Instant Pot Taco Soup
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Instant Pot Taco Soup is a hearty, delicious soup filled with good-for-you protein and veggies. (No ranch seasoning packets filled with additives in our version.) You’ll be making this one-pot wonder again and again!
Want to slow cook it? Try our Crock Pot Taco Soup.
Reasons You’ll Love This Soup
- Healthy – This wholesome taco soup is high in protein and fiber and filled with veggies. Unlike most taco soup recipes on the internet ours does NOT include a packet of store-bought Ranch seasoning, which is filled with MSG, additives, and excessive sodium.
- So Easy to Make – Perfect recipe for a beginner cook. Using simple ingredients and utilizing just one pot, this soup only takes about 20 minutes of hands-on time. The Instant Pot does the rest!
- Delicious – One of our readers said it perfectly, “Absolutely loved this soup! Healthy and filling. Served with cheese nachos and it was delicious. Thank you girls!” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – Kelly
Ingredients Needed
All you need on hand are these simple ingredients…
Ingredient Notes:
- Lean ground beef – Sub: ground chicken or turkey (where to find meat you can trust).
- Use our homemade Taco seasoning.
- Petite diced tomatoes – Tip: Use fire-roasted tomatoes for more flavor.
- Shoepeg white corn – Sub: yellow corn.
- Black beans – Sub: pinto beans.
- Make your own Chicken broth.
- Mild salsa – Use medium if you like more spice!
How to Make Taco Soup in an Instant Pot
Recipes like this one and our Instant Pot Turkey Chili are a breeze to make in the Instant Pot. Let’s walk through a bird’s eye view of how to make this soup. You can find the full recipe at the bottom of this post.
Saute Ingredients
Set the Instant Pot to “Sauté.” Add the oil and heat until shimmery. Add the onions and cook, stirring, for about 3-4 minutes, seasoning lightly with salt and pepper while they cook.
Add in ground beef and garlic and cook, stirring and breaking up the meat as it cooks, until the meat is cooked through (5-7 minutes.) Press cancel. Drain the grease from the meat.
Cook and Serve
Stir in the taco seasoning, diced tomatoes (juices and all), chilis, corn, beans, broth, and salsa to the Instant Pot and stir. Lock and seal the lid. Cook at high pressure for 7 minutes, then quick release the pressure.
Add in juice of 1 lime and stir. Serve warm with your favorite Tex Mex toppings.
Cooking Tips & Variations
- An easy way to add in more nutrition is to add frozen cauliflower rice to the soup before cooking.
- Crock Pot Version: Use our Crock Pot Taco Soup recipe to whip this up in the slow cooker. It cooks all day while you’re at work.
- Stovetop Version: Try our similar big-batch Mexican Soup recipe.
- Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Tips: This soup is naturally gluten-free, if you make sure to buy taco seasoning that’s labeled gluten-free or if you make your own. It’s also dairy-free, as long as you omit cheese and sour cream as a topping.
Freezer Meal Instructions
Taco soup freezes well either before or after cooking it. As freezer meal experts and cookbook authors, we’ve honed in on the very best methods to do this.
Freeze For Later:
Option 1 (Before Cooking): Follow Steps 1-2. To a gallon-sized freezer bag or container, add the taco seasoning, diced tomatoes, green chilis, corn, beans, broth, salsa, and the meat/onion mixture (once it has cooled down a bit). Seal tightly, squeezing out excess air, and freeze inside a bowl that’s about the same circumference as the Instant Pot. Remove bowl once it’s frozen.
Option 2 (After Cooking): Follow all of the cooking instructions in the recipe. Let the soup cool and then freeze in airtight freezer containers.
Prepare From Frozen:
Option 1 (Before Cooking): Run the bag of soup under water until the frozen meal loosens up. Set Instant Pot to Saute setting. Dump the frozen soup in the pot and saute for about 5 minutes. Lock and seal the lid. Cook at high pressure for 12-17 minutes with a quick release. Follow Step 4.
Option 2 (After Cooking): Let soup thaw completely. Then just warm up in the microwave, on the stove on low, or in the slow cooker on low, until warmed through.
Check out all of our delicious, easy, and healthy freezer meals recipes and our freezer meal cookbooks.
What to Serve With Instant Pot Taco Soup
FAQs
Our version is healthy! We’ve created a taco soup recipe that’s filled with high-quality protein and packed with veggies. It’s relatively low in fat and carbs, too.
If you’re watching your salt intake, be sure to use low-sodium broth and “no salt” corn, black beans, and tomatoes.
Lastly, to kick up the nutrition value, add in some healthy toppings such as diced avocado, plain Greek yogurt, a squeeze of fresh lime juice, diced green or red onion, and fresh cilantro.
