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Santa Fe Taco Soup

Santa Fe taco soup is a Tex-Mex one-pot meal with tender shredded chicken, black beans, corn, and green chiles simmered in a tomato-broth base. It’s finished with Southwestern toppings like sour cream, avocado, cotija, cilantro, and crispy tortilla strips for a fresh, spoonable texture.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: Tex-Mex
Calories: 430
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Soup base
  • 1.5 lb chicken breast cooked and shredded
  • 1 can (15 oz) black beans drained
  • 1 can (15 oz) corn drained
  • 1 can (4 oz) diced green chiles
  • 1 can (10 oz) Rotel tomatoes
  • 1 can (14 oz) fire-roasted diced tomatoes
  • 1 packet (1 oz) taco seasoning
  • 1 packet (1 oz) ranch dressing mix
  • 4 cup chicken broth
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 0.5 tsp smoked paprika
  • salt to taste
  • pepper to taste
Santa Fe toppings
  • sour cream
  • avocado diced
  • cotija cheese crumbled
  • cilantro fresh
  • lime wedges
  • tortilla strips crispy

Equipment

  • 1 Dutch oven

Method
 

Cook the soup
  1. Add shredded chicken, black beans, corn, green chiles, Rotel tomatoes, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, taco seasoning, ranch dressing mix, chicken broth, cumin, and smoked paprika to a large pot. Stir to combine so the seasonings distribute evenly.
  2. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the flavors meld.
  3. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir well and taste once more to confirm the balance.
Serve with toppings
  1. Spoon the taco soup into bowls. Top each serving with sour cream, diced avocado, crumbled cotija, fresh cilantro, and lime wedges.
  2. Finish with crispy tortilla strips just before eating. Serve immediately for the best crunch.

Notes

For deeper flavor, let the soup stand off the heat for 5 minutes before serving. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 4 days; freeze up to 3 months (freeze without tortilla strips and, if possible, without fresh toppings). To keep it lighter, swap sour cream for plain Greek yogurt.