Slow-Cooker Santa Fe Soup

This soup is great and quite a hit with our family. It originally seemed rather basic and bland. But I've tweaked it and now it has an immense depth of flavor. No wonder it's called the Santa Fe Soup! And for those of you that are curious about the Santa Fe Trail, here's a little history lesson. 

In 1821, the Santa Fe Trail was basically the first great highway and for nearly 60 years after, it was one of the nation's greatest routes for adventure and western expansion until the railroad to Santa Fe came in 1880. The trail went through Comancheria (a region of New Mexico, west of Texas, owned by the Comanches) and for allowing the travelers to go throughout their territory, the Comanches demanded a fee in return. When the settlers started regularly assaulting the Comanches (upset they had to pay a fee), the Comanches fled the area. The trail was 900 miles long and went through arid plains, desert, and mountains. On the Santa Fe (unlike the Oregon trail) there was a high risk of Native American attacks as neither the Comanches or Apaches tolerated trespassers. Not only that, but lack of food and water, unpredictable weather, and rattlesnakes made taking the trail very dangerous.

But I suppose you came here to see the soup. Not to rehash your American history!

You'll need:

1/2 lime

1 onion, chopped

Freshly cracked black pepper

Course sea salt

1 lb. ground beef

1/4 t. liquid smoke

1 lb. Velveeta cheese, cubed

1 can (15 ounces) corn, undrained

1 can (15 ounces) red kidney beans, undrained

1 can (10 ounces) Rotel Original

1 can (15 ounces) stewed tomatoes

2 T. dry taco seasoning (I like to use Homemade Taco Seasoning) 

 

Start with the chopped onion in a skillet. Juice your lime and pour half of the juice in with the onion. Stir it around over a low flame and then add some salt and pepper. Keep stirring. As soon as it looks like the lime is all cooked out and the bottom of the skillet is dry, add the rest of the lime juice. Keep stirring and if you feel like it, you can add some more salt and pepper.

 



Once the onions have sautéed with the lime, add the liquid smoke and beef. Brown it.

 

After the meat is done, you can dump the cheese, beef, corn, beans, Rotel, and tomatoes in a large crockpot. Gently stir it together.

 



Sprinkle in the taco seasoning and stir it. Cook on high for 3 hours or low for 5 - 6 hours. If you cook it on low, it helps to shut it off after the first 3 1/2 hours and let it sit for 30 minutes before turning it back to low.

Serve with thick slices of hot, homemade bread and enjoy!

 

 

Copy, Paste, and Print for the recipe below:

 

Slow-Cooker Santa Fe Soup

(prairiegalcookin.blogspot.com)

 

You'll need:

1/2 lime

1 onion, chopped

Freshly cracked black pepper

Course sea salt

1 lb. ground beef

1/4 t. liquid smoke

1 lb. Velveeta cheese, cubed

1 can (15 ounces) corn, undrained

1 can (15 ounces) red kidney beans, undrained

1 can (10 ounces) Rotel Original

1 can (15 ounces) stewed tomatoes

2 T. dry taco seasoning (I like to use Homemade Taco Seasoning) 

 

Saute the onion with half of the lime juice. When skillet looks dry, add the rest of the lime juice, salt, and pepper.

Brown the meat with the onion and then stir in the liquid smoke.

In a large crockpot, mix the beef, cheese, corn, beans, Rotel, tomatoes, and taco seasoning.

Cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 5 - 6 hours. If cooking on low, at 3 1/2 hours turn off for 30 minutes and then finish cooking.

Enjoy!