Crappy One Pot Taco Soup
I have a confession to make. I like ranch dressing. I like it on my salad, on my pizza crusts, and on my fried zucchini or mushrooms. Yummy. I like to mix the powdered dry mix in with turkey to make turkey burgers, or make oven fried chicken with it.
So I came across this recipe via Yahoo the other day. One of those “5 nights of meals” articles, and this was one of the recipes. Doesn’t it look good? Don’t be fooled. For one thing, the recipe they linked to doesn’t have tortilla chips, cilantro, OR sour cream, and it has red meat, not chicken or turkey or whatever they’re showing in this misleading picture.
I whipped up the recipe, which was darned easy, along with a box of Jiffy Corn Bread mix. The corn bread was good. The soup/chili? Blech. I mean, it wasn’t horrid, but it also wasn’t good. Half way between ‘meh’, and ‘yuck’. Mostly, it was too salty. And I used low sodium tomatoes, corn, beans, and taco seasoning. But still, the ranch dressing probably has a ton, and even ‘low sodium’ usually means ‘really salty’.
Here’s the recipe, in case you have someone coming over for dinner, who has high blood pressure, and you’d like to kill them. Just don’t do low sodium. Of course, it could backfire, because they might take a bite, and look up and offer to take you out to eat.
Taco Soup (recipe in CafeMom Newcomers Club)
2 lbs ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 can pinto beans
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can stewed tomatoes, Mexican-style
1 can Ro-tel tomatoes
1 package taco seasoning mix (optional)
1 package Original Hidden Valley Ranch dressing (dry)
2 1/2 cups water or more, to make soup brothBrown ground beef and onions in a large pan, and drain off fat. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for an hour or so. When ready, serve in big soup bowls, and have a skillet of hot cornbread to eat, too.
7 Comments
Dad Who Writes
My confession would be that I like Korean Chilli sauce with anything – very few leftovers can’t be turned into something with enough red chilli sauce – and that I have no idea what ranch dressing is…
J
DWW, I think that Ranch Dressing is an American thing. Basically, you use it to take salad and make it full of fat and calories. It’s based in the sour cream and mayo area, then you add some fake flavors. Yummy. Chili sauce can be a good thing. 🙂
Linda Atkins
“Here’s the recipe, in case you have someone coming over for dinner, who has high blood pressure, and you’d like to kill them.” Ha ha!
Autumn's Mom
I know the WW chili recipe calls for ranch dressing…I too love the ranch. I consider it another spice option when cooking. I think it’s hilarious that you didn’t like the recipe but posted it anyways. Thanks for the crappy recipe! haha
Cherry
Jules you are TOO FUNNY!
The shared crappy recipe. The Kill someone comment. The offer to go out after tasting.
I was just talking to Eric about how you can never really tell how the seasoning is going to turn out when a recipe calls for processed ingredients. Even the cans of beans, tomatoes and corn can add some salt.
Mmmm Salt!
Oh and I LOVE RANCH! and totally prefer the dry packet mix to the bottle.
Barbara
Love the end of your post! I think I’ll print this out and file it under meals for unwanted ‘drop ins’!
Peace!
C
Awww! How disappointing is THAT?!? When I saw the photo, I got so excited! I have heard of Taco Soup and have been wanting to try it. The last part cracked me up! You are too funny, J! xo