Before we jump on to the Black Bean Soup recipe, I want to express my excitement for the warming temperatures here in up north! Though when you live in Minnesota warmer days could be still so freaking cold and all the piles of the snow everywhere you go resembles like the sets of game of thrones…and you think to yourself is this ever going to melt away? lol… BTW who is excited for the new season of Game of Thrones? I for sure am!
All these years I have had my fair share those runny nose and sore throat days- the “not so likable” part of the snow season. While the carnivores have their chicken noodle soup to soothe the soul and body in need, we vegetarians have Bean soups! And today’s recipe is not just any bean soup, its this spicy, fragrant and heart + belly warming Black Bean Soup! Its the soup for the soul, and of course the belly! Its my go-to soup whenever I feel a little under the weather or the times when I crave something hot and comforting. I have fed this soup to close to 50 people I know of and most have loved it and many have asked me for the recipe, so its safe to say – Its delicious!!!
This is the recipe that I have perfected over the years with constant twists here and there. The three aromatics I have used here – Garlic, Ginger and Thyme mingle so well with each other and it’s my favorite combination for the most bean soups I would make. The red bell pepper adds a little bite and the onion gives it a hint of sweetness. The addition of chili flakes and black pepper gives it a kick without being overly spicy, you can always go easy on the spice or skip the chili flakes and just add some freshly cracked pepper.
Another thing worth mentioning is using good quality vegetable stock. I really love this IMAGINE Organics low sodium vegetable stock, I have been using it since few years and swear by it! I used to buy it at whole foods but recently saw Costco selling it and I could not control my joy, brought home enough cartons to last me a good few months!!!
The last but not the least is the main ingredient – Black Beans. I tend to go with the organic canned ones but you could totally just soak dried beans overnight and cook it by yourself the next day. When its time to mix the beans with the soup, I reserve about half cup and puree the rest in the blender with the help of the vegetable stock and then add the puree to the cooked onion-pepper-aromatics mixture along with that half cup reserved whole beans. You could totally add everything to the blender and puree the whole soup. But I personally like the first method because it still has some bite and texture to it, you could see some whole beans here and there along with pretty red bell pepper chunks and caramelized onion in the soup.
I Hope you will make this black bean soup to keep yourself warm or the next time you or someone you know is little under the weather! On to the recipe card —–
- 2 x 15 oz. cans of black beans, drained and washed well [ 3 cups cooked beans ]
- 2 bay leaves
- 5-7 whole black pepper corns, roughly crushed
- 1 cup sweet onion, chopped [ 1 medium size ]
- 1 cup red bell pepper [ 1 medium size ]
- 2 tablespoons garlic, minced [ about 5-6 cloves ]
- 2 teaspoons ginger, grated
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes/chili flakes [ I used 1 teaspoon for extra kick ]
- 1 teaspoon dry oregano
- 32. oz. low sodium vegetable stock
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons Himalayan pink salt or kosher salt [ divided ]
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- chopped parsley, for garnish [ optional ]
- extra olive oil, to drizzle on top [optional ]
- In the large soup pot/stock pot heat up the olive oil over mediam heat.
- Add bay leaves and roughly crushed black pepper corns (optional - read notes) and stir for few seconds.
- Now add in chopped onion. Cook, stirring often, until the onion has softened and translucent, about 2 to 4 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic and ginger. Cook until fragrant, about one minute, stirring frequently and making sure they do not burn.
- Add chopped red bell pepper and chopped thyme, cook for another 2-4 minutes. Keep stirring so it does not burn.
- Add in chili flakes, oregano, freshly crushed black pepper and half the amount of salt (1 teaspoon at this point) and cook for another 1-2 minutes. If the mixture sticks to the bottom of the pan then add 1 tablespoon of vegetable stock.
- Meanwhile, reserve half cup of black beans and put the rest of the beans in a blender along with enough vegetable stock to make puree.
- Add the black bean puree to the soup pot, add the reserved half cup of whole beans to the pot as well.
- Add the remaining vegetable stock and add in 1 more teaspoon of salt ( or to taste) and black pepper.
- Stir well and bring it to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes or more if desired.
- Give it a taste test and adjust slat and pepper if needed.
- Serve piping hot, can be garnished with freshly chopped parsley, more freshly cracked pepper and a good drizzle of oilve oil or just serve it up right as is!
- Enjoy.
Same way, If you do not want the larger pepper corn pieces in your soup, you can use skip this step and add the ground version of the pepper later in the soup.
I like the texture in my soup, but you can dump the prepared onion-bell pepper mixture in the blender along with stock and beans and puree the soup. Bring it a boil and simmer as mentioned. Remember to discard the bay leaves if you use this method.
This soup can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days, when you reheat add water or more stock in tablespoon increments to bring it to the soup consistency as this soup thickens as it cools!
I’m going to tell you right now that, there is a lot to this recipe that needs to be followed but every single step is worth it. I’m a chef and coffee roaster here in York Pennsylvania and this recipe is going on the menu at the new coffee shop. Our strive will be to make our part of this processed food place a little healthier. I want to thank you for such an awesome recipe, it’s hard to screw it up when you use all fresh ingredients… I can’t wait to look around more!!
Thanks Bhumi
wow! Thank you so much for your kind words, appreciate it!