This Creamy Black Bean Soup is the ultimate one pot meal! It’s so simple to whip up and packs some major flavor in each bite.
Soooo, if you follow me on Instagram (which if you don’t, you should, haha!)..you will know that a few weeks ago I shared that my sister in law made this delicious bean soup at our weekly family dinner night. It warranted such a response from y’all that I vowed to make my own version for the blog!
I debated on whether or not to make it in the Instant Pot or do a stovetop version…but the truth is, I’m just in a “I need something to be really easy” stage of my life and y’all agreed….so we went with the stovetop version with the canned beans. And BOY did it turn out delicious.
Why You’ll Love This Soup:
It’s made in ONE POT. Yup. I’m a sucker for a one pot meal so aside from doing just a quick bit of chopping some veggies, this is made in a large dutch oven to ensure you have little dishes to wash afterward. Aaaaand if you’re like me, I even ended up storing it in the dutch oven in the fridge afterward, ha!
The flavors here are amazing! It’s a humble soup from few ingredients that packs SO much flavor. From the sweetness of the carrots to the smoky red bell peppers to the dried spices used…it all works so well together!
The texture of this soup is AH-mazing. I wanted a bean soup that was creamy but still retained some texture to it (I didn’t want it to be a bean puree) and I think it is really achieved here. You have the creaminess of the blended beans and veggies mixed in with whole bean and whole veggie pieces. So good!
The TOPPINGS are immaculate. Seriously, I’m a sucker for garnishes and I’m all here for these – from the creamy sour cream, the chunks of fresh avocado, the fresh cilantro for brightness and of course, fresh lime for a pop of zest! So so good.
So let’s get into what you need to make this soup, y’all!
Ingredients You Need:
Avocado or Olive Oil – this will be the base of the soup to saute the veggies in.
Black Beans – I use canned black beans – be sure to drain the beans before you add them to the pot.
Vegetable Broth – yup, this soup is completely vegetarian, including the broth!
Yellow Onion – what’s a soup without freshly diced onion?!
Fresh jalapeno – this certainly adds some spice to the soup so feel free to skip it. However, i really enjoyed it after I de-seeded it! If you want some extra spice, leave the seeds in!
Fresh Garlic – highly recommend mincing fresh garlic for ULTIMATE flavor.
Red Bell Pepper – I absolutely love the flavor of the bell pepper in this recipe.
Carrots – The carrots add a slight sweetness to balance out the smoky flavor!
Smoked Paprika, Cumin, Bay Leaf, Kosher Salt – the spices needed for this soup – don’t skimp on them!
Garnishes – sour cream, lime, avocado, fresh cilantro, jalapenos, tortilla chips etc.
How to Make Soup in 5 Simple Steps:
- Warm up either a dutch oven or large pot on medium heat. Add the avocado oil. While warming, chop up and dice the veggies – dice the yellow onion, carrots, de-seeded jalapeno pepper and redbell pepper into small bite size pieces. Once warmed, add in the veggies with a large pinch of salt. Stir and let cook for 4-5 minutes. While that’s cooking, mince the garlic. At the 5 minute mark, add in the garlic and stir in. Cook for 1 minute.
- Next, add in the vegetable broth and make sure to use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to get all the extra flavor bits at the bottom of the pan. Add in the 4 cans of drained beans. Stir and let come to a boil. Let boil for 2 minutes then reduce heat to simmer. Add in spices. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Cover with lid and let cook on low for 30 minutes.
- Remove the bay leaf and the lid. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
- Using your immersion blender, blend HALF of the soup- you still want there to be some texture in there and some whole beans. (see tips below if you don’t have an immersion blender)
- Put the lid back on and turn the heat to medium and let it cook for an additional 15 minutes to help thicken up the soup. While it’s cooking, prepare the garnishes. Once done, ladle into a bowl and top with your favorite toppings. Enjoy it while it’s hot!
Best Tips for Success:
This is a very vegetable heavy soup. With that said, I think it’s best to go ahead and prep ALL of the vegetables beforehand. Spend 10 minutes and chop them up. It’s so much easier and less stressful to have them all ready to drop in the pot ready to go!
In addition, once you are letting the soup cook for the last 15 minutes or so, prepare the garnishes! That way you are ready to GO once the soup is warmed through.
When you are blending the soup using the immersion blender, be sure to only blend HALF of the soup. You really want to keep the texture of the other half – it all melds together quite nicely and the texture is incredible.
If you want the soup even thicker, let it stay on the stovetop for an additional 30 minutes or so on low/medium heat, being sure to stir it every once in a while.
Ingredient Variations:
If you want, substitute chicken broth for the vegetable broth!
You can of course use a green or yellow bell pepper for the red bell pepper. Pretty sure they all taste the same – I just loved the vibrant red color!
For more of a kick, use red onion in place of the more mellow yellow onion.
