Pantry Taco Soup

This soup = ten pantry ingredients + no chopping! One entire meal straight from your pantry or food storage, for times when you’re in a hurry or haven’t been able to get fresh groceries. And it’s SO YUMMY!

Of course, ideally you have an avocado, cilantro and some corn tortillas to toast up and crumble into your soup. But if you don’t, no problem! It’s still delicious.

• NO chopping!
• 10-30 minutes TOPS
• Not too spicy, just right!
• Uses ALL pantry ingredients, no fresh food necessary.

Why Pantry Ingredients?

I don’t believe in living in fear, but I do believe in being prepared and self-reliant. You never know when truck drivers could go on strike, and grocery shelves are bare for a while. Or a power outage prevents business from carrying on as usual. Natural disasters, political unrest, icy roads….all kinds of things can prevent us from getting to the store, or grocery deliveries from getting to your house. It’s just wise to keep non-perishable food on hand. I can’t imagine not having food for my kids, even for one meal or one day.

A few staples that come to mind to have stored up: Canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans, rice, spices, lentils, pasta, oats, flour, salt, baking powder, raisins, dried fruit, nuts, salsa, canned/frozen vegetables and fruit.

You can package the ingredients for this soup (the spices pre-measured out into a little bag) into a kit for a meal ready to make! It would be a great gift, too.

This soup is very quick, and if you don’t use quinoa or rice (or you add it pre-cooked), it’s literally a dump-and-heat-up meal that will take 10 minutes.

If you absolutely love chopping (and more depth of flavor) you could saute an onion and garlic clove first, and then add the remaining ingredients. That would also be delicious. If I was really trying to impress a die-hard meat-lover with it, I’d consider sauteing some Beyond Beef crumbles, too. They’re not healthy by any means, but they’d fool anyone into thinking they were eating real hamburger. This soup is really yummy just as written though! The simple way is how I’ll always make it.

This soup would be perfectly paired with a hot pan of my tender healthy cornbread. And if you have leftover black beans, make these Black Bean Brownie Cookies for dessert!

5 from 3 votes

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Pantry Taco Soup

Using all pantry/food storage ingredients, this quick soup is healthy and delicious!

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: food storage, pantry, quick, simple, taco soup

Author: Faithful Plateful

Ingredients

• 4 cups vegetable broth (I use Better than Bouillon base)
• 1/2 cup dry quinoa*
• 1 14-oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 14-oz can tomato sauce
• 1 4-oz can green chilies
• 2 14-oz cans black or pinto beans, drained (or 3 cups cooked beans)
• 1 can corn, or 1 cup frozen corn
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika

For serving, if available

• 1 TBSP red wine vinegar OR the juice of 1 lime
• chopped cilantro
• corn tortilas, toasted
• avocado
• salt, peppper, and/or hot sauce to taste

Instructions

1. Stir all ingredients together in a large pot. Bring to a simmer, and set timer for 15 minutes of simmering.

2. Add vinegar or lime juice for acidity, and taste. Add salt or more chili powder to taste.

3. Top each bowl with cilantro, toasted corn tortillas or tortilla chips, and diced avocado. I toast corn tortillas in my toaster until golden brown for quick oil-free chips.

Recipe Notes

*If you prefer rice instead of quinoa, you'll need to let it simmer for about 30 minutes, or just add pre-cooked rice to the soup and you'll only need to heat everything up for a few minutes. Alternatively, just skip the grain all together for a 10-minute meal.