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Come on now. A bowl of soup is the semi-liquid incarnation of tacos? I know, I know, that sounds like something a soup cult would dream up. But this 30-minute vegan taco soup packs bomb flavor, is actually nourishing AF and there's no animal products or gluten in sight!
Recipe tips tailored to what matters most to you:
Already gluten-free as written. Just double check your taco seasoning packet, some brands sneak wheat in as a filler.
Grab canned Goya ranchera-style refried beans instead of homemade, cuts prep time way down.
Make your own refried beans instead of canned, cheaper and way better, and DIY vegan sour cream saves a store run too.
Stir in extra bell peppers or zucchini for more veggies, and skip the cheese and sour cream toppings to keep it lighter.
No chipotle peppers in adobo on hand? A big ol' spoonful of smoked paprika will do in a pinch, though you'll miss some heat.
Letting the taco seasoning, coriander, and nutritional yeast toast in hot oil for a full minute is where the magical depth happens.
Once everything is in the pot, keep it at a gentle simmer instead of a rolling boil. Do you really want to make the beans split, the corn toughen, and the other ingredients scorching on the bottom of the pot? Plus, this just doesn't need the extra cooking time anyway, so chill.
As much as we love cast iron around here it has absolutely no business being near this soup. The tomatoes are highly acidic and will leach metallic flavors straight out of the pot and into your broth, and it may cause discoloration to your pot too. Grab a stainless steel or enameled pot instead and thank yourself later.
Oodles more tips, step-by-step recipe photos, info on weird ingredients, and FAQs are all still here. I just tucked 'em out of the way so you can start cooking sooner.
I know, there's all kinds of Mexican soups that are more authentic. Vegan pozole verde, sopa de fideo, Mexican lentil soup, and vegan pozole rojo, to name a few. But this isn't trying to be authentic, it's trying to be a slammin' dinner that your whole crew will adore without booking up your kitchen for the rest of your living days.
Aside from killer flavor (yep, we're blooming spices to make the soup base) it's also hearty as all get out. We're putting 3 types of beans to work and ending up with a broth so thick and creamy you'd never know animal ingredients weren't invited. However, considerably more soup-like in thickness than a hat full of vegan chili.
Serve this nutritious meal with some vegan cornbread, some tofu chorizo-stuffed vegan taquitos and you have yourself a very complete and satisfying Tex-Mex monster on your hands. Pile on the vegan sour cream, grated cheese, avocado, black olives, baked tortilla strips and cilantro because the toppings themselves are the whole event. It's 1 pot, freezer-friendly and tastes even better the next day, which I need at my age (You got that right. I am a 400-year old frog man who hopped out of the culinary swamp into your computer screen.)
Make this easy comfort food for your entire family who claims they don't like vegan food. Especially that picky kid.
This soup came together quickly and easily . I can add different variations each time I eat it with the various garnishes. It also freezes really well. I have some thawing in my fridge right now! I love soup, and this delicious bowl of yummy will become an all time favorite!!!
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🥰 Why you'll adore this vegan taco soup recipe
✊ Vegan AF & GF: Plant-based from top to bottom and it's one of my fave gluten-free vegan recipes to boot.
⏱️ 30 Minutes and You're Done: This comes together on the stovetop in 30 minutes (if you are slow in the kitchen), which is frankly offensive, considering how good it tastes.
🛒 Pantry Staples Are the Main Characters: Everything here lives in a regular grocery store and not a single specialty Mexican market trip is required, which is honestly the whole magic of vegan Tex-Mex recipes in the first place.
🌶️ Totally Customizable: Extra jalapeño, or none at all, more beans, all your favorite toppings or a big handful of pan fried seitan thrown in for anyone who couldn't care less about gluten.
Tested and Approved Worldwide: Like all your favorite vegan Mexican recipes I share, this one was perfected with feedback from over 1,000 recipe testers from all over the globe before it landed here. They made it, they loved it and some of their photos were better than mine.
I'm on my knees staring weirdly into your eyes, asking you in a soothing voice to be my taste-testing partner in crime. Sign up for the recipe testing crew and get early access to new recipes before they're published.
