Update 2020: Weight Watchers has a new program called My WW. This recipe is still Zero Points in the Blue and Purple category but not the new Green category.
Update 2019: With the introduction of the new Weight Watchers Freestyle program, this soup is now ZERO POINTS! On the recipe, I changed the turkey to be 99% fat free which makes it zero points And since corn is now zero points as well, this whole Arizona Taco Soup recipe is now zero points! Yea! The serving size is one cup. Or if that’s just not enough, 2 cups is one point. Note: I’m calculating the points PER SERVING. That doesn’t mean there are no points in the entire recipe.
If you’re interested in joining Weight Watchers, click here for more information. And sign up for my newsletter to be the first to hear about other zero point recipes I come up with! Here’s a zero point deviled egg recipe in the meantime…
Now back to the taco soup…
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I make this Taco Soup all the time. It’s my go-to for an easy and fast recipe that makes enough to eat for several days. It also freezes very well. I got the original recipe from my mom, who got it at a Weight Watchers meeting years ago. She used to make it for my dad, who had an aversion to any “diet” food. He loved this soup but one night during dinner he made a comment on how good it was and she said it’s hard to believe it’s a Weight Watcher’s recipe. Big mistake! He suddenly didn’t like it anymore and never ate it again. Gotta love that man!
My version of Taco Soup is a little different than my mom’s. The only differences are, the original recipe called for pinto beans but I like variety so I use three different kinds. It also called for ground beef and I like to use ground turkey.
I know everyone has their go-to kitchen items and I thought I’d share mine. I can’t live without these and they’re front and center when making my taco soup:
I hope you enjoy this hearty and delicious Arizona Taco Soup. Leave me a comment and let me know how you like it.
Happy Tinkering,
Susan
Enjoy this hearty and healthy Taco Soup made with ground turkey and three different types of beans. It will become a family favorite. Serving = 1 Cup
- 1 lb 99% Fat Free Ground Turkey
- 1/2 packet Taco Seasoning or more as preferred
- 1 packet Ranch Dressing Mix
- 1 15 oz can Corn, with liquid
- 1 15 oz can Kidney Beans, drained
- 1 15 oz can Pinto Beans, drained
- 1 15 oz can Black Beans, drained
- 1 4.5 oz can Diced Green Chilies
- 3 10 oz cans Rotel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies, with liquid. If you want some heat, use "Original". If not, use "Mild".
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Add ground turkey, ranch dressing mix and taco seasoning in a dutch oven or other large pot. Brown until turkey is cooked through.
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Add the remaining ingredients.
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Mix together and cook over medium heat, uncovered for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.
I love me some taco soup…but my stomach doesn’t love beans! Is there anything else that I can replace the beans with? Thanks in advance!
One or two ideas if you want to keep it zero points… You could just leave the beans out and increase the amount of turkey or maybe substitute with veggies, like cauliflower or peas. You could also substitute for potatoes or rice but then you’ll be adding some points. Let me know how it goes.
I love this soup..started making it for our family Christmas dinners..❤❤❤
What a nice idea for a cold Christmas night!
Do you drain and rinse the beans? There isn’t really any liquid added so I am wondering how it is soup. Thanks!!
I drain and rinse the beans but I don’t drain the corn or the Rotel. That adds liquid and as it cooks it becomes a little more liquidy…but it’s still a very chunky soup with not a lot of liquid. Hope you enjoy.
Do I need to drain the beans and corn before adding to mixture?
I drain the beans but I don’t drain the corn. Hope you enjoy!
I drain and rinse the beans when I make mine and add two cans of water. I like mine “ soupy” 🙂
Good idea.
What is portion size to keep it at zero points?
The portion size is one cup. I’ll add that to the recipe. Enjoy!
New to freestyle. If one cup is zero points, why is two cups one point?
Hi Carla… it’s because of the ranch dressing mix. A packet is 6 points for the whole pot of soup, so if you have 6 servings (2 cups each) you’d have to count the point for the ranch dressing. One cup is only half a point so you can count less than one point as zero. Make sense?
I’m allergic nickle, so I have to rinse all canned items really well before eating due to the metal leaching into the food. How much liquid should I add to replace the liquid from the rotel and corn then? Also I can’t eat dairy items, just curious if not adding the ranch makes a big difference to the taste?
Hi…I would probably add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of liquid…but instead of water maybe consider vegetable stock that you can buy in the non-metallic cartons. It might add some flavor that you’ll be missing from not using the juice of the tomatoes and corn. And honestly I don’t know what difference in taste it would be if you don’t use the ranch dressing mix. I don’t think it would be that much since the taco seasoning is the more dominant flavor.
Amber, may I suggest that you cook your own beans (from dried) to avoid the metal issue? Dried beans are super easy to cook, cheaper than canned, and obviously there are no can issue (BPA can lining is something I am concerned about personally).
Is their nutritional information for This recipe?
Hi Denise…I don’t like to add the nutritional values because running the ingredients through three different apps gives me three different results! I’d hate to publish erroneous information.
I added a can of tomato sauce because I forgot to buy rotel and it came out perfect. The taco seasoning and the ranch is a lot of flavor so even if you just add water or some ff chicken broth, it’s flavorful.
