This hearty and delicious Black Bean Soup is easy to make comfort food with a kick of flavor. Creamy black beans and a colorful mix of fresh veggies are simmered in a tasty broth that your family will love.

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why You'll Love This Black Bean Soup Recipe
• 🛒 Ingredients for Soup with Black Beans
• 🔪 How to Make Black Bean Soup
• 💡 Tips
• ☑️ Storage Instructions
• 🍴 What to Serve with Black Bean Soup
• 🔄 Substitutions and Additions
• What are some common mistakes to avoid when making black bean soup?
• How to make the best black bean soup?
• What spices are good in black bean soup?
• What gives bean soup more flavor?
• 🍽️ More Healthy Recipes with Black Beans

❤️ Why You'll Love This Black Bean Soup Recipe

• Creamy black beans
• Colorful mix of fresh veggies
• Slight kick of heat
• Simmered in a flavorful broth
• Vegetarian friendly
• Hearty and delicious

If you're craving a piping hot bowl of comfort food, but are still wanting to eat healthy, this soup is for you! Creamy black beans are the star of this show and when combined with fresh vibrant veggies and a flavorful broth, they turn into something really special.

Not only is this soup healthy and hearty, but it's Vegetarian friendly. Add your favorite toppings and enjoy with some homemade tortilla chips on the side and you can't ask for much more!

You can even do some of the prep work ahead of time, which would be a real time-saver on busy weeknights. And this soup also freezes really well so leftovers will never go to waste.

🛒 Ingredients for Soup with Black Beans

• Black beans
• Vegetable broth
• Red bell pepper
• Carrots
• Celery
• Jalapeño peppers
• Red onion
• Garlic
• Lime
• Cilantro
• Olive oil
• Ground cumin
• Smoked paprika
• Salt
• Ground black pepper

*Exact measurements are listed in the recipe card below.

🥣 Recommended Tools

• Dutch oven or large pot
• Immersion blender, food processor or blender

🔪 How to Make Black Bean Soup

Heat a Dutch oven or large pot to medium, then add in the olive oil, carrots, celery, red onion, jalapeño pepper, red bell pepper, half the salt and pepper.

Sauté for a few minutes, just to slightly soften them, then add in the garlic and continue sautéing for another 20 seconds, making sure not to brown it.

Add in the smoked paprika and ground cumin and allow them to toast for about 30 seconds while stirring.

Pour in the vegetable broth, remaining salt and pepper, black beans, then simmer with the lid on for 15 minutes or until the carrots and celery are tender.

Remove some of the beans and soup and puree using an immersion blender, then pour back into the soup. You can also do this right in the pot instead, if you’d like.

Taste the soup to see if it needs more salt, and add some in if it does.  Then add in the lime juice and chopped cilantro and serve.

💡 Tips

• If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender or food processor instead.
• When sautéing the vegetables, you don’t need to cook them through, as they’ll continue cooking in the broth.
• Make sure to chop your veggies in similar size pieces that are small enough to easily eat with a spoon.
• Add in the cilantro and lime juice right at the end so they retain their freshness.
• You can do some of the prep work ahead of time if you’d like to save a little time.  Chop all your veggies and store them in an airtight container the day before.
• Don’t skip the step to toast the spices as this really helps to wake them up and give your soup more flavor. It only takes 30 seconds, but is well worth it.
• If you want the soup to be more brothy and not as thick, you can skip the step to puree some of the soup. This is strictly done in order to thicken the soup without having to add other thickening ingredients. This step can be skipped if you want a looser soup.

☑️ Storage Instructions

Store leftovers in an airtight container for 3-4 days or freeze.

🍴 What to Serve with Black Bean Soup

• Slice or diced avocado
• A dollop of sour cream
• Tortilla chips
• Pickled Jalapeño Peppers
• Fresh chopped cilantro
• Slices of lime
• Chopped chives or scallions

🔄 Substitutions and Additions

• If you don’t want to use jalapeño peppers, you can cut back on the heat and use poblanos instead.  If you want even more heat, you can use a serrano pepper.
• If you don’t love cilantro, because I know people either love or hate it, you can always use fresh parsley if you’d like or just leave it out all together.
• To make this soup a little more hearty, you can add in some rice or short pasta, like Ditalini. 
• Chicken broth can be used to replace the vegetable broth if that’s what you have on hand.
• If you’d like to add more protein, you can add in some shredded rotisserie chicken towards the end.

What are some common mistakes to avoid when making black bean soup?

Adding everything to the pot at once, without taking the time to develop flavor from your veggies and toasting the spices. Also adding too much salt or not enough is fairly common as well. Always add less initially, because you can always add a little more at the end. Definitely taste for salt before serving.

How to make the best black bean soup?

Well I might be a bit biased, but I happen to love this black bean soup recipe. It has a lot of flavor and plenty of healthy ingredients that really satisfies.

What spices are good in black bean soup?

Ground cumin and smoked paprika are classic and work really well in this recipe.

What gives bean soup more flavor?

Layering the flavors, as you do when sautéing the veggies, toasting the spices and allowing everything to simmer together really helps develop the flavor.

🍽️ More Healthy Recipes with Black Beans

• Black Bean Salad
• Cowboy Coleslaw
• Black Bean Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
• Cowboy Caviar
• Southwest Chicken Salad