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
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.
Happy holidays/birthday! This soup looks just the thing to reset the body and mind after all that madness. Best wishes for 2014 Kathryne : )
I’m totally the same way. This morning I had to ask a lady working at the gym whether or not it was still the weekend!! lol Love this soup, friend!
Happy belated birthday, girl! I adore black bean soup, fresh and lovely!
It looks like just the thing for detoxing after all that holiday food. Happy New Year!
Yum! Sounds like the perfect soup for cooler weather. There is nothing more comforting than a hearty soup filled with aromatics and kick of spice in my opinion!
Nice soup. Thank you. Happy New Year!
Happy belated birthday, Kate! It sounds like you had some fabulous celebrations. You’re totally speaking my language with this soup. I was just in California for a week and have returned to the snowy Canadian cold so I’m ALL about warm meals. Can’t wait to try it!
Mmmm … this looks like the kind of soup that you can make a great big pot of and keep eating for lunches for ages. And then you feel all self-righteous because you’re eating effortlessly healthy lunches … for ages!
I especially like the idea of the optional garnishes … lovely! Thanks for the idea. Sounds like the perfect Jan 1 detox option.
Loving all things black bean lately, so this will be perfect! Thanks for sharing! :)
This looks so tasty! Black bean soups are always so comforting. I love that you pureed just a portion of the soup so you’d get the smooth texture and the whole beans in every bite. Your photos are beautiful – and I know it’s tricky to make black bean soup look pretty :)
Made this for dinner tonight and it turned out wonderfully. Thank you for your quality recipes!
Brooke, I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed the soup! Thank you for commenting!
The soup was tasty .My husband like it too
Aw, happy belated Birthday! 28 is an amazing year… I just turned 30 this year which was a bit more scary! Hope that you have a beautiful celebration tonight to say goodbye to the year that was. May 2014 bring even more wonderful things your way Kate! Thanks for this lovely recipe. Yum… I am starting to love black beans even though I only discovered them this year. So much goodness xxx
Your blog is simply wonderful! I look forward to reading it all the time. I made a recipe tonight that was on your blog back in February – West african peanut soup and it was amazing!! I can’t wait to try this soup too!
Happy belated birthday and I hope you a great new year! Best wishes!
Thank you, Penny! I’m sorry I didn’t thank you sooner. Glad you enjoyed the peanut soup and hope you loved this one, too!
Happy belated birthday chica!! I hope you had a fabulous time. You deserve all the happiness!!
Happy belated birthday!! Hope you had a great few day to relax and enjoy your b-day + the holidays!
This soup looks like the perfect way to ease back into things!
Happy belated birthday! I must try this soup – you convinced me with cilantro and cumin!
Happy birthday! Birthdays are meant to indulge a little so sounded like you celebrated in style! Black bean soup is one of my faves. . definitely going to give this one a try!
So perfect for a) current chilly, grey weather and b) eating well again after so many days (weeks?) of holiday indulgences. I love the sound of this! Yum. Happy 2014 to you and Cookie!
happy birthday..this is my idea of soup and love the garnishes :) happy new year.
Happy Birthday week pretty girl! Love this soup! XOOOOO
Thank you, sweet Sarah B! Hope you’re well.
Congrats on turning 28, Kate! I love a bowl of good black bean soup and your vegan version looks great.
This soup looks like absolute perfection! The flavor looks intense which I love!
oooh yum, this looks so good. I love me some traditional black bean soup.. I love Latin food so much! Shredded chicken would seal to the deal. Happy New Year Kate!
Looks like a great vegetarian version! Mine started as a way to use up the leftover holiday ham! Gorgeous photography — as usual!
This soup is amazing! So easy to make and very tasty. The ingredients used are things that I usually have around my apartment so very convenient. To add more protein I used nonfat greek yogurt to stir before eating instead of sour cream!
Thanks, Katie! I’m really glad you loved the soup. Great idea to add Greek yogurt.
This recipe is SO GOOD!!! WOW! It’s absolutely delicious and SUPER easy to make (not to mention inexpensive). It made plenty to freeze too so it really makes a great meal for a large family or for people looking to stretch their meals out over a couple days. I’ll definitely be making this frequently! Thanks, Kate!
Thanks, Amy! I’m happy to hear that you love the soup! I froze my second batch since I was leaving town for the holidays and got to eat soup for a week when I got back. :)
After being told by my doctor to go off dairy, I’ve really been struggling with finding flavorful dinners that don’t have cheese, butter, or milk. This one hit it out of the park! Blending the soup gives it that creamy texture that I’ve been missing. Bravo!
Hooray! Glad you enjoyed the soup, Claire! If you like coconut milk, you might like my curried cauliflower soup. It’s a great non-dairy creamer.
I’m a big fan of bean soups! I have never tried this soup with the lime juice and the cilantro. Sounds yumm! i know how you feel being in a swirl with birthdays around the holidays I have 3 of my children before xmas 12/13, 12/21 and 12/24 .Plus my granddaughter’s 12/23. We finish the birthday tour tomorrow with my last son’s birthday!…talk about not knowing what day it is!
Oh my, that is a lot of birthdays and holidays in quick succession! Happy birthday to all!
Oh black bean soup is one of my favourites, this sounds great. A belated Happy Birthday and Happy New Year!
Great recipe – I made this last night and turned out fantastic! – thanks for sharing!
Am making this soup for the second time- it’s definitely become a regular item on our winter menu. Thanks!
That’s great! Thank you for commenting, Kathleen.