🌮 Vegan Taco Soup Ingredients
Taco Seasoning
Not all store-bought taco seasoning packets are worth using. The sodium levels vary so wildly between brands that some of them are basically just salt with ambitions. I personally steer clear of any that contain maltodextrin or MSG, but that's just my preference. A homemade blend or store-bought fajita seasoning are both solid alternatives if you can't get your hands on a non-garbage taco seasoning.
Nutritional Yeast
Nutritional yeast flakes and powder both work in this recipe. If you get some to make this great recipe with and don't know what else to do with it, it's essential for making vegan nacho cheese, vegan cotija cheese and vegan elote.
Vegan Refried Beans
The vegan refried beans in this moderately spicy soup are doing the Lord's work. Uh, if God is responsible for thickening soups, that is.
My vegan refried beans recipe is cheap, has a little lime in it and is superior to anything in a can, at least in my opinion. That said, I have tried approximately 60 zillion store-bought options and the Goya ranchera-style refried beans are my daughter's fave.
Vegetable Stock
Please do try to use unsalted vegetable stock, either from a store or homemade. If all you can get is salted or low sodium stock just ease back on the salt you add to taste later or things are gonna get absurdly salty real fast.
Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
Cut back or even eliminate jalapeños from this recipe if you hate spice, but nobody is making this hot soup without chipotle peppers in adobo and that is final!
My chipotle peppers in adobo sauce recipe unlocks this from scratch for way less money and with way more natural ingredients. Buying instead? La Costeña and La Morena are the brands to grab. In a pinch, a spoonful of smoked paprika will have to do.
Vegan Sour Cream
Make your own vegan sour cream because it's cheaper and frankly easier than having to drive out to a store.
If you're buying some, Kite Hill and Tofutti are my faves. Unsweetened plant-based yogurt with a tiny pinch of salt works as a substitute, or you can just leave it out.
Vegan Cheese
Okay, so for the melty cheese situation on top, I really recommend very finely grated vegan pepper jack or cheddar. Daiya with a microplane will do the trick for that.
Alternatively I teach how to make a proper homemade vegan cheddar in my Plant-Based Cheese School cooking class and homemade is always gonna win for me.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
📖How to make vegan taco soup
Ready to rock out the soup that's about to become your fam's most-requested recipe? Follow these step-by-step recipe photos with all my hot tips and you'll nail it on the very first try. Or scroll down to the printable recipe card if you're the type who skips the tutorial and figures it out anyway.
Step One
Onion Dues:
Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. After about 90 seconds, add the diced onion and carrots, cooking and stirring regularly for 5-6 minutes until they are softened and translucent.
Step Two
Livin La Vida Taco:
Add the minced garlic, taco seasoning, coriander, and nutritional yeast. Continue cooking over medium heat for about a minute, allowing the spices to bloom in the oil without burning the garlic.
Step Three
Beans, Beans, The Musical Fruit:
Stir in the diced jalapeño pepper (or leave it out if you hate high spice level stuff), minced chipotle peppers, black beans, pinto beans, refried beans, crushed tomatoes, and vegetable stock.
Raise the heat to bring everything to a steady, gentle boil.
Step Four
Sim Simmer, Who's Got the Keys to My Bimmer?
Once the soup reaches a boil, lower the heat to medium-low and let it gently simmer for 10 minutes.
Step Five
Corn On the Fourth of July:
Add the corn, chopped cilantro, and salt. Let the delicious soup simmer for another 5 minutes, then taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
Step Six
Soup, There It Is:
Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with vegan sour cream, grated vegan cheese, sliced black olives, diced avocado, corn tortillas (strips or chips), and extra cilantro leaves.
Grab my easy-yo-use app that builds your whole week with real, chef-tested vegan dinners in 30 seconds, customized to your budget, time, and taste, with a shopping list sorted by aisle.
💡Serving Ideas
Look, if you're already making this easy one-pot meal, you might as well commit fully and go full Mexican feast mode. Vegan jackfruit enchiladas and vegan tamales sit alongside this soup like they were born for it.
