Taco Soup

My cousin, Nancy (you can find her here), piqued my interest about Taco Soup a few months ago. I had never had it nor heard of it and that sent me in search of a simple recipe and since I had all of the ingredients on hand I made it that night. It was good and I have made it again since then, but I have been searching for another recipe to try. A few days ago, I found it! It sounded oh so good! You can find the original recipe at Little Birdie Secrets.

Here it is with the changes that I made:

Taco Soup
1 can (16 oz) refried beans (I used Fat Free)
1 can (16 oz) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (16 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 oz) chicken broth
1 1/2 cups frozen corn OR 1 can whole kernel corn (I used Sweet Whole Kernel Corn No Salt Added)
3/4 cup salsa
3/4 cup cubed cooked chicken OR 1 lb. ground beef, browned (I used 2 chicken breasts cubed)
1/2 cup water
1 package of Taco Seasoning Mix
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Tortilla chips, optional

Coat a large saucepan with nonstick cooking spray and add the cubed chicken breasts, saute until browned. In a large saucepan, combine first 8 9 ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add cheese. If you like, crumble tortilla chips on bottom of bowl and ladle soup over chips. You can also just crush a few chips on top of the soup if you prefer. Sprinkle cheese over top of the soup and serve with chips on the side. It's also great topped with a spoonful of sour cream.

This soup was really good. It was a thick and hearty soup. The kids loved it and asked me if we could have it for tomorrow for lunch. I highly recommend trying it (with or without the alterations)!!