How Many Calories Are in Taco Soup?
A 1-cup serving of taco soup is 250 calories, and the soup runs 102 calories per 100 g. That cup weighs 245 g, a real ladleful rather than a restaurant portion. The deli-counter bowl most places serve holds 440 g and lands at 449 calories, with the sodium climbing faster than the calories do.
You'd need to walk about 50 minutes to burn the 250 calories in a 1-cup (245 g) serving.
How long does it take to burn off taco soup?
A 1-cup (245 g) serving is 250 kcal. Enter your weight and the amount you ate to see how long it takes you to burn that off:
lb
| Activity | Time to burn 250 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 50 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 31 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 36 min |
| Jogging | 29 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 56 min |
Times are for a 155 lb adult at a steady pace; change the weight to see yours. The amount is set to the portion in the text (245 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Taco soup quick facts
- US servings from one ounce to a deli bowl
- Canned and chicken tortilla versions
- Sodium is the row to watch
- How does taco soup compare?
- Most popular taco soup brands
- FAQ
Taco soup quick facts
There is no USDA record called taco soup. The closest match, and the source of every figure here, is FNDDS 2709162, "Soup, tortilla" from the 2021–2023 survey cycle: a tomato-based Mexican soup with meat and tortilla strips. That is the dish in the bowl — ground beef or chicken, tomatoes, peppers, something starchy, strips on top. A record for a condensed can would describe a different food, and the person searching this is usually holding a cooked bowl.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 cup (245 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 102 | 250 | — |
| Total fat | 4.17 g | 10.2 g | 13% |
| Saturated fat | 0.68 g | 1.7 g | 8% |
| Carbohydrate | 12.56 g | 30.8 g | 11% |
| Dietary fiber | 1.3 g | 3.2 g | 11% |
| Total sugars | 0.87 g | 2.1 g | — |
| Protein | 4.22 g | 10.3 g | 21% |
| Sodium | 257 mg | 630 mg | 27% |
% Daily Value is based on a 2,000-calorie diet.
Verified nutrition data
Numbers on this page come from USDA FoodData Central, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food composition database, and from manufacturer labels where a branded product is named. Last verified September 2026. How we verify our data →
Two rows you would see on a can are missing here on purpose: USDA does not publish added sugars or trans fat for this prepared dish, so there is nothing honest to print. Cholesterol and potassium are published — a cup carries 29 mg of cholesterol (10% of the Daily Value) and 316 mg of potassium (7%). The fat number is the one that surprises people: at 10.2 g a cup, taco soup is not a broth, it is a meal.
US servings from one ounce to a deli bowl
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28 g | 29 kcal |
| Half a cup | 123 g | 125 kcal |
| 1 cup | 245 g | 250 kcal |
| One individual container, deli bowl | 440 g | 449 kcal |
| One can | 525 g | 536 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 102 kcal |
The cup, the deli container and the can are USDA household measures for this record. The 1 oz and half-cup lines are our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not USDA servings — useful when you are logging a taste from someone else's bowl or a small side portion.
The gap between two of those lines is the whole story. A cup is what you ladle at home; a deli or restaurant bowl is 440 g, a shade over a cup and three-quarters, and it costs 449 calories for exactly the same soup. Nothing about the recipe changed. If you log "a bowl of taco soup" and picture a cup, you are under-counting by close to 200 calories, and by 500 mg of sodium.
Canned and chicken tortilla versions
Ready-to-eat retail tortilla soups are thinner than what comes out of a home pot. They lean on broth and tomato, carry less meat, and it shows in the per-100-g number.
| Version | Per 100 g | 1 cup serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homemade-style taco soup, USDA "Soup, tortilla" | 102 kcal | 245 g | 250 kcal |
| Chicken tortilla soup, store brand (Ahold) | 57 kcal | 245 g | 140 kcal |
| Wolfgang Puck organic signature tortilla soup | 57 kcal | 245 g | 140 kcal |
| Tortilla soup with roasted chiles | 49 kcal | 245 g | 120 kcal |
| Hatch verde tortilla soup (Cookwell & Company) | 49 kcal | 245 g | 120 kcal |
A canned cup at 140 calories is a little more than half the homemade cup at 250. The thinnest one in the USDA branded set goes further: Cookwell & Company's plain tortilla soup is labeled 28 calories per 100 g, 71 calories for a 254 g cup, which is closer to a seasoned broth than to dinner. Two cups of that still would not reach one homemade cup.
Related bowls from the same family sit in between. Sopa de fideo aguada is 95 calories per 100 g, so a 245 g cup works out to 233 calories by our own arithmetic from the 100 g figure — thin noodles instead of meat, which trades protein for starch. Caldo de res is lighter still at 71 per 100 g, 174 a cup, because it is beef and broth with nothing thickening it.
The practical read: if you want the flavor and not the calories, canned is a genuine cut, not a marketing one. If you want the meal, cook it and log the real portion.
Sodium is the row to watch
Calories are not the problem with taco soup. Sodium is. A single cup delivers 630 mg, which is 27% of the FDA Daily Value of 2,300 mg. That is roughly a quarter teaspoon of table salt dissolved in one cup of soup.
| Portion | Weight | Sodium | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 245 g | 630 mg | 27% |
| Deli bowl | 440 g | 1131 mg | 49% |
| One can | 525 g | 1349 mg | 59% |
The bowl and can figures are our own arithmetic from the USDA 257 mg per 100 g. Eat the deli bowl and you have spent about half a day's sodium on 449 calories — a good deal on energy, a poor one on salt. If you are watching sodium, the cup is the portion that keeps you in range, and skipping the salted tortilla strips on top helps more than skipping the cheese.
