Warm and hearty Chicken Taco Soup cooks up easily in the slow cooker. Topped with crispy tortilla strips and shredded cheese, this is an easy meal the whole family will love.
If you’re obsessed with easy slow cooker meals, be sure to try this delicious Mississippi Pot Roast. Hearty AND easy! Or give this easy BBQ Chicken recipe a try, also made in the slow cooker!
Why this Taco Soup is Best
Digging into a steaming bowl of soup at the end of a long day is one of my favorite things in life.
From Chicken Noodle Soup to Broccoli Cheddar Soup, nothing comforts like soup. And this Chicken Taco Soup is rapidly rising the ranks of my favorites!
The only thing I love more than good soup recipe is a good slow cooker soup recipe! What’s not to love about a recipe that you can toss in a CrockPot, set and forget about while it turns into a flavorful soup?
- Using taco seasoning and jarred salsa, this soup couldn’t be any easier to make. Since it’s different from my favorite Lentil Tortilla Soup, I decided the name “Taco Soup” would be most appropriate!
- As the soup slowly cooks, the chicken becomes tender and marinated with Mexican spices that remind me of the best Tequila Chicken Tacos.
- Get it started in the morning and by dinner time you’ll have a hearty meal guaranteed to have everyone coming back for a second bowl.
How to make Chicken Taco Soup
This soup is full of juicy shredded chicken, colorful veggies and just the right amount of heat. As far as from-scratch soup recipes go, it could hardly get any easier.
STEP 1. Prepare the Soup
Here’s what you put right into the slow cooker:
- onion
- chicken breasts – chicken thighs are great in this recipe too!
- green pepper
- salsa (I use jarred medium heat salsa) –Salsa verde works great too
- chicken stock
- Mexicorn (or your favorite canned corn )
- tomato paste 1/2 onion, diced
- taco seasoning
- cumin
Turn the slow cooker on to the “low” setting and let cook for 6 – 8 hours.
STEP 2. Shred the Chicken
Half an hour before serving, remove the chicken, shred it and return it to the pot. Taste for spice level and adjust accordingly.
Served just as is, this Taco Soup is delicious. I, however, like to add just two more ingredients to make a thicker, creamier chicken soup that balances out the spices oh so well.
OPTIONAL – STEP 3. Add sour cream and cream cheese.
Add sour cream and cream cheese to the crock pot and stir until well combined. I’ve served this soup both with and without the addition of sour cream and cream cheese and loved it both ways.
What toppings go on taco soup?
When I served this for dinner, I set up a little “soup bar” with different toppings so everyone could customize their bowls.
- My perfect bowl of chicken taco soup is topped with crispy corn tortilla strips, shredded cheese and a scoop of guacamole.
- Don’t be shy with the shredded cheese; I love when it starts to melt into the soup giving every bite extra cheesy goodness.
- Taco soup is also tasty topped with Pico de Gallo, sour cream, corn chips or flour tortilla strips!
- I’ve also been known to eat a bowl of two “naked”–it’s good every which way.
Tips and Tricks
- Feel free to adjust the level of heat in this recipe according to your preferences. This soup is definitely not overly spicy but if you’re sensitive to eat, use a mild salsa and less taco seasoning. Likewise, to increase the heat use your favorite hot salsa. A little hot sauce served on top will also amp up the heat levels!
- This recipe makes enough soup to feed a crowd–or to have leftovers! Taco Soup keeps well covered in the fridge for a few days and also freezes beautifully. I like to make a pot for dinner then enjoy the leftovers for lunches throughout the week.
- I use canned Mexicorn when I make chicken taco soup because I love the added red and green bell peppers. Feel free to substitute regular canned corn if you prefer!
- A bowl of this soup makes a satisfying meal. It can also be served in cups as a side dish or starter coarse to one of your favorite Mexican dinners.
- Swap out the chicken for turkey and make a delicious Turkey Taco Soup recipe.
I seriously love this slow cooker soup recipe and I hope you enjoy it just as much! Be sure to follow up with a batch of our easy homemade rice krispie treats!
