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.
Wonderful soup! I added white cooking wine sauteing veggies and added baby arugula and sliced jalapenos instead of red pepper flakes then used immersion blender. Served with a dollop of sour cream. Heavenly
I love this black bean soup, so easy and tasty.i have made it twice now, this time had no celery so added more carrot and a parsnip and ginger. We will see. Thanks
Another hearty & delicious soup recipe–thank you, Kate!
I made this for my sons tonight and OMG!!! This is THE BEST black bean soup I have ever had!! It is so full of flavor and the spice is just right! I will be making it again very soon!
That’s great! Thank you for sharing, Tish.
Another yummy recipe from Cookie and Kate! Your soups are so good. I followed the recipe except for an interesting twist. I used only 3 cans of beans, and then added two Field Roast brand Spicy Mexican Chipotle Vegetarian Sausages chopped up. It added a chipotle taste and some added texture. I’ll make this one again!
Thank you for sharing, Jean!
Kate, I just made your fabulous soup this morning, and it is absolutely the best black bean soup I’ve ever tasted. Thank you so much!
You’re welcome, Karen!
This recipe is fantastic. Made this using dry beans that I softened in Instant Pot. Amazing flavors.
Just made this for the first time. Very easy and quick to make. Do not skip the puree step, this is a world class recipe! Added a touch extra garlic, red pepper, and cumin. Delicious! Great with crusty bread….
Amazing soup! I used dry beans and soaked them over night. I puréed the entire soup after cooking and froze some in jars.
I am an amateur baker/cook with extreme passion about this hobby. Have tried at this point maybe 1000 recipes of all sorts. This is by far the best recipe ever
Thor
i can’t wait to try this- it’s waiting for me at home! just wondering, how much of the soup is considered 1 serving (the nutrition facts did not state it .. or i missed it completely haha). thanks!!
Hi Audrey! Sorry for my delay. One serving is roughly 1.5-2 cups.
#cookieandkate I made the spicy black bean soup according to the recipe because its flavors indicated it would be delicious. One alterations, I reduced the amount of potent seasonings, garlic, red pepper and cumin about 60 %… The soup has a nice flavor, but 32 oz of vegetable broth is at least 50% too much. After pureeing 4 cups of the cooked mixture, it is very very thin, and the remaining beans are lost in the vegetable broth.I will need to chop avacados, add salsa and maybe add some homemade croutons in order to serve the soup. Can you comment? Thank you.
Hi Alice, I’m sorry you didn’t love this one. Did you drain and rinse your beans?
Very good recipe…even when I decreased the spiciness a little. My entire family enjoyed.
That’s great! Thank you for sharing, T.
Is the salt content correct seem high?
Hi Joe, all my nutritional information is an estimate, but I try to be as accurate as I can. It does use canned ingredients, which can have more sodium. You can adjust by using low sodium or not salt added if you like.
If you use the tool to multiply the recipe, note that the amount recommended to blend (4 cups) does not scale up. Not a big deal, I just ended up blending more in order to achieve desired thickness. I toss a few red peppers in and sub dried Chile de árbol for the red pepper flakes. Great recipe! Healthy yet super creamy and luxurious. Staple of our freezer!
Hi, I’m sorry you ran into that. It’s not a perfect plug-in as it only changes the ingredients for planning purposes. I’m happy to hear you got it correct.
Can I use the black beans I made from your “how to cook black beans (from scratch!) recipe? Or would the soup be over seasoned using them?
Hi, you could use those. The flavor may change but you can if you like! Let me know what you think.
Such a good and simple recipe. Flavors meld wonderfully. I make a whole batch and freeze portions. I find that this soup freezes well. This one is a keeper.
I loved this, and can’t wait to make it again — even though my first attempt didn’t exactly follow the recipe! I had one can of black beans in the house and needed lunch so I made a much smaller version of this. I didn’t have vegetable broth and didn’t want to use chicken, so I combined half a can of fire-roasted tomatoes that was knocking around in the fridge with some water and used that for the liquid. I also didn’t have any carrots so I just used a little extra celery. I’m going to make a full-size batch this weekend using pinto beans because I’ve got two pounds of them that I need to use up before we move across the country (and before Passover).
