Spicy Black Bean Soup
This healthy black bean soup recipe is easy to make with canned beans. It's absolutely delicious and naturally vegan, vegetarian and gluten free!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on July 10, 2024
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Meet my favorite black bean soup! It takes advantage of canned black beans and comes together quickly. Yet the soup tastes remarkably fresh thanks to the carrots, celery and garlic.
Cumin and a little bit of sherry vinegar (or lime juice) add a Cuban flair that takes it over the top. This lightly creamy black bean soup is packed with flavor.
This homemade soup is a million times better than the store-bought variety. Read the comments if you don’t believe me just yet!
How to Make The Best Black Bean Soup
A few notes and tips before you get started:
You don’t need a long list of ingredients for complex flavor. Basic, fresh aromatics like onion, carrots and celery make all the difference. Just cook them until they’re nice and tender.
Briefly sauté the cumin, garlic and red pepper flakes to enhance their flavor. Then, add the remaining ingredients and gently simmer until the beans are tender and the flavors have melded.
To achieve the perfect soup texture, purée a portion of the soup in the blender until it’s super creamy. Then stir it back into the pot. Ta da! Now you have black bean soup with tender beans and a lightly creamy consistency, no cream required.
Black Bean Soup Storage Tips
I should mention that this recipe makes quite a lot of soup. Leftovers will keep well for four to five days, so it’s perfect for weekday lunches.
You can also freeze this soup. I always freeze my soup in pint-sized mason jars, leaving room for expansion at the top and waiting to screw on the lids until the soup has fully frozen. Then I just defrost it later.
Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup
Rumor has it that this black bean soup turns out well in a slow cooker (Erin said she “basically just put it all in the crock at the same time and slow cooked it for about 6 hours”). If you give that a try, will you please let me know how it turns out?
Please let me know how this soup turns out for you in the comments! I’m always so eager for your feedback and hope my recipes turn out wonderfully for you.
Craving more hearty vegetarian soups? Don’t miss the following soup recipes on Cookie and Kate:
- Vegetarian Chili
- Butternut Squash Chipotle Chili
- Pinto Posole
- Mexican Quinoa Stew
- Best Lentil Soup
- Plus my cookbook has eight of my favorite soup recipes!
Watch How to Make Black Bean Soup
Spicy Black Bean Soup
This healthy black bean soup recipe is easy to make with canned beans. Thanks to some basic aromatics and Cuban spices, it’s incredibly flavorful and delicious. This soup is naturally vegan, vegetarian and gluten free. The recipe yields quite a bit of soup (6 to 8 servings)—it is easily halved, or you can freeze the leftovers.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 medium yellow onions, chopped
- 3 celery ribs, finely chopped
- 1 large carrot, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
- 6 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
- 4 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (use ¼ teaspoon if you’re sensitive to spice)
- 4 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
- 4 cups (32 ounces) low-sodium vegetable broth
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
- 1 to 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar, to taste, or 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Optional garnishes: diced avocado, extra cilantro, thinly sliced radishes, tortilla chips…
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onions, celery and carrot and a light sprinkle of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetable are soft, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic, cumin and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in the beans and broth and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cook, reducing heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer, until the broth is flavorful and the beans are very tender, about 30 minutes.
- Transfer about 4 cups of the soup to a stand blender, securely fasten the lid, and blend until smooth (never fill your blender past the maximum fill line, and beware the steam that escapes from the top of the blender, it’s very hot). Or, use an immersion blender to blend a portion of the soup.
- Return the pureed soup to the pot, stir in the cilantro, vinegar/lime juice and salt and pepper, to taste. Serve.
Notes
Recipe adapted from The America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook.
Suggested sides: Chunky avocado salsa, a little green salad, quesadillas or a grilled cheese sandwich.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I absolutely LOVE this recipe and make it all the time!!! My husband and 22 year old son devour it.
Was looking for a black bean soup recipe to kick off my Lenten Journey for Ash Wednesday and this was spot on! It was awesome! Used fresh lime juice vs sherry as I love the hint of fresh limes in dishes. Was truly outstanding and healthy – this will now go into my rotation meal planning. Thank you!
Very good, delicious! Made just like recipe, a bit less onion and used the lime juice. Served with tortilla chips/strips and warm tortillas.
Approximately how many cups of beans is 4 cans? I am using dry beans. 2 C dry enough? Thanks!
Hi Sandy, there is roughly 1.5 cups per can typically.
2 cups dry is perfect
So delicious! I cook my own dried black beans prior to following the recipe and use 1/2 cup dry beans per can (so – total 2 cups for this recipe) thank you, Kate!!
You’re welcome, Sharon! I appreciate your review.
Simple, healthy and delicious! Thanks!
You’re welcome, Js!
Love this recipe
Delicious! I threw in some other veggies we had in the fridge (bell peppers with the carrots, and roasted sweet potatoes with the beans). I pureed the whole thing with an immersion blender (didn’t bother separating some out), and loved the results!
