This creamy taco soup is a quick and cozy one-pot recipe with ground turkey, veggies, corn, beans, flavor-packed spices, and ranch seasoning. Cream cheese adds just the right amount of tangy richness. It’s so good!
Put a creamy spin on classic taco soup, you won’t be sorry. You might also like this creamy chicken enchilada soup and this easy, one-pot Instant Pot tortilla soup!
This turkey taco soup is quickly becoming one of my favorite ways to put a cozy spin on taco night, and a creamier spin on taco soup. Instead of actual tacos, I make this rich and creamy taco soup packed with tender ground turkey and vegetables, with zesty spices, tangy cream cheese, and Greek yogurt. Everyone can add their favorite toppings, and it’s quick and easy to make.
What Makes This Taco Soup Recipe So Irresistible
- Light and creamy. I use fat-free Greek yogurt and cream cheese, tempered with the hot broth, to thicken the soup and make it creamy. Tempering is quick, and it keeps the dairy from curdling.
- Full of flavor. Ranch seasoning adds instant flavor to the creamy broth along with your classic Tex-Mex spices.
- Flexible. You can make this soup as mild or as spicy as you’d like. It’s also easy to adapt the ingredients to what’s on hand in the fridge.
- 30 minutes. That’s all the time it takes to make this taco soup on the stovetop. It’s great for weeknights and you can make it ahead, too, for easy reheating.
What You’ll Need
Recently, I made my creamy Italian sausage soup with cream cheese as the “creamy” component. It works so well that I knew I wanted to use it in this Mexican-style soup, too. These are some notes on the ingredients, and you’ll find the full recipe with amounts in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Onion and Bell Pepper – Diced yellow onion and red bell pepper (or any color). Red, yellow, and orange bell peppers are sweeter than green peppers.
- Garlic – Freshly minced. If needed, substitute 1 teaspoon of garlic paste or ½ teaspoon of garlic powder per fresh clove.
- Ground Turkey – You can also make this soup with lean ground beef, pork, or chicken. It’s also a great way to use up leftover cooked, shredded chicken or turkey.
- Taco Seasoning – You can use a package of your favorite store-bought seasoning or a homemade blend of spices like chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and cumin.
- Ranch Seasoning – My “secret” ingredients for the BEST taco soup! Choose your preferred ranch dressing mix, like Hidden Valley. If you have a homemade ranch seasoning you’d like to use instead, you’ll need about 2 tablespoons of seasoning to replace the amount in one store-bought packet.
- Canned Tomatoes – I like to use canned fire-roasted tomatoes along with a can of Rotel tomatoes with chilies, for extra depth of flavor. Leave the tomatoes and Rotel undrained.
- Beans – This recipe calls for black beans and white beans, but you can use any combination of canned beans you’d like. Good alternatives are navy beans, kidney beans, and pinto beans. Drain and rinse the canned beans before adding them to the soup.
- Corn – If you’re using canned corn, remember to drain it. You can also shave the kernels from cooked corn on the cob.
- Beef Broth – You can also use chicken broth or homemade stock. Your soup just may not have the same depth of flavor.
- Greek Yogurt – I make my creamy taco soup a bit lighter with fat-free plain Greek yogurt instead of heavy cream. Low-fat or fat-free sour cream is a good substitute.
- Cream Cheese – Again, I use fat-free cream cheese (feel free to swap in full-fat versions if you prefer). Cut the cream cheese into cubes and bring it to room temperature along with the yogurt before you start.
Taco Soup Toppings
- Avocado
- Tortilla chips
- Shredded cheese
- Green onions
- Fresh cilantro
- Squeeze of lime
How to Make Creamy Taco Soup
Here’s a quick step-by-step overview showing how to make this creamy taco soup. Scroll down to the recipe card for the printable instructions.
- Sauté. Start by sautéeing diced onions and peppers in a large soup pot or Dutch oven. Once the veggies are softened, add the garlic.
- Brown the meat. Next, add the ground turkey and cook until browned, breaking up the meat while it cooks. Then, stir in your seasonings.
- Add the rest of the ingredients. Dump in the tomatoes and Rotel, along with the beans, corn, and broth. Bring the pot to a boil while stirring occasionally, and leave it to boil for 10 minutes. Afterward, take the pot off the heat before you add the dairy.
- Temper the cream cheese. Now, scoop out about 1 cup of broth from the soup and whisk it together with the room temperature yogurt and cream cheese. This is an extra step, but it’s quick, and it ensures the dairy doesn’t curdle when combined with the soup.
- Make it creamy. Slowly stir the mixture into the soup and let it heat through. Your creamy taco soup is ready to serve!
Tips and Variations
- Bring the dairy to room temperature. Remember to take your dairy ingredients, like Greek yogurt and cream cheese, out of the fridge so they come to room temperature before you add them to the soup. Cold dairy is more likely to split when it’s combined with the hot soup, if you try to temper it first.
- Temper the dairy. It’s worthwhile to temper the yogurt and cream cheese with a bit of hot broth first, before stirring them into the soup. It’s one more way to ensure that the yogurt doesn’t curdle.
- Make it spicy. Swap mild Rotel with the spicy one. You can also spice up the soup even more with cayenne pepper or chili flakes.
- If you don’t have Rotel, but you have canned tomatoes, consider buying a can of mild (or hot) green chilies to add to the soup. They bring loads of flavor!
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
- Refrigerate. Leftovers last in the fridge for up to 4 days. Let the soup cool completely and store it in an airtight container.
- Reheat. Warm the soup on the stovetop over low heat.
- Freeze. Cream cheese doesn’t freeze well and makes the soup a bit grainy when thawed. If you plan to freeze this soup, consider leaving out the cream cheese and yogurt until you thaw and reheat it.
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Description
This one-pot creamy taco soup is loaded with tender ground turkey and veggies with corn, beans, and flavor-packed spices in a rich, creamy broth. It’s easy to make in 30 minutes!
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 36 ounces of lean ground turkey
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 2 (1-ounce) packages taco seasoning
- 1 (1-ounce) package Ranch seasoning
- 1 (15-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 (10-ounce) can fire-roasted Rotel tomatoes and chilis, undrained
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15-ounce) can small white beans, drained
- 1 (15-ounce) can of corn, drained
- 1 (32-ounce) can beef broth
- 1 cup fat-free plain Greek Yogurt, room temperature
- 4 ounces low-fat cream cheese, room temperature, cubed
- Optional garnish: cilantro, shredded cheese, tortilla chips, diced avocado
- Heat olive oil in a large 7-quart Dutch oven over medium heat. Add in the diced onion and bell pepper and cook for 5-6 minutes, until softened. Add in the minced garlic and cook for an additional minute.
- Add in the ground turkey and cook, breaking up large pieces, until no pink remains. Add in the salt, pepper, taco seasoning, and ranch seasoning. Stir to combine.
- Add in the tomatoes, Rotel, black beans, white beans, corn, and beef broth. Stir occasionally and bring to a low boil. Allow the soup to boil for 10 minutes and remove from the heat.
- Add the yogurt and cream cheese to a bowl. Remove 1 cup of broth and slowly whisk it into the bowl with the yogurt and cream cheese to temper it. This will help prevent the dairy from curdling when adding it back into the soup.
- Slowly add the yogurt mixture into the soup and stir to combine.
- Serve warm and garnish as desired.
