Black Bean Soup
181 Comments
Updated Feb 09, 2024
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This black bean soup is one darn good vegetarian soup that’s humble yet dazzling. It’s layered with savory and spicy flavors, and can be made in about 30 minutes.
The Benefits Of Black Beans
If you’re not quite a black bean lover yet, let me tell you why you should be. They’re great sources of fiber and filling protein, light on the wallet, easy to cook with, and they’re perfect for adding an earthy, robust flavor and meaty texture to your meals. Yeah, they’re pretty great, eh?
You’ll often find me sprinkling black beans on burrito bowls, stuffed peppers, and taco salads – pretty much all my Mexican recipes. But you know I’m all about ingredient versatility. So what better way to make a vegetarian soup than with loads of veggies and black beans?
Black Bean Soup Ingredients
Black bean soup is a staple recipe in many countries around the world. There are versions from Mexico, Spain, Puerto Rico, and other countries in the Caribbean and Latin America. My recipe is heavily influenced by traditional Cuban black bean soup recipes, but of course, I’ve tweaked it a bit to my liking!
- Vegetables: Onion, carrots, and celery (the usual mirepoix blend) give this soup a chunky veggie boost.
- Vegetable Broth: You can use vegetable broth or chicken broth in this recipe. It’s up to you, depending on if you’re trying to keep it vegetarian or vegan.
- Black Beans: While dried black beans are an option, you’ll need to cook them first before adding them into the soup. So to keep this recipe quick and easy, I’m opting for canned black beans.
- Spices: A blend of cumin, oregano, coriander, and cayenne pepper adds an earthy, spiced flavor that compliments the beans perfectly. And if you want this to have a bit more kick, add a pinch more cayenne!
Find the printable recipe with measurements below.
How To Make Black Bean Soup
I’m happy to say that this is a one-pot recipe! Those are always my favorites for a quick and easy dinner. Here’s how it goes.
You’ll start by sauteing the veggies in a large pot for 4 to 5 minutes. Then stir in and “toast” all of the spices for another minute, until they’re aromatic.
Next, add the black beans and chicken broth. Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat to low and let the soup simmer for about 15 minutes.
The last step is transforming this black bean soup to the perfect creamy yet chunky consistency. I’m using an immersion blender to blend a few rounds directly in the pot. But if you don’t have one, transfer 1 to 2 cups of the soup into a blender and puree it. Then stir it back into the pot along with fresh lime juice for a pop of bright flavor!
How To Serve Black Bean Soup
- Sprinkle some fresh toppings such as diced avocados, red onions (even pickled red onions), cotija cheese, or chopped cilantro.
- Add a dollop of sour cream for a creamy, fresh, and tangy touch!
- Serve with rice to make this an even heartier meal.
Storage Tips
- To store: Store any leftovers in an airtight container for 4 to 5 days in the fridge.
- To freeze: Pour this into a freezer-safe container and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. I love to use Souper Cubes to freeze individual servings (which can be found on my Shop page).
- For reheating: If frozen, thaw it in the fridge the night before. Then you can warm it up in a bowl in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes. Or you can warm it up in a pot on the stovetop.
More Easy Soup Recipes
Excited to make more soups? Try out some of these personal favorites of mine – along with these other soup recipes!
Whenever you’ve got cans of black beans laying around – don’t forget to make this soup! And when you do, I’d love to hear how it turned out in a comment below!
Black Bean Soup
Description
Video
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large red onion, chopped
- 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
- 2 celery ribs, diced
- 1 jalapeno pepper, deseeded and diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 3 (15-ounce) cans low-sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
- 3 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- Optional toppings: fresh cilantro, red onion, avocado, or sour cream. Plus extra lime wedges for serving.
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and jalapeno pepper, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until softened.
- Add the garlic, cumin, oregano, coriander, cayenne pepper, and salt, and stir together for another minute, until fragrant.