Protein pushes the other way. A cup gives 10.3 g, 21% of the Daily Value, and the 440 g bowl gives 18.6 g, or 37% — a real contribution toward the protein foods pattern MyPlate describes for a 2,000-calorie day. Fiber does its share too at 3.2 g a cup, 11% of the Daily Value, which is more than most brothy soups manage.
How does taco soup compare?
| Soup | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories | Protein per cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taco soup, USDA "Soup, tortilla" | 102 kcal | 1 cup, 245 g | 250 kcal | 10.3 g |
| Sopa de fideo aguada | 95 kcal | 1 cup, 245 g | 233 kcal | 6.2 g |
| Bean soup with meat | 84 kcal | 1 cup, 245 g | 206 kcal | 14.4 g |
| Sopa or caldo de res | 71 kcal | 1 cup, 245 g | 174 kcal | 14.5 g |
Per-cup calories and protein for the three neighbors are our own arithmetic from their USDA 100 g figures.
Our take: taco soup is the heaviest of these four per cup and, oddly, not the most filling. Bean soup with meat gives 14.4 g of protein for 206 calories and caldo de res 14.5 g for 174 — both beat taco soup's 10.3 g while costing less. For weight loss, caldo de res is the smarter ladle. Taco soup earns its extra 76 calories a different way: the fat and the tortilla strips make it taste like a finished dinner, which is why people actually eat it instead of eating around it. Pick it for the meal, not for the math.
Most popular taco soup brands in the United States
Ranked by how widely each product appears among foods sold in the United States, from the BodyPal food database of over 3.3 million products. Calories are the figures printed on each Nutrition Facts label, checked against USDA FoodData Central.
| Product | Calories (per 100 g) |
|---|---|
| Wolfgang Puck Organic Signature Tortilla Soup | 57 cal |
| Ahold Chicken Tortilla Soup | 57 cal |
| HT Traders Mexican Style Hearty Chicken Tortilla Soup | 57 cal |
| Cookwell & Company Hatch Verde Tortilla Soup | 49 cal |
| Cookwell & Company Tortilla Soup | 28 cal |
| Signature Cafe Chicken Tortilla Soup | 57 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Taco soup FAQs
How many calories are in a bowl of taco soup?
A 440 g deli-counter bowl of taco soup is 449 calories, scaled from the USDA figure of 102 calories per 100 g. That is almost double the 250 calories in a 1-cup serving, and the sodium rises in step, from 630 mg to 1,131 mg. Bowl size decides the number here.
How many calories in 1 cup of taco soup?
One cup of taco soup, 245 g, is 250 calories. The same cup carries 10.3 g of protein, 30.8 g of carbohydrate and 10.2 g of fat. Half a cup, 123 g, is 125 calories by our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure. Per 100 g the soup is 102 calories.
How much protein is in taco soup?
A 1-cup serving gives 10.3 g of protein, 21% of the Daily Value, from 4.22 g per 100 g. The 440 g bowl brings that to 18.6 g, or 37%. That is decent for a soup, though bean soup with meat beats it at 14.4 g per cup for fewer calories.
How many carbs are in taco soup?
One cup holds 30.8 g of carbohydrate, 11% of the Daily Value, with 3.2 g of that as fiber and only 2.1 g as total sugars. Per 100 g it is 12.56 g of carbohydrate. The tortilla strips and starchy vegetables do most of that work; USDA does not publish an added sugars value for this cooked dish.
Is taco soup high in sodium?
Yes — 630 mg in a 1-cup serving, 27% of the FDA Daily Value of 2,300 mg. A 440 g bowl is 1,131 mg, or 49%, so one bowl at lunch spends half the day's sodium. That is roughly a quarter teaspoon of table salt in a single cup.
Is taco soup good for weight loss?
At 102 calories per 100 g it is one of the lighter hot meals you can build, and a 1-cup serving of 250 calories fits a 350–450-calorie lunch with room for a side. The catch is the bowl: 440 g pushes it to 449 calories before any cheese or sour cream.
How many calories in canned chicken tortilla soup?
Around 140 calories per 1-cup (245 g) serving, from 57 calories per 100 g on the label — a little more than half the 250 in a homemade cup. Thinner ones go lower: Cookwell & Company's plain tortilla soup is 28 calories per 100 g, 71 per 254 g cup.
How many calories in taco soup with ground beef?
Count it at 250 calories a cup. The USDA row behind this page, 'Soup, tortilla' at 102 calories per 100 g, is already a meat-and-tomato Mexican soup, so a ground beef version lands in the same place. USDA does not publish a separate record named taco soup with beef.
Similar foods
- Pork And Beans — 273 cal per cup
- Turkey deli meat — 89 cal for 3 slices
- Chicken Tikka Masala — 257 cal per cup
- Chinese Chicken and Broccoli — 206 cal per cup
- Tuna steak — 185 cal per steak, 6 oz
- Clam Chowder — 237 cal per cup
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the bowl and BodyPal counts the soup for you, strips and all.
