This is a variation of taco soup that I make often as the temps outside begin to dip! A couple of things make my soup different. The first is that I use dry pinto beans rather than canned. They are easy to cook, and much less costly that canned. I do stick with canned for the other types of beans, as they’re not as easy or as inexpensive to do from scratch.
The second thing is that I don’t use the whole packs of seasoning! I am pretty frugal, and find that there is plenty of flavor using just half, and carefully folding down the package top to save for another batch! So let’s get to it, shall we? Here is…
Sondra Lyn’s Three Bean Taco Soup
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 onion, chopped
- ½ pound dried pinto beans, soaked and cooked (see How-To below!)
- 1 can black beans
- 1 can kidney beans
- 2 cans diced tomatoes
- 1 can tomatoes with green chilis
- 1 can chicken broth
- ½ pkg. taco seasoning
- ½ pkg. dry ranch dip/dressing mix
- 1 can whole kernel corn
Garnishes:
- Corn chips
- Cheese, grated
- Sour cream
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 onion, chopped
- ½ pound dried pinto beans, soaked and cooked (see How-To below!)
- 1 can black beans
- 1 can kidney beans
- 2 cans diced tomatoes
- 1 can tomatoes with green chilis
- 1 can chicken broth
- ½ pkg. taco seasoning
- ½ pkg. dry ranch dip/dressing mix
- 1 can whole kernel corn
- Garnishes:
- Corn chips
- Cheese, grated
- Sour cream
- Sauté the onions in a little olive oil, set aside in small bowl.
- Brown the ground round in same pan, drain on paper towels. (I like to drain even the lean cuts of beef).
- Combine all ingredients -except corn- into large stock pot.
- Simmer for ½ hour, adding corn just before serving (see HINT below).
- Garnish with grated cheese and sour cream. Serve with corn chips or corn bread!
How to Cook Dried Beans:
The first thing you’re going to want to do is re-hydrate the beans. Do this earlier in the day than when you want to make your soup. You want to rinse your dry pintos in a colander as these beans are packaged and arrive at your grocery still pretty dirty! You sometimes might even find a stone or hardened piece of dirt amongst them! No matter… you’re going to rinse now, and even yet again.
Rinse in a colander and remove stones, if any. Put in a large pot, with 1-2 inches of water covering the top of the dry beans. Bring to a full rolling boil on your stove. Boil for 2-3 minutes. Remove, cover and let sit for 1 hour (you can be preparing other steps during this time…). This is called parboiling. The other method of preparing dry beans is to cover with the same amount of cold water and let sit overnight.
After soaking, once again pour off the water. Some people skip this step, but it removes some of the enzymes which causes tummy trouble for lot of us, plus flushes out the remaining sediment.
Now you will simmer your beans for 40 minutes or so. Don’t bring to a hard boil, just simmer and cook until tender, but not mushy!
Whatever you do, don’t add tomatoes just yet! Did you know that the acid in the tomatoes, if added to already cooking vegetables will halt the cooking process in those other foods? So for instance, if you’re making a veggie soup with potatoes, if you add tomatoes before those spuds ever get tender, they never will!! Same with beans… they won’t finish cooking with tomatoes in the pot!
When the beans are cooked tender, you are ready to make the soup. I will usually drain a little of the liquid off the beans and use the same pot for preparing the soup. Then I just follow the recipe instructions above!
Enjoy! The temps are falling!!
Have a great day,
Today’s HINT:
When adding whole kernel corn to a soup, always add toward the end, just before serving! The longer corn is heated at higher temperatures, the tougher it becomes! So to keep it nice and crisp-tender, always add last!!
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