Tex Mex Minestrone Soup

A few years ago I wrote about a cheap, quick, and easy crowd-pleaser recipe: Tex Mex Minestrone Soup.  Over the years, I've changed & perfected it to my liking, so I thought it would be great to post the new ideas.  Last year I made a triple batch for a large group of friends coming over & they loved it!  Not to mention it took me about 30 minutes to cook for 16 people, most of which was letting the soup simmer over low heat!

Tex Mex Minestrone Soup

 Basic Ingredients:

-Half a box of pasta noodles. Smaller is better, so macaroni & rotini are your friends.  I've also used penne.  It's a bit bigger, but still works.

-1 jar of salsa.  Regular mild is my favorite, but you can use medium or hot if you like it hotter.  With mild you can always add hot sauce to taste.

-1 can of black beans.  Yep, let all the juice in there, too!

-3 cups of water.  Sometimes I add more if the noodles soak up a lot of it.

Preparation:

Make the pasta as directed.  Then mix all the ingredients in one pot & bring it to boiling.  Then simmer for about 20 minutes (longer definitely doesn't hurt, but 20 gets everything soaked in well).

Ta-da!  $4 and you've fed a family of 4.

Now, the great thing about this recipe is that you can add just about anything you want in.  I love to put some cheese on top once it's served.  Last week we tried it with a pound of ground beef.  Talk about hearty!  Beans give my daughter a diaper rash so I make a small pot without beans for her.

It's also easy to double, triple, etc.  I tend to buy the large jug of salsa that has the handle like a milk jug!  It's the kind of recipe you smell when you walk in the front door & my husband always gets excited.  It's so nice to have a quick, easy, & cheap recipe that everyone gets excited over!  Let me know how your family likes it!