Recipe - Spicy Western Soup

It has been unseasonably cold here in West Texas. There may be a lot of things about cold weather that I don't care for. But there are also a lot of things I like - and being able to make lots of soups is one of them!

I prefer to use fresh ingredients whenever I can, but it's not always easy. Our family also camps a lot so I have been trying to put together some recipes that would be easy to make away from home. 

Let me introduce you to my Spicy Western Soup! Nothing in this has to be refrigerated and so it would be easy to make a batch of this soup over a campfire. The clove of garlic can easily be substituted with garlic powder or garlic salt. 

I'm including a picture of the two dehydrated ingredients I used along with the spices. 

The result is a soup that is thick and hearty. Crumbled tortilla chips would be really good sprinkled over the top, too! With bread to go with it, this recipe will easily feed 4-5 adults. 

Spicy Western Soup
6 cups water
1/3 cup dehydrated veggies
1 can of corn (drained)
1 can (or pint jar in our case) black beans (drained)
1 tbsp. tomato powder
1 clove of garlic - minced
Pepper to taste
2 tsp Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle
1/2 cup instant rice (dry)
2 - 5 oz. cans of chicken in water (or I use 2 1/4 cups diced chicken if I don't need it to be canned)

Note: For dietary reasons, we keep things light on the salt. Feel free to add salt to the recipe if you would like to. 

Pour the water in a large pan and add the dried veggies. Bring to a boil and allow those veggies to simmer for at least 15 minutes. 


Add the tomato powder, minced garlic, pepper, and Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle and simmer for another 5 or 10 minutes. 

Add the corn, black beans, chicken, and rice. Boil for another 5-8 minutes. Turn the heat off and let the soup sit for about 10 minutes to allow the rice to cook. 


Note: If you're in a hurry, you can add the corn, black beans, chicken, and rice at the same time as the tomato powder and spices.

Enjoy! 

If you try this recipe, let me know what you think! I would love to hear of any changes you might have made to the soup as well. 

Stay warm out there!