Creamy Southwestern Hash Brown Soup

Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• olive oil (for cooking)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 2 (20 ounce) bags simply southwest-style hash browns
• 8 ounces taco-seasoned cheddar cheese
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can cream of celery soup or 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can chicken soup, undiluted
• 1 (10 1/2 ounce) can fiesta nacho cheese soup, undiluted
• 2 cups milk
• 1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes with jalapenos
• 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can corn, rinsed and drained (or frozen thawed)
• 4 pinches cumin
• 3 -4 pinches dried chipotle powder
• 3 dashes tabasco sauce
• 1 (1 1/4 ounce) packet hot taco seasoning mix (i use mccormick brand)
• 2 dashes pickapeppa sauce (optional)
• black pepper

Recipe

• 1 in a large stockpot add small amount of olive oil, onion, garlic, pepper to taste and saute lightly.
• 2 add hash browns a cook for a few minutes, stirring so as not to brown too much.
• 3 add chicken broth and come to boil.
• 4 turn down heat and add cheese, stirring until melted.
• 5 add the rest of the ingredients and simmer at least 1 1/2 hours.
• 6 if the soup is too thick for your liking you can thin it out with either more chicken broth or milk. we like ours nice and thick!
• 7 optional toppings:.
• 8 sour cream.
• 9 cheddar cheese.
• 10 diced green onions, chopped.
• 11 tortilla chips.
• 12 black olives, diced.
• 13 dollop of salsa.