A co-worker brought this dish to work one day, and it smelled wonderful, so I immediately asked for the recipe. Not only does it smell great, but it’s really easy to throw together, and you can let it simmer all day if you’d like. I love making soups/chili during the cooler months, so this will be perfect around mid-October throughout the winter.

What you’ll need:

• Rotel with chilies – 2 cans
• Black beans – 2 cans
• Mexican corn – 2 cans
• Taco seasoning – 1 package
• Dry Ranch dressing mix – 1 package
• 2 lb. ground beef*
• 1 onion
• Fritos (optional)
• Shredded cheese, sour cream (optional)
• Cayenne pepper (optional)

*If you’re a vegetarian, try it without the ground beef and let me know how it is!

Cooking directions:

• Brown ground beef and onions.
• In the meantime, combine black beans, rotel with chilies, and Mexican corn in a crockpot OR large pot. (We used a large pot because we don’t own a crockpot right now. That’ll be our next purchase!) Mix everything together.
• Once the meat and onions are browned, put them in the pot. Mix everything. Now, add the taco seasoning and ranch mix; once again, mix everything together.
• Cover and cook on low heat all day or medium-high for a couple hours. (We started by cooking on medium-low heat until the soup began to boil, then we let it simmer on low heat for a few hours.)
• Remember to stir throughout the process. We added some cayenne pepper after cooking for a while, but this is completely optional. Add as much as you’d like.
• When ready to eat, serve topped with shredded cheese, sour cream, and/or fritos. Completely optional, but the cheese is wonderful with it.

What’s your favorite recipe for the fall months?

P.S. If you’d like this as a feature on my blog, let me know. I plan to blog about monkey bread next.