I love black bean soup like I love chili. It’s great on its own, but it’s also fun to get creative with toppings and turn it into a bowl full of fun (okay, maybe I get too excited about food). This awesomely flavorful and easy slow cooker black bean soup practically makes itself, which is perfect for hot summer days like this when you don’t want a pot of soup boiling away on the stove making your whole kitchen extra steamy.
What else is awesome about this soup? Wellll…. It’s vegan, super filling, low cal, high fiber, high protein, full of veggies, and costs next to nothing. Need I say more?
And about those awesome fun toppings? I ate mine with a dollop of sour cream, but you could do crispy tortilla strips, green onions, cilantro, pepitas, cheddar or pepper jack cheese, or even a scoop of cooked rice. Actually, just about anything that goes good in a taco would probably go awesome on top of this soup. Go wild!
Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup
Servings 6 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.41)
- 2 ribs celery ($0.33)
- 2 carrots ($0.28)
- 1 lb. black beans (uncooked) ($1.75)
- 1 cup salsa ($0.85)
- 1 Tbsp chili powder* ($0.30)
- 1/2 Tbsp ground cumin ($0.15)
- 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- 4 cups vegetable broth ($0.53)
- 2 cups water ($0.00)
Instructions
- Mince the garlic, dice the onion and celery, and grate the carrots on a large holed cheese grater. Rinse the black beans in a colander under cool running water and pick out any stones or debris.
- Combine the garlic, onion, celery, carrots, black beans, salsa, chili powder, cumin, oregano, vegetable broth, and water in a 5-7 quart slow cooker. Stir well.
- Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for 6-8 hours (you want the beans to get VERY soft). Once the beans are very soft, use an immersion blender** to blend the soup until it is thick and creamy (leave some beans whole if desired). Taste the soup and add salt if needed (this will depend on the brand of vegetable broth used).
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Notes
Nutrition
How to Make Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup – Step by Step Photos
Rinse the dry beans under cool water to remove any dust and dirt. If there are any pebbles or other debris, pick them out.
Add the beans to a 5-7 quart slow cooker along with 2 cloves of minced garlic, one onion (diced), 2 stalks celery (diced), 2 carrots (grated on a large holed cheese grater), 1 cup salsa, 1 Tbsp chili powder, 1/2 Tbsp cumin, and 1 tsp oregano. Add to that 4 cups of vegetable broth and 2 cups of water. Stir well, place the lid on top, and let it cook on high for 6-8 hours (the goal is VERY soft beans).
After 6 hours on high (it can go 8 hours if needed), the beans will be soft and floating around in a bunch of liquid. You want this to be a thick soup, so you’ll need to purée some of the beans (or all if you want it to be a super smooth soup). The easiest way is to use an immersion blender, but if you don’t have one, it can be done with a regular blender. If using a regular blender, let the soup cool until it’s no longer hot (warm is okay). blend about half of the soup in batches for a slightly chunky soup, or all of the soup for a smooth soup. When blending warm liquids it’s always a good idea to throw a towel over the top of the closed blender to catch any spray if it does build pressure and burst out the top. Never, NEVER, blend hot liquids. (speaking from experience).
I blended about half of my soup and left some beans whole for texture. Blending the beans also thickens up the soup considerably. Once it’s blended, give it a taste and see if you need to add salt. I used Better Than Bouillon soup base for my vegetable broth, which tends to be on the salty side, so I didn’t need to add any. If you’re using a low sodium broth, you’ll probably need to add a pinch to make the flavors pop.
And then go crazy with toppings! Woot!
We love this recipe and make it often.
I would highly recommend adding 1/2 a can of chipotles in adobo.
I love your site and ALL these great bean recipes. I am a vegetarian and my family will also eat your meatless wonders!! No complaints here. I am just wondering about the use of the crockpot with dried beans. I feel like I read somewhere that dried beans always must be boiled a bit for safety, the crockpot doesn’t get hot enough? I usually rinse, soak, boil for at least 10 minutes and THEN add beans to the crockpot. I would love to be able to skip this step. Do you have any info you can share with this?
