Black Bean Soup

Name: Black Bean Soup
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 45 min
Cuisine: Latin America and the Caribbean
Ingredients: 3 tbsp olive oil; 1 large yellow onion, diced; 1 red or green bell pepper, diced; 4 cloves garlic, chopped; 2 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp dried oregano, Mexican if you have it; 1 chipotle in adobo, chopped, plus 1 tbsp of the sauce; or 1 tsp smoked paprika; 3 cans (three 15 oz cans) black beans, 400 g each, drained and rinsed; 1 l (4 cups) vegetable stock, Vegetable Stock or store-bought; chicken stock also works, but the soup is then not vegetarian; 1 lime, juiced; fine sea salt, about 6 g (1 tsp); 1 ripe avocado, diced; 100 g (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp) sour cream; 15 g (½ cup) cilantro, chopped; 1 lime, cut into wedges; pickled red onion, optional, Quick Pickles

Smoky, cumin-spiced black beans with lime, avocado and sour cream

Serves: 4
Hands-on: 20 min
Total: 45 min
Level: Easy

Inspired by the black bean soups of Cuba, Mexico and Brazil, this one is thick, earthy and smoky from chipotle, with half the beans blended for creaminess and half left whole. Bright toppings — lime, avocado, cilantro, sour cream — do as much work as the soup.

Ingredients

Soup

3 tbspolive oil
1large yellow oniondiced
1red or green bell pepperdiced
4 clovesgarlicchopped
2 tspground cumin
1 tspdried oreganoMexican if you have it
1chipotle in adobochopped, plus 1 tbsp of the sauce; or 1 tsp smoked paprika
3 cansblack beans (three 15 oz cans)400 g each, drained and rinsed
1 lvegetable stock (4 cups)Vegetable Stock or store-bought; chicken stock also works, but the soup is then not vegetarian
1limejuiced
fine sea saltabout 6 g (1 tsp)

Toppings

1ripe avocadodiced
100 gsour cream (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp)
15 gcilantro (½ cup)chopped
1limecut into wedges
pickled red onionoptional, Quick Pickles

Diet: Vegetarian, Gluten-free
Allergens: milk, celery, mustard, sulphites
Origin: Latin America and the Caribbean

Method

Warm the oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Cook the onion and pepper with a pinch of salt until soft and just browning, 8–10 minutes. 9 min
Add the garlic, cumin, oregano and chipotle and stir for 1 minute until fragrant. 1 min
Add the beans, stock, adobo sauce and 6 g (1 tsp) salt. Simmer 20 minutes so the beans absorb the flavors. 20 min
Blend about half the soup with a stick blender, leaving plenty of whole beans. It should be thick but pourable; add water if needed.
Stir in the lime juice and season with salt.
Serve topped with avocado, sour cream, cilantro, pickled onions if using, and lime wedges.

Why it works

Blending half the beans creates a creamy base from their starch, while the whole beans keep texture. Toasting cumin and oregano briefly in oil wakes up their aromatic compounds. Black beans are dense and earthy, so the cool, fatty avocado and sour cream and the sharp lime are needed for contrast.

Common mistakes

Not rinsing canned beans: the canning liquid can taste tinny and makes the soup murky.
Blending all of it: you lose the texture; half is right.
Forgetting acid: without lime it tastes heavy.

Variations

From dried beans: Soak 300 g dried black beans overnight and simmer with the vegetables in 2 L water for 1½–2 hours until creamy.

Make ahead and storage

Keeps 5 days in the fridge and 3 months frozen. Add the toppings fresh.

Notes

Vegan: use vegetable stock and skip the sour cream. Check your chipotle in adobo label; some contain wheat-based ingredients. Sulphites only from the pickled onion topping.