This Black Bean soup is thick, yet creamy, very flavorful, and perfect to dip your spoon or a piece of bread in. Easy to make and only a few easy-to-find ingredients required. The Lime gives the perfect amount of sourness and freshness to make your mouth water for more.
I love frijoles negros (Black bean soup), but I have never made it myself. I found this Black Bean Soup recipe on Pinterest and it piqued my interest. I love using various legumes in my dishes to add more proteins and nutrients, but I had only paired black beans with rice. SO one day, I was staring at the extra cans of black beans I had in the back of my pantry and decided this would be the best way to use them.
And boy am I glad I did.
This soup is really good. It’s spicy (without the heat), sour, salty, creamy, and so comforting to eat. And a great way to throw a bunch of vegetables in. Quick to make and quick to eat, what’s not to love.
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Ingredients
- Onion, Celery, Carrots. Also called the mirepoix, this will be the main flavor component for the soup.
- Garlic. Because every soup is better with garlic.
- Cumin.
- Red Pepper Flakes. To add a little spice. You can also add fresh or canned chilis, or omit it completely if you are sensitive to spice.
- Black Beans. For this recipe, you need 4 cans of black beans. Try to find ones that are unsalted, so it does not affect the flavor.
- Lime juice. To add freshness and zing. It creates a beautiful flavor.
- Veggie Broth. You can use vegetable broth or vegetable bouillon. My favorite is Better Than Bouillon Seasoned Vegetable Base.
Procedure
First, get all your ingredients prepared. This soup goes by really quickly, so it’s best to have all your ingredients prepared beforehand.
So chop your onion and celery, slice your carrots, and mince those cloves of garlic to have them ready. Once you have your main vegetables chopped, take a medium-sized pot to the stove. Heat about 1 tbsp of oil and throw in your onion, carrots, and celery.
You want these to soften without browning too much. A little browning is fine, but you don’t want it burn.
Add your minced garlic, red pepper flakes, and cumin. These burn really easily but cooking them before you put liquid brings out more flavor, so don’t skip this step. After about 15 seconds, add your beans, which have been drained and rinsed to remove the can of water.
Directly after this add your liquid. You have two options with this: Use a pre-made vegetable broth from the store or add water and a vegetable bouillon base.
I went with the latter.
It tends to have more flavor and I can control how much I want to put in. It is my preferred method, but if you cant find some from where you are, you can always use a vegetable broth or just water.
Once it begins to boil again, cover and let cook for 5 minutes. Remember, the beans are already cooked, you just want to soften them slightly.
After 5 minutes, take out four cups of soup, and blend it in a blender until smooth. Add it back to the pot and turn it off the heat.
After that, just add all the remaining ingredients. Taste to adjust the seasonings and viola! It’s done!
Perfect Black Bean Soup is ready to eat!
I like to top it with some cilantro, lime wedges, and a tiny bit of vegan cheese. Yum!
Want More?
Try Out Similar recipes below:
Delicious Black Bean Soup
Equipment
- Blender
Materials
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 yellow onions, chopped
- 3 celery, chopped
- 1 carrot, sliced
- 6 cloves of garlic, minced
- 4 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 4 15-oz cans of Black Beans
- 1 qt Vegetable Broth or 1 quart of water and 1 tbsp Vegetable Bouillon base
- 1/4 cup cilantro
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat olive oil and sauté onions, celery, carrot. Cook until softened, but not browned
- Open the cans of beans, drain the water and rinse with water. Set aside in a bowl.
- Add garlic, cumin, red pepper flakes. Mix in with a wooden spoon to quickly cook (about 15 seconds). Add a small pinch of salt, then add beans into the pot and vegetable broth.
- Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes to soften the beans.
- Once done, take out about of 4 cups of soup, and place in the blender. Blend on high until smooth, then add back to the soup and mix.
- Turn off the heat and add cilantro, lime juice, and, salt and black pepper to taste.
Notes
- This soup will last 3-4 days in the fridge in an air-tight container
If you tried this recipe, let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear from you! This soup doesn’t look pretty, but the flavor is so good, who cares?