Thanks!
That is true for beans in the kidney bean family (red kidney beans especially, but white kidney beans can also be a problem). Here is a great article from Ohio State University on the subject: https://u.osu.edu/chowline/tag/phytohaemagglutinin/
Hi! I was wondering if you knew how those recipe kept in the freezer? Just made it and it was so delicious I already can’t wait to make it again!
It should keep very well. :) If there is any separated liquid after thawing, it will just stir right in.
The app’s recipe calls for canned beans – typo??
Thanks for catching that! Yes, it’s a typo. I’ll email to have them change that asap.
This soup went WAY beyond my expectations! I’m not a huge black bean soup fan, but as a picky vegetarian I need protein and veggies in any way I can get them, and that normally is via soup. The first time I made this, I followed the recipe exactly and it was DELICIOUS. My godmother (who doesn’t like black beans) loved it. I cooked it for six hours on high and that was more than enough for the beans to soften. BLENDING IS KEY. Totally changes the taste, but only blend half like the recipe says so you retain some of the texture.
The second time I made this, I doubled the recipe hoping that I would have enough servings to last the week. It was still tasty, but wasn’t as flavorful and had too much water left in the soup when it was done (it was much less viscous the second time around). I cooked it for 7 hours on high that time. Does anyone have any experience with doubling the recipe and have a cook time that works best for them? I plan to keep upping it until I find the sweet spot but thought I’d check here first. Still can’t rave enough about this easy soup – meals for the week are made in an hour! Thanks a ton!!
Can this soup be frozen?
Yes :)
This was GREAT! However after 12 hours beans were still hard. Put it in pot on stove to finish. Next time I will soak the beans overnight! Great comment about how it gets better if you let it sit. This is a new fave, along with a new Posolo Verde soup recipe I found on Pinterest. Bother winners.
Okay, so I made this 3 or 4 days ago. It got 2-thumbs-up from the hubs (he wouldn’t let me blend it, though – something about a texture issue. Whatever, dude: okay. LOL.).
He left town on business before we finished it and now it’s just me; I eat a little bowl of this every day for lunch and I still have some leftover in the fridge.
But today – like day 4? OMG the flavors today are stick-your-face-in-the-bowl-and-slurp-it-up good.
The next time I make this, I’m definitely going to let it sit in the fridge for a few days before I enjoy it. It was always delicious; it’s getting even better with age!!!
Thanks for another super-great recipe. Your site is #1 for me as a go-to for vegetarian items. Thank you so much for all the work you do. LOVE your site!!
Thank you, Jodi!!
This turned out great! I followed the recipe completely, except for a couple things. I didn’t want to puree it at the end, so I cooked it on high for half the time and then mashed the beans a little at the end with a whisk. It gave me a stew-like, creamy soup with bean chunks. Very tasty! Adding this one to the regular rotation for sure!
I can’t believe how yummy this is. And so easy and inexpensive!! Another total winner, Beth.
Would this work with canned beans ?or do you know how to tweak it for canned?
This one is designed specifically for dry beans, so you’d need to change it quite a bit for canned beans. I’d need to do some testing to properly advise.
I used the remainder of a jar of salsa verde I had in the fridge and it was delightful!
As someone who is not really into soup I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this soup. immersion blender is a must. I got my black bean fix and didn’t have to think about cooking practically all week! Thank you for the recipe!
I found this recipe last fall and have made it several times! It’s the best black bean soup recipe I’ve ever made and we love it. I use the food processor to chop the vegetables, so that makes it very easy.
So easy and so delicious!
Being in a hurry, I ran all the vegetables through our grinder (mixer attachment) first. Made this a super easy set up before an unexpected extra shift at work. Thank you!
We did have to tweak the spices, because in New Mexico, chile powder is nothing but chile.