This also works well using half each ground beef and spicy bulk pork sausage meat, make certain to brown the meat well to increase the flavor, this soup tastes even better the following day so you may want to make it up to a few days ahead and refrigerate just warm on top of the stove before serving, it also freezes very well, the taco seasoning is only optional I also like to add in a minced jalapeno pepper when browning the meat-- see my recipe#80434