My new favorite soup.
Easy to make, filling, and it tastes incredible. Sound too good to be true?
Mother Nature deserves the credit here as the simple black bean is doing most of the heavy lifting. Our job is to add just enough flava to make these nutritional powerhouses sing.
Mexican Black Bean Soup Recipe
Of course, you're welcome to use a batch of homecooked beans, but this recipe is most handy for those days when you get home from work and need a no-thinking-involved meal, so we'll use a simple can of beans and get an equally stellar result.
Note that the listed amounts of seasoning here have some wiggle room. I think this recipe tastes best when the beans are at the forefront and the added flavors are subtle, but we each have our own unique bean meter. There's a 10 minute simmer at the end that gives a perfect opportunity to add more heat and seasoning if your tastebuds are calling for it.
OK, start by putting 2 tomatoes in the oven at 400F. These will be roasted 'enough' in about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, saute 1/2 onion and 2 cloves of peeled garlic in a dollop of oil over medium heat.
Rinse a single can of black beans under tap water. (Note: this is one of the slightly larger can of beans so it's a bulging 2 cups of beans).
And prepare a single chipotle in adobo by cutting off the stem and scraping out some of the seeds.
Add the tomatoes to the onions. After 10-15 minutes in the oven they will break apart easily. (Note: an even speedier version omits the roasting of the tomatoes and just cooks them in the pan, but I find the roasting time is about the same as preparing the other ingredients so I usually do that.)
Add the beans along with 1.5 cups of stock (I used chicken stock but veggie works good too).
Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, dashes of freshly ground pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon of oregano.
Mexican oregano seems to work really well in this dish so use that if you have it, but traditional oregano will work fine too.
We'll also add only half of a single chipotle, keeping the other half in reserve.
Bring everything to a uniform temp and then add the mixture to a blender.
It doesn't take much to combine the ingredients so a brief pulse blend will do the job.
Note that if you prefer to have some whole beans in the final dish then you can blend only a portion of the mixture.
Add the mixture back to the pan and simmer over medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes.
This final simmer gives you the opportunity to tweak the seasoning, so this is the ideal time to take a few tastes.
I added an additional 1/4 teaspoon of salt and another pinch of oregano.
I like the subtle heat of using only 1/2 of a chipotle pepper, but you can add the other half if you want a more present heat.
Avocado bits seem to work really well here so I recommend adding some the first time around.
Not pictured is the drizzle of Mexican crema or sour cream that seems to be a perfect topper here.
It's definitely worth your time to fiddle with the seasoning at the end to get it to a point where you really like it.
Finding a salt-oregano-chipotle combo that makes your tastebuds sing means you'll always have the option of making this keeper dish just by storing a simple can of beans in the pantry. That is good news 🙂
Buen Provecho.
Mexican Black Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 can black beans (2 cups of beans)
- 2 tomatoes
- 1/2 white onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 chipotle pepper
- 1.5 cups stock
- 1/4 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- black pepper
Instructions
- Roast 2 tomatoes in the oven at 400F for 15 minutes or so
- Saute 1/2 white onion and 2 peeled garlic cloves in a dollop of oil
- Rinse 1 can of black beans (2 cups worth) under tap water
- Prepare the chipotle by de-stemming and scraping out some of the seeds
- Add the tomatoes to the onion and garlic
- Add the beans along with 1.5 cups of stock
- Add 1/4 teaspoon oregano (use Mexican oregano if you have it)
- Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and dashes of freshly ground pepper
- Add half of a single chipotle pepper
- Cook for a couple minutes until everything is at a uniform temperature
- Add the mixture to a blender and pulse blend (let some of the warm air out as you blend)
- Add mixture back to pan for a final 10 minute simmer
- Taste for seasoning and add additional salt, oregano and chipotle if desired
Notes
You might also like Pinto Bean Soup and our Corn and Poblano Soup.
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Kirsten inman
Made this tonight... THE BOMB!!
I could actually smell the difference between Mexican oregano and reg. Italian oregano.
And I used organic imagine free range chk stock. I'm sure homemade stock would be even better.
Thanks Patrick.
This will be a regular!!
Patrick
Thanks Kirsten I'm so glad this one was a hit for you! Cheers.
Karren
What the what??!!! Have my babies....this is. THE TOTAL BUSINESS!!! I am full of gratitude and shared with multiple friends. Chilli... incredible!!! New weekly favourite ❤️😍❤️😍❤️😍❤️😍
Patrick
Thanks the what Karren!
Max
I love the flavor of this recipe, but I prefer my blended soups to be smoother and creamier. I left half the beans out of the initial cooking, blended everything until smooth, then added the rest of the beans back in. You should use a bit less onions if cooking it this way. Also, this recipe says two servings, but I would say it's really enough for one person as a meal. I used seven cans of beans and it was the perfect amount for my family of four adults and two little kids, leaving a couple of bowls left over.
Patrick
Hey thanks much for your notes Max, very helpful for other peeps!
Allegra
I doubled the recipe and added a bit too much stock so it’s kind of watery. Any ideas how to thicken it back up?
Patrick
Hi Allegra! You can put it in a saucepan over mediumish heat, uncovered. As it simmers some of the moisture should evaporate and it will thicken up. Cheers.
Terry
Thanks for the recipe. My family loved the. I added cilantro which gave a bit of a new flavour profile.
Patrick
Great, thanks for the feedback Terry, I'm glad the fam liked it. A bit of fresh cilantro sounds like a great addition! Cheers.
Crissy
This was a wonderful black bean soup and didn't take long to make at all! Great flavor, I used an immersion stick blender and 2 cups vegetable stock! Can't wait to make again!
Patrick
Thanks Crissy, so glad you found a keeper recipe. I'm still amazed at how rewarding this soup can be with so few ingredients -- kinda makes me crave it right now heh.
Elise
Made this tonight, so delicious!
Patrick
Awesome Elise! Thanks much for the feedback. Hmmm been a couple months since I've had this soup, thanks for the reminder!
Pat Overshiner
I have been looking for a recipe black bean soup for some time I love it but it has a kind of bitter taste what you suggest thank you
Patrick
Hi Pat, thanks for your note!
Hmmm, tough question, never had a bitter undertone to this dish. First thing that pops in my head...did you rinse the beans?
Max Gutfeld
Couple of years late here, but it's likely your garlic was sprouted, which can make it very bitter. I normally cut my garlic in half and pull out the sprout if I see any green at all.
Chloe
that's a good idea to use chipotle
Patrick
Cheers Chloe 🙂