Low Carb Taco Soup Recipe (Crock pot + Instant Pot)

If you’re craving something cozy, hearty, and a little spicy, this low carb taco soup is a go-to favorite. With just 5.4 net carbs, it’s keto-friendly, high in protein, and super simple to make this in your Crock Pot or Instant Pot. We make this on repeat year-round!

You'll love this keto Crock Pot taco soup recipe!

Your whole family’s going to love this creamy, cheesy, low carb taco soup. It’s got all the cozy flavors of a taco night—just in soup form—and gets extra rich thanks to the cream cheese and shredded cheddar.

It only takes 10 minutes to throw this together, whether you're making it in your slow cooker or pressure cooker. The Crock pot version has been a reader favorite since 2019!

I'm going to fully admit, I loved this creamy taco soup so much I overate and had 3 bowls of it since my family wasn't home and no one was watching. 

What you'll need

Be sure to check the can and package labels to ensure you're purchasing low carb products, some sneak-in sugars and starches.

• ground beef - we used 80/20 ground beef with a higher fat content since it adds lots of flavor to the soup. You can use ground beef with a lower fat content but please don't use the super low fat kind, it really takes the flavor out of the meat. Ground turkey or ground chicken would work well too.
• cream cheese, cut into cubes - to keep the carbs down, use full-fat cream cheese
• cheddar cheese - shred the cheddar from a block of cheese since the pre-shredded variety includes starch, which increases carbs
• Rotel diced tomatoes or diced fire-roasted tomatoes with green chili’s - mild or spicy
• beef broth - chicken broth can be used in place of beef
• taco seasoning (no sugar homemade ) - use a homemade or store bought variety, but be sure to read the labels since many taco seasoning brands add sugar to the mix. Some brands are also extremely spicy, use the amount noted in the recipe if it's a mild seasoning, if it's spicy, we suggest cutting it back to 2 Tbsp.  Our favorite store-bought brand is McCormick's, it doesn't add sugar.
• chopped onion- a yellow onion was used in the recipe, sweet, white, or red can be used too.
• garlic powder
• ground pepper

How to make keto taco soup (crock pot recipe)

Brown the beef on the stove and drain the grease.  Add the drained ground beef to a crockpot.

Add Ingredients to the Pot

Add the Rotel diced tomatoes, beef broth (or chicken broth), taco seasoning, chopped onion, garlic powder, and ground black pepper.

Slowly stir in the shredded cheddar cheese and softened cream cheese cubes until melted.

Combine all of the ingredients together, the cream cheese will still be in cubes but it'll break down as the keto taco soup recipe cooks.

Slow Cook

Cook on low for 4+ hours or high for 2 hours. The slow cooker version is technically done after 4 hours on low but can cook 6+ hours if needed.

Give the soup one more stir before serving to make sure that the cream cheese is fully mixed in.

Add your favorite taco toppings as garnishes such cilantro, sour cream, and avocado. Enjoy!

Instant Pot Instructions

1. Turn the Instant Pot to Saute High and brown the ground beef. Drain the grease. Add 1 tablespoon of oil (or 1 tablespoon of reserved beef grease) and saute the diced onion until it's softened, for about 3-4 minutes. Turn the pot off by pressing the Cancel button.
2. Add the beef broth to the pot and stir the bottom of the pot to remove any onion bits that might be stuck to the bottom.
3. Add the cooked ground beef, Rotel, taco seasoning, salt, pepper, to the pot. Stir to combine.
4. Put the lid on the pot and cook the soup on Manual High for 5 minutes, some pots call this setting Pressure Cook. The pot will take about 15-20 minutes to come to pressure. Once the soup is done cooking under pressure, do a Natural Release for 10 minutes before releasing the remaining pressure from the pot. Turn the pot off.
5. Add the cubed cream cheese and stir until it breaks down and is well combined into the soup. Stir in the cheddar cheese until melted.
6. Add your favorite garnishes on top and serve!

Stovetop

Making this simple low carb taco soup recipe as a stovetop version is a piece of cake.

1. Cook the ground beef in a dutch oven or stockpot for 7-8 minutes, or until all the way cooked through. Drain the grease.
2. In the same pan as the ground beef, add the remaining ingredients, and then stir to combine.
3. Heat the keto taco soup on medium heat until it starts to just bubble, turn the heat down to low and simmer with the lid on for 1 hour, so flavors can blend.

