Instant Pot Taco Soup
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Instant Pot Taco Soup is a hearty soup filled with good-for-you protein and veggies. You’ll be making this one-pot wonder again and again! Freezing instructions included.
Or try our Crock Pot Taco Soup.
Ingredients Needed
All you need on hand are these simple ingredients…
- Avocado oil or olive oil
- Yellow onion
- Lean ground beef – sub: ground chicken or turkey (where to find meat you can trust) Garlic Taco seasoning
- Petite diced tomatoes – Tip: Use fire-roasted tomatoes for more flavor.
- Green chiles
- Shoepeg white corn – sub: yellow corn
- Black beans – sub: pinto beans
- Chicken broth
- Mild salsa – use medium if you like spice!
- Limes
- Optional Toppings: Shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips, diced avocado, salsa, sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, diced red onion, sliced green onions
Make Homemade Taco Seasoning
You probably have everything in your pantry needed to make your own taco seasoning for this soup. It’s healthier and cheaper! Use our Homemade Taco Seasoning recipe.
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.
Saute the 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.
Saute the Ground Beef and Garlic
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 in the Instant Pot
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.
Serve
Add in juice of 1 lime and stir. Serve warm with your favorite Tex Mex toppings.
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 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 nutritionally 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.
You may be wondering, “how long is taco soup good for?” 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 salsa (use medium if you like spice!)
- 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
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Instructions
Make It Now:
- 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.
- 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.
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
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, and wild salmon–and have used it for years ourselves. Read my honest ButcherBox 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.