Queso Keto Taco Soup Recipe (Quick & Easy)
This delicious keto soup recipe tastes more amazing than you can imagine. Queso Keto Taco Soup Recipe is rich, creamy, and packed with tons of bold taco flavor. It reminds me of my favorite queso dip in soup form. You are going to love this and keep it on regular rotation in your low-carb meal plan. I’ve also included instructions for the Instant Pot or Crockpot.
Queso Keto Taco Soup Recipe (Easy & Quick)
It is hard to believe that you can eat food that tastes exactly like queso dip and lose weight. I would have never believed it if I hadn’t been experiencing it myself. This Easy Taco Soup Recipe became a favorite of ours very quickly and has since become one of the most popular recipes I’ve posted. It’s super easy to whip up and tastes even better the second day if you happen to have any leftovers.
Tip: I’ve recently made a homemade taco seasoning you can substitute instead of the taco seasoning packet. You can find the recipe here.
Simple Ingredients for Queso Keto Taco Soup:
This recipe comes together so quickly with just a few simple ingredients that you likely already have in your pantry. While there isn’t any cheese in the ingredients, this low-carb taco soup recipe tastes so much like queso dip. I’m not sure if it is the cream cheese and taco seasoning together, but everyone loves this soup even if they aren’t eating keto.
- ground beef – I prefer an 80/20 blend
- onion – add to the ground beef mixture for added flavor
- Rotel Tomatoes (or diced tomatoes with green chilis) – It’s simply a can of diced tomatoes with green chilis already added.
- cream cheese – adds creaminess and fat
- beef broth – the base of the soup you can also use homemade beef bone broth
- heavy cream – also adds creaminess, fat, and flavor
- seasonings – gives the bold taco flavor
Traditional taco soup recipes often add black beans, but since they are high in carbs, those that follow a keto diet avoid them.
Have you tried my Cheesy Mexican Taco Casserole yet?
Start by browning the ground beef and onion in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. If you prefer, you can sub ground turkey instead for this keto-friendly taco soup.
Pro Tip: One way to save time when cooking dinner is to brown ground beef in advance and store it in the freezer. It makes sense to go ahead and brown more than one pound at a time, and it makes cooking meals like this low-carb taco soup even easier. I simply grab a pound out of the freezer, defrost, and throw in the rest of the ingredients. You can find this and other tips in 5 Simple Keto Meal Prep Ideas. If you have leftover taco meat you can skip this step.
The cream cheese mixes in easier if it is at room temperature or softened in the microwave first. Make sure that the cream cheese and ground beef are combined completely before adding additional ingredients.
Add the rest of the ingredients, then stir to combine and simmer so all the flavors can merge together.
What Taco Seasoning is Keto Friendly?
Most store-bought taco seasoning packets have added processed ingredients that many avoid while following the keto diet. My homemade keto taco seasoning doesn’t contain any fillers, and the carb count is lower than the store-bought version. My homemade taco seasoning recipe includes bold spices such as chili powder, cumin, paprika, onion powder, and more. It works perfectly in any recipe that calls for taco seasoning.
Yum! This is the absolute perfect keto taco soup recipe. It’s so nice to have dinner ready quickly, especially on busy nights when I don’t want to cook.
Can I Make it in the Slow Cooker?
While some suggest throwing all the ingredients in the crockpot for Taco Soup, dairy products such as heavy cream and cream cheese can curdle if added before the last hour of cooking time. To ensure the best quality of this recipe, I would suggest adding the drained browned ground beef, diced onion, beef broth, diced tomatoes, and spices first. Allow it to slow cook for 2 hours on high or 4 hours on low. Finally, add the softened cream cheese and heavy cream during the last hour of cooking.
How to Make Taco Soup in the Instant Pot?
I would follow the general guidelines as mentioned above for cooking dairy in the slow cooker. First, brown the ground beef and onions on the saute setting and drain. Next, add beef broth, Rotel tomatoes, and spices. Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes, then an NPR for 5 minutes. Remove lid, add softened cream cheese and heavy cream, and turn the pressure cooker back to the saute function and simmer for 5-10 minutes so all the flavors can merge.
What Do I Serve with Queso Keto Taco Soup?
A simple leafy garden salad is the perfect accompaniment to this delicious taco soup recipe.
How to Freeze Easy Keto Taco Soup?
Soups with cream tend to separate, change the texture and become grainy when thawed. If you’d like to freeze this soup, withhold heavy whipping cream until the soup has completely thawed and rewarmed. Then, add the heavy cream and serve. This soup will keep 4-6 months in the freezer in a freezer-safe container.
Toppings ideas for this soup:
I enjoy Easy Keto Taco Soup with a mix of freshly shredded Monterrey Jack and Cheddar Cheese sprinkled on top. Other toppings options include:
- Any variation of freshly grated cheeses
- Sour Cream
- Jalapenos
- Cilantro
- Diced onions
- Avocado
- Homemade Keto Cheese Crackers
How to Begin the Keto Lifestyle
If you are like many, you are curious about the keto diet. We have a great Guide to Getting Started with Keto that is perfect for helping you to learn more about the process and get off to a good start. You may want to know how much of each thing to eat every day. Use our post with the Best Keto Apps to Count Macros to help learn more about where to begin.
