Easiest Ever Taco Soup (Crockpot and Instant Pot)

Easiest Ever Taco Soup is the most delicious way to warm up on a chilly day. Just 5 minutes of prep and the slow cooker (or instant pot) does the rest of the work! Dinner has never been easier!

Easiest Ever Taco Soup

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Around the time I was getting married, J and I worked at The Cheesecake Factory. I always looking forward to working on Thursdays because that was  Mexican Chicken Soup day. Every Thursday shift, I would stuff myself full of all that fantastic Mexican soup!

Well, it's been a long time but the cravings are still there. So I decided to put together my very own taco soup recipe with chicken. And this one is a serious winner. Imagine, throwing a bunch of ingredients into your crockpot (or Instant Pot) then going about your life without having to babysit a pot of soup on the stove? Sounds fantastic, right?!

The best part is that once it's done, the chicken is so perfectly tender it falls right apart, you barely even have to touch it with your forks (two forks are my tools of choice for shredding meat). Throw some cooked rice in and top it with a little cheese, crushed tortilla chips and cilantro (if that's how you roll) and you've got yourself a chicken taco soup you won't be able to stop eating.

Now when I initially began thinking about taco soup, crockpot cooking seemed like the way to go. Because I love working smarter and not harder. I also went ahead and tested this in the Instant Pot because sometimes, we don't always have 4 hours available to us.

Tips for making Easy Taco Soup

• I try and chop my onions and peppers to a uniform size. I do them pretty small to make them easier to scoop up with your spoon. If you prefer them bigger, that's fine too.
• You can totally assemble all the ingredients in the pot ahead of time and cover and refrigerate until you're ready to put it on the slow cooker (or instant pot)
• I always trim any extra fat from my chicken breasts before cooking.
• Although I prefer to use "fresh" chicken breasts, you can totally use frozen. They'll fully cook in the 4 hours but you might consider adding an extra hour on for ease of shredding (or an extra couple minutes for the Instant Pot).
• If you notice the rice absorbed too much broth, just add a can of chicken broth.

Helpful tools:

1. Slow Cooker or Instant Pot
2. Chef's knife
3. Cutting board

5 from 1 vote

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Easiest Ever Taco Soup

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

4 hrs

Inactive time

4 hrs

Total Time

4 hrs 5 mins

 

Easiest Ever Taco Soup is the most delicious way to warm up on a chilly day. Just 5 minutes of prep and the slow cooker (or instant pot) does the rest of the work! Dinner has never been easier!

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: taco soup

Servings: 6 servings

Author: Jessy Freimann, The Life Jolie

Ingredients

Soup:

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• ½ medium green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 14.5 ounce can corn, drained
• 1 14.5 ounce can black beans, roughly drained
• 1 10 ounce can rotel, undrained
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 1 32 ounce box chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• 3 boneless, skinless raw chicken breasts
• 1 cup cooked rice

Toppings:

• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Cilantro
• Crushed tortilla chips

Instructions

Slow Cooker instructions:

1. Add all soup ingredients except for the chicken and rice to the slow cooker pot. Stir until well combined.

2. Add chicken breasts to the pot and cover. 

3. Turn the slow cooker on to high and cook for 4 hours.
   

4. Remove the chicken and shred with forks.

5. Put the shredded chicken back into the soup along with the cooked rice. 

6. Serve immediately and top with cheese, cilantro and crushed tortilla chips.

Instant Pot instructions:

1. Add all soup ingredients except for the chicken and rice to the Instant Pot pot. Stir until well combined.
   

2. Add chicken breasts to the pot and cover. Turn the vent on the top of the cover to "Seal."
   

3. Set the Instant Pot to "Manual" and set it for 12 minutes.

4. Once the 12 minutes is up, let it naturally release for 10 minutes and then do a quick release to release the remaining steam.

5. When the steam has stopped, take off the cover. Remove the chicken and shred with forks.

6. Put the shredded chicken back into the soup along with the cooked rice. 
   

7. Serve immediately and top with cheese, cilantro and crushed tortilla chips.
   

Recipe Notes

This will last up to 1 week in the refrigerator.

If you tried this recipe please comment and rate it 🙂 I love hearing your feedback and answering your questions!

Looking for some other great soup recipes?

• Ham and Potato Soup
• Easy Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
• Savory Butternut Squash Soup

You can find a full index of my recipes here.

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