A side of vegan tostadas, or some vegan Mexican rice and tortilla chips and salsa might be just the stuff to round this out. Now what kinda salsa? Glad you asked. My top picks would be salsa ranchera, roasted habanero salsa, avocado mango salsa, or Chile de arbol salsa.
👉 Top tips
- Bloom the spices for realsies before adding liquids: Letting the taco seasoning, coriander, and nutritional yeast toast in hot oil for a full minute is where the depth happens. This step wakes up the dried spices and transforms their "raw powder" taste into lively flavor magic.
- Control the simmer, don't let it boil aggressively: Once everything is in the pot, keep it at a gentle simmer instead of a rolling boil. Do you really want to make the beans split, the corn toughen, and the other ingredients scorching on the bottom of the pot? Plus, this just doesn't need the extra cooking time anyway, so chill.
- Cast Iron Is Canceled For This Recipe: As much as we love cast iron around here it has absolutely no business being near this soup. The tomatoes are highly acidic and will leach metallic flavors straight out of the pot and into your broth, and it may cause discoloration to your pot too. Grab a stainless steel or enameled pot instead and thank yourself later.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
We are not serving watery taco soup in this house. Simmer it uncovered a few extra minutes and let the excess liquid cook off. Still too thin? Just stir in some additional refried beans and you are all good.
🧊 Refrigeration
Allow the leftover soup to cool to room temperature before transferring it into an airtight container(s). Store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, keeping garnishes separate so they stay fresh, and don't get reheated with the soup.
❄️ Freezing
Transfer fully cooled soup into freezer-safe containers, leaving a little space at the top for expansion. For the best flavor and texture, please promise me you will use it before 3 months when the icicles start to form and your soup looks like it has entered the permafrost.
🌡️ Thawing
Move the soup from the freezer to the refrigerator and let it thaw overnight. For a quicker option, place the sealed container in a bowl of cold water until loosened enough to transfer to a pot.
🔥 Stovetop reheating
Pour the soup into a pot and reheat over medium heat, stirring occasionally until warmed through. If it has thickened too much, add a splash of vegetable stock or water to loosen it to your desired consistency.
✌️You'll also love these vegan Tex-Mex soups:
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Vegan Taco Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 cup onion diced
- 1 cup carrot minced
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 4 teaspoons taco seasoning
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons chipotle peppers in adobo sauce minced
- ¼ cup jalapeño diced (optional)
- 15 oz. canned black beans drained and rinsed
- 15 oz. canned pinto beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup vegan refried beans
- 28 oz. canned crushed tomatoes fire roasted if available
- 4 cups unsalted vegetable stock
- 2 cups corn kernels fresh or frozen
- ½ cup cilantro chopped
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt or to taste
For Serving:
- Vegan sour cream
- vegan cheddar cheese shreds or pepper jack cheese, grated
- Sliced black olives
- Avocado diced
- Tortilla strips or chips
- Cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. After 90 seconds, add the diced onion and carrots and cook, stirring regularly, until softened and translucent, 5-6 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic, the taco seasoning, coriander, and nutritional yeast. Continue to sauté for about a minute over medium heat to bloom the spices in the hot oil without scorching the garlic.
- Add the diced jalapeño (or leave it out if you hate spice), minced chipotle peppers, black beans, pinto beans, refried beans, crushed tomatoes, and vegetable stock. Stir together making sure the glob of refried beans has mixed into the body of the soup, then increase the heat to bring the soup to a steady boil.
- Once boiling, reduce to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the corn, chopped cilantro, and salt. Simmer for 5 minutes, then taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
- Ladle into bowls and serve with vegan sour cream, grated vegan cheese, sliced black olives, diced avocado, tortilla strips or chips, and additional cilantro leaves.
Notes
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Melanie Kelley says
Easy to make and delicious! I'm glad to hear it freezes well.
Kathleen Lewis says
This soup came together quickly and easily . I can add different variations each time I eat it with the various garnishes. It also freezes really well. I have some thawing in my fridge right now! I love soup, and this delicious bowl of yummy will become an all time favorite!!!