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Quick and Easy Canned Black Bean Soup

This healthy Canned Black Bean Soup is delicious, filling, and comforting. It’s chock full of vegetables and high in fiber. You can also garnish this soup with your favorite toppings to make it even more enjoyable for the whole family.

A bowl of canned black bean soup garnished with avocado, onion, fresh cilantro and lime juice.

Why I Like This Canned Black Bean Soup Recipe

This soup is smooth and chunky at the same time. It’s also very filling and will keep you full for hours.

Chili powder and cumin are warming spices, so this soup is perfect for fall and winter.

If you like spicy foods, you can also add a pinch of Cayan pepper to the soup or garnish it with crushed red pepper flakes.

I also love to garnish this soup with some avocado, fresh cilantro, chopped red onion, and some fresh lime juice. These fresh toppings add even more important nutrients to the soup.

A Few Other Reasons to Make This Soup:

  • It’s made from pantry staples.
  • This recipe is very budget-friendly.
  • This soup is easy and quick to make.
  • It’s great for meal-prep.
  • This soup keeps well in the fridge.

Black bean soup in a pot garnished with fresh cilantro. Top view.

Soup Toppings For More Flavor and Nutrition

The best part about this easy soup is that you can customize it by adding toppings.

Here are a few topping ideas for you to try:

  • sliced green onions
  • diced avocado
  • guacamole
  • salsa
  • crushed red pepper
  • diced red onion
  • chopped cilantro
  • sour cream
  • shredded cheese
  • lime wedges
  • sliced radishes
  • and more!

A pot of canned black bean soup with a ladle.

A Few Notes about Canned Black Beans

I love black beans when they are made from scratch. But I find that canned beans can be a real lifesaver for busy families.

When you have so much on your plate, there is sometimes just not enough time in a day to spend on prepping and cooking beans from scratch.

Of course, beans can be prepared in a pressure cooker, but there are times when I don’t want to deal with it. So, this is when canned beans come to the rescue.

To avoid the high sodium content, I buy low sodium canned goods whenever possible. You can also buy BPA free beans to skip other unwanted chemicals.

A bowl of black beans soup garnished with avocado, onion, and cilantro. Top view.

How to Prep Canned Black Beans for Cooking

To use canned black beans to make soup, they should be rinsed and drained first.

This helps to further reduce the sodium content of canned beans because a lot of salt is concentrated in the can liquid.

Here is how to prep the beans:

  1. Open the can and transfer the beans into a fine-mesh strainer.
  2. Rinse the beans under cool running water until the water runs clear.
  3. Shake a few times to get rid of the excess liquid.  

How to Thicken the Soup

This soup is only partially thickened because it tastes best when it’s still quite chunky.

For the best mouthfeel, you need to puree a part of the soup.

Here are three ways you can do it:

  1. Before adding the beans to the soup, mash the beans from one can with a fork or a potato masher until all beans are broken.
  2. If you have an immersion blender, you can slightly puree the soup to the desired consistency at the end of cooking.
  3. If you have a regular blender, wait until the soup is cool enough to handle. Then transfer half of the soup into the blender and pulse a few times to puree the soup. Transfer the pureed soup back into the soup pot.

How to Store and Reheat This Soup

Store this soup in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can also freeze it for up to 2 months.

The soup can be easily reheated on the stovetop or in a microwave.

A bowl of black beans soup garnished with avocado, cilantro, and onion. Side view.

If you love cooking with beans and are looking for more clean eating recipes, check out this Red Bean Salad, this Beetroot Soup with Beans, and this Hearty Chicken and White Bean Soup.

Canned Black Bean Soup

Canned Black Bean Soup

Yield: 6 portions
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

This healthy canned Black Bean Soup is very easy to make. It's perfect for a meal-prep because you can cook it once and eat it a few times. Add your favorite toppings and you have a perfect bowl of soup.