AMAZING! We are obsessed with this soup. Hands down the best black bean soup ever. I’m making it for the second time tonight! :)
Hip hip hooray! Thanks, Sheena.
Made this and loved it! I even used some shortcuts for a recipe that I can always pull together from the pantry and it worked great! http://marianhd.com/2014/02/24/spicy-vegan-black-bean-soup/
Thanks for sharing!
Marian, so glad you loved the soup! Your version sounds great.
This was great! Very rich and full of flavour. I added a whole sweet potato, cut into 1cm chunks and it added a nice flavour as well.
My only caveat is the soup is very brown (might try adding some paprika?), so my fiancee will be a bit hard to win over on that first impression :)
Glad you enjoyed the soup! A potato sounds like a tasty addition. I don’t know how to make a black bean soup not be brown!
Love your website. Really hoping to try this recipe, but I have a hard time being at the stove with a clingy 10 month old. Is there any way I can do it all in the slow cooker, or will all be lost?
Stephanie, I’m sorry I didn’t answer your question sooner. I think this soup would be a great candidate for the slow cooker. For the best flavor, I recommend sautéeing the onions, carrots and celery before adding those to the slow cooker, but I’m pretty sure this soup would turn out well even if you just dumped all of the ingredients in the cooker and let it simmer away.
I just finished making this and I think it tastes delicious! Thank you so much for the recipe. I stumbled on it by accident and I am so glad I did. I will definitely be making this again in the future and will have to check out more of your recipes. I need all the help I can get!
Thank you for commenting, Tracy! I’m delighted that you loved the soup and hope you enjoy the other recipes, too.
This soup was perfect! Thanks so much for the recipe. I’m a picky vegan foodie who does a lot of cooking and admittedly doesn’t like a lot of other people’s recipes, but this one was spot-on. I’ve made it several times already.
Sara, I’m happy to hear that this soup meets your standards! :) Thank you for commenting.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made it all winter and I’m eating it still. It’s a very easy and tasty recipe to just stick in the crockpot and come home to at the end of a long day.
Thank you for commenting, Kirsti! I’m glad to hear that the soup turns out well in the crock pot. Thank you for letting me know.
I LOVE this soup. Love it so much. I’ve gotten so attached to it that I served it at a housewarming party on an 80+ degree day — hot soup on an 80 degree day probably not the best choice but there were hardly any leftovers so I’m guessing everyone was getting as attached as I! The last time I made it I had enough leftovers for lunch the next day. I used it as the insides of a burrito with your best salsa ever and one of your avocado/jalepeno/cilantro sauces (I think the one from the sweet potato tacos). It was great!!! Thank you!
Hi again! Which salsa recipe are you referring to? I want to try those burritos you made. :)
Hooray! It was the Black Bean Salsa…yummmyyyyyy!
Hi, this soup or similar is a typical food in my country, but with variations like add eggs and white rice, is delicious, sometimes I agree lemon drops and the flavor is better! You can find “black soup of Costa Rica”
Hey Ju, thanks for letting me know about the origins of the recipe! I bet it is lovely with lemon and rice.
Hi Kate. I’ve been eating a plant based diet since May and was looking for a good vegan black bean soup recipe. I just cooked the beans in a pressure cooker will finish making the soup tomorrow. . . can’t wait to eat it. Thank you!
Hey Paul, thanks for your comment! I hope you love the soup!
I did. . . and so did my coworkers! Round 2 tonight! :)
Yes!!
I absolutely love love love this soup!! I’m a married college student that works overnights at the hospital and this is something that I love to bring for my 3am “lunch”. I batch cook it (double it) and freeze it into individual servings. It freezes beautifully. I always serve with with lime juice squirted on it right before eating (but after reheating). YUM! Thank you for this one!
Made this for dinner last night and it was delicious and super easy! Thanks so much for sharing!
That’s great to hear! Thanks, Lauren!
This soup is delicious! Very easy to make, too. The lime, cilantro, and avocado made it even more tasty! If you don’t have any of these things, it’s still very good. I will make this again. I also appreciate the comment above about making more and freezing it in lunch-sized portions. Thanks for this beautiful blog.
Thank you, Julie! I’m glad you’re enjoying the soup!
This dish is amazing. My whole family love it (including the little ones which is a bonus) and it is perfect for the cooler weather we are now getting. Thank you from the UK! x
That’s great to hear! Thank you, Jen! P.s. We have the same last name. :)
Added a small amount of coconut cream… Deliciouso
Good idea! Thanks, Dave!
Came out good, but honestly….a bit too much of a carrot taste. I think I would forego the carrots/celery and maybe add peppers and possibly corn next time.
Hi, did you try this with peppers yet? I have some orange, red, and yellows that are about to go bad, so I was thinking of trying it, but wasn’t sure what it might do to the taste…
Hi Amy, I’m sorry for the delay. I think peppers would be a lovely addition.
This looks delicious! How long do you think this would last in the fridge before needing to be frozen? I’d love to make a pot and eat it for lunches for a week but am worrie about how long it stays fresh!
Hey Alex! I can’t say with absolute certainty, but I think the soup would be good for about four days. You might want to freeze a few individual portions in mason jars for later in the week! Just leave some room at the top of the jar for liquid expansion as the soup freezes and wait to screw on the lid until after the soup has frozen. That’s probably your safest bet!
This recipe was amazing and so simple. I’ve tried many black bean soup recipes looking for “the one” and this is the winner, hands down.
This is my go-to recipe for black bean soup. Delicious and perfect consistency! Thank you so much for posting