalapeno Cornbread
- Air Fryer Mexican Street Corn
- Corn Fritters
- Smashed Brussels Sprouts with Queso
- One Pan Chipotle Potatoes
Storage:
Allow the soup is cool to room temperature, then transfer to an airtight container in the fridge. It will keep for 3-4 days, just keep it airtight and cold. This reheats easily, so you could go ahead and portion into individual containers for easy grab-and-go lunches!
Can you freeze soup with cream cheese?
Yes and no. While soup with cream cheese can be frozen, sometimes the cream cheese can separate. This especially happens when the soup is defrosted and/or reheated too quickly–The cells in the food can be damaged when it changes temperature too quickly, so it can result in the cream cheese creating a gritty texture instead of a smooth one.
However, you can work around this! You can thaw your frozen soup in the fridge, then reheat it “low and slow” on the stove. If it still separates, you can try stirring 2-3 tablespoons of warm heavy cream into the soup as it reheats. This added fat content can sometimes help bring the soup back together.
The easiest solution is to simply NOT add the cream cheese into the soup before freezing. Cook it as written, leave out the cream cheese, then allow it to cool and freeze in a heavy duty ziplock. When you’re ready to reheat, add in softened cream cheese and let it melt into the soup as you warm it up. This is the same process you would do for soup with shredded cheese.
Best ways to reheat soup:
- Microwave – Reheat in 1-minute increments at 50% power, then stir between each blast. Consider covering with a paper towel to prevent splatters.
- Stovetop – Pour soup into a pot over medium low heat, stirring occasionally until warmed throughout.
Soup may thicken up in the fridge. You can always thin out the soup a bit with a splash of broth or some cream.
Can I make this soup in a slow cooker?
I have not made this soup with a slow cooker, but I believe it would work fine as long as you brown the meat, drain the grease, and cook the onion ahead of time. After the meat and onion are cooked, add all ingredients (except cream cheese and heavy cream) to the slow cooker and cook on low for 4 hours or on high for 2 hours. Stir in the cream cheese and heavy cream as directed, then serve once it’s smooth and creamy.
If you would like a taco soup made for the slow cooker, we LOVE this Crock Pot Taco Soup! It’s made with chicken instead of beef, so you can skip browning the meat without adding a lot of grease to the soup.
If you love this taco soup, you will LOVE these creamy soup recipes!
- Cheesy Keto Taco Soup – When you want all the flavor but need to cut the carbs, this is the perfect low-carb soup! It’s super creamy and delicious.
- Easy Queso Soup – If you love a good queso dip, this comforting soup is perfect for you! It works great with beef, sausage, or other meat, too.
- Jalapeno Chicken Soup – This delicious soup tastes like a jalapeno popper but feels just like your favorite comfort food! It’s easy, low-carb, and full of flavor.
- Cheesy Italian Sausage Soup – Seasoned pork, wilted kale, tender bell peppers, and fire roasted tomatoes give this unique soup tons of flavor without a ton of work!
- Keto Cheeseburger Soup – Kids and picky eaters love this tasty recipe! It has under 6 net carbs per bowl, so it’s perfect for filling you up without making you feel weighed down.
Creamy Taco Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 ounce) can corn, drained and rinsed
- 1 (10 ounce) can tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
- 1 (4 ounce) can green chilies, drained
- 1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning
- 32 ounces beef broth
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, brown the ground beef over medium heat. Drain off any grease.
- Add the chopped onion and saute for 3-4 minutes until softened.
- Add the drained cans of beans, corn, and green chilies. Add the undrained can of tomatoes, taco seasoning, and beef broth. Stir the soup well and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Once the soup is simmering, reduce the heat to low, cover, and allow the soup to simmer for 10 minutes.
- Use a ladle to remove some of the broth (2-3) scoops into a heat-safe bowl or measuring cup. Add the softened cream cheese to the hot broth and use an immersion blender to blend until completely smooth.
- Pour the cream cheese mixture and heavy cream back into the soup and stir.
- Serve soup with shredded cheddar, green onions, jalapenos or whatever Mexican toppings you enjoy.