This recipe for Crock-Pot Quinoa Bean Soup is a tasty, fun, protein packed way to use quinoa that your family will enjoy! So easy and fuss free!
Crock-Pot Quinoa Bean Soup
What a fun recipe to put together, especially if you are wanting to try out quinoa or sneak it into your meal without the kiddo’s realizing they were eating a “superfood”.
The quinoa adds all kinds of healthy stuff to this dish which is in the realm of a taco soup in flavor and ingredients and the texture once cooked and the quinoa soaks up some of the cooking liquid ends up being more of a stew in constancy.
To be honest I had a hard time deciding on if this should be named as a stew or soup.
Of course, if you want more of a soupy final dish you can add more broth.
I used my own homemade taco seasoning mix because I just prefer the flavor over the store bought kind. But you can use a packet of your favorite brand of low-sodium taco seasoning mix.
What I love MOST about this recipe is that it can be made into slow cooker freezer meal. Which means I can have a bag of this hearty and healthy soup stashed away in my freezer ready to be pulled out and cooked on those days when I just know life is going to be crazy!
What I like to do is cook up double the ground beef and put half in the slow cooker and the other half in a freezer bag. Then I just double all the other ingredients and make one batch for dinner in the slow cooker and another batch for the freezer. It literally takes just a few extra minutes to be able to tuck a freezer meal away for later.
Ingredients Needed:
- Extra Lean Ground Beef – Or you may use ground turkey.
- Yellow Onion – Peeled and finely diced.
- Kidney Beans (Canned) – Rinsed and drained.
- Black Beans (Canned) – Rinsed and drained.
- Diced Tomatoes (Canned) – Undrained
- Tomato Sauce
- Canned Corn – Drained
- Low-Sodium Chicken Broth – I prefer to use my Homemade Chicken Broth but store bought works too.
- Low Sodium Taco Seasoning Mix – You can use 1 packet of store bought or 3 tablespoons of our Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix.
- Quinoa – Rinsed and drained.
Directions:
- In a large skillet on the stove-top, cook and crumble the ground beef until no longer pink. Drain off any excess fat and add the cooked meat to a 5 quart or larger slow cooker.
- Add the remaining ingredients and mix together with a spoon.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 5 to 6 hours or until the quinoa is cooked and tender.
- Ladle hot soup into bowls and top with your favorite toppings if desired.
Products Needed:
- 5 Quart Or Larger Slow Cooker
- Skillet
- Wooden Spoon
- Can Opener
- Knife
- Cutting Board
- Colander
- Ladle
Can I Use Other Types Of Beans In This Soup?
Yes, you can use any type of canned beans you want. If you want to cook up some dried beans you can use our Crock-Pot Basic Beans recipe to cook up just about any kind of dried beans.
If I Want To Make This Vegetarian What Do I Need To Do?
You can easily make this recipe vegetarian just by skipping the ground beef. If you want to replace the beef with something else toss in a cup or two of dried lentils which will cook in the soup.
What Are Some Tasty Toppings For This Soup?
- Shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
- Sour cream or Mexican crema
- Tortilla chips or Fritos corn chips
- Sliced avocado
- Chopped cilantro
- Fresh salsa
More Great Slow Cooker Soup Recipes!
- Crock-Pot Beef Scotch Broth
- Slow Cooker Zuppa Toscana Soup + Video
- Crock-Pot Mexican Beef & Veggie Soup
- Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup
- Crock-Pot Lobster Bisque + Video
Rating |
|
Servings | 10People |
Prep Time | 30Minutes |
Cook Time | 6Hours On LOW |
- 2 Pounds Extra Lean Ground Beef Or Ground Turkey
- 1 Medium Yellow Onion Finely Diced
- 15 Ounces Canned Kidney Beans Rinsed And Drained
- 15 Ounces Canned Black Beans Rinsed And Drained
- 28 Ounces Canned Diced Tomatoes Undrained
- 16 Ounces Canned Tomato Sauce
- 15.25 Ounces Canned Corn Drained
- 14.5 Ounces Low-Sodium Chicken Broth Store Bought Or Homemade Chicken Broth
- 1 Packet Low Sodium Taco Seasoning Mix Or 3 Tablespoons Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix
- 1 Cup Quinoa Rinsed And Drained
Ingredients
Servings: People
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- In a large skillet on the stove-top, cook and crumble the ground beef until no longer pink. Drain off any excess fat and add the cooked meat to a 5 quart or larger slow cooker.
- Add the remaining ingredients and mix together with a spoon.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 5 to 6 hours or until the quinoa is cooked and tender.
- Ladle hot soup into bowls and top with your favorite toppings if desired.
Freezer Meal Instructions:
- Place all ingredients into a 1 gallon size zippered freezer bag OR FoodSaver bag.
- Place bag on flat surface and seal bag closed while pressing out as much excess air as possible OR use your FoodSaver sealing system to vacuum seal the bag closed.
- Label bag with date prepared, name of recipe, ingredients and cooking instructions.
- Lay bag flat in freezer and allow to freeze for several hours. At that point you can stand the bags upright in your freezer if desired.
To Cook Freezer Meal:
- Remove freezer meal bag from freezer and place either in refrigerator overnight OR in a clean kitchen sink filled with cool water for several hours just until the freezer meal is partially thawed enough to dump the contents of the bag into the slow cooker.
- Cook according to the recipe directions adding 1 additional hour cooking time (in this case 6 to 7 hours on LOW from the partially thawed state ).
Recipe Collections:
Ground Beef Crock-Pot Recipes | Beef Slow Cooker Recipes |
Freezer Meal Slow Cooker Recipes | Beans Crock-Pot Recipes |
Soup Crock-Pot Recipes | Mexican Slow Cooker Recipes |
Omg thank you! I’ve been trying to incorporate quinoa into my food and just can’t figure out how…I’m just getting used to the flavor and texture, so I was thinking about starting looking for Crock-Pot recipes with it and this is a perfect start. Please send me more if you know any, I’d truly appreciate it 🙂
I am so glad you liked this recipe Angelica. We will try to develop more recipes that use quinoa here soon!
This was soooo good!! Definitely going in my recipe box. My family loved it!
Thanks for letting us know, Christy! Glad everyone enjoyed it!
Do you cook the ground beef before freezing it?
Hi Staciem, Yes the ground beef should be cooked before freezing it.