Black Bean Soup
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Whip up this creamy, veggie-packed black bean soup in just 30 minutes using simple pantry staples.
Made entirely from pantry and fridge staples, this Southwestern black bean soup is quick, easy, and nutritious. It’s packed with vegetables and aromatics, like onions, garlic, and carrots, as well as warm spices to create a rich depth of flavor. Bonus: you don’t have to worry about meticulously chopping the vegetables since they all get puréed in the end—just give them a rough chop and you’re good to go! Serve the soup with cornbread, chicken quesadillas, or beef empanadas.
“This recipe was so simple and easy to whip up (not to mention healthy) that I was shocked by how good it tasted. Served with the Once Upon a Chef cornbread muffins…perfection!”
What You’ll Need To Make Black Bean Soup
- Olive Oil: Used for sautéing the veggies.
- Yellow Onions, Garlic, Carrots: These aromatics add depth and foundational flavors to the soup.
- Canned Black Beans: The main ingredient; gives the soup its body and texture, primary flavor, and adds protein to make the meal more nutritious and filling.
- Chicken Broth: The liquid base of the soup, it contributes to the soup’s depth of flavor and consistency. Vegetable broth can be substituted for a vegetarian version.
- Cornmeal: Thickens the soup and adds delicious flavor.
- Oregano, Ground Coriander, Ground Cumin, Cayenne Pepper: These spices add warmth, earthiness, and a slight kick, contributing to the soup’s Southwestern profile.
- Lime Juice: Adds brightness and acidity.
- Sour Cream & Cilantro: For serving, the sour cream adds a cool, creamy contrast to the warm spices, while the cilantro brings a fresh pop of flavor and color.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
To begin, cook the onions, garlic, and carrots in olive oil over medium heat until soft.
Add the beans, spices, chicken broth and cornmeal.
Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the vegetables and beans are very soft.
Purée the soup with a hand-held immersion blender. If you don’t have one, you can use a standard blender and work in batches. Just be sure to keep the hole in the lid open and cover it up with a dishtowel—this allows the steam to escape and avoids a hot soup explosion all over your kitchen.
Before serving, stir in some fresh lime juice to add a touch of brightness and wake up all the flavors.
Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with a dollop of sour cream. Finally, scatter some freshly chopped cilantro over top. You can get creative with additional garnishes. My husband loves to crush tortilla chips over his, and sometimes I’ll toss in some chunks of avocado. A spoonful of salsa would also be nice. Enjoy!
More Southwestern Soup Recipes You’ll Love
Black Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 medium yellow onions, roughly chopped
- 4 large cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
- 2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 (15-oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
- 3 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
- 3 tablespoons cornmeal
- ¾ teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1¾ teaspoons ground cumin
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Scant ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, from 1 lime
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- Handful chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pan. Add the onions, garlic cloves and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Do not brown.
- Add the black beans, chicken broth, cornmeal, oregano, coriander, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently for about 15 minutes.
- Purée the soup using a hand-held immersion blender until very smooth and creamy. (Alternatively, you can use a standard blender to puree the soup in batches; see note.) Stir in the lime juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle the soup into bowls and top each bowl with a dollop of sour cream and freshly chopped cilantro.
Notes
- If using a standard blender, purée the soup in batches, being careful not to fill the jar more than halfway. Be sure to leave the hole in the lid open and loosely cover with a dish towel to allow the heat to escape. Pour the blended soup into a clean pot.
- Make-Ahead/Freezing Instructions: The soup will keep nicely in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and then reheat it on the stovetop over medium heat until hot. If the soup is too thick, you can add a little water or broth to thin it to the desired consistency.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Made this last week for a friend with a cold. I added a little bit more lime juice and used half beef broth, half chicken because thats what I had on hand. Wonderful soup!
Love this soup! Usually have all the ingredients on hand except sour cream. As with all your directions, easy to follow directions. I usually prepare extra, it freezes perfectly. It’s always nice to have a soup packed with amazing flavours and ingredients ready at a moments notice. Kids and adults enjoy it 🙂
Thanks!
This tastes great! I had made some black beans with my pressure cooker the other night and used the leftovers to make this soup. I had added epazote to my beans already and it tasted great in this soup with the other herbs! I don’t know if the liquid called for in this recipe is too much or too little as stated by other reviewers because my black beans already had enough of water that I only needed to add some more to it. This is another keeper. Thanks Jenn!
The flavor of this soup was great. I served it with a mound of cilantro-lime rice in the middle and some avocado slices on top, which helped make it a full meal.
We loved this recipe! It was easy for a quick weeknight dinner with rice and had a complex flavor. I would highly recommend this recipe, so much that I blogged about it myself!
Fantastic! The whole family loves this one and it’s a regular in our repertoire. It freezes great, too. I often serve it with roasted butternut squash & onions, or with roasted acorn squash stuffed with wild rice/celery/onion/cranberry/pecan filling. Thanks for this great recipe!
I did not care for this recipe- apparently I missed the note above advising you to cut down on the broth to avoid a thin soup. I don’t know who would enjoy this recipe prepared as written. It was just brown liquid when I finished. I had to add two more cans of black beans to give it some texture. I don’t think you need to puree the whole mixture either. At most I would puree half and leave the other half chunky. I also sautéed bacon for my fat and cooked veggies in the fat and used the crubmled bacon to give it a smokey flavor. I wold have been able to enjoy that flavor more had I not pureed the soup. Will not make this version again.
you did something incorrectly. soup has a lovely creamy texture. not mud like and no way too thin
I made this last night and I needed to simmer it for at least 30-35 minutes. I also used my immersion blender and left it a little chunky. It was delicious but I
do understand what you might have encountered.
LOVED the flavor on this!! I did up the cayenne a bit…I don’t have a 1/8t measuring spoon, so I used a scant 1/4t and it was great!! I skipped the carrot because I just can’t stand cooked carrots. The only complaint from my family was that it was too watery. I’ll definitely make this again and add a third can of black beans.
I just made the soup, and it is quite lovely! I am going to take some other’s suggestion and add another can of black beans next time for a slightly thicker soup. Also, just a note to those worried about the calories, fat and cholesterol in the sour cream- I use fat free Greek yogurt for everything that calls for sour cream, and I’ve never been disappointed, including this recipe. Plus, Greek yogurt is extremely healthy, so you don’t have to worry if trying to restrict fat, calories and cholesterol, like me. Thanks Jenn!
I made this tonight for dinner. It was so tasty and easy to make. So glad a coworker told me about your site. Can’t wait to try another recipe