Black Bean Soup

And it couldn't be easier or cheaper. I did purée some of the beans to thicken it up a bit. I served with sour cream and shredded cheddar, but I think it would be good topped with avocado too.

I make this using all chicken stock, rather than the water and vegetable broth, and I puree the whole soup - with the cilantro - when it's finished. Then I stir in the lime at the end. When I do this, the soup comes out creamy, thick, and flavorful. We add the sour cream dolloped on top at the end, and my whole family loves it. Actually, my family adds the sour cream, but I add plain yogurt because I like the slightly sour taste it adds. I feel it complements the lime well. I serve it with warmed corn tortillas or corn bread and a salad. Very easy, and the house smells great when I come home to it.

Wow, was this bland! I can not believe this made it past the CL test kitchen.

Quite possibly one of the best soups I've ever made. So easy to throw all the ingredients in the crock pot and have it be ready to eat when you get home from work. Super flavorful and healthy to boot.

My husband and I love this recipe. We've been making it for years because it's delicious and budget friendly.

My husband's favorite soup is a black bean and while I found this soup good but a bit boring, he loved it! Make sure you soak the beans overnight and then it is the easiest soup recipe to make. Mine came out perfectly thick, though I was surprised the chili pepper did not add much heat. A good basic recipe that needs some crusty whole-grain bread and perhaps a salad with a zippy dressing on the side.

I used 2 jalapenos and red pepper flakes, and it didn't have enough kick. I didn't like the flavor and added some hot links to add some umph. I also decided to use my immersion blender on a bit of the soup to give a bit of creaminess. Next time i would use the serrano, add a can of green chilies and blend again.

This was a great soup...very filling and my kids loved it! We dipped tortillas in it and topped it with sour cream. YUM!

My go-to amazing black bean soup recipe. The flavor is outstanding and the soup is very healthy and easy to make. I put it on in the morning, go out skiing all day and return to a killer soup. Wow!!!

This was a good recipe. In general, it's a simple, tasty recipe for black bean soup. How exciting can black bean soup get? We added some steamed corn to our bowls. Good leftovers.

very easy to just soak bean overnight then pop them into the crock pot. great over brown rice or quinoa. I've made this now 3 times. I actually put the cilantro & lime juice into the crock pot to cook with it; made this mistake the 1st time doing this soup, and liked it better than the "real" version. Great as a vegetarian meal with rice, or to go with grilled chicken or pork (done in crock pot also-I'll have both going at the same time!).

I like this because it's easy and it makes lunch for the whole week! I add double the lime juice and stir in some fat free sour cream and sometimes some low fat mexican blend cheese right before eating it. Very filling and high in fiber

I've tried several of the Black Bean soup recipes from CL, and this is probably my favorite. The only change that I make is that I use homemade chicken stock, and instead of the Seranno, I use a Chipotle pepper canned in adobo sauce. It makes for a much richer flavor.

I think quality ingredients are key for this recipe. I use cumin so frequently that I always have a fresh bottle on hand. Fresh vibrant cilantro is also key. I also highly recommend braising the onions along with a boneless skinless pork chop. These additions to the recipe are a simple way of raising the flavor profile without adding to the calories significantly.

YUM! I chose a jalapeno pepper instead and I took out half of the seeds, but everything else I did just as the recipe asked for. This soup is GREAT! It was still to spicy for my 19 month old, but I'm working on her. :)

This was delicious and so simple. I made it exactly as described and it turned out very thick. (There was no need to puree part of the soup as some others have suggested.) My slow cooker tends to be hot so even on low the beans were done in less than 10 hours. I served it over brown rice.

I've made this dish repeatedly and I've always been amazed - it has a very simple ingredient list, but it's considerably greater than the sum of its parts. It is really worth it to soak the beans overnight - it makes for a very tender soup in the end. I gently use a potato masher to give it some body before I put on toppings. A real winner!

Many posters had negative things to say about this recipe. I thought it was very good. I couldn't find the serrano chili peppers so I used half a scotch bonnet pepper instead. It was just right--a bit spicy but not overwhelmingly so. I added some low-fat shredded cheese and enjoyed it!

Good, Solid Recipe. Super easy and quite flavorful considering the simple ingredients. The lime and cilantro really stand out. Good weeknight meal

I thought this soup was a little thin. More to put over rice than to eat like a soup.

To have so few ingredients and such an easy cooking method, it's surprising that I'd feel this was a 5-star recipe; but I do! I used a homemade chicken stock, so I'd be willing to bet that has something to do with the rich, creamy soup that resulted. I had no problem with cooking time. The beans (after soaking for 8-10 hours beforehand) were done an hour or so earlier than the recipe suggested. The fresh lime juice and cilantro added at the end were very nice touches.

I sautéed the onion and pepper in about 3/4 tbsp of butter before adding to the crock, added some coriander & chili powder while cooking, and pureed about 1/3 of the soup then returned to crock to cook for another 2 hrs., and I LOVE this soup. Next time I will double the recipe!

I've been looking for a black bean soup recipe that compares to a delicious soup I used to get at a restaurant in Rochester, NY several years ago. This recipe comes very close. It was easy to make. I soaked the beans overnight and cut the onions and pepper ahead of time so I could put everything in the crockpot first thing in the morning. The consistency of the soup was perfect: just the right thickness, not watery. I let it cook about 12 hours, but I think it would've been just fine at 10 hours, as the recipe suggests. I will be making this recipe again.

MMmm! My black beans were delicious! There are a few tweaks that need to be made in the recipe but it was easy and I thought it was really tasty. It didn't really turn out like a soup though - it wasn't a thick enough consistency. I'd say if you wanted to make a really yummy side of black beans this would be your recipe. You'd probably get a thicker, soupier consistency if you could puree some of the beans after they're cooked and then re-add them to the pot like other reviewers suggested (I'm gonna try this next time). Also, I found that 10 hrs on low wasn't quite long enough. Really it needs to be about 16hrs or possibly needs to be on a high setting instead. Gave 4 stars for taste but is more staple recipe.