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 carrot, thinly sliced or grated
  • 1 celery stalk, chopped
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, julienned
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 4 cups low sodium vegetable stock
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 small can (14 oz/398 ml) crushed tomatoes
  • 2 cans (19 oz/540 ml) low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
  • a handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste

For Garnish (Optional):

  • avocado
  • fresh cilantro
  • chopped red onion
  • lime

Instructions

  1. In a medium pot, heat the olive oil. Add the sliced onions and cook stirring occasionally until the onion starts to caramelize for about 4 to 6 minutes.
  2. Add the carrot, celery, and red bell pepper. Cook stirring occasionally until the vegetables start to soften for about 4 to 5 minutes.
  3. Sprinkle the chili powder and cumin over the vegetables. Stir and wait until the spices become fragrant. This usually takes about one minute. Then add the garlic powder.
  4. Add the vegetable stock, water, and crushed tomatoes.
  5. Place half of the black beans (one can) into a bowl and mash them with a potato masher until almost all beans are broken. (See the notes *).
  6. Add all the beans (both cans) to the soup. Season with salt a pepper.
  7. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook for about 25 to 30 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked through.
  8. Turn off the heat and the cilantro.
  9. To serve, garnish with avocado, fresh cilantro, and chopped red onion.

Notes

  • * Instead of mashing the beans you can puree the soup with an immersion blender or transfer half of the soup into a regular blender and puree it by pulsing a few times. Make sure the soup is cool enough to handle before proceeding. Don't over-process the soup because it tastes best when it's still chunky.
  • Nutrition information is a rough estimate for 1 out of 6 servings calculated for the canned black bean soup without any toppings using low sodium canned black beans and low sodium vegetable broth.
Nutrition Information
Yield 6 portions Serving Size 1/6 of recipe
Amount Per Serving Calories 318.7Total Fat 6gSaturated Fat 0.9gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 5.1gCholesterol 0mgSodium 360.6mgCarbohydrates 53.5gFiber 19.2gSugar 5.9gProtein 15.4g

Nutrition facts provided on this website are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a qualified health care provider for personalized diet advice and make sure that each of the ingredients is allowed in your diet.

Did you make this recipe?

If you tried this recipe, please give it a 5-star rating! To do this, click on the stars above. You can also leave a review or comment below. And don't forget to tag me @mariaushakova.blog if you share a picture on Instagram!

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L

Thursday 15th of December 2022

It seemed very thin so I added a box of couscous to thicken it up and some crushed red pepper for flavor.

Carol

Sunday 24th of January 2021

I enjoyed the recipe. The seasoning was delicious. I tried another option for mashing the beans! I put half in a plastic Ziploc bag and mashed them with my hands. No blenders to wash! So easy!

Maria Ushakova

Monday 25th of January 2021

This sounds like a great idea. Thank you for sharing!

Leone

Thursday 13th of February 2020

Made this soup today with 2 cartons of organic black beans. I added smoked paprika and 2 large cloves of fresh garlic as don't use the powder. I also added Turkish pul Biber pepper flakes at the end. Tasty and very warming on a cold day like today in the UK!

Maria Ushakova

Thursday 13th of February 2020

It sounds wonderful! So glad you like it :). It's freezing here in Toronto too.

Rachel

Wednesday 20th of November 2019

Fantastic recipe! My family enthusiastically gobbled this up for dinner tonight. Instead of mashing 1 can of black beans I used an immersion blender to blend about half the soup, leaving enough solid bits of bean, pepper, etc. to enjoy. Delicious!

Maria Ushakova

Wednesday 20th of November 2019

This is such a great idea! Thank you for taking the time to share. I am so glad your family enjoyed the soup :)

Paul

Sunday 19th of May 2019

Thanks for this recipe I have it cooking in my instapot right now and it smells so good. The only difference I made was using all chicken stock and no water, and I used fresh tomatoes and garlic. My house smells great and I can't wait to eat it.

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