Black Bean Soup is thick and chunky, warmly spicy, rib-sticking, a whole meal in one bowl. Cool and creamy garnishes – sour cream, avocado (slices or guacamole), shredded cheese – are the perfect complement. Tortilla chips on the side for crunch, of course.
Ham gives this soup its smoky flavor, but if you prefer a vegetarian soup, skip the ham and add a little smoked paprika to compensate. If you’re going with ham, throw in a meaty bone left over from a bone-in ham, or pick up a smoked ham shank from the butcher. After a long soak in the soup, the meat will be soft enough to pull easily from the bone. Shred or finely chop it and stir it back in to make the soup extra chunky and hearty.
I love the convenience of canned beans, and often use them in broth-based soups such as Minestrone. But when beans are the main ingredient, you have to go with dried beans – as they cook slowly in the soup it develops deep flavor and luxurious texture that you just don’t get by dumping in beans from a can. If you’re making the stovetop version of this Black Bean Soup, start by soaking the dried black beans overnight. Yes, this this takes a little bit of advance planning, but only about 1 minute of actual work. The next day spend a few minutes chopping and sautéing, and then the soup will bubble away happily for an hour or two with very little effort on your part, just a stir every now and then.
If you’re looking for a shortcut, you can significantly cut down on the cooking time (and eliminate the overnight soak for the beans) by using an Instant Pot. I’ve included instructions for the Instant Pot version at the bottom of the recipe.
Making this ahead and what to do with leftovers:
- Black Bean Soup keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days, so make it ahead or use up leftovers within that timeframe. Reheat it in the microwave or on the stovetop; it may thicken once it’s been chilled, so add a splash of chicken broth or water to loosen it if needed.
- It also freezes well, for up to a couple of months.
Black Bean Soup
Start one day ahead by soaking the beans if you're going to make the stovetop version; soaking is not necessary if you're going to use an Instant Pot. See the last step in the recipe for instructions for modifying this to make it in an Instant Pot. To make this soup vegetarian, swap out the chicken broth for vegetable broth, and omit the ham bone.
Ingredients
- 12 ounces dried black beans, rinsed and picked over
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil such as expeller-pressed canola
- 1 medium onion, diced (about 1¼ cups)
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 ribs of celery, diced
- ½ large red bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 1 large or 2 small jalapeno peppers, with seeds and ribs, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ cup dry sherry
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 meaty ham bone or ham shank (optional)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- Tabasco or other hot sauce, to taste
- 1 lime
- Shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, sliced avocado, thinly sliced scallion and sour cream, for garnishes
Directions
- Step 1 Soak the beans overnight in water deep enough to cover the beans by 2 inches.
- Step 2 Heat a large soup pot over medium heat and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the onion and carrots, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add the celery, bell pepper and jalapeno and cook 5 minutes more, until the vegetables are beginning to soften. Add the garlic, cumin and oregano and cook 1 minute more.
- Step 3 Add the sherry, and cook until the sherry is reduced to the point that it’s almost gone.
- Step 4 Drain and rinse the beans. Add them to the pot along with the chicken stock, bay leaf and ham bone if you’re using it. Raise the heat to medium high and bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat back to medium. Simmer the soup, uncovered, for 1½ to 2 hours, stirring occasionally and turning the ham shank over so all sides spend some time submerged in the soup.
- Step 5 After 1½ hours, test the beans for doneness. Taste several beans from different areas of the pot and make sure all the beans are soft all the way through with no resistance in the center. When the beans are tender, remove and discard the bay leaf. Transfer the ham bone to a cutting board to cool slightly. Use an immersion blender to puree 1/3 to ½ of the soup. If you don’t have an immersion blender, ladle out half of the soup to a large bowl. Transfer some of the soup to a standard blender, following the guidelines for the maximum liquid level on your blender to make sure you don’t overfill it with hot liquid. Cover the top of the blender beaker with a kitchen towel, and pulse carefully to puree. Pour the pureed soup back into the pot and repeat to puree the remainder of the portion you’ve set aside. Stir the brown sugar into the soup.
- Step 6 When the ham bone is cool enough to handle, cut off any meat clinging to it, finely shred or chop the meat and add it to the soup. Taste the soup and adjust the seasonings, adding salt, pepper and/or Tabasco as needed.
- Step 7 Ladle the soup into bowls and squeeze a little lime juice over each serving. Serve garnished with shredded cheese, avocado slices, sliced scallions and/or sour cream as garnishes.
- Step 8 Instant Pot Variation: Do not soak the beans overnight, just use the dry beans. Use the Sauté function to cook the vegetables and reduce the sherry (steps 2 and 3). Add the beans, bay leaf, and 4 cups of chicken broth instead of 6. Add the ham bone if you’re using it. Seal the pot and turn it to Pressure Cook on High for 35 minutes. After 35 minutes, allow the pressure to release naturally (this should take about 30 minutes). Test a few beans to make sure they’re tender. If they are not, turn on the Sauté function and cook the soup until the beans are tender, adding a little more chicken broth or water if the soup gets too thick. Follow the remainder of the instructions in the main recipe (steps 5 and 6) to finish.