Good idea on the tomato sauce!
Will points change when using 97% ground turkey?
Also, if beans are zero… will adding an extra can stiil be zero?
Hi Lisa… I looked it up and 97% fat free turkey is 8 points for the whole recipe (if you use 1 pound). So if you have one cup of taco soup it’s still less than a point. Two cups are just over a point. And adding a can of beans won’t add additional points. Hope this helps…
I’m excited to make this for dinner tonight! How do I track on the ww app?
I should note I plan on having two servings.
Hi Amanda…I almost always have 2 cups and just make that my whole meal. Not a bad meal for a point! On the WW app or website you can click on the “Quick Add” button next to Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner and type in the taco soup and it asks you how many points to count for it. That will be the quickest way to track it. Let me know how it turns out.
I’m not a fan of ground turkey so if I substitute extra lean ground beef, will that add points?
Hi Richelle… I looked it up on weightwatchers.com and a 93% lean ground beef would add 2 points per cup. Not a bad alternative for only 2 points!
What if I want to cook this in my crockpot. How would I go about cooking it time wise as my turkey will be frozen. Any thoughts?
Hi Alyson… I have never used frozen meat in the crockpot so I did a Google search and there are mixed messages. Some say it’s not safe for the meat to be cooked at such a slow temp and others say it’s fine. Not sure what to think, but I would suggest erroring on the safe side and thaw the meat before tossing it all in the crockpot. I would cook on high 2-3 hours or low 4-6 hours.
I use a half pack of ranch cause I like to watch sodium. Add some veggies like peppers, onions, celery brings up flavor.
That sounds really good!
What if I omit the ranch
I’ve never tried it without the ranch, but I don’t see why you couldn’t omit it. Let me know how it turns out.
I added 2 chopped celery sticks, one chopped onion and a chopped clove of garlic.
I used 93% turkey… would that be 1 point or more for a cup serving?
Hi Joyce… I plugged it into the WW app and you’re right, it’s just one point per cup for the 93% turkey.
Do you think this would be ok to freeze after preparing? I won’t be able to eat all 12 servings before it goes bad so I was thinking of making it tonight and freezing half of it. Thoughts?
Hi Jess… It freezes beautifully! I freeze it every time I make it. Enjoy!
I make this with shredded chicken breast, I like it better than ground turkey and chicken breast is zero points period. Also, the taco seasoning is 6 pts per package but when I barcoded the ranch dressing mix it said 0 pts. I love this soup and make it regularly!
I will totally try it with the shredded chicken breast! Great idea.
What taco seasoning are you using?
I just use the Kroger brand packets in the spices aisle. I’ve used Old El Paso as well.
I made this yesterday and it is so tasty and so filling. When I entered it into WW recipe builder, it came out to 1 point per serving. When I double checked, it was because I used the entire packet of taco seasoning. With just half a packet it stayed 0 for one serving. Regardless, this is a great recipe. Thank you for sharing.
I’m so glad you liked it!
Do you know how many smart points are in one cup?
One cup is zero points. Two cups is one point. Enjoy!
I added a small can of v8 juice to add more liquid. I also didn’t rinse any of the beans. Don’t know if this makes a difference point wise.
We love this recipe for taco soup. My husband counts calories and I count points. We don’t however add the ranch dressing packet. Do you have the calorie count by serving?
Hi April, I don’t like to add the calorie info on the blog because different brands change the numbers. There’s a calculator at https://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/calculator where you can enter your exact ingredients to get the calorie count.
Hi! I got the nutrition info off of the Pinterest post for this recipe. When I plug it in, it says 7 points per serving. Am I doing something wrong?
Hmmm…I’m not sure how Pinterest calculates the points. I plugged the ingredients from the recipe into the Weight Watchers app and it was less than one point per serving.
Well, I should have come here to read comments first before doing recipe on Pinterest. It didn’t say anything about draining anything on the Pinterest recipe, so I didn’t, assuming you needed the liquid from beans, corn, rotel. I also didn’t notice til after I put it in my crockpot that it just says cook on stovetop!
We’ll see how it turns out! I cooked Turkey and seasonings on stove then dumped all in crockpot on low for 4 hours. I’ll post how it turned our after…
Sorry…I have made modifications to the recipe based on feedback and Pinterest doesn’t update it. There should be no difference in the flavor with the way you made it. I don’t always drain everything, and the crockpot is a great idea! I hope you enjoyed it.
I love this soup. My daughter is vegetarian and so is my grandson (different families-go figure). I make one recipe for all meat lovers and one without meat for them. If you are worried about the taco seasoning points I always just add 2 T chili powder, 1/8 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp garlic, 1/4 tsp onion powder. That way I don’t have to buy taco seasoning because I always have that in my pantry. To make tacos you just add a small can of tomato sauce.
Great tip!
Do you know how many smart points this would be? Not freestyle… thanks!
Hi Kathy…before the list of 200 were zero points I’m not sure what the points would be. There are probably Smart Point calculators online from the prior programs.
[…] Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 30 minutes Total Time 40 minutes Servings 12 cups The recipe source: https://thetinkeringspinster.com/taco-soup/ […]