taco soup in a pot

Easy, Inexpensive Taco Soup that Kids LOVE!

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One of my kid’s favorite meals is this crock-pot taco soup. It’s been a crowd-pleaser for my daycare and family for years. They can’t get enough. It’s a great Rotel recipe you’re going to want to keep!

bowl of taco soup topped with cheese, sour cream, and chips

It’s also a really healthy meatless meal for any time. And a great easy dinner idea in a snap! One of our best Cheap Lunch Ideas for Daycare.

For more meals you can make with inexpensive pantry staples, check these out.

And for more easy frugal family dinner ideas, check this out.

You can make this soup with canned ingredients and it’s even faster, but you will be amazed at how much better it tastes when you make it this way. Not having meat in this soup for kids makes it an inexpensive family meal to make. Knowing what to eat to save money is not as complicated as you might think.

You can give it in cans as a taco soup kit for a fun family gift, or even use dehydrated vegetables to make taco soup in a jar, a gorgeous mason jar gift. It’s liked by most people. They rave about it.

Crock-pot Taco Soup For Kids

The morning before I’m going to serve taco soup, I put a pound of beans in my crock-pot to soak.  I use kidney beans, pinto beans, or black beans. They are all delicious but our favorite is taco soup with black beans.  You can also mix different beans.

Use whatever you like. The difference between cooking your own beans or using canned make a great flavor difference and a huge difference in your wallet!

But if you’re short on time, grab a bag of frozen corn, a can of Rotel, a couple of cans of beans, and taco seasoning, and ranch dip mix and the store and go home and dump it all in. You’ll have dinner in the crock-pot in an hour while you work on homework, or in a few minutes on the stove.

In the evening, after the beans have soaked for about 8 hours, I rinse them well and refill the crock-pot with water.  I add a packet of homemade taco seasoning mix and turn the crockpot on high. 

I cook the beans all night, in the morning they are tender and flavorful and the house smells amazing. Remember, you can use a store-bought packet of taco seasoning mix if that’s what you have for this taco soup for kids.

beans cooked with taco seasoning in the crock pot for crock pot taco soup for kids.

At this point, I add a bag of frozen homemade Rotel, and a bag of frozen corn that I shucked and cut off the cob earlier in the summer.  Frozen corn, even if it’s store-bought is much better tasting than canned in this recipe as well.  You certainly can’t go wrong with homegrown rotel either, but canned works just fine for the soup for kids.

homemade rotel from the freezer

Add about a teaspoon of salt (no salt has been added to the beans yet) and a package of ranch dip mix.  I make mine homemade as well so I can avoid chemicals found in store-bought seasonings.  Cook on high until lunchtime!

Click here for more crock pot meals to please your family.

Soup for kids

You can brown up some meat to add as well, but we usually don’t put meat in ours.  This crockpot taco soup is one of the tastiest soups I make.  Delicious! They make a great easy dinner for family.

bowl of taco soup

Garnish it with some sour cream, shredded cheddar, and a few tortilla chips.  I like mine crumbled up on top of the taco soup.

Taco Soup Recipe

bowl of taco soup topped with tortilla chips, sour cream, and shredded cheese
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Crock-pot Taco Soup for Kids

Easy and inexpensive taco soup that kids love!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time10 hours
Total Time10 hours 10 minutes
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: crock pot taco soup, Taco soup for kids
Servings: 8
Author: Christina

Ingredients

  • 1 pound dried beans
  • 1 can or bag frozen Rotel
  • 1 bag frozen corn
  • 1 pkg ranch seasoning mix
  • 1 pkg taco seasoning mix
  • 1 tsp. salt

Instructions

  • Soak beans in water for 8 hours
  • Drain beans and rinse
  • Place soaked beans in crock pot and cover with water
  • Add 1 package of taco seasoning mix
  • Cook on high 6-8 hours until beans are super tender
  • Add salt, rotel, corn, and ranch seasoning mix
  • Cook on low 3-4 hours
  • Serve with garnish of sour cream, shredded cheese and tortilla chips

Taco soup freezes great and holds up really well for several months in the freezer. It would pair great with these Toaster quesadillas.

After 28 years of running a home daycare, I’ve seen all kinds of eaters, and I know how to feed the pickiest at least something. Here are more ideas for dinner that might work with picky eaters.

For all the best homemade dressing, dip, and sauce recipes check this out.

More Soup Recipes:

If you are someone who can’t get enough soup like me, you’re going to love these recipes too:

For more easy inexpensive soup recipes, click here.

Rotel Recipes

For more recipes that use hot peppers, check these out. And for more ideas that use ranch seasoning mix, check these out.

What are your kid’s favorite meals?

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9 Comments

  1. Pingback: 17 Natural Back to School DIYs - Simple Life Mom
  2. Hello!

    A quick question regarding your taco soup! When adding the mixes (taco & ranch) how much of each seasoning is used?

    Thank you for sharing your recipes!

    1. I use the small packet, the taco mix is for a pound of meat, the ranch is for one thing of dip or dressing. When using my homemade, i use about 2 T. of each mix. Thanks for asking! 🙂

  3. Great thanks! I literally just made a taco soup the other day, but it called for all packaged products so I’m sure this will be much better! I’d also love to get your rotel and ranch dressing recipes.

    1. Thank you so much for reading! The link to the rotel is in the post, if you click on it, it will take you to the post with the recipe and the ranch dip mix recipe will be added soon. 🙂

  4. We have a tradition in our house with the kids .. .taco Tuesdays … now we can put it in soup form! Thanks Christina!

  5. Love your posts and recipes Christina, would you consider giving your homemade mix recipes? I find different ones online but I know yours would be the best 🙂