Easy Black Bean Soup Recipe

This hearty and filling Black Bean Soup whips together in a single pot and is full of aromatic flavor! Naturally vegetarian and topped with a creamy Mexican street corn mixture, this soup is sure to become a favorite.

Course Dinner, Main, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine Comfort Food, Cuban, Hispanic, Mexican, Vegetarian

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 2

Total Time 3

Servings

Calories 628kcal

Author Karly Gomez

Ingredients

Black Bean Soup

1 lb dried black beans
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups sweet yellow onion diced
1 large red bell pepper seeded and diced
1 cup poblano pepper seeded and diced
1 ½ tablespoons fresh garlic minced
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried epazote
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
6 cups vegetable broth

Creamy Mexican Street Corn Garnish

1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
½ cup fresh cilantro roughly chopped
1 cup queso fresco
1 large lime
sea salt to taste
black pepper to taste
1 large red onion sliced thin
6 cups fresh corn
¼ cup mayo
1 tablespoon chili powder

Instructions

Quick-soak the beans: place rinsed black beans in a large dutch oven and add water until it covers the beans by an inch or so. Bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes, then turn off the heat, cover, and let sit for 1 hour. Transfer the beans, and enough liquid to just reach the top of the beans, to a bowl and set aside. Clean out the pot and return it to the stove.
Add the olive oil to the pot and heat to medium-high. Once hot, add the onion, bell pepper, and poblano pepper and cook until softened, about 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute longer. Stir in the seasonings and cook for 30 seconds.
Carefully pour in the vegetable broth, followed by the beans and their cooking liquid. Stir well, then bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and let simmer, covered, for 2 hours, or until the beans are soft and can be mashed against the side of the pot easily with the back of a spoon.
Before serving, in a medium-sized bowl add the tomatoes, cilantro, ½ of the queso fresco, and the juice from ½ lime. Toss together then season with salt and pepper and set aside. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Once hot, add the red onion and corn and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and corn is beginning to brown, around 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir in mayo, remaining queso fresco, chili powder, the juice from ½ lime, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper as desired. Scoop heaping portions of creamy street corn onto each bowl of soup and garnish with the tomato salad mixture.

Notes

I prefer using epazote in black bean soup, but if you can't find any locally, you can easily substitute it with bay leaf, just be sure to remove the bay leaf before eating.
Since we're using dried beans, I recommend doing a quick-soak, the flavor you get using quick-soaked beans is far superior to overnight-soaked, or no-soaked beans.
You can make this soup a bit creamier by blending part of it after it has cooked, either by transferring a few cups to a blender and whizzing it up, or using an immersion blender to blend some of it right inside the pot.
Simmer the soup on low, without the lid on. It will really deepen the flavor as the liquid reduces, but if you have the heat too high, you'll lose too much liquid.
If you lose too much liquid, bring a separate pot of water to a boil before adding it into the bean pot.
Make this soup vegan by skipping the creamy Mexican street corn topping and using pico de gallo and non-dairy yogurt

Nutrition