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Thick and hearty, this easy to put together Black Bean Soup is made with humble pantry ingredients and a fresh burst of cilantro and lime juice to bring it to life. Make it mild or spicy to suit your family, and serve up with some of your favorite toppings to truly make it a meal your entire family will love!
Who doesn’t love a quick and easy family meal? This soup is hearty, comforting, and healthy. Made with mostly pantry ingredients this is a meal that you can toss together with little planning for those nights when you need something quick. Here’s just a few reasons for you to love this soup:
- Use dry or canned beans
- Add in extra veggies your family will love
- Season and spice it up to your taste
Ingredients Needed:
Notes on some ingredients:
- Red Chile Flakes: optional and not pictured. Taste the soup at the end and if you feel the need for some more heat, add a sprinkle in and add as desired.
- Black Beans: use 15 ounce cans. Drain and rinse the beans. You can use dried beans for this recipe. Just make sure to soak the beans overnight before using. Substitute the 4 cans with 2 pounds of dried black beans.
- Broth: bone broth adds a nice richness and nutrients to the finished dish. You can also use a vegetable broth to keep it meat free.
- Avocado Oil: a great option for cooking, although you can substitute for evoo or other oil of choice if desired
How to make (step-by-step):
- Step 1: Sauté the onion and jalapeño, then add the garlic and seasonings.
- Step 2: Add beans and broth. Stir this all together, bring to a simmer, then cover and reduce heat to low.
- Step 3: Remove the lid and let the soup continue to cook while stirring and mashing the beans against the side of the pot. Stir in the lime juice and fresh cilantro. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.
Expert Tips:
- Heat: if you want more heat to the soup, leave the membranes in the jalapeno, or you could substitute the jalapeño for a Serrano pepper. Then taste and if more heat is desired add some crushed red Chile pepper. This recipe is written to be mild and will be pleasant for little ones or those who don’t like, or can’t have spice.
- Thicken: this is a nice hearty soup, nice and thick. To make it thick, simply mash some of the beans on the side of the pot during the cooking process. If you want it even thicker, use an immersion blender or transfer a portion of the soup to a blender carefully and blend.
- Extra Veggies: if you have vegetables on hand you want or need to use, this is a great soup recipe to add them to. Great options include carrots, celery, tomatoes, zucchini, or other squash. Dice up and sauté with the onion to soften them up.
FAQ’s:
There are many health benefits to eating black beans, you can read more in this article.
Yes. Store the soup in a freezer safe container and keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Remove to the refrigerator to thaw overnight and reheat on the stovetop.
Some great options would be to serve a bread or cornbread on the side. A salad is a great option also, either a simple garden salad with some homemade ranch dressing, or this Autumn Apple Salad is always a hit!
More Hearty Soup Recipes:
Black Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- ½ cup yellow onion diced finely
- 1 jalapeño de-seeded and membranes removed, diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 4 (15 ounce cans) black beans no sodium, drained & rinsed
- 2 cups chicken bone broth low/no sodium
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 bayleaf
- 1 teaspoon lime juice fresh
- 2 tablespoons cilantro diced
Optional
- ¼ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
Optional Toppings
- 1 avocado diced
- cilantro diced
- sour cream
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large dutch oven.
- Add onion and jalapeño, and cook until softened and translucent
- Add in the garlic and cook an additional 30 seconds.
- Add the seasonings and stir to combine.
- Pour in the black beans, and broth. Stir to combine.
- Bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.
- Stir and mash beans against the side of the pot to thicken the soup, if needed use an immersion blender to blend a portion of the soup to desired consistency.
- Add the lime juice and fresh diced cilantro. Stir to combine.
- Taste and adjust seasonings/salt to taste. Sprinkle in red pepper flakes if desired for more heat.
- Top with desired toppings, serve.
Video
Equipment
Notes
- Red Chile Flakes: optional and not pictured. Taste the soup at the end and if you feel the need for some more heat, add a sprinkle in and add as desired.
- Black Beans: use 15 ounce cans. Drain and rinse the beans. You can use dried beans for this recipe. Just make sure to soak the beans overnight before using. Substitute the 4 cans with 2 pounds of dried black beans.
- Broth: bone broth adds a nice richness and nutrients to the finished dish. You can also use a vegetable broth to keep it meat free.
- Avocado Oil: a great option for cooking, although you can substitute for evoo or other oil of choice if desired.
- Storage: This soup can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
- Freezing: Let the soup come to room temperature. Pour into a freezer plastic sealable bag, or into a freezer safe container. Store in the freezer for 4-5 months. To reheat, place the soup in the refrigerator overnight. Then warm on the stovetop in a dutch oven or stock pot.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Photography done by the talented @KJandCompany
Added carrots, celery, red peppers, yellow peppers. So good! Thanks for the idea. Black beans made a great base for added flavors.
thank you! I eat pintos and black beans a lot as part of my diet, and this is so much more than my typical legume side dish with all of the soup ingredients, including jalapenos!
I love black bean soup. Thanks for the great recipe!
This looks so delicious and great for cold winter nights!
Thank you so much Kristyn 🙂
This reminds me of the soup from Panera, which is my favorite by far! But I haven’t made it in forever…looks like I need too after seeing this delicious recipe!
You must Meg!! It’s so easy 🙂 definitely one of my favorites.
I have always loved black bean soup. This looks so delicious and satisfying I just want to dive right in!
Thanks so much Tanya! xo
This looks really savory. I love learning new soup ideas!
Definitely savory! Thanks Heather 🙂
This looks very savory and wonderful on a cold rainy day!
Thank you so much Heather!
I don’t have an immersion blender either so I feel your pain on trying to make hot soup in a blender. This whole bean version looks great though 🙂
Thanks so much Sharon! And seriously..immersion blenders.. I need to look into getting one 🙂