Easy Black Bean Soup
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This is the perfect black bean soup recipe! It’s healthy, easy to toss together and super flavorful. Instructions included for the slow cooker and stovetop.
When it comes to getting dinner on the table, it doesn’t get much simpler than this black bean soup recipe! I’m tempted to include this in the #EBFbasics series because I feel like everyone should know how to make an easy black bean soup.
This recipe is really straightforward, but also completely customizable. And you can choose the cooking method too. I love making this soup in the slow cooker but you can also cook it on the stovetop so I’m giving instructions for both.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Soup
- Budget-friendly – A wholesome, filling meal that’s easy on your wallet.
- Totally customizable – Switch up the toppings or add your favorite protein to make it your own.
- Simple ingredients – You only need 5 main ingredients, plus a few spices you probably already have.
- Perfect for meal prep – It’s a one-pot wonder that makes healthy eating easy all week long!
Ingredients Needed
Feel free to tweak these ingredients based on what you have on hand! The list seems a little long but nine of fourteen ingredients are dried spices that you likely have sitting in your pantry. You’ve got this!
- dried black beans – buy these from the bulk bin for the best deal. I include tips for how to prepare dried beans below, but most importantly, make sure you soak them! You can also use canned black beans instead as a shortcut.
- vegetable broth – the base of this soup. If you don’t need this recipe to be vegan you can use chicken broth or bone both.
- olive oil – just a little bit, to cook the veggies in.
- veggies – garlic, onion and carrots come together and provide delicious flavor for this soup. Feel free to add celery if you have it on hand!
- spices – cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper, dried basil, dried oregano, bay leaf, pinch of cinnamon, sea salt and black pepper.
- toppings – fresh cilantro, avocado and lime wedges. Feel free to use your favorite toppings here!
Substitutions
- Dried black beans: If you don’t have time to soak and cook dried beans, use canned black beans instead. You’ll need about 5-6 cups of canned beans (3-4 cans), drained and rinsed. Reduce the cooking time significantly if using canned beans.
- Vegetable broth: Feel free to use chicken broth if you don’t need the recipe to be vegan. Water can also work in a pinch, but the soup will be less flavorful.
- Carrots: Swap the carrots for sweet potatoes or butternut squash for a slightly sweeter flavor.
- Spices: Try taco seasoning for a similar flavor or add smoked paprika or some chipotles in adobo sauce for a smoky kick.
How to Make Black Bean Soup
Whipping up this black bean soup is super simple and totally worth it. A little chopping, a bit of simmering, and you’ll have a comforting bowl of goodness ready to go.
Step 1: Soak the beans overnight (8-12 hours), then drain and rinse.
Step 2: Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Sauté onions, carrots, and garlic with a pinch of sea salt for about 10 minutes, until softened and starting to brown.
Step 3: Add the remaining ingredients, except lime, cilantro, and avocado, and stir to combine.
Step 4: Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 2.5-3 hours, or until the beans are tender and creamy. Remove the bay leaf.
Step 5: Blend the soup to your preferred texture using an immersion blender or traditional blender. Keep it chunky or make it smooth—your choice.
Step 6: Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Serve in bowls with avocado, cilantro, and a lime wedge. Enjoy!
Prefer to use a slow cooker? You’ll find all the instructions for the slow cooker version in the recipe card below.
Brittany’s Tips
- Don’t skip soaking the beans: Soaking the beans overnight helps them cook faster and more evenly, plus it makes them easier to digest.
- Adjust the spice level: Love a spicy kick? Add more cayenne pepper or even a diced jalapeño. Prefer it mild? Reduce the cayenne and chili powder to your taste.
- Season at the end: Wait to adjust the salt and pepper until after the soup is fully cooked. The flavors deepen as it simmers, and you’ll have a better sense of how much seasoning it needs.
How to Serve
Wondering what to pair with this black bean soup? Whether you’re keeping it simple or adding a little something extra, here are my favorite ways to serve it up!
- Stuffed sweet potato: Spoon the soup over a baked sweet potato for a cozy, hearty meal.
- Quesadilla pairing: Serve with a cheesy quesadilla or my healthy chicken quesadilla for a filling combo.