- Add the black beans and chicken broth, stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Using an immersion blender, puree the soup a few times to have a mix of creamy and chunky textures. Alternatively, you can scoop out a cup or two of soup, blend it in a standard blender until smooth, and then stir it back into the pot. Then, stir in the lime juice.
- Ladle the soup into individual bowls and garnish with your favorite toppings.
Lisa’s Tips
- Each serving is about 2 cups.
Nutrition
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Love it! Making it nearly every week…🙏💖
Happy you love the recipe, Robyn!
A new favorite!
So easy to make, and so so good when it’s so so so cold out! A dollop of sour cream and some sliced avocado make a beautiful bowl of goodness! Your website is my new go-to!
the picture has a red vegetable which norm in this soup is a red bell pepper. Is this missing in this recipe for a reason?
I loved this black bean soup so simple and delicious. Great leftover food!😊
I’m glad you loved it Debbie!
This was great. For my vegan broth, I chose Orrington Farms ham-flavored broth seasoning. I went light on the jalapenos and wish I hadn’t. I will use the recommended amount next time and more .
More jalapenos are always welcome in this soup! Glad you enjoyed it though Linda :)
Lisa, this soup was delicious as are all your recipes. But I wanted to let you know I had a pretty severe reaction to the Jalapenos pepper, which I deseeded and minced. I didn’t realize that you need to wear gloves when preparing the peppers. You might want to include this in your notes. Also, I used my immersible blender to smooth out the soup which worked well but tore up the bottom of my pot. So I guess I ate some of the no-stick finish and I’m having to throw out the rest of the soup. Any suggestions about a blender that won’t do that would be appreciated.
Hi Betsy – typically you should be fine not wearing gloves when dicing a jalapeno pepper (as long as you don’t touch your face). But it seems like you might have a reaction of some sort. As for the immersion blender, this should not touch the bottom of the pot as you’re spot blending!
Tried this for the first time tonight and loved it! Was so easy to throw together and we finished every bite!
Cheat code: replace 1 can beans with 1 can refried blk beans. Skip the blender.
So. Delicious. This will definitely be a regular meal in our home. My picky 4 year-old devoured it!
I’ve been craving black bean soup. I did a google search and found this recipe so I decided to try it. Boy, am I glad I did! I have made a few of Lisa’s recipes in the past and they’ve been very good. When I read the recipe I really thought it was going to be lacking in flavor but I’ve been wrong before! This soup was flavorful with just the right amount of spice. The only changes I made were to sauté 1/2 a poblano pepper along with the veggies and I only used 1/2 a fresh jalapeño after tasting it and finding it pretty spice. I also made cornbread muffins on the side. Delish!
So glad you ended up loving this black bean soup!
Lisa, this is another winner!! My niece recommended your website a few years ago. I am so glad she did. I am an avid foodie that likes healthy options.
I just finished making your black bean soup. It is so delicious. I’ve shared many of your recipes with family, friends and co-workers. Every time we have a potluck at work I make sure I use one of your yummy recipes. Purchased your food prep/recipe book a few months ago. Thank you! :)
I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying so many recipes the past few years Liz!
Great flavors. But as always I added my own touch. I prepared my own beans which add more favor. I also had extra green chili enchilda sauce from making enchiladas which I added to the soup. I love lots of flavor in my food. Thank you for the great recipe. I will defantly make again.
This black bean soup is so easy to make and SO delicious! It has become a favorite in my house! P.S. I love your new book, “Healthy Meal Prep”…working my way through the recipes. Practical, delicious recipes that are relevant to the way I want to eat now. Thank you Lisa.
Yay, happy you’re loving the black bean recipe and my cookbook Melinda! :)
I’ve now made this recipe twice and it’s been delicious both times. The second time I (immersion) blended more than I thought I should have which ended up being the perfect amount. I also accidentally added the lime juice in with the broth which I was worried about but it ended up great in the end. If you’re looking for a quick and easy recipe with a flavorful end result this is a great choice! Thanks so much Lisa!!