More Keto-Friendly Recipes
I know you will love this keto queso-style easy taco soup recipe. Alongside this recipe, you’ll find a ton of other delicious keto options found in our keto recipe index. You can check out all of our tried and true low-carb-friendly recipes there to begin your meal plans. Below you’ll find a few of our favorite recipes to get you started!
- Easy Keto Monterey Chicken Recipe
- BBQ Keto Meatloaf Recipe
- Easy Keto Fried Chicken Recipe
- Grilled Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
More Keto Mexican or Tex Mex Recipes
- Best Keto Queso Recipe
- Keto Low Carb Taco Cups
- The Very Best Keto Taco Meat
- Keto Taco Salad
- Best Keto Chicken Taco Soup Recipe
Keto Shopping Lists
One of my favorite tools to use when feeling lazy is simply using these grocery lists for our favorite stores. I know the items on these lists will be keto-friendly and ideal for throwing in my shopping cart to build meals and recipes around later.
Keto at Walmart
Keto Grocery Items at Sam’s Club
Keto Items at Costco
Keto Grocery Items at ALDI
Low Carb Grocery Items at Target
Queso Keto Taco Soup Recipe (Quick & Easy)
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1/2 small onion, chopped
- 6 oz cream cheese, softened
- 2 10oz cans of Rotel
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 1/2 cups beef broth
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 packet of taco seasoning or my homemade taco seasoning
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Brown ground beef and onions together, then drain.
- In a large saucepan, add ground beef and softened cream cheese on low/medium heat. Stir together to mix well before adding any other ingredients
- Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer on low for 30 minutes.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Optional: Serve topped with freshly grated cheese, sour cream, jalapenos, and/or guacamole.
Video
Notes
Can I Make it in the Slow Cooker?
While some suggest throwing all the ingredients in the crockpot for Taco Soup, dairy products such as heavy cream and cream cheese can curdle if added before the last hour of cooking time. To ensure the best quality of this recipe, I would suggest adding the drained browned ground beef, diced onion, beef broth, diced tomatoes, and spices first. Allow it to slow cook for 2 hours on high or 4 hours on low. Finally, add the softened cream cheese and heavy cream during the last hour of cooking.How to Make Taco Soup in the Instant Pot?
I would follow the general guidelines mentioned above for cooking dairy in the slow cooker. First, brown the ground beef and onions on the saute setting and drain. Next, add beef broth, Rotel tomatoes, and spices. Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes, then an NPR for 5 minutes. Remove lid, add softened cream cheese and heavy cream and turn pressure cooker back to the saute function and simmer for 5-10 minutes so all the flavors can merge.Nutrition
Made this the other night. My husband and I both LOVED it! DEFINITELY a KEEPER! Used 2T. Kasey’s homemade taco seasoning.
Perfect! So glad you loved it.
If we use your taco seasoning, how much would we use?
2 – 3 tablespoons
How is the 3 grams of sugar keto friendly, when we are supposed to have zero, I thought? I am a new keto-er
It is natural sugars not added sugar. Many foods have some natural sugars it is the added sugar that you want to avoid when additional ingredients are added to make something sweeter.
Is it one pound of meat? It doesn’t say.
This is a weekly staple in my food prep, and the only thing I make ahead if I’m short on time. Sometimes I’ll dice up an avocado and toss that in, or riced cauliflower and broccoli. This time, I took another person’s comment and mixed up a bit of xanthan gum in avocado oil and stirred that in…WOW, creamy comfort food at it’s best. Delicious!!
Perfect! It sounds delicious. Glad you love it.
This was delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Sure! So glad you loved it!
The recipe doesn’t state how much ground beef. Two people have asked this question and it seems to be the only one you aren’t answering.
1 lb of ground beef
I’m excited to try this.
Can this be frozen?
I haven’t tried it but it should be fine. Hope you enjoy!!
Made this tonight and loved it! Thanks Kasey!
Glad you loved it, Jan!
All recites looks so good. I love to cook.
Hope you enjoy them!!
Looks good but sure had alot is sodium in it .
is this supposed to be 1 lb of meat? it just says lb — thanks
yes it is 1 lb
What is 1 serving of this soup?
Hey, Amanda, all nutritional info is located on the recipe card.
Do you consider 1serving as a cup or what? Please respond thank you
I don’t know I didn’t measure. I just divided it evenly into the number of servings listed at the top of the recipe card.
I often use the Hot Rotel if you like spicy. If the recipe calls for two cans of Rotel I use one original and one spicy. I never knew they made hot Rotel until recently! Can’t wait to try this 🙂
Hey, Becky, my hubs loves the spicey Rotel too. Glad you enjoyed!!