- Bread & crackers: This soup would be delicious paired with my pumpkin cornbread muffins or almond flour crackers.
- Avocado toast: Pair with a slice of avocado toast for an easy and satisfying side.
- Toppings: Garnish with sliced avocado, fresh cilantro, and a squeeze of lime for a bright, zesty finish. You can also add a dollop of Greek yogurt or sour cream, shredded cheese, or a sprinkle of crushed tortilla chips for extra flavor and crunch.
How to Store Black Bean Soup
Like I mentioned earlier, this soup is a great meal prep recipe. I like to make a batch at the beginning of the week and enjoy it for easy lunches or dinners throughout the week. Allow the soup to cool slightly and then store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Black beans are packed with plant-based protein and are a good source of fiber. One 1/2 cup serving of cooked black beans has over 7.5 grams of protein and fiber. They also have a ton of vitamins and minerals like iron, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper and zinc. Learn more about the black bean health benefits here.
Yes, it’s best to soak dried black beans for several reasons – soaked black beans cook faster and more evenly, plus they’re easier to digest. People often get scared to work with dried beans because of the soaking process, but it’s really not hard, I promise!
To soak black beans here’s what you do – put dried black beans in a large bowl and cover with cold water, by at least 2-3 inches. Let them soak overnight or for at least 8-12 hours. You’ll notice that the beans soak up some of the water and look a little bigger after soaking. This is normal. Once you drain and rinse the soaked beans, they’re ready to be used in whatever recipe you’re making.
Absolutely. Whether you choose to puree or keep your beans whole, you can make and freeze this soup if you won’t be eating it when you make it. I like to portion out a few servings for us to enjoy and then pop the rest in the freezer for a later meal. Meal prep tip – portion out serving sizes in individual bags prior to freezing to make defrosting a breeze. Black bean soup can be kept in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Yes! You’ll need about 3 15-ounce cans of black beans. Do not rinse, just add to the pot. You will only need about 4 cups of broth as opposed to the 8 this originally calls for. If the soup ends up too thick you can always add a little more.
More Vegan Soup Recipes to Try
- Easy Vegetable Soup
- Butternut Squash Soup
- Vegan Lentil Soup
- Curried Pumpkin Soup
- Vegan Chili
- Cauliflower Soup
- Vegan Split Pea Soup
- Mushroom Barley Soup
More Black Bean Recipes
- Black Bean Pumpkin Burgers
- Black Bean Burgers
- Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili
- Black Bean Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
- Black Bean and Corn Salad
- Fudgy Black Bean Brownies
- Black Bean Mason Jar Salad
- Easy Black Bean Dip
Be sure to check my full collection of soup recipes!
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Easy Black Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound (about 2 ½ cups) dried black beans, soaked and rinsed
- ½ Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 carrots, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 Tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 Tablespoon ground chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- pinch of cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon sea salt, more to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, plus more to taste
- 8 cups vegetable broth
- For serving: chopped fresh cilantro, avocado and lime wedges
Instructions
- Soak the beans overnight or about 8-12 hours. Drain and rinse.
- In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions, carrots and garlic. Season with a little sea salt and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent and starting to brown, about 10 minutes.
- Add all the other ingredients to the pot, except the lime, cilantro and avocado. Stir to make sure everything is combined.
- Bring mixture to a boil before reducing the heat to medium and letting the soup simmer for about 2.5 – 3 hours, or until the beans are tender and creamy. Remove bay leaf.
- At this point you can either keep the beans whole or puree using an immersion blender or traditional blender to your desired texture. I like to puree just until pieces of the beans are still visible. This makes the soup thick, but keeps a bit of the texture.
- Taste soup and season with additional salt and pepper, if needed. Spoon soup into bowls for serving and garnish with avocado and cilantro. Serve with a lime wedge.
Slow Cooker:
- Soak the beans overnight or about 8-12 hours. Drain and rinse.
- In a saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions, carrots and garlic. Season with a little sea salt and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent and starting to brown, about 10 minutes.
- Place cooked veggie mixture in your slow cooker and add all the other ingredients except the lime, cilantro and avocado. Stir to make sure everything is combined.
