Easy Black Bean Soup

4.90 from 47 votes

This deliciously flavorful black bean soup recipe is simple to make in just 30 minutes! It uses canned beans and other inexpensive everyday ingredients.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: black bean soup recipe

Servings:

Author: Natasha Bull

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 (14 ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes with juices
3 (14 ounce) cans black beans drained & rinsed
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies with juices
1/2 red bell pepper chopped
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon lime juice
Salt & pepper to taste
Toppings (optional): chopped cilantro (recommended), sour cream, tortilla strips, avocado, etc. to taste

Instructions

Add the oil and onion to a soup pot and sauté it over medium heat for 5-7 minutes (it's ok if it lightly browns - more flavor!).
Stir in the garlic, followed by the broth, diced tomatoes, beans, green chilies, red bell pepper, and spices.
Increase the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Cover the pot with the lid slightly open, reduce the heat, and simmer for 8-10 minutes.
Using either an immersion blender or a regular blender, blend most of the soup (use caution - you may want to let it cool a bit first). You can blend it all, but I like to leave it a bit chunky.
Stir in the lime juice, and season with salt & pepper as needed (I found that I needed to add a fair amount of salt).
Serve as-is or with desired toppings.

Notes

This recipe serves 4, but it's easy to double all the ingredients if you need extras (just make sure to use a decent size pot).
Want to make this a spicy black bean soup? Add in 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper or use spicy green chilies (I used mild ones).
Nutrition info doesn't include any soup toppings.
You can also find this recipe in the Salt & Lavender: Everyday Essentials cookbook.

Nutrition