1. Gather the ingredients.

2. Place the drained corn, kidney beans, pinto beans, black beans, optional green chilies, and undrained stewed tomatoes in your crock pot and give it a quick stir.

3. Next, add the taco seasoning mix, cumin, onion powder, salt, and garlic powder and quickly stir again.

4. Cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours. Alternatively, if you're in a hurry, you can set this on high for 3 hours.

5. Taste and adjust the seasonings before serving. If the soup is too thick for your liking, add vegetable broth to thin it out. If it is too thin, cook it a little longer with the cover off.

6. To serve, set out bowls of optional garnishes—tortilla chips, grated cheese, chopped green onions, chopped cilantro, sour cream—and let your family or guests top their soup to their liking. 

Tips

• If you're cooking for kids, you might want to omit the optional green chiles.

• Mexican-style stewed tomatoes are best if you can find them.

• If the soup is too thick, thin it out with vegetable broth, if too thin, cook it longer with the cover off until it reaches the thickness you'd like.

Recipe Variations

• If you are a vegetarian who eats fish and shellfish, you can use this same cooking technique by adding up to 12 ounces (pre-cooked weight) of seafood like shrimp, crab, cod, mahi-mahi, or any other firm-fleshed finfish. Remember, when you mix the cooked seafood with the cooked soup to just warm it through or it will become rubbery, dry, and tough. 

• For the meat-eaters in your family, you can set out bowls of cooked and drained room-temperature chorizo sausage or grilled chicken along with the other garnishes for guests to add to their bowls at their discretion. The heat of the soup will rewarm the meat.