- Cover and cook on high for 6-8 hours, until beans are tender and creamy. Remove bay leaf and follow instructions for blending and serving above.
Video
Notes
- Storage: Allow the soup to cool slightly and then store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- If you don’t have time to soak and cook dried beans, use canned black beans instead. You’ll need about 5-6 cups of canned beans (3-4 cans), drained and rinsed. Reduce the cooking time significantly if using canned beans.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This Recipe? Rate & Comment Below!
This recipe was seriously easy and delicious but I just have to leave a note that this is SPICY. I followed the recipe exactly, even added milk at the end to cool it down and my husband couldn’t eat it. I could but I sweat through the whole bowl, even after adding yogurt and avocado! If you don’t like spicy, I would halve the spices!
Thanks for coming back to leave a comment, Julia! It’s definitely good to point out that if you don’t like spice you can easily half or leave out the cayenne pepper. I’m sorry it was too spicy for your husband, but I’m glad it still turned out for you!
Would this be ok with canned black beans? I don’t currently have dried ones on hand… if I used canned, would I drain them? Two cans do you think? Thanks!
Hey Ashlee – I haven’t tried canned, but it should work just fine! It looks like 1 lb of dried black beans is equivalent to 7 cups cooked, so you’d need about 4 cans of black beans for this recipe. And yes, I would definitely drain them. Let me know if you try it and how it turns out!!
I made this last night using canned beans. I used 3 cans of black beans and 6 cups of vegetable broth and also added a small can of green chili. The rest of the recipe I kept the same. It was delicious! My husband loved it topped with a little salsa, radishes, cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice. I’ll definitely double the recipe next time so I have some to freeze for future meals. Thanks!
Yay!! I’m so glad this soup was a hit!! Thanks for trying it, Ashlee and for coming back to leave a comment and star rating. I appreciate it. <3
Love this recipe!
I dump all main ingredients into my Instant Pot and hit the “soup” button!
Once it’s done, I use a hand blender to puree.
Delicious!
Delicious recipe but Imade it wit a teaspoon of chili powder instead of a tablespoon. I was also careful witch the ground cayenne and stil I had a sweaty moustache.
The soup was a bit to thin so maybe a potato would make the substance a bit more consistent. 4 carrots could be anything from a few ounces to the pounds depending on the size of the carrot. So maybe some adjustments would make the soup even better.
I love this recipe! It was super easy and tasty even if it was a little time consuming.I will definitely make this again with a side of tortilla chips!
Yay!! So glad you tried and enjoyed this soup, Paola. Thanks for coming back to leave a comment and star rating. I so appreciate it!
Another winner!
So comforting to come home from work to the home smelling good and the wonderful soup just waiting for us last night.
Appreciate your helping us so much!
Try it, everyone!
Ahh! I love hearing that, Marylou! Thanks so much for coming back to leave a comment and star rating. I so appreciate it!
For breakfast I made your pumpkin protein pancakes topped with half of a banana, 1 tbsp walnuts and a tiny drizzle of agave syrup… My husband (a serious carnivore /typical male food lover) adored it!!! I heard MMM from the other room 😉 Then, for dinner I made the black bean soup and we both enjoyed it SO much and my young nephews did too!! Thanks again for such wonderful recipes!
Hi Katie – Thank you so much for coming back to leave a comment and let me know how the recipes turned out. I LOVE it when readers do this. 🙂 So glad you and your hubby liked the pancakes and the soup.
This looks good and healthy! I may add it to the menu for my HEALTH & FITNESS VACATION to St. Augustine, FL this Nov! Spots still available! Check it out: ashleybensonfitness.com
I’m making this tonight! Can’t wait to taste it tomorrow for lunch. Thanks for the recipe!!
My husband doesn’t eat tomatoes because of their acid content and I have been searching for a crock pot taco soup substitute. I just made this yesterday and was so happy with how it turned out! Thanks for posting this! I just found your blog a few days and am so happy to find all of these wonderful healthy recipes.
So glad you liked the black bean soup! I hope you’ll continue reading. 🙂