Can you freeze creamy soup?

Since this is a cream cheese based keto taco soup, we don't recommend freezing it. Frozen dairy often takes on a grainy consistency after freezing. If you're making this recipe to batch cook, we suggest cooking the entire recipe without the cheese and cream cheese, and freeze it for up to 3 months.  When you go to heat it up after defrosting, then add the cheese and cream cheese to the soup.

Not Low Carb?

If you found our recipe but aren't necessarily trying to cut down your carbs, instead of using 2 pounds of ground beef, feel free to substitute 1 of the pounds of meat for a can of drained kidney beans or can of drained corn. 

One wonderful thing about making our soup recipe is how simple it is to make substitutions for what you have on hand. Don't have Mexican blend cheese? Feel free to use shredded cheddar. Don't want meat? Swap all of the meat for beans and corn instead, or add hearty vegetables like zucchini or diced peppers.

Don't want to run to the store to buy Rotel, but maybe you have diced tomatoes and canned green peppers in your pantry, use that instead. 

More keto Mexican recipes

• Green Chili Chicken Casserole
• Low Carb Taco Pie
• Crockpot Taco Soup
• Chicken Fajita Bake

Recipe

Easy Low Carb Taco Soup

Jenni Cole

A simple and delicious low carb taco soup recipe you can make in a Crock Pot, Instant Pot, or on the stovetop.

4.58 from 59 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Email recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 4 hours hrs

Total Time 4 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Course Soups

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 8 servings

Calories 566 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 lb ground beef 80/20
• 2 10 oz cans Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilis
• 32 oz beef broth
• 3 T taco seasoning no sugar or homemade recipe
• ½ cup diced onion
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 -8 oz pkg cream cheese cubed and very soft OR heavy whipping cream
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• Optional garnishes - shredded cheese sour cream, avocado, cilantro

Instructions

 

Slow Cooker

• Cook the ground beef or turkey on medium heat on the stovetop until cooked through, about 7-8 minutes. Drain the grease.
• Transfer the ground beef to the crockpot. Add the Rotel, beef broth, taco seasoning, onion, garlic powder, and black pepper. Stir to combine.
• Cook on low heat in the slow cooker for 4+ hours or cook on high for 2 hours.
• Add the very soft cream cheese to the pot, along with the shredded cheddar cheese. Melt the cheeses into the soup. This will take a bit for the cream cheese to fully break down.
• Serve and enjoy! Optional garnish ideas include shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado, tomatoes, olives, diced jalepenos, cilantro, or chives.

Instant Pot

• Turn the Instant Pot to Saute High and brown the ground beef. Drain the grease. Add 1 tablespoon of oil (or 1 tablespoon of reserved beef grease) and saute the diced onion until it's softened, for about 3-4 minutes. Turn the pot off by pressing the Cancel button.
• Add the beef broth to the pot and stir the bottom of the pot to remove any onion bits that might be stuck to the bottom.
• Add the cooked ground beef, Rotel, taco seasoning, garlic powder, and pepper to the pot. Stir to combine.
• Put the lid on the pot and cook the soup on Manual High for 5 minutes, some pots call this setting Pressure Cook. The pot will take about 15-20 minutes to come to pressure. Once the soup is done cooking under pressure, do a Natural Release for 10 minutes before releasing the remaining pressure from the pot. Turn the pot off.
• Add the cubed cream cheese and stir until it breaks down and is well combined into the soup. Stir in the cheddar cheese until melted.
• Add your favorite garnishes on top and serve!

Video

Notes

• The cream cheese needs to be at room temperature or it won't fully break down into the soup. Cutting the cream cheese into cubes also works best. To quickly soften the cream cheese, cut it into cubes and soften it in the microwave for 15-30 seconds.
• Make sure to shred the cheddar cheese from a block and do not use pre-shredded cheese. Pre-shredded cheese doesn't melt well since it's coated with starch.
• Ground turkey or ground chicken makes a good substitute instead of ground beef, yet that might mean you need to increase the seasoning since it has a milder flavor
• Some taco seasoning brands are very spicy, if you have a brand that's spicy we suggest cutting the taco seasoning back to 2 tablespoon in the recipe.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 566kcalCarbohydrates: 7.4gProtein: 39gFat: 40gSaturated Fat: 17gPolyunsaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 148mgSodium: 1454mgFiber: 2gSugar: 2g

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