Our black bean soup is hearty, warm, comforting and bursting with flavor. All you need are a few simple pantry ingredients, some veggies, and done! Bonus: it tastes even better the second day ( if you have leftovers, that is... )
I wish I had made a double batch of this black bean soup . Everyone absolutely loved it, and it was gone in no time! Thankfully, I hid the two bowls I used to take the pictures and was able to enjoy it the next day ( one of the advantages of being a food bloggers, I guess?? 😉 ).
Tips on How to Make The Best Black Bean Soup
- Start with some diced celery, carrots, onions, bell pepper ( or jalapeno peppers if you want extra heat). This step if your flavor builder.
- Add some tomato paste to the diced veggies for some extra umami. You can also add some chipotle en adobo for extra heat and smokiness. It is up to you!
- Add your spices. We chose smoked paprika, prepared chili powder blend, cumin and red pepper flakes for heat here.
- Add canned black beans with their liquid, this helps add flavor, as well as to thicken the soup a bit. We're planning on trying soaked dry black beans, we'll give you an update if we do! If you give it a try before we do, we would love to hear about your experience.
- Add a small handful of brown rice to make it extra hearty. You can also add quinoa, barley or corn. 1/4 cup of rice, quinoa or barley is enough, any more would make the soup a little too thick. If you're using corn, you add 1/2 to 3/4 cup.
- Bring the soup to a boil and let it simmer until all the flavors develop. As with most soups, the soup he longer you simmer it, the better it will taste!
- Many recipes suggest pureeing all or part of the soup for extra creaminess. Personally we love biting into tender black beans and veggies, so we chose not to puree it. Plus it saves us time and work with clean up!
Black Bean Soup Toppings
Our black bean soup is great as is, but you can always make it even better by adding some toppings. Here are some to choose from:
- Greek Yogurt or sour cream (dairy or vegan)
- Diced fresh avocado
- Diced fresh tomato
- Fresh chopped cilantro
- Shredded cheese (dairy or vegan)
- Sliced scallions
- Sliced jalapeno peppers
- Spiced Pumpkin Seeds
- Dukkah
- Schug
- Fresh mango
- Fresh tomatillo salsa
- Crushed corn chips
You may also dip Tostones, Lemon Cranberry Cornbread or Cheesy vegan corn muffins into your soup.
Other Bean Soups to Enjoy This Winter
- Cannelini Bean and Quinoa Kale soup
- Moroccan Harira soup
- Meatless Sausage Kale Soup
- Wheat Berry and Chickpea Soup
Did you like our black bean soup ? Scroll down to the comments and leave us a rating! Did you love it? Share it or leave us a comment on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook! Wanna see more? Subscribe to our blog and remember to follow us on Pinterest!
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The Best Black Bean Soup
- Yield: 6 cups 1x
Description
Our black bean soup is hearty, warm, comforting and bursting with flavor. All you need are a few simple pantry ingredients, some veggies, and done! Bonus: it tastes even better the second day ( if you have leftovers, that is... )
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
- 4 celery stalks, diced small
- 1 small red bell pepper, diced small
- 2 medium carrots, diced small
- 1 medium red or yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced or grated
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp chili powder blend
- 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes or to taste
- 2 cans black beans with their liquid
- 3 cups water or vegetable broth
- 1/4 cup brown rice (you can also use quinoa, barley or farro)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a soup pot. Add the celery, red bell pepper, carrot, onion, garlic and tomato paste cook over medium-high until they start to soften, about 5 minutes
- Add the chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, salt and red pepperflakes and continue cooking for an additional 3-4 minutes. Add a cup of the water or vegetable broth, and cook for another 2-3 minutes
- Add the black beans with their liquid, the remaining 2 cups of water or vegetable broth and the brown rice. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 -30 minutes, or until rice is cooked and all the veggies are tender (the longer you cook the soup, the better it will taste)
- Add a little more water, if you want the soup to be less thick, but don't add too much or it will water down the flavor
- Category: soup
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups
- Calories: 351
- Sugar: 6.7
- Sodium: 1,477.7
- Fat: 8.3
- Saturated Fat: 1.3
- Unsaturated Fat: 6.5
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 56.1
- Fiber: 18.6
- Protein: 15.5
- Cholesterol: 0
Keywords: black bean soup, soup, vegan, gluten free
Ruchama says
I would like to make this in my slow cooker and serve on Shabbat. Can you suggest modifications to optimize slow cooker version
Vicky & Ruth says
Hi Ruchama, we have not tested our black bean soup recipe in the slow cooker and we are not sure how it will come out or how the spices will taste after long cooking time. We do have some suggestions for you if you want to try.
1. Saute celery, onions, garlic, and carrots and add it to the crockpot. Skip the bell pepper.
2. Buy a jar of roasted red peppers, drain them and chop them small, put the cut peppers back in the jar and set them aside in the fridge. Add them to the soup right before serving it on Shabbat.
3. Since the soup is going to cook for a long time, we would suggest that you use 1 1/3 cups of dry black beans with 4 - 5 cups of boiling water instead of using canned beans. Dry black beans are better for longer cooking times and they will make their own sauce while cooking. However, If you do not have dry black beans, you may then use the 2 cans of black beans with their liquid, plus an additional cup of water.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients mentioned in the recipe, including the water of broth, plus 3-4 cloves of garlic whole.
5. If you are using dry black beans you may need to use more salt since canned black beans are already cooked in salt. But that is your personal preference.
6. The brown rice will probably become mushy in the crockpot, but since it is only 1/4 cup it shouldn't be a problem.
We hope it comes out right for you. Please let us know how our black bean soup comes out in the slow cooker. If these modifications work we will add them as recommendations in our recipe. Let us know if you have any more questions.
Lee says
Amazing, satisfying, filling like a meal
★★★★★
Vicky & Ruth says
Thank you, we are so happy you enjoyed it!
Susan Nathan says
This soup is so easy to make and super delicious!!
★★★★★
Vicky & Ruth says
Thank you so much for sharing!
LISA KOLTUN says
Is it possible to start with dried black beans vs the canned with liquid? And how would this recipe be modified to start with dried vs canned w/liquid black beans? Many thanks!
Vicky & Ruth says
Hi Lisa, you can absolutely make this recipe with dried black beans. We would soak the black beans the night before, rinse them and start cooking them in enough water that they will become tender and still have some "black bean broth" AKA cooking water, left in the pan. Add salt to the cooking water. In a separate pan follow steps 1 & 2, once the beans are almost done we add the cooked veggies and spices to the beans and continue with the recipe. Let us know how it comes out!
Cindy says
My kind of recipe!! Ingredients I have, super easy and delicious!! It’s never too early for a good soup!!
★★★★★
Vicky & Ruth says
Thank you! We agree!
Natalie says
Delicious, flavorful and filling! The best part was that it wasnt a complicated recipe and I already had most of the ingredients at home! I will definitely be making this again. Thank you Vicky and Ruth
★★★★★
Vicky & Ruth says
Thank you so much Natalie, we are so happy you enjoyed our black bean soup!
Naomi cohen says
Alway enjoy trying the recipes on this blog.
Can’t wait to try the black bean soup
★★★★★
Vicky & Ruth says
Thank you so much!