Great to hear, Stacy!
Hi – how many people does this make for and roughly what are calories per bowl?
HI Melanie, the serving size is in the recipe card and the nutritional information.
I love this recipe, but the serving size is not in the recipe. Ive looked all over. It tells you one tecipe makes 6 servings. How much is one serving 1/2 cup, 1 1/2 cups?
Also, the sodium is very high, 1563 mg, other than not adding salt, what can i adjust?
Hi Susan! I use US standard measurements so a serving size is roughly 1.5-2 cups. More on my Nutrition Disclaimer
SO TASTY! I slow cooked it for 8 hours on low, outrageous flavor. Followed exactly save tossing in a bay leaf. Served with cornbread, so yum!
Thank you for sharing, Abby!
My mother always served black bean soup, pureéd but not thick, with a touch of Sherry in each bowl and a slice of a hard boiled egg on top. Elegant and delicious.
Delicious! I can’t think of anything else to say….
That’s great to hear, Gloria!
Step 2. Cover or uncover while simmer? Thx
No need for the lid.
I LOVE Soup—and although I think I am a pretty good cook I make the WORST vegetarian soup in the world—until now. This recipe is like soup heaven in a bowl. I didn’t have prepared veggie broth so I used Better than Bouillion as my base. Yum. I garnished with avocado and cilantro and then sprinkled Nutritional Yeast on top to giv it a cheesy flavor without the dairy. THANK you for this recipe! I love all of your recipes but this one is superior even for you. One thing I didn’t pay attention to was the broth portions (my bad). Just let it simmer a little longer and voila! Perfection
You’re welcome, Carolina!
Just made this and I’m really pleased with the results. Delicious soup that comes together quickly. I think my hubby is going to love this. I’m sure to be making this often.
I made this soup today. I cooked my beans so I could control the salt. It takes more time but the beans are so fresh. I also added a teaspoon of Trader Joe’s smoked paprika and chili powder seasoning to make it spicier. It was fantastic. I used my new Vitamix blender to puree the soup. This is a keeper. Kate I love all your plant-based recipes. I am working my way through your cookbook.
Great to hear, Terri! Thank you for your review.
Really love this! Surprised – so simple and so good.
Thank you for your review, Helen!
Oh I just made this and it’s so yummy. But I misread the last step and puréed the whole batch. It’s kinda of like black bean mousse. Any advice on what I can do to save it? Should I add in another can of black beans? It’s just not that appealing since I puréed the whole pot! ♀️
Oh no! What did you end up doing?
Yummy – I didn’t have carrot but I did have a sweet potato, I added some miso to get that umami kick – and I have to confess I non-veganed my soup with a dollop of creme fraiche but it was awesome – thanks.
OMG, so I just started my journey trying to go from meat loving eating to mostly plant based. I’m 65 and this is my first bean soup try (I’m not a big fan of beans). I didn’t have fresh lime juice or the vinegar or the cilantro. I used my essential oil cilantro and I only had key lime juice. I loved it!!! I’m so excited to share this recipe with my vegan friends! They will not believe I’ve come over to the dark side! ♀️. Thank you so much for sharing this amazing soup! I’m kind of excited to try out many of your recipes!!!
Once I added the lime juice, this soup perked right up and was absolutely delicious! Amazing what a difference the lime juice made.
Thank you for your review, Maggie!
Honestly one of the best soups I have ever had! My partner loves it too, so flavoursome! Thank you! x
Made for lunch! Yummy. Used lime juice and freshly ground cumin. Blitzed about 75% in blender. Put avocado slices on top. Might try cheddar cheese, green onion and sour cream as toppings to switch it up!
I actually used a different slow cooker recipe but had to find out how to make it better. I’m using yours to improve the one I started with. I’ll use yours from now on.
I have made this recipe three or four times so far. love it and so tasty. I add avocado slices sometimes, cheese and other toppings . It’s my go to recipe when I need some quick healthy soup after work.
Thank you!
You’re welcome, Dianne!
This was so easy and delicious! It is my new go-to soup!
I read somewhere that black beans are a very important food for seniors (or anyone else). I made the soup minus the cilantro (hate it), used fresh parsley instead. Delicious with a corn muffin. Nancy
Most excellent flavor. I put one sweet potato in as I did not have carrots. I used lime juice and a little balsamic vinegar. Very little blending with hand blender. So good.
I made this last week and it was absolutely delicious!
Thanks for another great recipe.
You’re welcome, Anna! I appreciate your review.
This is the first time making bean soup. The recipe for this soup was great. I loved it. I will make it again. So delicious.
Happy to hear you enjoyed it, Miriam!
Ingredients call for 4 1/2 tsp of cumin. I ended up putting too much. Wouldn’t it be easier to just say 2 tsps? Or whatever the equivalent is???