Simple Black Bean Soup

By Addie

Cooking dried beans is low maintenance and a great value. Make sure to plan ahead and allow time for soaking the beans. Serve with hot sauce or salsa, if you like.

Ingredients

• 1 pound dried black beans (about 2 1/2 cups), rinsed
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1/2 ripe avocado, chopped

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from wholefoodsmarket.com

Preparation

Step 1

Method:

Soak the beans overnight or 6 to 8 hours prior to cooking. Drain and rinse.

In a large pot, bring 1/2 cup water to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add onions, bell pepper and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in cumin and chipotle and cook 1 minute, stirring. Add drained beans and 10 cups water. Bring soup to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until beans are tender.

Remove 4 cups soup and carefully purée in a blender. Return purée to pot and stir in cilantro, nutritional yeast and lime juice. Spoon into bowls for serving and garnish with avocado.
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REVIEWS:

I cooked this without oil! Perhaps because I soaked my beans for a super long time, they cooked up fast! I ended up adding a few more cups of broth near the end of cooking. I didn't have nutritional yeast or cilantro... I forgot to add the lime juice AND it was still super yummy. Will make again!

I have made it twice, it is a so good. The first time I sauteed the veggies in oil, the second time I used the water method. Both are good, I am so glad I saw this recipe, I have been searching for lower sodium recipes with tons of flavor, and finally there it was!

I added 2 Habanero & 2 Serrano peppers instead of chipotle pepper and it was good and spicy!! Family & friends loved it, minus those who don't like the spicy foods!

Very simple and full of flavor. I added bit of crushed red pepper and cayenne red pepper for a some heat. It was delicious!

I loved this and so did the men in my family. I read all the comments and made adjustments based on them and on what I had available. I've made this twice and it is gone in two days. I used 3 cans of black beans rinsed. Used two containers (8 cups) of the low sodium Pacific Vegetable Broth and no water. Added oregano both times. Added parsley also the second time. I don't like cilantro or lime much so I omitted them. I used 1 and a half red peppers. After I put the soup in my bowl I added chopped tomatoes and the avocado. This was really good.

Very simple and full of flavor. I added bit of crushed red pepper and cayenne red pepper for a some heat. It was delicious!

I started with beans soaked in salt water, cut the water to 3.5 cups, and used a pressure cooker to get these done in 30 minutes. I also used an immersion blender for a few seconds instead of transferring soup back and forth. Yum!

I used 10 C veg broth in place of the water, 6 garlic cloves instead of 4, added 1/2 tsp celery flakes with the other seasonings, and 1 small can mild diced green chiles during final simmer. Followed the rest of the recipe as written. YUM!

I made this recipe using canned black beans and put everything except the water and avocado in a saute pan and cooked until hot. I then put this mixture on toasted corn tortillas with coleslaw, tomatoes, avocado and salsa on top. It was amazing!! Next time I will make the beans in a pressure cooker.

I too was very dissapointed in this soup...a lot of work and then it came out so watery and lacks flavor....

Love this soup! And I'm a huge new fan of nutritional yeast! :) I did use dried black turtle beans from the bulk section of the market and soaked them overnight. I had crushed chipotle sauce on hand so I used a tsp of that; skipped the cilantro... and discovered I was out of cumin, so that got omitted too... but it was still quite delish. And I love that I have it to eat all week.

I had really high hopes for this soup it has all the flavors we love. We were really disappointed. Followed directions as written.I think the chipotle pepper is over powering. We like spicy food so it's not the heat so much as an overpowering flavor. I will tinker with the recipe, it's an easy base to work with and has a lot of potential.

This was really good! My fiance and I both enjoyed it a lot. Loved the hotness and flavor of the Chipotle Chili Pepper. Added our own salt to taste. Two thumbs up!! I daresay it's even better than the excellent Black Bean Soup from a mix that I grew up on (sorry Mom)!

Thank you for the recipe. I am allergic to sulfites, so no bottled lime or lemon juice as others have mentioned. This recipe is perfect for me without any adjustments because of my food allergies. I like that you suggest using the dried beans...because this is better than the can, for me. Everything is more fresh and natural in your original recipe. Thank you, I will be making this often.

I modified the recipe by halving it, but keeping the same amount of spices. Then I used seven or eight small sweet peppers instead of the red peppers, a tablespoon of basil instead of cilantro, and a whole lime's juice. The problem with the original recipe for me is it was too bland and bitter. The changes make it a very flavorful dish that I'll be making again!

Totally delicious! Wish I'd doubled the recipe! Used 2 cans of black beans (rinsed and drained), 4 cups of boiling water (could have gotten away with 3) with concentrated "no chicken" stock. Also used bottled lime juice. Chipotle definitely gives a kick. Perhaps half the chipotle and add more as needed if you want it less spicy. I think it is perfect!

After seeing the comments about this being watery (about 30 min into the simmer, I decided to really crank up the heat and boil off the liquid. It definitely worked. It came out thick and creamy.

I didn't have time to soak beans over night so I used canned beans. Since I used canned, I used just 4 cups of veggie broth in place of the water. I also added a can of diced green chiles. The soup came out delicious!

Cooking the black beans in a pressure cooker will cut your cooking time in 1/2. It will also retain more nutrients, it will be less watery. Adding a little Bragg amino acids gives it a great flavor.

Its brilliant soup! Easy to make!

I used some orange juice and added a bit of cumin to the soup..very tasty!
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I added 1 cup tomato puree and 1 1/2 cups cooked short grain rice during the cooking to give the soup more bulk and flavor. Perfect!

I have a great recipe that I found in Real Simple.
One can of black beans drained
One can of chicken broth
Top with tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream.

I was very disappointed with this recipe. I thought it would be like the black bean soup they serve at the whole foods cafe. WRONG! It was extremely watery and had almost no flavor. Hoping i can find another black bean soup recipe, because i love black bean soup.

I am shocked at the positive comments on this one. Tasted like watery beans. Needs way more spices and maybe even veggie broth instead of water.

This is a great and simple recipe! I opt not to blend the beans into soup but serve them whole with burritos or rice.

I love this soup! I made some slight changes and was very happy with the results, so wanted to share. I used 2 large onions, 1 entire head of garlic, 2 bay leaves, 2 fresh culantro leaves, oregano, no chipotle pepper, but increased the amount of red pepper to 1 1/2. I found that it made the soup much more flavorful! When I served the soup instead of the cilantro, I added a spoonful of fresh salsa (which adds the kick otherwise added by the chipotle).

It was very good! I did not use the nutritional yeast, though, and I sauteed the vegetables in a small amount of olive oil instead of simmering in the water.