Latin American · Mains
30-Minute Black Bean Soup
An easy and filling weeknight dinner that comes together quickly with ingredients you already have in your pantry.
Ingredients
Serves 6- 1tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2green bell peppers, stems and seeds discarded, finely diced
- 1 largeonion, finely diced
- 2 clovesgarlic, minced on a Microplane grater
- 1jalapeño or serrano pepper, stems and seeds discarded, finely chopped
- 1teaspoon ground cumin
- ½teaspoon dried chile flakes
- 1chipotle chile packed in adobo, finely chopped, plus 1 tablespoon adobo sauce from can (optional)
- 1 quarthomemade or low-sodium canned chicken broth
- 2(15-ounce) cans black beans, with liquid
- 2bay leaves
- Kosher salt
- Roughly chopped cilantro leaves
- Mexican-style sour cream
- Diced avocado
- Diced red onion
Method
- 01
Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add peppers and onions and cook, stirring frequently, until softened but not browned, about 3 minutes. Add garlic, jalapeño, cumin, and dried chili flakes and cook, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add chipotle and adobo sauce (if using) and stir to combine. Add chicken broth, beans and their liquid, and bay leaves. Increase heat to high, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a bare simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes.
- 02
Discard the bay leaves. Use a hand blender to roughly puree part of the beans until desired consistency is reached. Alternatively, transfer 2 cups of soup to a blender or food processor and process until smooth (start on low speed and increase to high to prevent blender blow-out). Return to the soup and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt.
- 03
Ladle soup into individual serving bowls and serve immediately with cilantro leaves, sour cream, diced avocado, and diced red onion (as desired).