I didn’t read the recipe properly and didn’t drain the beans so my soup was more watery than I wanted. I added some Ro Tel tomatoes with chilies as well, without most of the juice. It’s very tasty. I love this soup! Great easy recipe. Thank you
Oh no! I’m glad you were still able to enjoy it, Becky. Thank you for your review.
Made this soup tonight with my vegetarian daughter…we both absolutely loved it!!
This soup was great and was easy to make! I made the beans from scratch ahead of time and used them. I only wish that I had enough ingredients to double it. My husband and I each went for seconds of this so now there is just a bowl and a half worth left. I will be making it again soon and doubling it!
I thought this was delicious and will make again! Hit the spot on a cold day. Perfect amount of spice and heartiness. Served with avocado and tortilla strips on top.
Sound delicious! Thank you for your review, Kristin.
Amazing! I cooked the beans in the the pressure cooker and followed the rest of the recipe. Garnished with, fresh cilantro, avocado and sour cream I will definitely cook this again!
I think there is witchcraft at play here– or some kind of alchemy. I otherwise don’t know how these simple (and healthy!!) ingredients yielded such a DELICIOUS soup! We followed the recipe to the letter (except red wine vinegar instead of sherry), and were absolutely delighted. We topped it with a dollop of sour cream, but it didn’t need it.
I’m happy you enjoyed it!
I’ve made this soup several times now. It is SO good and so easy!! I love it! I like that it can be made really spicy – or not – depending on who’s coming for dinner. Using canned black beans makes it a quick recipe that doesn’t look quick. I love it with avocados chopped up on top.
Sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing, Cathy.
I did try this recipe. I’m converting to plant based foods, and made it for the family last year. It was so delicious I made it again last night. So easy, tastes deliciously spicy, and everyone raved. It will become a regular in my household. Love serving with tortilla chips on top and salad. So glad I found this Thanks so much.
Thank you for sharing, Doreen!
Thank you so much kate for your amazing blackbean soup recipe.It’s a perfect at late midnigth meals.tcgbu
Husband recovering from dental surgery, so searched for a hearty, flavorful bean soup recipe and came upon this gem. Added a can of Hatch tomatoes and green chilies as suggested by other reviewers and omitted the red pepper flakes as a result. Pureed with immersion blender to desired consistency. This soup was delicious, the recipe a keeper.
I hope he is on the mend! Thank you for your review, Ginger.
This soup is fantastic. Easy to make and the taste is superb. Half batches are more than enough for two. It freezes well for soup at a moment! Thank you for sharing your recipes.
I added a red bell pepper and substituted a one can of black beans for dark kidneys. It added a nice color and flavor. I also only used half the cummin (the wife doesn’t like cummin a much as the rest of us) but added Chilli powder instead. For sides we had fresh avocado salad, cilantro, vegan yogurt, vegan cheddar, fresh jalapeños and chips. Made for an excellent dinner on the patio. This will definitely go in the rotation. Cheers
Thank you for sharing how you adapted this to work with what you had! I’m delighted you enjoyed it.
Wow, hubby and I agreed best soup ever! Sautéed red bell pepper with other veg’s, added chipotle chili powder, splash of salsa, dashes of oregano and sugar to balance flavors, topped with crisp bacon, shred cheese, dollop french onion dip. Taste explosion and so much fun to prepare!
I made the spicy black bean soup. It’s a winner! So good!?my husband loved it too. A big THANK YOU!
You’re welcome, Elaine! I appreciate your review.
I’ll bet this would taste amazing with coconut milk in place of the vegetable broth! I’ve been slowly moving towards a more vegetarian style of cooking and using coconut milk and different acids such as lemon, lime, and various vinegar’s has helped me reduce my sodium, potassium and protein intake.
Will report back with my results.
I love this soup so much! I’ve meal prepped ot to eat for lunch every day and it makes me so happy :) great recipe, blog and cookbook Kate!
Thank you, Lindsey! I appreciate your review.
Delicious! I sautéed the veggies in water instead of oil, added a can of Rotel as another reviewer mentioned, then finished with some Cholula. So good!
