Recipe – Taco Soup
Mexican food is by far the favorite flavor in our house, second only to soup. And this soup is both, win win. I think I found this recipe a few years ago in a magazine, it may have been advertised as a white bean chili but I change it every time I make it based on what ever we have in the house or is available at the grocery. The beauty of this soup, or I suppose most cooking recipes (not baking, baking is its own special chemistry that should never be messed with unless you REALLY know what you are doing) you can kind of make it your own.
Ours always has tomatillos, garlic, onion, peppers of some sort, broth of some sort, and beans. We also always make sure to add either ground chicken or turkey as we are not vegetarians but it could easily be left out and taste just as good.
Also something you should know, I don’t really measure so this recipe reads like a child wrote it, or your grandmother trying to give directions “just turn at that place where we saw that deer that one time”.
– Taco Soup –
Half a produce bag full of tomatillos
About 3 cups of various peppers (bell peepers are the least hot, I usually use pasilla and jalapeño)
Half a bulb of garlic
One medium onion
One box of broth, looks like about 32 ounces (we use chicken or homemade bone broth)
One can of beans drained and rinsed (I use white beans usually)
Taco Flavors: If I feel lazy I just use a package of taco flavor from the store. Or you can use a combination of cumin, chili powder, garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper. I have no measurements for this I just wing it.
Optional – One package of ground meat
Optional post cooking toppings – Tortilla chips, grated cheese, sour cream or diced avocado.
I always brown my meat before adding it to the crock-pot, so I cook that up and add the flavors to the meat directly and then transfer once browned to the crock pot. Peel, rinse then chop the tomatillos, de-seed and chop all peppers (remember to wear gloves if using hotter peppers you will thank me later when you accidentally rub your eyes), peel and dice both garlic and onion. Add everything to the crock-pot (add spices if you didn’t add to meat already), pour in broth, cook on high or low (depending on your needs) until the tomatillos start to look a bit like jelly and fall apart. Add beans and cook for about another 20 min.
Serve on it’s own or with your selection toppings.
Allergy Reminder – Tomatillos and peppers are both nightshades, if you react at all to eggplant, potatoes or tomato I would not suggest eating this soup.
