There used to be a restaurant chain here in the Midwest called Max & Erma’s that had delicious chicken tortilla soup. It was creamy, lightly spicy and so comforting on a cold day.

Sadly, I think the chain mostly went out of business a few years ago, and the only one still around is at the airport, I think.

This Crockpot Taco Soup is inspired by, but quite a bit different than that restaurant soup. My version is a little lighter (less creamy) and uses ground beef instead of chicken.

Unlike many other crock pot soup recipes out there, this one doesn’t just have a dull, one-note flavor. Deeply browned ground beef, tomatoes, two types of beans, green chiles and lots of seasoning give this soup layers of comforting flavor.

The post Taco Soup Slow Cooker Recipe appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

This Elote Corn Salad is so flavorful!

Right up there with salmon pasta, this salad is one of the most popular recipes on this site!

I think it’s because it’s a side dish that can be made in advance and has a huge amount of flavor going on.

There’s creamy cheese and mayo, tangy lime juice, herby cilantro and a little bit of heat from cayenne and chili powder.

It can be made with fresh or frozen corn, and there’s substitution options for a lot of the ingredients, making it easy to use what you already have on hand.

My favorite part is that it can be served warmed, chilled or even right at room temperature. It’s equally delicious all three ways.

The post Mexican Street Corn Salad (Elote Salad) appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

As a family of three, we almost always have leftovers.

Leftover dinner, leftover baked goods, leftover ingredients. Since almost all recipes everywhere (including a lot of recipes on this blog, even) are written for four to eight servings, we always have an extra helping for that fourth person that isn’t at our table.

And honestly, we love it. We love being a family of three, happily eating our leftovers. It makes lunch the next day (at least for one of us) an autopilot meal, like microwaving the last slice of vegetarian quiche. Sometimes it means we can have mashed potato cakes with our weekend brunch.

With some meals, like a breakfast charcuterie board or cottage cheese breakfast bowls, it’s super easy to just adapt the quantities to what we need.

But with things like baked goods, it gets a little trickier. A batch of cornbread meant for two people won’t quite be enough for the three of us, but with a bigger recipe, we’re left with extra. Or sometimes we have extra after making chorizo stuffing.

Leftover cornbread, just on it’s own, is not my favorite. So today, I’m sharing the leftover cornbread breakfast casserole I’ve created to repurpose it into something new and delicious.

The post Leftover Cornbread Breakfast Casserole appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

Taco Mac and Cheese

People often think that because I went to culinary school and run a food blog for a living, that my family eats fancy meals like goat cheese risotto or salmon stuffed with crab every night.

The truth is, we’re just like every other American family: busy all day long trying to balance work and childcare. When we sit down for dinner, we pretty much just want frozen lasagna recipe cottage cheese, or tacos and mac and cheese like everybody else.

Sure, once in awhile (mostly on the weekends when we’re feeling ambitious), it’s short rib tacos or pimento mac and cheese. But for the most part, it’s ground beef tacos with taco seasoning or classic elbow noodles with lots of gooey cheese.

This Mexican macaroni recipe is inspired by a mac and cheese with ground beef dish that Jeff used to make quite often in college, to cheaply feed a crowded house full of students.

I’ve written this taco mac and cheese recipe to be something you can easily get on the table in less than 30 minutes to deliciously satisfy your family on a weeknight.

The post Taco Mac and Cheese Recipe appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

My roasted corn salad recipe is an oldie but a goodie. In fact, not only is it one of the most popular recipes on this blog, but it’s also one of my favorite recipes to take to a party. I’ll sometimes simply call that recipe “elote salad,” and serve it alongside baby back ribs (don’t forget the best rib rub when you make them)!

What is Elote?

Elote is a popular street food in Mexico. It’s simply corn on the cob (usually boiled or grilled), coated with condiments such as mayonnaise, cheese, lime juice and spices.

However, I’ll be the first to admit that the salad can be somewhat polarizing among certain crowds. In my experience, 50% of party guests will LOVE it and come back for seconds.

But the other 50%? There’s somebody who wants to try it, but can’t eat onions. There’s somebody who doesn’t like any spice at all.

There’s a toddler who just wants corn without all the “stuff” on it. And then there’s the people with the cilantro-hating gene.

The post Mexican Street Corn Elote Cup appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

Salad jars and I go way, way back. One of my recipe development clients requested a salad-in-a-jar a few years back, and then a Greek layer dip in a jar.

And somewhere along the way, jars like my Asian noodle salad became some of my most popular recipes, so people browsing Pinterest and search engines for recipe ideas must be liking them, too!

(more…)

The post Taco Salad Jars with Green Chile Yogurt Dressing appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

When it comes to breakfast, there’s probably two camps of people: those who are starving and need to eat something as soon as they wake up, and those who always skip breakfast.

I fall somewhere in the middle. In general, I could take it or leave it.

If there’s a granola bar around, or I feel like making a smoothie or a savory cottage cheese breakfast bowl, I’ll have a little somethin’ somethin’.

Other days, I just skate by on a cup of coffee and wait for lunch. However, I know breakfast is the most important meal of the day yada yada yada, so I am trying to become a regular breakfast eater.

(more…)

The post Homemade Frozen Breakfast Burritos appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

In all honesty, I’ve always been confused by meat substitutes. Veggie “bacon,” fake meat crumbles, etc. If you decide to adapt a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, why would you want to eat these things? While I’m not a vegetarian, I eat many meatless meals, filling my plate with filling yet substantial foods like lentils, whole grains and mushrooms.

However, I’m not one to completely dismiss a food until I’ve tried it. By happenstance, I came across this article that explains “hippie ingredients” like miso and nutritional yeast, as well as meat substitutes.

The author talks about tempeh (a meat substitute), claiming “$10 says you can use it interchangeably in [chili, lasagna or Sloppy Joe’s], and even the most astute meat-eater wouldn’t be able to tell if you spice it properly.” Challenge accepted.

(more…)

The post “Chorizo” & Black Bean Vegetarian Chili appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.