Bland and boring. After 10 hours in the crockpot, it still wasn't finished. I've had much better black bean soup recipes from CL.

Okay, so I agree, it's nothing to write home about... but you cannot possibly beat the ease of preparation. I soaked the beans overnight, threw everything in the crock pot in the morning, and when I got home from work I had a lovely bowl of soup! I found the texture to actually be okay, but my batch was on LOW for ~12 hours by the time I ate it. Definitely needs the cilantro and lime for taste.

Loved it- very easy to make, of course it takes long when you figure in the time for soaking the beans- but there is nothing much to do after that. I did not have any problem with it being watery, but I did use an extra serano chili and it was HOT... but really tasty. We added fresh cilantro after heating up each serving and then about a tbls of fat free sour cream. Husband who would never eat black bean soup loved it. Great leftover!

Agreed with the other reviews, this soup recipe is not worth the effort. I have made hundreds of CL recipes, and this I would rate as one of my least favorite. If you drown this in cheese, sour cream, cilantro and lime, it is edible, but what isn't with those added ingredients? This needs 1) to be thicker, it was very watery, and 2) a punch of flavor using additional spices.

This soup was quite a disappointment. Terribly tasteless. For next day added turkey kielbasa, frozen corn and a jar of salsa and it was pretty good.

I made it even easier -- just put all in the ingredients in the slow cooker when the beans are dry. My cumin was old, so I added a good hit of smoky tobasco. Woke up the next morning and it was soup! I did use the immersion blender a bit to thicken it up -- but quite yummy and couldn't be easier...

Without the cilantro and sour cream, this soup in inedible. With the cilantro and sour cream it is barely edible. Very boring and bland....I also used my immersion blender to change the consistency......it definetly was thicker but still not that tasty.

Needs the chili pepper, I guess, which I omitted - otherwise it's terribly, horribly bland. Blech. I'll drain and use the beans for use in tacos, but otherwise it's not tasty at all. Added some cheddar cheese.

This soup was very boring. It just tasted like a pot of cooked beans.

As written, this soup had no flavor and looked very unappealing. I had to do something so I doubled the salt and added a Tbsp of worsteshire sauce and about 1/4 cup of ketchup. Then I used my immersion blender to change the texture and finally, added a couple of Tbsp of cream. The final result was actually very good. But I wouldn't call it the same recipe.

As written, this soup is not good at all. I had to use my immersion blender to puree some of the beans to thicken it because it just looked and tasted like black beans in dark grey water. I also had to almost double the seasonings. I added way more salt than what it called for, like maybe a Tbsp and I also added about 1/2 cup of sour cream and stirred it up and 1 can of red navy beans b/c that's what I had on hand. Will NOT make this again!!!

I wanted to love this recipe - so easy and made in a slow cooker - but I didn't. I used my immersion blender to thicken it up a bit - it was too watery for my taste. You need the cilantro and sour cream to liven it up.

This is definitely a "soup" and not a thick stew (as it appears to be in the photo). Even if you blend some of the beans it does not help to thicken it. Pleasant flavor - perhaps it will improve after sitting overnight in the refrigerator.

I made two changes: 1) I sauteed the onions in olive oil before adding them to the crockpot, and 2) I used 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes instead of the chile. The soup seemed thin, so I ended up pureeing 2 cups of the black beans with some of the broth and that helped a great deal. Modifications aside, the flavor was great -- definitely a solid family soup recipe! Next time I'll add chopped carrots to give it a little more body. One note: the sour cream curdled when I put it in (which I've never had happen with black bean soup before). I'm not sure if it's because of the lime juice? Just be aware of that if you're serving it to company. And although my 4-year old wasn't wild about the soup, he really liked the burrito I made with the beans afterwards. The flavor was great, so I may use this recipe in the future with some modifications for a Mexican side dish.

This soup was good, but not exceptional. I followed the recipe exactly with overnight soaking of the beans and including the serrano chile, seeds and all. Instead of chicken broth, I used homemade chicken stock. The overall flavor was pleasant but mostly from the lime juice. There was no spiciness from the chile at all. The texture was very thin. If I make it again, I would definitely use my hand blender to puree a portion of it to give it more body.

Super easy soup. I soaked the beans for almost 10 hours because I did it overnight, and cooked as directed. I used canned diced green chiles instead of the serrano chile. I would so make this again. The beans were soft but not mushy, and there was no pasty taste that bean soups sometimes have. I loved it!

As with another review the beans cooked for over 10 hours and were not very soft and soup was not thick. But we did thicken it up a bit with some flour and also used the soup wand to pulverize the beans a bit. I also agree with the lack of spice (I used a de-seeded jalepeno). After all was said and done it did taste good and was easy enough to prepare. We will likely make again.

I'm not sure what went wrong with this recipe. Followed the directions exactly, except substituted veggie for chicken stock When I got home from work after the soup had been cooking for 12 hours the beans were still not tender and the liquid looked like gray sludge. I cooked it for another couple of hours on a higher setting. The beans got more tender, but soup did not look or taste appetizing. Wound up throwing it out.

Overall, this soup is terrific - the best homemade black bean soup I've had. I made this with 3 cans of black beans (drained and thoroughly rinsed) instead of using dried beans - much faster! I also seeded the chile, but found that there was almost no kick at all, and I am not usually one to like chile peppers. Next time I make this, I may try it with a 4 oz. can of diced green chiles and see how that works. Definitely don't skip the sour cream and cilantro - they really add a lot of depth to the flavors. This one is a keeper!!