Dump the bag in, let toppings finish it.
Some nights the fastest dinner is the one where nobody measures anything. A freezer bag of raw ground turkey, two cans of beans, corn, and diced tomatoes goes into the slow cooker still frozen solid, plugged in before the school run at 7 a.m.
By the time practice ends the soup only needs a bowl, a spoon, and whatever is already in the fridge door. Shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips, a dollop of sour cream, and a squeeze of lime turn the same base into six different dinners across a week.
Ingredients
The batch makes about 10 cups (serves 6). Plan on about 25 minutes to cook, then freeze.
- 1.5 pounds ground turkey or beef
- 1 packet taco seasoning and 1 packet ranch seasoning
- 2 cans (15 oz each) beans (black and pinto), drained
- 1 can (15 oz) corn, drained
- 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes and 1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles
- 2 cups broth
How to Make It
- Brown the meat, then stir in both seasoning packets.
- Add the beans, corn, both cans of tomatoes, and broth.
- Simmer 15 minutes; this is a dump-and-simmer soup, so it is hard to get wrong.
- Cool completely before freezing.
Freeze It
A bean-and-corn soup like this freezes perfectly and there are no noodles to worry about. Freeze it flat.
- Freeze flat in labeled bags or quart containers (best within 3 months)
- Leave a little headroom for expansion
- Single portions thaw faster than one big block
Thaw and reheat on practice night
Reheat from frozen on the stove or in the slow cooker; it only gets better.
- Stovetop from frozen: covered pot with a splash of broth, 15 to 20 minutes, stirring
- Slow cooker: a frozen pack on low for 4 hours during practice
- Microwave a single portion from frozen, 5 to 6 minutes
- Serve with: shredded cheese, tortilla chips, sour cream, avocado
Parent Tip
Set out the toppings so each kid customizes their own bowl.
Make it fit tonight
Small changes that make this one fit your night
Use ground turkey instead of beef for a lighter pot
Turkey picks up the taco seasoning fine and costs less than beef most weeks.
Skip the meat and add a third can of black beans
A vegetarian version that still fills a twelve-year-old up.
Spoon it over rice for a burrito bowl instead of a bowl of soup
Turns the same pot into a different dinner without extra cooking.
Stir in a block of cream cheese at the end
Melts into the broth and mellows the spice for younger kids.
Pour it over chips for taco soup nachos
The liquid softens the chips just enough without turning them soggy.
Plan the next step
Freeze a batch
Use the planner to simmer a big pot of taco soup and freeze it in packs.