The USDA says that most leftovers, if refrigerated properly, are safe to eat within 3-4 days.
You can also freeze the soup and it will be safe indefinitely, although it will taste best if eaten within about 3 months.
Yes, taco soup is gluten-free as long as you use gluten-free taco seasoning. To be sure, either buy gluten-free taco packets at the store or make your own Homemade Taco Seasoning.
If you want a vegetarian taco soup recipe, try our delicious and super easy Crock Pot Tortilla Soup instead.
More Instant Pot Recipes You’ll Love
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Instant Pot Taco Soup
Instant Pot Taco Soup is a hearty soup filled with good-for-you protein and veggies. You’ll be making this fast, one-pot wonder again and again! Freezing instructions included.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoons avocado oil or olive oil
- 1/2 large yellow onion, diced
- Salt and pepper
- 1 pound lean ground beef (sub: ground chicken or turkey) (where to find meat you can trust)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3–4 tablespoons taco seasoning (or 1 store-bought packet)*
- 1 (15 oz) can petite diced tomatoes, juices and all (Tip: Use fire-roasted tomatoes for more flavor.)
- 1 (4 oz) can diced green chilis, juices and all
- 1 (11 oz) can shoepeg white corn, drained (sub: yellow corn)
- 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed (sub: pinto beans)
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup mild or medium salsa (recommend: Medium Mateo’s Salsa)*
- Juice of 1 lime, plus more lime wedges for serving if desired
- Optional Toppings: Shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips, diced avocado, salsa, sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, diced red onion, sliced green onions
*The brand and spice level of these ingredients will determine the spice level of the soup.
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
Make It Now:
- Saute Onions: Set the Instant Pot to “Sauté.” Add the oil and heat until shimmery. Add the onions and cook, stirring, for about 3-4 minutes, seasoning lightly with salt and pepper while they cook.
- Brown Ground Beef: Add in ground beef and garlic and cook, stirring and breaking up the meat as it cooks, until the meat is cooked through (5-7 minutes.) Press cancel. Drain the grease from the meat.
- Pressure Cook: Stir in the taco seasoning, diced tomatoes (juices and all), chilis, corn, beans, broth, and salsa to the Instant Pot and stir. Lock and seal the lid. Cook at high pressure for 7 minutes, then quick release the pressure.
- Finish & Serve: Add in juice of 1 lime and stir. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Serve warm with your favorite Tex Mex toppings.
Freeze For Later:
Option 1 (Before Cooking): Follow Steps 1-2. To a gallon-sized freezer bag or container, add the taco seasoning, diced tomatoes, green chilis, corn, beans, broth, salsa, and the meat/onion mixture (once it has cooled down a bit). Seal tightly, squeezing out excess air, and freeze inside a bowl that’s about the same circumference as the Instant Pot. Remove bowl once it’s frozen.
Option 2 (After Cooking): Follow all of the cooking instructions in the recipe. Let the soup cool and then freeze in airtight freezer containers.
Prepare From Frozen:
Option 1 (Before Cooking): Run the bag of soup under water until the frozen meal loosens up. Set Instant Pot to Saute setting. Dump the frozen soup in the pot and saute for about 5 minutes. Lock and seal the lid. Cook at high pressure for 12-17 minutes with a quick release. Follow Step 4.
Option 2 (After Cooking): Let soup thaw completely. Then just warm up in the microwave, on the stove on low, or in the slow cooker on low, until warmed through.
Notes/Tips
- An easy way to add in more nutrition is to add frozen cauliflower rice to the soup before cooking.
- Crock Pot Version: Use our Crock Pot Taco Soup recipe to whip this up in the slow cooker. It cooks all day while you’re at work.
- Stovetop Version: Try our similar big-batch Mexican Soup recipe.
- Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Tips: This soup is naturally gluten-free, if you make sure to buy taco seasoning that’s labeled gluten-free or if you make your own. It’s also dairy-free, as long as you omit cheese and sour cream as a topping.
- Where We Get Our Ground Beef: We get our beef from ButcherBox. The beef is grass-fed and curated from trusted farms. We highly recommend this service to source healthy meat–like uncured bacon, chicken, & wild salmon–and have used it for years ourselves. Read my honest ButcherBox review.
This taco soup is a crowd-pleaser for our family of 5! I love that everyone gets to choose their toppings and it comes together quickly!
Yes! Things always go better at my house when people have some choice like with toppings. Glad you enjoyed this Rachel. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review.
So yummy! This will definitely be a new week night go to!
Yay! So glad to hear it Charity. Thanks for leaving a review.