Perfect Black Bean Soup

This black bean soup recipe has quickly become a family favorite! It’s easy, incredibly flavorful, and vegetarian when you use veggie broth.

My family loves this easy black bean soup recipe so much. We make it often! I love how quickly it comes together and that it’s designed for canned or previously cooked black beans (hello, quick dinner!).

You can make this soup as spicy as you like. I add canned chipotles in adobo, which adds some spice, but you can add even more for a spicy black bean soup. For more bean soups, try our white bean soup, easy vegetarian chili with quinoa and black beans, or this hearty split pea soup.

Key Ingredients

• Black Beans: You can use canned black beans or home-cooked black beans (here’s how to cook dried black beans).
• Aromatics: I love making this soup hearty, so I combine onion, carrot, and garlic for the base. Then, I add more flavor with a bay leaf, cilantro, vinegar, oregano, and cumin. This soup is so flavorful!!
• Chipotle Chiles in Adobo: Whenever I see them in the store, I add a can of chipotles in adobo sauce to my cart. Chipotles are dried, smoked jalapeños that taste smoky and quite spicy. Adobo sauce is a spicy, red sauce that packs a major punch of flavor. For this soup, I add one pepper, which I mince, along with a little sauce. This amount adds enough spice to the soup so that you notice it. For an extra spicy black bean soup, add more. You will have some leftover, which you can save for another recipe (it freezes well). I also use chipotles in adobo sauce to make my chipotle bean chili.
• Tomatoes: Canned diced tomatoes are perfect for this soup, but chopped fresh tomatoes are great, too. If you go the canned route, look for fire-roasted tomatoes for extra flavor.
• Broth: I use veggie broth, but chicken broth or chicken stock are fine. Use what you love!

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Make the Best Black Bean Soup

Tip 1: Use one pot. Making black bean soup is simple (it all happens in one pot)! To make it, you’ll cook onions and carrots in olive oil until soft and sweet. Then stir in garlic, ground cumin, oregano, red wine vinegar, and chipotle chiles for more flavor. Pour in your broth, tomatoes, and a bay leaf. Then, stir in the black beans and simmer until the veggies are tender, about 20 minutes.

Tip 2: Season with salt and acid. Before serving, I like to taste the soup and season it with salt and a little extra acid from vinegar or lime juice. I love lime juice for this (it really makes the flavors of the soup pop).

Tip 3: Creamy or brothy. We often enjoy this as a brothy soup (like in our photos), but you can also turn this into a creamy black bean soup by blending. For a thickened soup that’s somewhere in between, blend a portion and add it back (like I do for this white chicken chili).

Serving Suggestions

I usually add a few slices of avocado to the top of this soup, but there are many options. Try our favorite guacamole, crushed tortilla chips, or a spoonful of sour cream. I also love extra lime juice and cilantro!

Beyond that, you can add something to the side. Consider a batch of homemade corn tortillas (they are so good) or a side of this avocado salad.