An easy, healthy soup that’s made with canned black beans, fresh vegetables and lots of herbs and spices. Flavorful, hearty and comforting, this spicy black bean soup will quickly become one of your favorites!
There’s nothing like a big pot of homemade soup on a cold day and this spicy black bean soup will not disappoint. It comes together quickly in one pot with simple pantry ingredients, a few fresh veggies and dried herbs and spices. It’s hearty, warming, a little spicy and has a slightly creamy texture. It’s just so good.
Homemade soups are so much better for you than store bought. Many store bought soups are laden with sodium and other processed ingredients. You don’t need anything fancy to make delicious homemade black bean soup and it only takes about 30 minutes. This soup is also naturally vegan, vegetarian and gluten free – although my favorite way to enjoy it is topped with a dollop of sour cream.
Spicy black bean soup is perfect for lunch, busy weeknights, or feeding a hungry crowd. This recipe makes a sizable pot of soup but don’t worry, leftovers (if you have any!) freeze like a dream.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Onions, carrots, celery, garlic – basic fresh aromatics are always a great place to start when making homemade soup.
- Poblano pepper – this is totally optional but I’m all about squeezing in extra veggies wherever you can! A bell pepper can also be substituted.
- Canned black beans – you will use four 15 ounce cans or about six cups of cooked black beans so stock up! I prefer to use low sodium canned black beans and then season the soup according to taste.
- Dried herbs and spices – cumin, oregano, bay leaf, chipotle powder and cayenne pepper make this soup warming and spicy! If you want to reduce the heat level, omit the cayenne pepper. Keep the chipotle powder as that adds wonderful smokiness.
- Vegetable broth – I always buy low sodium broths and then season to taste as I’m cooking. Chicken broth can be substituted if you don’t have vegetable broth but just be aware that the soup will no longer be vegan/vegetarian.
- Fresh lime and cilantro – balances the flavors and adds a pop of herby freshness.
- Toppings – my favorite part of making this soup! Go wild with Southwestern flavors here – sour cream, avocado, chopped cilantro, thinly sliced radishes, pico de gallo, cotija or shredded jack cheese and tortilla chips are all amazing.
Cooking with canned black beans
This soup is easy because we’re using canned black beans. As I mentioned before, look for low sodium or no salt added canned beans when stocking your pantry. That way, you have more flexibility in seasoning your food to taste.
Sometimes I like to go through the process of making a pot of homemade dried beans, but more often than not, I’m cooking with canned beans. Canned beans are honestly my favorite pantry staple. Black beans are a filling, affordable nutritional powerhouse that are easy to incorporate in tons of different recipes. If you have a can of beans in your pantry, you’re halfway to a meal!
How to make the best homemade spicy black bean soup
Just because a recipe has complex flavors doesn’t mean it’s hard to make. This soup is shockingly easy!
- Start by sautéing the vegetables in a little bit of oil until slightly tender. Then add in the garlic. We always add garlic later as it cooks quickly and burns easily.
- Add in dried herbs and spices and cook for another minute or two. Cooking the herbs and spices a little bit before adding the liquid allows them to bloom and release their full flavor potential.
- Add beans and broth and simmer for 30-40 minutes.
- Partially blend the soup with an immersion blender for a slightly creamy texture. If you don’t have an immersion blender, just add a few ladles of the soup to a blender, puree and add back in to the pot. This step is totally optional but it it helps to thicken the soup. Totally worth it for the mouthfeel.
- Add toppings to your heart’s desire.
Tips for storing soup
Black bean soup keeps well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. It’s a perfect recipe for meal prep. It’s also one of my favorite things to have stocked in my freezer. Freeze individual portions in zip top bags, or snag some of my personal favorite – Souper Cubes, for up to three months. Healthy, delicious, homemade freezer meals are a gift to your future self!
More homemade soup recipes you’ll love
- White Bean, Sausage and Kale Soup
- Caribbean Carrot Ginger Soup
- Instant Pot Chicken and Brown Rice Soup
- Hearty Lentil Soup
Spicy Black Bean Soup {Vegan}
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion
- 1 poblano or bell pepper diced
- 2 carrots diced
- 2 ribs celery diced
- 8 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon chipotle powder
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 15 ounce cans low sodium black beans drained and rinsed
- 4 cups 32 ounces low sodium vegetable broth
- Juice of one lime
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- Toppings of your choice
Instructions
- In a large pot or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat.
- Sauté diced onions, carrots, celery and poblano or bell pepper for 6-8 minutes until soft.
- Add minced garlic and cook for another 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
- Add salt, oregano, cumin, chipotle powder, cayenne and bay leaf and cook for another minute, stirring constantly.
- Add in broth and rinsed and drained beans and bring pot to a simmer.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Use an immersion blender to puree some of the soup (or add a few cups to a regular blender) for a slightly creamy texture. Taste and season with more salt if necessary.
- Serve hot, loaded up with your favorite toppings.
Equipment
- Souper cubes optional for freezing
Notes
- This soup has quite a bit of heat. To reduce spiciness, omit cayenne pepper.
Nutrition
A special thank you
Being a creator is hard work and it brings me a tremendous amount of joy when someone let’s me know that they enjoyed one of my recipes! As you may know, I’m excited to be one of Google’s early testers for their Thank with Google pilot program.
Thank with Google is an experimental feature that allows my supporters to purchase a virtual sticker to directly show support for the content on my site. I put a little piece of my heart into each recipe I create and I have loved seeing the variety of stickers and messages my readers have sent to date. Not only does this give us another way to connect, but it translates into direct revenue to support the grocery bills and hard work that goes into the recipes you find here on my blog.
You can find the Thank with Google feature button at the top and bottom of every post and in the sidebar.
If you try it out, let me know what you think! Thank you always for your support, it means the world to me.
Jazz
I love the simplicity of this soup and had all the ingredients on hand to make it last night. So good I had another bowl for breakfast!
Krys
I decided to make this Spicy Black Bean Soup recipe with dried beans because that’s all I had available in my pantry. I used the quick soak method so it didn’t add too much time to this easy recipe. It is the cozy season so I am making soups all fall and winter. This one is definitely on my weekly rotation! The flavor is perfect, I love everything about it!
Kaluhi
Absolutely delicious! The black bean variety we have here in Kenya are called Njahi. They are so rich in flavor and seamlessly went so well with this recipe!! Thank you for sharing!
Robin
I immensely enjoyed the flavors of chipotle and lime in these beans. They were simply terrific!
Britney
Love this soup! I made it with some homemade tortilla chips on top and it was the perfect lunch. It was nice and tasty and spicy but not so hot that it was burning my mouth – I really enjoyed the blend of flavors. I will absolutely be making this again!
Chenée
This was my first time making black bean soup that wasn’t out of a can, and it was life changing! I’m having another bowl for lunch today!
Shani Whisonant
Black bean soup is one of my favorite comfort foods on the planet. And this one is literally the best one I’ve ever made. I’m so grateful that this makes a lot of black bean soup because there was plenty for leftovers, and it was even better the second day!
Marta
This spicy black bean soup has become our go-to meal for Meatless Mondays. It’s so packed with flavor that we often don’t remember it’s vegan. Another hit!
Taneisha
There truly isn’t anything like a big pot of this homemade soup on a chilly day like today! It’s so hearty and comforting and the entire family devoured it! Didn’t even have leftovers!