Black Bean Soup made with canned beans, on the table in 30 minutes, and thick enough that a spoon stands up in it. Half of it gets blended and stirred back through, which is how it turns creamy without a drop of cream going anywhere near it. This is a pantry soup that has no business tasting as good as it does.
Prep10minutes minutes
Cook20minutes minutes
Servings6
Ingredients
- ▢2 tablespoons olive oil
- ▢1 medium onion (diced)
- ▢1 medium red bell pepper (diced)
- ▢3 cloves garlic (minced)
- ▢2 teaspoons ground cumin
- ▢1 teaspoon chili powder
- ▢4 cans black beans (15 ounces each, drained and rinsed)
- ▢4 cups vegetable broth (low sodium)
- ▢salt and pepper (to taste)
- ▢½ cup fresh cilantro (chopped)
- ▢juice of 1 lime
For Serving
- ▢sour cream
- ▢fresh cilantro (chopped)
- ▢avocado (diced)
- ▢lime wedges
Instructions
- Heat the 2 tablespoons olive oil in a 6 quart Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the diced onion and red bell pepper and cook about 5 minutes, until softened. Stir in the 3 cloves minced garlic, 2 teaspoons cumin and 1 teaspoon chili powder. Cook about 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Add the drained black beans and 4 cups vegetable broth. Bring to a simmer and cook uncovered 15 minutes.
- Remove from the heat. Using an immersion blender, blend about half the soup directly in the pot, leaving plenty of whole beans for texture. Stir in the ½ cup chopped cilantro and the juice of 1 lime. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Serve with sour cream, avocado, extra cilantro and lime wedges.
Equipment
Notes
- 4 cans of black beans comes to roughly 40 ounces once drained. Rinse them until the water runs clear, because the canning liquid is starchy and salty and will affect both texture and seasoning.
- Blend about half, not all. Blending the whole pot makes a puree and loses the texture.
- No immersion blender: ladle out 2 to 3 cups, blend in a regular blender with the lid cracked and covered with a towel, then stir it back in.
- Season at the end, once the beans and broth are in and the soup has been blended.
- The lime and cilantro go in off the heat. Cooking them dulls both.
- The soup is vegan as written. Leave off the sour cream or use a plant based one.
- For dried beans, use about 2 cups dried, cooked until tender.
- It thickens as it sits. Loosen with broth or water when reheating.
- Freezes for up to 3 months. Freeze the soup only and add toppings fresh.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1servingCalories: 317kcal (16%)Carbohydrates: 51g (17%)Protein: 17g (34%)Fat: 6g (9%)Saturated Fat: 1g (6%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gSodium: 638mg (28%)Potassium: 771mg (22%)Fiber: 17g (71%)Sugar: 3g (3%)Vitamin A: 1164IU (23%)Vitamin C: 28mg (34%)Calcium: 68mg (7%)Iron: 5mg (28%)