Yeah, I tend to like it a bit creamier as well. Happy you love the recipe Zach!
This is the recipe that made me a follower of Downshiftology. I was doing an internet search for black bean soup and found this one. It was so delicious that I started trying other recipes on the channel and I have enjoyed all of them, but I keep coming back to this one. I have several servings of it in my freezer right now and one thawing for dinner today! I like adding a bit of sour cream when it’s served.
It’s always fun to hear how people find Downshiftology, so thanks for sharing Jim! I’m happy you loved this black bean soup and I hope you enjoy many more recipes. :)
This black bean soup was awesome! It is a simple recipe that is packed with great flavors. And it’s easy to adjust to your own taste. Loved it and shared it!
This soup really is so simple yet so delicious!
I have this on the stove right now. It smells great and first tastes are really good. I’ll be adding some corn to heat just before serving. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Hope you enjoy it Diane!
Easy and delicious
This is the best black bean soup recipe. This is my go-to from now on!
Glad you’re loving this black bean soup Nita!
I made this today for lunch. We served over cornbread and I mixed yogurt into mine. The yogurt made the soup. It was so delicious. I can’t have citrus right now so the yogurt was sort of a substitute.. Thanks for an excellent vegan soup recipe!
Glad you enjoyed this black bean soup Brenda!
I love this recipe! Simple, cozy and I always have these ingredients on hand! Great recipe to take to sick friends as well!
Thank you for a great go to recipe!
Happy to hear you and your friends enjoyed this black bean soup Heather!
5 on Lisa’s side, 4 stars on my side. I forgot how an immersion blender worked exactly, placed it near the bottom of the pot and kept thinking, “well, it needs a little more” while it was pulling everything from the top but blending at the bottom (I guess that makes sense). At any rate I wound up with something more like gravy by the time that I realize how far I’d gone.
I loved the way that Lisa explained things in the video as she was going. Great and simple recipe!
Made this a second time and turned out as amazing as the first time. I have some pretty picky kids (7, 4, and 2) and they gobbled it up.I just left out the cayenne pepper for them.
Glad you and the kiddos loved this black bean soup!
I made this for dinner tonight. It was easy to put together and didn’t take long before it was ready to serve. Spices chosen made for a tasty soup. Thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed this soup Andrea!
Such an easy-to-make and tasty soup – thanks for sharing the recipe. I put mine in the slow cooker for an hour, so I didn’t have to watch it, and it’s turned out perfectly.
This was a remarkably easy soup to make and very tasty and hearty. The lime juice added a really nice balance to the soup at the end — so don’t leave it out. I will definitely make this again.
Wonderful! Glad you enjoyed this black bean soup Beth :)
This soup is UNBELIEVABLE. Truly so so flavorful. Huge mistake on my part for not doubling the batch. I’ll be making this forever! Love how budget friendly it is too.
Yay! Glad you’re loving this black bean soup Lauren :)
This was delicious! I had some leftovers of your carnitas in the freezer so I added that too, worked out fab.
Ever since I had black bean soup at one of Jose Andres’ restaurants, no other could compare. Then I found Cuban black beans from Trader Joe’s but supply chain issues ensued and led me to figure out how to create the flavors I was craving for myself. Enter Lisa’s recipe. SO. GOOD. I only had poblano and crushed red pepper but followed the rest of the recipe and am hooked. Definitely adding to the rotation. It’s the perfect blend of southwest flavors I love. Thanks so much for sharing!!!
Yay, I’m so happy you love my version of black bean soup! :)
I made this tonight. Really a keeper! Black bean soup is usually pretty boring but as your YouTube video said, the flavors just roll off your tongue with this one. I used no substitutions – everything was perfect. You can really dress this up any way you want with the toppings – cheese, green onions, sour cream. I made it with Veggie stock and it’s fantastic. Thank you!
