Speedy Black Bean Soup
Smoky, silky, twenty-minute black bean soup from three tins and a few pantry basics. An easy weeknight dinner built from store-cupboard tins.
Tinned beans don't get much credit, but they're exactly what makes a soup this good possible on a weeknight. Blitzing part of it halfway through gives the soup a rich, silky body without hours of simmering.
The toppings do a lot of the work in making this feel like a finished meal, and it's easy to end up piling on more than just one or two.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- 3 × 400g tins black beans, drained and rinsed
- 750ml (3 cups) vegetable or chicken stock
- Juice of 1 lime
- Salt and pepper
- To top: sour cream, sliced avocado, coriander, tortilla chips, lime wedges
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the onion for 4 minutes until soft, then add the garlic and spices and cook for another minute.
- Add the beans and stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
- Blitz about half the soup with an immersion blender directly in the pot — you want a soup that's creamy but still has some whole beans for texture.
- Stir in the lime juice, then taste and adjust the salt and pepper.
- Ladle into bowls and top generously.
Cooking tips
- Bloom the spices in the oil before adding liquid — that step doubles the flavour.
- A parmesan rind simmered in the pot adds huge depth if you have one.
- For a punchier version, stir in a chopped chipotle in adobo with the beans.
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