That’s great, Tricia. Thank you for your review!
This soup was absolutely amazing…. I’m so serious!
I’m glad you loved it, Elenor! Thank you for your comment and review.
Soup was amazing. I am making again tonight. I just don’t like blending hot soup so I blended 2 cans of beans before adding to the pot.
So good! Just the right amount of kick!
I forgot the lime. I wonder if you can substitute lemon? Thank you.
Made a half batch today and it’s so good. Once I used the immersion blender I added some leftover rice to make it more hefty for my lunches this week and added a bit of water. Seriously delicious with lime, radishes, chopped onion, chopped tomatoes, cilantro and a small dollop of sour cream. A meal in a bowl.
Wowzie!!! This is amazing. I wanted to help my mom out this week ( i am in middle school) because at the hospital things are busy. This was amazing and my parents and picky siblings loved it! Simple enough for me to make..
I made this it was so good. Yum!!
This was a huge hit with my husband and kids. I didn’t have carrots or celery so I used an orange bell pepper and a handful of shishito peppers. And served it over rice with diced jalapeños, onions and avocados- delicious!
Added a few more veggies (red bell peppers, frozen spinach, canned tomatoes) and didn’t use either cumin or red pepper. Finished with line juice and no sherry. Used the immersion blender. The soup was great and so was the immersion blender instead of a regular blender. Thanks!
Thank you for sharing your variation, Cindy! I appreciate your review.
This recipe is so good, I immediately went and bought your cookbook. Thank you so much for this!! So easy and delicious!
You’re welcome! Thank you for your review.
This is delicious! I made it oil-free, red onion instead of yellow, used more carrot because I didn’t have celery, all lime juice instead of vinegar, used Better Than Bouillon seasoned vegetable base for the broth, and added smoked paprika as recommended by another commenter. Topped it with more lime juice, nutritional yeast, cilantro & Trader Joe’s chili lime seasoning. I had some of it with chips, and it was great both as a dip and soup! My mum and sister had a taste and both loved it, so this is a great meal for people who don’t usually rate vegan food. :-) Blessedly easy to make with an immersion blender. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
I’m glad you were able to change it up to use what you had! Thank you for sharing, Kate.
My family enjoyed the soup a lot! I pressure cooked 3 cups of dried beans in the Instapot and then drained & added them to the soup. I used chicken stock & lime that I had on hand. Topped with the avocado pieces, & served chips and cheddar (for shredding) on the side. It is a keeper and I wouldn’t change anything, though I imagine a dollop of sour cream or cotija cheese could be fun topping alternatives.
Very good! Had to alter it bc I didn’t have celery or cilantro but was still delish. I tripled the carrots, sautéed it in coconut oil to give it more of a “meaty/fatty” mouth feel to it and used parsley at the end instead of the cilantro. Topped with sour cream, avocado and hot sauce. Served with tortilla chips. Delish!
Thank you for sharing how you made it work, Stephanie! I appreciate your review.
Love it love it love it. The best part of it is that most of the time I have all the ingredients. Easy, fulfilling, tasty. Forever in my bookmarks ;)
I love that! Thank you for sharing, Karolina.
No surprise that this is fantastic, (just like all her other recipes). I LOVE how healthy this is–no butter, no cream, no cheese, very little oil–just veggies and broth but still tons of flavor. I’m actually using this recipe to kick off my plant-based low-carb diet and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. I was amazed at how well those veggies cook down. When it’s done, you’d never guess how many went into it. Perfect way to sneak extra veggies into your day.
I used dried beans and made them in the instant pot first (2.5 cups of beans per 6 cups of water on Beans mode for 40 minutes with a natural release). Turned out perfect and slightly on the mushy side for the end result (which I liked).
Also, I took the suggestion from a comment and added 3 medium-sized jalapenos in with the carrot/onion/celery mixture. I’m not one for spicy but it didn’t make it spicy at all in my opinion. Since I’ve never made this soup before without it, I imagine it just adds to the robustness of the flavor. Next time I will experiment with adding bell peppers as well.
Thank you, Tyler! I’m delighted you enjoyed it. I appreciate you taking the time to review!