Taco Soup Recipe With Chicken
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This Easy Chicken Taco Soup recipe is so delicious! Make it in your instant pot, crock pot or on the stove for a quick, healthy dinner!
We love making healthy soup recipes that taste amazing and because everyone loved our beef taco soup, we knew we needed to make it with chicken too!
This chicken taco soup is incredibly quick and easy to make and loaded with veggies and protein (33g)! It’s made in less than an hour start to finish, and is made with only 8 ingredients and some spices. You probably already have most, if not all, of them in your pantry!
liz’s tips for chicken taco soup
- To save time, use a rotisserie chicken! Just cut the cook time in half. Don’t forget to save the skin and bones to make your own chicken broth.
Ingredients
Substitutions
Olive Oil: You can substitute avocado oil, butter, or ghee.
Chicken Breasts: You can substitute with boneless chicken thighs or chicken tenders. You can also make this recipe with ground beef. Looking for quality meat at the best price? Read this post: Is Butcher Box a Good Deal!
Cooked Chicken: You can substitute cooked shredded chicken in place of raw chicken. Use 2-3 cups cooked shredded chicken. You can also use a rotisserie chicken. Pull all of the meat off of a rotisserie chicken and add it to the pot in place of raw chicken. If you use cooked chicken, cut the cook time in half.
Veggies: Feel free to add in more veggies. Chopped bell peppers would be a great addition to this soup.
Tomato: You can substitute any brand of canned tomato sauce in this recipe. Crushed tomatoes or petite diced tomatoes will also work. You can also add in a can of green chilies
Chicken Broth: Any broth or stock (broth and stock are the same) can be used in any soup recipe. Beef Broth, Chicken Broth, or vegetable broth all work interchangeably. I always use low sodium chicken broth or no salt chicken broth.
Black Beans: Any beans will work in this recipe. Just make sure they are fully cooked, rinsed & drained. We like to use low/no salt added black beans drained. In place of black beans you can use navy beans or pinto beans.
Corn: You can omit the corn in this recipe and it will still taste delicious!
Spices: You can use 1 tablespoon of taco seasoning in place of the seasonings.
Pasta: If you like pasta, try this Chicken Taco Pasta.
How to make Chicken Taco Soup
- Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil for 4-5 minutes.
- Add in raw chicken breasts, tomato sauce, chicken broth, taco seasoning, black beans, and corn.
- Stir together. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Remove chicken, shred, then add back to the pot and stir.
How do you know when the soup is done? If you cook the soup for the recommended time (stovetop: at least 30 minutes, slow cooker: low for 6-8hrs or high for 3-4hrs, instant pot: 10 minutes), the chicken will be fully cooked, but if you would like to ensure it’s fully cooked, the internal cooking temperature should be 165°.
How to thicken Taco Chicken Soup
To thicken quick and easy chicken taco soup, you can add a corn starch slurry. Mix together 1 tablespoon of corn starch with 2-3 tablespoons of broth/water.
Stream into your pot while the soup is over low heat. The soup should thicken as you cook.
We don’t recommend trying to thicken this soup. It’s great as is!
Topping Ideas
This soup is delicious on its own, but it is so versatile with the number of toppings you can use, so go crazy! These are some of our favorite toppings:
- Shredded Cheese
- Lime wedges
- Sour cream or plain Greek Yogurt
- Avocado
- Cilantro
- Green or red onions
- Tomatoes
- Green chiles for some spice
- Crushed Tortilla chips
- Add a little extra taco seasoning
Serving Suggestions:
There are lots of different ways you can serve this quick and easy chicken taco soup. Here are some of our favorites.
With a salad: We love to serve our soup with a spinach strawberry salad to get extra greens in! If you want to load up with taco flavors, pair it with our Taco Salad!
Toppings: Go crazy with the toppings here! See above for our favorite topping ideas. Sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, cilantro, and limes are our favorites!
Storage
Refrigerating- These soup leftovers will last in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Freezer- This soup freezes very well! You can freeze in airtight containers and store for up to 3 months.
We like these containers for freezing! Check out this post on How to Freeze Soup.
Reheating- You can reheat this soup in the microwave or on the stovetop. It should heat through in about 2-3 minutes.
Other healthy chicken soup recipes:
We love healthy soup recipes (like this Pasta Fagioli Recipe!). You can get our free Healthy Soup Ebook here or check out these 35+ Healthy Soups for Dinner. Here are some other healthy chicken soup recipes you may like:
Easy Chicken Taco Soup
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 cup minced onion
- ½ tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 14 oz can tomato sauce low or no salt
- 1 quart chicken broth low or no salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 15 oz can black beans drained & rinsed – low or no salt
- 1 cup frozen corn thawed
Instructions
Stovetop Instructions
- In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Sauté onions and garlic for 4 minutes.
- Add in chicken breasts, tomato sauce, chicken broth, dried spices, beans and corn.
- Stir together and cover the pot. Turn the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium and let the soup simmer for 20 minutes.
- Once the soup has cooked, remove cooked chicken from the pot. Shred chicken with two forks (tip: shred chicken using paddle attachment in stand mixer!) Add shredded chicken back to the pot.
- Stir to combine & enjoy!
Crockpot Instructions:
- Optional but recommended: In a sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Sauté onions and garlic for 4 minutes.
- Add onion/garlic mixture to the crockpot base with chicken breasts, tomato sauce, chicken broth, dried spices, beans and corn.
- Stir together. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.
- Remove cooked chicken from the pot. Shred chicken with two forks (tip: shred chicken using paddle attachment in stand mixer!) Add shredded chicken back to the pot.
- Stir to combine & enjoy!
Instant Pot Instructions.
- Set the instant pot to Sauté for 4 minutes. Sauté onions and garlic for 4 minutes. Make sure to scrape up any browned bits to avoid a burn notice.
- Add in chicken breasts, tomato sauce, chicken broth, dried spices, beans and corn.
- Stir together. Cover and set the instant pot to Sealing, Manual Pressure for 10 minutes.
- It will take about 10 minutes for the instant pot to come to pressure.
- Once cooked, quick release the pressure.
- Remove cooked chicken from the pot. Shred chicken with two forks (tip: shred chicken using paddle attachment in stand mixer!) Add shredded chicken back to the pot along with cooked beans and defrosted corn.
- Stir to combine & enjoy!
Really enjoyed this soup!
So yummy, flavorful and easy!
Absolutely love this soup! Extremely easy to make and freezes great. I usually add in chickpeas as well. I make large batches to freeze for work and eat it 2-3 times a week.
This soup is so yummy and cozy!
This recipe is so delicious and so easy to make. Highly recommend.
This is a tasty easy recipe. Question: if I want to add chopped bell peppers, when to add them? With the onions and garlic? Or later?
You could add bell peppers with the onions and garlic but they might get a little mushy. If you want to add them when there are only about 10 minutes left to the cook time you can do that too!
Love this soup so much, I make a batch of it every week and have for lunch etc.
This was great! I used 1 lb of left over rotisserie chicken, a clove of elephant garlic, and a can of crushed tomatoes instead of sauce. I also added a can of rinsed pinto beans. Saving this for another day!