Black Bean Soup is a traditional creamy stovetop soup recipe made from scratch with dried beans but can also be made in the instant pot or slow cooker!
This vegetarian and vegan soup recipe is a great freezer meal or make ahead meal either for family dinner or to serve to a crowd.
Make ahead meal
A delicious Mexican black bean soup recipe, as opposed to Chinese or Cuban black bean soup. Made from scratch with dried beans the traditional recipe is cooked on the stovetop. And in my opinion the best way to used dried black beans!
But you can also make instant pot black bean soup or slow cooker black bean soup in the crock pot. Or make a super easy and quick no soak bean soup with canned beans instead.
Made from only a few simple vegetarian, vegan and gluten free ingredients this soup also freezes well.
Making it an affordable and easy meal to choose when looking for recipes to feed a crowd!
A vegan black bean soup that’s creamy and delicious and can be topped in so many ways because everything goes well with black beans!
Ingredients
- Dried black beans – soaked overnight as directed in recipe. Or substitute drained canned black beans and reduce cook time to only 30 minutes. For an almost no soak bean recipe you can add the beans to a medium pot and cover with hot water. Bring to a boil, and then boil for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover the pot and allow the beans to sit for 1 hour.
- Low sodium vegetable broth- or substitute chicken stock for a non vegetarian and vegan black bean soup recipe.
- Onion
- Garlic
- Bell pepper
- Chili powder
- Ground cumin
- Salt
- Toppings – optional, chopped white onion, avocado, cilantro, Mexican cotija cheese. See below for more serving ideas for black bean soup.
Step by step instructions
- Place dried beans in a large pot and cover with water. Allow to soak overnight. Drain and rinse. Drain the beans and rinse with cold.
- In a large stockpot over medium high heat, saute onion and bell pepper until soft. Add garlic, chile powder and cumin, stir and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- After draining and rinsing beans add to pot with onion mixture. Add stock or broth and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 ½ – 2 hours.
- Add salt and stir. Cover and simmer another 1 hour before tasting and adding additional seasoning to your liking.
- Top as desired and serve.
- Enjoy!
How to serve
Think of it like tacos or chili when thinking about the accompaniments to serve this soup with.
Black bean soup goes well with salsa and tomatoes, avocado or guacamole, tortillas, diced onion, Mexican cotija cheese, lime and cilantro.
Or serve black bean soup with cornbread and ham bone or ham hock like this Split Pea Soup recipe. Or use bacon instead.
You can also serve bean soup over rice with chicken, sausage and shrimp somewhat like gumbo.
Or serve as black beans on the side of your meal.
You can also use it as bean dip and to make refried beans. And as bean filling for enchiladas, tacos, tamales, quesadillas, etc.
Instant pot black bean soup
Add all ingredients to the instant pot and make instant pot black bean soup the same as directed in a fraction of the time! Simply pressure cook on high for 30 minutes and let the pressure release naturally. Check for tenderness and continue cooking and additional 15-30 minutes as needed to reach desired creaminess. Allow to release pressure naturally again and simmer to thicken as needed. Serve and enjoy!
Or forego soaking the beans and place all ingredients in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 7 hours. Add salt to taste and continue cooking for another hour or until beans are super soft and tender.
Yield
A single batch makes 6 large servings. Or double or easily triple this recipe to serve a crowd. Or black bean soup freezes very well and frozen in small portions makes an easy lunch or dinner recipe for one or two.
Shelf life
To make soup ahead of time cool then refrigerate for up to five days. Reheat on the stovetop over low or in the microwave.
To freeze soup cool then freeze in gallon freezer bags, laying flat for easy storage. Or, use large silicon soup storage freezer containers to freeze and transfer to vacuum or freezer bags.
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried black beans roughly 3 cups
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth (or vegetable stock)
- 2 cups water
- 1 medium onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 medium bell pepper diced
- 2 teaspoons chile powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Place dried beans in a large pot and cover with water. Allow to soak overnight. Drain and rinse.
- In a large stockpot over medium high heat, saute onion and bell pepper until soft. Add garlic, chile powder and cumin, stir and cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds).
- Add drained and rinsed beans, stir to combine.
- Add stock and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 ½ – 2 hours.
- Add salt and stir. Cover and simmer another 1 hour before tasting and adding additional seasoning to your liking.
- Serve with desired toppings.
Notes
Nutrition
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