Skinny Beef Taco Tortilla Soup (Instant Pot or Stove Top)
Skinny beef tacos meet tortilla soup in this easy, truly delicious, main course soup. Made in an instant pot (pressure cooker) but I did include directions for the stovetop. Each very filling, 2 cup serving has 270 calories, and 5 grams of fat.  My husband loved it so much, he ate it for lunch and dinner on the same day. One bite and you’ll be hooked too!
Helpful Tips About this Recipe
Makes 10 cups or 5 main-course servings (2 cups each)
Shopping Tips
Most supermarkets sell extra lean ground beef. I used the 96% lean ground beef from Trader Joe’s. Sometimes I use a grass-fed 94% lean ground beef  I found at my local supermarket. You could also use ground turkey if desired.
Prep Tips
The quickest way to defrost frozen corn: add corn to a small colander. Run hot water over corn and drain. It’s now defrosted!
WW Freestyle SmartPoints 4-Blue
WW SmartPoints 5-Green
Shopping Tips
Most supermarkets sell extra lean ground beef. I used the 96% lean ground beef from Trader Joe’s. Sometimes I use a grass-fed 94% lean ground beef  I found at my local supermarket. You could also use ground turkey if desired.
Prep Tips
The quickest way to defrost frozen corn: add corn to a small colander. Run hot water over corn and drain. It’s now defrosted!
WW Freestyle SmartPoints 4-Blue
WW SmartPoints 5-Green
| SKINNY FACTS: for 2 cup serving 270 calories, 5g fat, 2g sat. fat, 40mg chol, 24g prot, 31g carbs, 6g fiber, 1,306mg sod, 7g sugar |
| FACTS: for Freestyle SmartPoints 162 calories, 2g sat. fat, 21g protein, 2g sugar |
Skinny Beef Taco Tortilla Soup (Instant Pot or Stove Top)
Ingredients
Ingredients for Soup:
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 pound extra-lean ground beef, I used Trader Joe’s 96%, see shopping tips
- 2 cups onions, diced
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 2 (6-inch) corn tortillas, chopped
- 1 oz package Lawry’s taco seasoning or your favorite
- A little black pepper
- 1 (32 oz) container (4 cups) reduced-sodium chicken broth, I like Swanson’s
- 1 (15 oz) can fire-roasted tomatoes
- 1 cup frozen and thawed corn, see prep tip
- 1 (4 oz) can Ortega fire-roasted diced green chiles (mild)
Ingredients for Topping: Optional
- Crushed reduced-fat tortilla chips
- Plain nonfat yogurt or sour cream
- Reduced-fat cheddar cheese, shredded
- Salsa
Instructions
Instructions for Instant Pot:
- Add onions to a microwave-safe plate and cook for 1 minute, to soften. Coat Instant Pot with cooking spray. Add 1 teaspoon olive oil, ground beef, and softened onions. Brown beef and onions, stirring often to break up the beef into a crumble. If the meat sticks to the pot, add 2 tablespoons of water. Cook for 3 minutes. Add garlic and continue to cook until beef is completely browned about 2 additional minutes. Drain any fat from beef by pouring into a colander in the sink to drain. Once drained, add the meat back to pot.
- To the cooked beef, mix in chopped tortillas, taco seasoning, and a little pepper. Sauté for 2 minutes. Stir most of the time.
- Stir in chicken broth, tomatoes, corn, and green chilies. Cover instant pot and lock cover into place. Seal steam nozzle. Choose Soup setting. Set manually for 10 minutes. Once done, turn off instant pot. Let pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then release any remaining pressure.
- For each serving: Add 2 cups soup to each bowl. Add any optional toppings, if desired. I like mine topped with a little reduced-fat cheese.
- This soup freezes great!
Instructions for Stove Top:
- Add onions to a microwave-safe plate and cook for 1 minute, to soften. Coat a large nonstick pot or pan with cooking spray. Add 1 teaspoon olive oil, ground beef, and softened onions. Brown beef and onions, stirring often to break up the beef into a crumble. If the meat sticks to the pot, add 2 tablespoons of water. Cook for 3 minutes. Add garlic and continue to cook until beef is completely browned about 2 additional minutes. Drain any fat from beef by pouring into a colander in the sink to drain. Once drained, add the meat back to pot or pan.
- To the cooked beef, mix in chopped tortillas, taco seasoning, and a little pepper. Sauté for 2 minutes. Stir most of the time.
- Stir in chicken broth, tomatoes, corn, and green chilies. Bring up to a boil, turn down heat and simmer, uncovered, for 25 minutes.
- For each serving: Add 2 cups soup to each bowl. Add any optional toppings, if desired. I like mine topped with a little reduced-fat cheese.
- This soup freezes great!
Nutrition
Serving: 2cupsCalories: 270kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 24gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 40mgSodium: 1306mgFiber: 6gSugar: 7gBlue Smart Points: 4Green Smart Points: 5
Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!
This is so delicious! I added cilantro to mine and a couple of Fritos as a topping yummy!
Thanks so much. Love your additions Trish!
All the best,
Nancy
Please include the Purple Points! Thanks….
Hi Marie,
I’m so sorry but at this point I’ll only be including Blue and Green points. For all of these years, I use a different program than WW to input all of my recipes to do the nutrition facts and points.
I have hundreds of recipes and don’t have the time to input them into WW to make the calculations for the purple plan. Maybe in the future.
My best,
Nancy
I mad this tonight and it seemed the onion overpowered all the other flavors, is 2 cups of onion really right? Or was it because I cooked the onions in the pot first, then cook the beef and the rest according to the recipe? I not much of a cook, any advice.
Karyn, I’m thinking that maybe your onions weren’t cooked long enough so the flavor was too strong. That said, if you decide to try this recipe again, make it with 1 cup of onions instead of 2 cups.
Best of luck!
Nancy
This is a keeper and already looking forward to making it again so good. Thank you.
I’m delighted you enjoyed this soup. Thanks so much for letting me know, Dale!
All the best,
Nancy
This soup is delicious. But, unless I did something wrong the corn tortillas didn’t add much to the soup.
Tom, I’m thrilled to hear you enjoy this soup. Thank you! I actually love the flavor the tortillas add plus it does make the soup a bit thicker. But hey, if you don’t, next time leave them out. This recipe is very flexible.
All the best,
Nancy
can I use can corn in this soup?
Absolutely Martha. I often add it to mine.
Enjoy!
My best,
Nancy