This healthy Vegetarian Black Bean Soup is bursting with flavor. Onions and peppers are sautéed with spices and blended with black beans for a healthy, light and delicious soup. Serves 6 in about 45 minutes.
For weeks, I’ve been on a tex-mex type soup kick.
I craved anything with a some heat or that I could eat with tortilla chips. Needless to say, I had a small back log of soup recipes to share.
After making tortilla soup, I was inspired and whipped up a vegetarian black bean. Because why not? It’s SO easy and yet incredibly flavorful. It starts with onion, red bell pepper, jalapeño, garlic and spices and ends with black beans, broth, lime juice and fresh cilantro. It only simmers for 30 minutes and you’re ready to ladle it into bowls.
I like my soup with a dollop of nonfat plain greek yogurt, minced raw red onion for crunch and bite, jalapeño slices and extra cilantro. Always extra cilantro.
To Make This Vegetarian Black Bean Soup You Will Need:
- olive oil
- yellow onion
- diced red bell pepper
- jalapeño pepper, plus more for serving
- tomato paste
- garlic
- cumin
- oregano (Mexican, if possible)
- paprika
- ground black pepper
- bay leaf
- low-sodium vegetable broth
- black beans
- lime juice
- cilantro, plus morefor serving
- red onion, for garnish
- plain nonfat greek yogurt or sour cream, for serving
Measure and add 2 teaspoon olive oil, 1 medium diced yellow onion, 1 cup diced red bell pepper, 1 larger jalapeño -seeded and diced, and 4 cloves minced fresh garlic with a pinch of kosher salt. Stir and then sauté until tender and the onions translucent.
Once soft, measure and add in 2 teaspoons ground (toasted if possible) cumin, 1/2 teaspoon oregano (Mexican if possible) and 1/2 teaspoon paprika.
Combine and stir while cooking for 1 minute before stirring in 1 tablespoon tomato paste. Cook for 1 additional minute.
Next, add 2 (15 ounce) can rinsed and drained black beans.
Pour in 1 quart (4 cups) low-sodium vegetable broth.
Stirring well to combine.
Drop in 1 bay leaf. Cover and bring to a low boil, reduce and simmer for 30 minutes.
Squeeze in the juice of 1/2 a lime.
And add in a small handful of chopped cilantro.
Ladle a few cups of the soup into a blender. Remove the center part in the lid and carefully hold a kitchen towel over the hole. Leaving the plug in the lid would trap pressure and potentially explode hot soup everywhere. Use caution.
Processing until smooth.
Pour the pureed soup back into the soup pot. Heat through.
Ladle soup into bowls and top with a dollop of sour cream or plain nonfat greek yogurt, raw red onion (for bite and crunch!), sliced jalapeño and fresh cilantro. I love my vegetarian black bean soup with an extra squeeze of lime.
One of my favorite black bean soup recipes.
Addictively good and if you like it spicy, those sliced jalapeños are a must.
Easy.
Healthy.
Delicious.
Enjoy! And if you give this recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!
Vegetarian Black Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons extra light olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced small
- 1 small red bell pepper, diced small
- 1 large jalapeño, finely diced (ribs and seeds removed for less heat)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin, toasted if you can find it
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano, or use regular oregano
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 30 ounces canned black beans, rinsed and drained
- 4 cups vegetable broth, (or 1 quart)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 lime, juiced
- black pepper, freshly ground
Instructions
- Add olive oil, onion, pepper, jalapeño, garlic with a pinch of kosher salt to a dutch oven and heat on medium to medium-low. Stir and sauté until tender, about 8 minutes.
- Stir in cumin, paprika and oregano. Stir and cook 1 minute before stirring in tomato paste. Cook for 1 minute.
- To that, add in the black beans, broth and bay leaf. Cover and bring to a low boil on medium-high heat, then reduce to low and simmer for 30 mintues.
- Add in lime juice, cilantro and season with black pepper and kosher salt to taste.
- Transfer half of the soup to a blender and blend until smooth, then add back to the soup pot. Alternatively, you could use a stick blender and pulse the soup a few times until desired consistency.
- Serve hot soup into bowls and garnish with desired toppings like; greek yogurt (or sour cream), diced red onion, cilantro and extra jalapeño.
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THANK YOU in advance for your support!
Since adopting plant-based eating I’ve found that having an easy, and very flavorful, supplement to my needed proteins is a must.
This recipe minus the blender step is excellent.
Glad to hear it, Joel!
Very good soup. Left out the cilantro because some of my family don’t like it. Served with quesadillas for a great soup dinner. Thanks for the recipe!