Awesome, so happy you loved this recipe!
Thank you for sharing this recipe! So easy and delicious. I only had two cans of beans so I also added corn and a chopped red pepper. I toped with homemade salsa and it was the perfect autumn supper!
Hi Martha – sounds like some great additions with the corn and red pepper. Happy you enjoyed it!
We eat a lot of black bean dishes so I thought I knew how this would turn out, but oh my gosh, it was even better than expected. I thought we’d have it for dinner then freeze the leftovers but it was too good and couldn’t wait to have it again the next day.
Oh yay, I’m so happy this recipe pleasantly surprised you Lisa! :)
This was super easy to make and delicious! I used only two cans instead of three because three felt like a lot and loved it.
I’m happy you loved the recipe Bianca!
I made this recipe and it was fantastic. I didn’t have any coriander and I used chicken stock instead of vegetable stock but everything else including the suggested toppings. This will be one of go to soups from now on.
Awesome, so happy you enjoyed it!
I’ve made this recipe twice now and it’s awesome. So hearty and tasty, high in protein and low in fat. I didn’t have any toppings (sour cream, avocado) and it was still super delicious as is. Love it!
Perfect! It was delicious made exactly by your recipe. Thanks!
Glad this turned out perfectly Leah!
this is the best black bean soup I have had in years. I doubled the recipe and it was gone in a day. It’s a keeper for me. I put seriously sharp cheddar shreds and cilantro with crushed nacho almond chips on it. Yummy!!
Glad you’re loving this black bean soup Trudy!
Turned out well. I halved the recipe as I only had 8oz of dried beans that I prepared in the slow cooker. The only ingredient I had to sub was coriander because I didn’t have any. I used a little Garam masala. I enjoyed it served with white rice. Comforting and tasty!
Glad this turned out great even with the small tweaks!
This was wonderful! So healthy and full of flavor!
Lisa, thank you for another great recipe :-)
Glad you enjoyed this black bean soup Gina!
I made this tonight. It was loved by all!
Glad this was a win Sallie!
This was so good! I ate one serving tonight and froze the rest of it. Can’t wait to enjoy it again in the future.
You’ve got meal prepping down! So glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Is the calories correct? The recipe has 3 cans of beans each with 385 calories. How the the recipe yield 4 servings of 200 calories?
Great catch Monica! I just fixed the nutrition info. Thanks!
Delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
You’re more than welcome!
Just made this soup, and your mother is right . It is delicious … and really easy!
Thanks for another wonderful recipe!
Thanks so much Rachel! I’ll have to let her know the community says she was right. Haha. ;)
This soup is delicious!! 😋 I’m not gonna lie – it’s not very pretty but it’s packed full of flavour and was the perfect dish for a cool Fall night. I topped mine with some avocado and Greek yogurt. So tasty!! Thanks, Lisa – another great recipe to add to my stash.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Sue!
Made for my sister while she was recovering from surgery. The most food she has eaten in
several days and she went back for more! So delicious and healing :-)
Oh wonderful! I’m glad she loved it. And how kind of you to make it for her. :)
Definitely not the most appetizing looking soup when it comes off the stove but it is absolutely delicious even without any toppings!
I’m so glad you loved it Alexandra! And yes, it’s not exactly pretty, but it sure is tasty. ;)
Wow, thank you so much for this recipe! Delicious ☺️
Glad you enjoyed this black bean soup!
I guess I couldn’t wait to make this recipe since it was calling my name. Truly delicious. The lime juice at the end really makes it pop and I love the coriander. Thanks again, Lisa.
Glad you loved this recipe Alan!
Hi..I’ve been loving your recipes lately and am wanting so badly to try this soup which sounds delish, but the heat from the jalapeños and cayenne is simply too much for my partner who has a history of stomach issues…could you/can anyone suggest a different mix of spices that might work? Garlic?