Serrano Pepper Recipes: Tamale/Taco Soup

Our peppers are growing non-stop!  They are almost ready for harvest and put into a nice fresh batch of dinner rolls with cheese.  We do a few different things with our peppers.  These are 3 to 4 times stronger than jalapenos.  We let a few peppers turn red before picking.  When they are ready we set them out to sun dry similar to sun dried tomatoes.  Once they are dry, I grab a chefs knife and start chopping.  This is a good way to test their dryness.  If they are not completely dry, then let them set a few more days.  Once they are dry you can chop them a little more for pepper flakes or crush them into a powder for chilli, tamale or taco soup, and to add a kick to BBQ meats.  My favorite is to add some in the water that  boil corn in.  Boil you water, add a little butter and your ground up peppers for a great side dish.

These peppers can be frozen or canned.  I use green peppers for both of these.  They will become the peppers I dice up for breads and add to peas for a little heat.  The juice from the canning jar can also be used to season other veggies.  My favorite by far is a bowl of tamale soup.  So here is the recipe in case you want to try it out. This makes a huge pot of soup.

4 tamales sliced to make a half in thick rounds with the meat still in the middle.
2 lbs of cooked beef or turkey meat
1 cup or 1 can of cream style corn
1 cup or 1 can of cooked black beans
1 cup or 1 can of cooked pinto beans
1/4 cup of floor for thickening the juice
1-2 cups of tomato sauce (if you really like tomatoes than use 2 cups)
2 cans of chicken broth
2 cans of beef broth
2 packages of taco seasoning
1-2 teaspoon f ground Serrano peppers
1/2 diced onion or add onion powder to taste
salt to taste
a dash or black pepper


Brown your meat while you get your broth boiling with the corn, beans and seasonings.  When the meat is brown add it to the boiling soup mix.  Cover and let simmer on low heat for one hour.  Stirring occasionally to make sure it does not burn on the bottom.  The last ten minutes is when you need to add the tamales other wise they will fall apart from over cooking.  Fill a bowl with a few fritos, add your soup and top off with a cheddar and jack mix of cheese.

If you just want a taco soup, then leave out the tamales.
Enjoy!!