Easy Black Bean Soup

Easy Black Bean Soup

Hearty, healthy, and satisfying without a lot of fuss is this Black Bean Soup. It comes together with simple pantry ingredients and stretches throughout the week, perfect for quick, nourishing meals. 

This Black Bean Soup recipe is warm and earthy, thanks to the spices, with a slightly creamy consistency. A squeeze of lime at the end brightens everything up, and the leftovers taste even better the next day.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup carrot, finely diced
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, rough chopped
½ teaspoon salt, more to taste
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon chili powder (or smoked paprika, or both)
½ teaspoon salt, more to taste.
3 x 14-ounce cans of black beans, drained and rinsed (4 ½ cups) see notes
3 cups veggie broth
1 lime ( 1-2 tablespoons lime juice) more to taste
Optional Garnishes: avocado, jalapeno, cilantro, hot sauce, chopped red onion or pickled onions, sour cream, or grated cheddar
Directions:
In a large Dutch oven or pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, carrots, bell pepper, garlic, and salt, and saute until fragrant, about 7 minutes. Add the spices and cook for 1 more minute.

Simmer. Add the black beans and broth and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 15 minutes or until the veggies are tender.

Using an immersion blender, blend the soup halfway. This will give it a rich, creamy consistency. You want some whole beans, so don’t blend it too smooth. Alternatively, blend half of the soup in a blender and return it to the pot. Warm it up gently.

Season. Squeeze with lime juice and season with salt to taste. Feel free to amp up the heat using cayenne, ground chipotle powder, or chili flakes to taste.

Serve. Ladle the soup into bowls, top with sliced avocado, cilantro, or any of the optional toppings.
Notes:
Leftovers will keep up to 4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Freeze up to 3 months.

If cooking dry black beans from scratch, follow this recipe. (Allow 1 1/2 hours). One pound of dry black beans yields 5 ½ cups cooked, so you’ll have a little extra. Feel free to use the flavorful bean water as the broth.

Timothy Pakron's New Way To Cook Beans. ~. Rancho Gordo

Timothy Pakron's New Way To Cook Beans

Author and chef Timothy Patron came to Napa, CA for a book signing of his newest cookbook, "Garden Variety", sharing his new way to cook Beans. The day at Rancho Gordo was a success filled with people. Timothy prepared one of his bean recipes. All of the recipes that are shared and I publish from the owner Steve Sando, are
marked with Rancho Gordo for ease in finding a great bean recipe. Reprinted with permission from "Garden Variety" by Timothy Pakron
Ingredients:
Base Ingredients:
12 to 16 ounces (around 450 g) dried beans, legumes, or pulse
8 cups (1.9 L) water, plus more for soaking

1 large strip kombu (4 inches/about 5 g)
3 bay leaves (fresh or dried)
1 tablespoon sea salt (or less, if desired)
⅓ cup (66 mL) olive oil

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon tamari

½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Optional Add-Ins
2 or 3 shallots or 1 large onion, chopped or sliced
6 fat garlic cloves, thinly sliced or chopped
2 or 3 scallions or 1 bunch chives, chopped or sliced
1 or 2 celery stalks, chopped or sliced
1 or 2 large carrots, chopped or shredded
1 juicy, ripe tomato, diced, or 1 large handful cherry tomatoes, diced
or halved
Few pinches dried herbs (such as thyme or oregano)
Few pinches ground spices (such as cumin or paprika)
Optional Garnishes and Add-ons
Cold-pressed olive oil
Flaky salt
Few cracks black pepper
Lemon wedge
Chopped fresh herbs (such as dill, parsley, basil, scallions, chives, or thyme)
Serves 6 to 8

Directions:

Soak The Beans: Sort through the dried beans and give them a rinse. Transfer to a large bowl and cover with a few inches of fresh water and soak overnight. Drain and rinse them well.

Boil The Beans: In a medium to large pot, combine the beans, 8 cups (1.9 L) water, kombu, bay leaves, and salt. Mix well, cover with a cracked lid (keeping an eye on the pot to make sure it doesn’t overflow), and bring to a boil. Once at a boil, remove the kombu and bay leaves and scrape off any foam that has risen to the surface. Continue to boil for 5 more minutes, then remove any additional foam. Some beans create more foam than others, so you can continue to remove that if it arises, but a little foam in your final beans is totally okay. While the beans are still at a boil, mix in the olive oil, garlic powder, nutritional yeast, rice vinegar, tamari, black pepper, and red pepper flakes, as well as any optional add-ins you’d like. It’s okay to take your time adding the seasonings and letting the beans continue to boil during this step, as the recipe is very forgiving.

Simmer: Once you’ve added the seasonings and optional add-ins, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and let the beans cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for anywhere from 20 minutes to 1 hour or longer. Most beans will be done after 20 to 40 minutes, but some varieties take longer, so you should taste them every so often to check when they are fully cooked and tender. If the beans take longer than 40 minutes, add a splash of water if needed as the liquid reduces. The goal is to end up with a good amount of broth so you can cover the beans when storing them in the fridge.

Enjoy Or Store:  Once the beans are tender, enjoy immediately or let cool and transfer to jars, pouring the broth over the beans to fully submerge them and placing the lid on top. The cooked beans will keep tightly sealed in the fridge for up to 1 week. 

Serve:  If serving immediately, transfer to bowls and garnish with desired toppings, such as a drizzle of cold-pressed olive oil, flaky salt, freshly cracked black pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice, and/or chopped fresh herbs. A hefty sprinkling of the Toasted Breadcrumb-Nut Crunch is also a lovely option. 

(Note from Rancho Gordo: We made a simple salad by draining the beans and tossing with arugula, lemon, and olive oil. We made sure to save some beans and the broth for a soup!)