More Easy Dinner Recipes
- Chicken Lime Enchiladas
- Cilantro Lime Chicken
- Taco Potato Boats
- Baked Pork Chops
- Lasagna Recipe
- Meatloaf Recipe
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Chicken Taco Soup
Ingredients
- ½ onion diced
- 1 green pepper diced
- 16 ounce jar salsa use your favorite here
- 32 ounce chicken stock
- 2 cans 11 ounce Mexicorn, drained
- 1 ½ ounce package taco seasoning
- 6 ounce tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 4 ounces cream cheese optional
- ½ cup sour cream optional
Instructions
- In large crockpot, combine all ingredients except cream cheese and sour cream. Cook on low heat for 6-8 hours.
- Half an hour before serving, remove chicken, shred it, and return to pot. If you want a creamier soup, stir in sour cream and cream cheese.
- Serve with shredded cheddar cheese, tortilla strips and guacamole. Enjoy!
Notes
- Feel free to adjust the level of heat in this recipe according to your preferences. This soup is definitely not overly spicy but if you’re sensitive to eat, use a mild salsa and less taco seasoning. Likewise, to increase the heat use your favorite hot salsa. A little hot sauce served on top will also amp up the heat levels!
- This recipe makes enough soup to feed a crowd–or to have leftovers! Taco Soup keeps well covered in the fridge for a few days and also freezes beautifully. I like to make a pot for dinner then enjoy the leftovers for lunches throughout the week.
- I use canned Mexicorn when I make chicken taco soup because I love the added red and green bell peppers. Feel free to substitute regular canned corn if you prefer!
- You’ll need about 2 Tablespoons of taco seasoning.
Nutrition
A lightly spicy soup made even more delicious with the addition of sour cream, Chicken Taco Soup is easy enough for a weeknight meal but impressive enough to share with company.
Perfect for a cold afternoon, my only change was to add a large can of refried beans rather than sour cream or cream cheese. It melted right in and was a great thickener.
I’ve made this before, and it was delicious. This time around I forgot to grab tomato paste at the store and can’t leave until later today. Do you think it would be okay without it?
I just made this today. I haven’t added the cream cheese or sour cream yet, and it is good without it. Can’t wait to try the finished product. I did have a couple modifications only because I didn’t have exactly what the recipe called for. I only had 1 can of mexicorn, so I used that and one can if regular corn. Also, instead if salsa I used 2 8oz cans of rotel. Lastly, I just used extra cumin, chili powder, garlic powder and crushed red pepper for the taco seasoning. (It’s basically the same thing). Still came out great.
I love to hear when people take one of my recipes and make it their own!! Glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
I just made this soup tonight and it was very good. We ate it with some Tostitos chips to add a bit of salty flavor to it.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!! Happy New Year!
Loved this soup. I left out one can of corn and added kidney, pinto, and black beans. Also, I mixed in a can of diced tomatoes with green chilis. I used only 1/4 tsp cumin. Turned out delish!
Yummy!! I can’t *wait* to try this soup!
I’m going to make this in the next week. If you’re going to freeze the leftovers, do you stir in the sour cream/cream cheese when you make it the first time and then freexe it? Or would you freeze it without sourcream/cream cheese and stir it in after you reheat it?
This also sounds yummy! I make chicken tortilla soup all the time and its ahmazing
Made this…was addictive!!! =)
Thanks for sharing this recipe! It smells really delicious in my kitchen right now!!! YUM!
Candace, freeze the soup before adding in the sour cream and cream cheese. Works perfect!
This sounds great but it’s only me and the hubby. Does it freeze well?
@Anonymous- I am so glad you enjoyed the soup. As for servings, I honestly have no idea! I’m so sorry!
This soup was great! Any idea on how many servings this makes? Trying to figure out the calorie content.
This could absolutely be made on the stovetop. You could just add the sour cream and cream cheese after it’s been heated through, then allow those ingredients to heat as well. Enjoy!
Could this be made without a crockpot? Perhaps in a dutch oven?
Ok.. I just had to come back and tell you how AMAZING it was!!!! Everyone loved it! Im already excited to have it for dinner tomorrow. Ill be posting it on my blog and linking back to you! Thanks for an outstanding recipe girly! : )
Holly, I’m so jealous. I love this soup!!!
Aimee this is in my Crockpot right now! My house smells wonderful!! So excited to eat it tonight! : )
This soup is incredible! My family’s new favorite!! Keep the soup recipes coming :0)