This hearty black bean soup is full of creamy black beans, sweet apples, chopped vegetables, and a roasted hot sauce for a deep kick of flavor!
Have you ever had one of those weeks where nothing goes right, your brain is fried, and you just don't have the energy to troubleshoot anything anymore? Yeah, that is me this week, and this effortless slow cooker black bean soup is the perfect meal for nights like this: Straightforward ingredients, minimal fuss, exciting flavors. Uncomplicated sounds pretty dang good right about now.
Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup
This hearty black bean soup is full of creamy black beans, sweet apples, chopped bits of onion, carrots, and peppers, as well as deep roasted hot sauce for a kick of flavor! Best of all, it is fairly effortless to prepare, as your slow cooker (affiliate link) does all the heavy lifting!
I use El Yucateco's Black Label Reserve Hot Sauce (affiliate link) in this dish because of the unique roasted flavor it lends the dish. This can be found at many grocery stores, or purchased online. However, if you are unable to locate it I would recommend substituting your favorite roasted habanero hot sauce brand.
How to Make Black Bean Soup in the Slow Cooker
This soup is pretty effortless to make, as you simply need to add everything to the crockpot and turn it on. However, there are a couple of important tips to mention.
Slow cookers cook at different temperatures from model to model, so your exact cooking time may vary. Rather than being glued to the clock to figure out when this soup is done, let the beans tell you when they are ready. The soup is done when the beans are tender, not any sooner. If they aren't tender yet, just let it cook longer, they will get there.
Secondly, when the beans finish cooking, the more they are mashed the thicker this soup is going to be, as the crushed beans quickly soak up the liquid. This soup can be whatever thickness you prefer, so only crush a few beans for a thinner soup, or crush many for a thicker paste.
What to Serve with Black Bean Soup
Similar to the cajun-classic Red Beans and Rice, black bean soup is best served with white rice. However, you can dress this dish up further with a dollop of my cilantro lime sour cream sauce slathered over the top. Serve this dish as an entree all by itself or in smaller quantities as a side dish with a meal like Ropa Vieja.
Black Bean Recipes
If you are craving more ways to incorporate black beans into your diet, try these recipes out! For a Mexican flair, dish up some Vegetarian Enchiladas with Black Beans, or Black Bean Tacos. Otherwise, try this healthier twist on the classic burger with my Black Bean Burger recipe featuring seared apples and BBQ sauce. Finally, my Avocado Black Bean Salad is a fresh side or hearty salad that can be enjoyed anytime.
Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 16 oz dried black beans (picked over and rinsed)
- 8 cups chicken stock
- 1 medium red onion (diced)
- 1 medium red bell pepper (cored, seeded and diced)
- 2 medium carrots (peeled and diced)
- 4 ribs celery (diced)
- 1 tablespoon El Yucateco Black Label Reserve Hot Sauce
- 6 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 medium Granny Smith or other tart apple (peeled, cored, and diced)
- 4 bay leaves
- salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lime (juiced)
Serving
- Sour cream
- 2 green onions thinly sliced (for garnish, optional)
- 2 cups white rice cooked according to instructions (optional but recommended)
Instructions
- Add chicken stock and black beans to to slow cooker and turn on high.
- While slow cooker comes to temperature prep all remaining ingredients.
- Add onion, bell pepper, carrots, celery, hot sauce, garlic, apple, and bay leaves to crock pot and let cook on high until beans are tender, about 5 hours.
- Once beans are tender, mash with a potato masher until the mixture begins to thicken, leaving some beans unmashed.
- Remove bay leaves.
- Add lime juice, salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve black bean soup on top of rice, topped with sour cream and green onions.
Notes
Nutritional Information
This recipe was originally published on FoxValleyFoodie.com January 17, 2016.
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Jeff the Chef
This is a very "stew" looking soup! I would love to try it!
Fox Valley Foodie
You would be correct! In hind-sight I think I could have choose a better name for the recipe, but we are rolling with it now!
Adriana Martin
This soup sounds like a great option, interesting that has apple I will have to try it soon. Thanks for participating in this shop #client