I used smoked paprika for this recipe – however, if you only happen to have normal paprika on hand, that should work!
If you’re watching your sodium intake, feel free to use low sodium beans! Just be sure and adjust the seasoning as needed.
If you want a more cheesy soup, add in freshly shredded monterey jack cheese in place of the cotija cheese at the end. Stir in the cheese into the pot while still on the stove once it’s done cooking for ultra gooeyness!
For added depth of flavor, use salted butter in place of avocado oil when you are sautéing the veggies!
Don’t have an Immersion Blender?
If you don’t have an immersion blender, if you’re able, I highly recommend you get one! I think that this is the best way to execute this particular soup properly. Here is the one I have (affiliate link).
Buuuuut, if you don’t have one or don’t want one, here are a couple of options for you:
If you have a heat safe blender, when you’re ready to blend, carefully remove HALF of the soup into the blender and blend until you have a pureed consistency. Add back to the pot and stir in.
If your blender is NOT heat safe, at the beginning of the soup making process, add 2 cans of drained beans into the blender and puree. Set these aside. When you go to add the beans into the soup, add in the 2 cans of WHOLE (unpureed) beans as well as the pureed beans. Stir together.
If you don’t have a blender at all, I would recommend taking 2 cans of beans beforehand and adding them to a bowl (make sure they are drained!). Using a potato masher or a fork, mash the beans until they reach your desired texture – they won’t be pureed but they will be broken up quite a bit. When it’s time to add in the beans to the soup, add in these beans as well as the 2 cans of whole beans to the soup.
Storing Leftovers and Reheating:
Store the leftover bean soup in a tightly sealed tupperware container in the fridge. It will last up to 3 days. However, it will thicken a LOT over night. Mine were almost like a refried bean texture.
If you want to restore it back to the former soup glory, add it to a pot and then add in some vegetable broth until your desired texture is reached. – mix it together and let it warm back up. Don’t forget the toppings!
I hope you guys love this recipe as much as I do…cheers to the mighty bean! 🙂
Did you enjoy this recipe? Here are a few others that you might like:
Marinated Greek Chickpea Bowls
Thank you so much for following along here, friends! Want to see more? Be sure to follow ourbalancedbowl on Instagram and tag me with your photo if you end up making a recipe! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the Our Balanced Bowl Facebook page! Like a recipe that you saw? Follow me on Pinterest here! I always love to see your re-creations! If you do make a recipe, it would make my whole day if you were to rate and comment so I can get your feedback! Lots of love! – Haylie
Creamy Black Bean Soup
This Creamy Black Bean Soup is the ultimate one pot meal! It’s so simple to whip up and packs some major flavor in each bite.
Ingredients
- 4 cans black beans (15.5 oz), drained
- 1 large yellow onion, diced finely
- 2 small/medium carrots, diced into small bite size pieces
- 1 small jalapeno (de-seeded) and diced (optional - but adds a nice kick of heat)
- 1 medium red bell pepper, diced into small bite size pieces
- 4 large cloves garlic, minced
- 32 oz vegetable broth (if you want a thinner soup, add more)
- 1 tbsp avocado oil (can use olive oil)
- 1 tsp kosher salt (add more if needed)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- garnishes like sour cream, avocado, cilantro and cotija cheese
Instructions
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Begin by chopping up the veggies! Dice the onion, carrot, and red bell pepper into small bite size pieces. De-seed the jalapeno and dice into bite size pieces. Mince the garlic. Drain the 4 cans of black beans and set them aside.
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To a large pot or dutch oven, add the 1 tbsp of avocado oil and let it warm up on medium heat. Once warmed, add in the diced onion, carrot, bell pepper and jalapeno. Add a pinch of salt and stir. Cook for 4 minutes or so.
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Add in the minced garlic. Cook for 1 more minute.
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Add in the vegetable broth and make sure to use the spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan to get all the extra flavor bits.
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Add in the 4 cans of drained black beans. Stir. Turn the heat up on the oven and let this come to a boil. Let it boil for 2 minutes and then reduce the heat to low/medium to simmer.
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Stir in the kosher salt, ground cumin, smoked paprika and bay leaf. Cover with lid and let cook on low for 30 minutes.
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Once the 30 minutes is up, remove the lid. Remove the bay leaf. Taste and adjust seasoning. Using your immersion blender, blend HALF of the soup - you still want there to be some texture in there and some whole beans. (*IF you don't have an immersion blender, please look in the notes above for suggestions!!)
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Once blended, put the lid back on let it cook for an additional 15 minutes.
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While it's finishing up, chop your garnishes! I diced an avocado, lime and cilantro. I also used cotija cheese.
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Once the 15 minutes is up, ladle into bowls and if desired, squeeze a lime on top. Stir in the lime and then top with the garnishes. Enjoy every bite!