This Easy Vegan Black Bean Soup Recipe is Oil-free, just 8 simple ingredients and ready in less than an hour! It is not your ordinary bland black bean soup, but loaded with flavor and the perfect texture!
EASY VEGAN BLACK BEAN SOUP
No more bland black bean soup my friends. I’ve had some of those and nope, this one has so much flavor and the perfect texture. It’s not too runny and not too thick. Seriously, have you had a black bean soup where it’s like paste? I have a little trick for this one, I puree 2 cups of the soup and then mix it back into the soup and it creates the perfect texture.
This easy vegan black bean soup is also oil-free and super simple to make, like with all of my recipes. I love to share How to Cook and Bake Without Oil! Bonus, it is both hubby and kid-approved! If you love beans in your soup, then you must try my Smoky Sweet Potato Black-eyed Pea Soup!
INGREDIENTS FOR VEGAN BLACK BEAN SOUP
You only need 8 easy ingredients (+salt & water):
- cooked black beans
- medium-heat salsa
- red onion
- garlic
- tomato paste
- smoked paprika
- ground cumin
- dried oregano
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN BLACK BEAN SOUP
STEP 1
Cook the red onion and garlic until soft.
STEP 2
Add the remaining ingredients and bring back to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes.
STEP 3
You will remove about 2 cups of the soup and puree in a food processor into a somewhat smooth consistency similar to applesauce.
STEP 4
Return it back to the soup and mix in. This creates the best texture, as it thickens up the soup, while still having remaining liquid and whole beans in tact.
Add the black bean soup serving bowls and top with sliced avocado, chopped cilantro and fresh limes, if desired. Although the soup is absolutely delicious on it’s own, the toppings take it up a notch for presentation and extra flavor!
LOTS OF FLAVOR IN THIS BLACK BEAN SOUP
What makes this oil-free black bean soup so unbelievably delicious is the added smoked paprika and dried oregano, not something typically in a black bean soup, but it adds another dimension of flavor. I also added tomato paste for extra depth and keep it from being a boring, bland one-note black bean flavor. That with the salsa, cumin and lots of garlic and it truly even won over my husband!
I hope you all really love this Easy Vegan Black Bean Soup Recipe!
MORE VEGAN SOUP RECIPES TO TRY:
- Vegan Cauliflower Curry Soup
- Low-fat Smoky Broccoli Potato Soup
- Sweet Potato Broccoli Cheese Soup
- Lazy Red Lentil Curry Soup
- Sweet Potato & White Bean Curry Soup
- Lazy Day Tomato Bisque
- Easy Vegan Ramen Noodle Soup
- Tomato Rice Vegetable Soup
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Vegan Black Bean Soup Recipe (Oil-free)
Ingredients
- Two 15oz cans low-sodium black beans, drained and rinsed (OR 3 cups cooked, 510g)
- 1 packed cup (160g) finely diced red onion
- 5 extra large garlic cloves, minced (12g) (Don't be shy, lots of flavor in garlic)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper (this may vary depending on your beans)
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 cup (240g) medium-heat smooth salsa (IF your salsa is rather chunky, PUREE it first into a smooth consistency similar to applesauce, as you need and want the liquid and flavor to spread out into the soup)
- 3 tablespoons (45g) tomato paste
OPTIONAL TOPPINGS
- sliced avocado
- lime wedges
- freshly chopped cilantro
- oil-free tortilla strips SEE DIRECTIONS
Instructions
- Please follow these steps and the order of cooking and you will end up with an amazing soup. Have all of your ingredients ready to go, as the soup comes together rather quickly.
- To a large pot, add the onion and 6 tablespoons (90g) water over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Cook 5 minutes, stirring often, and then add the garlic. Stir for 1-2 minutes until softened. If the water runs out, add just a tiny amount to keep the garlic from burning.
- Add the cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, salt and pepper and stir around for about 30 seconds until aromatic and the spices absorb the liquid.
- Quickly add the 2 1/2 cups water, salsa, tomato paste and beans and stir well until smooth.
- Turn the heat back to high and bring to a boil, once boiling, lower the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Lower the heat if needed if it's starting to stick at the bottom, as you don't want to cook the soup away. This will vary depending on your stove top.
- Remove from the heat. Scoop out about 2 scant cups of the bean soup and puree (as pictured) in a food processor. Add this back to the soup and stir in. This creates the best texture, as it thickens up the soup, while still having remaining liquid and whole beans in tact. At this point, taste it. Since I used low-sodium beans, mine needed more salt and I added another 1/4 teaspoon of salt and it was perfect. Depending on your beans and salsa, yours may vary.
- Add to bowls and top with avocado, cilantro and lime wedges if desired.
- If desired, you can also top with oil-free tortilla strips. Preheat an oven to 400°F and line a pan with parchment paper. Cut a few yellow corn tortillas into 1/2 inch thick strips. Lightly brush with lemon juice and sprinkle with salt. Bake until crispy and starting to turn golden brown, 5-8 minutes. Top over the soup and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
I am making this for the second time. I had some dental work and wasn’t able to eat. I made this soup and I thought it was just good, but after letting it sit overnight I had it again and it was sooo good!!! I know things usually taste better after the flavors have time to sit and I think this is one of those things. Thank you for the recipe, it will be my go to for black bean soup.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Lisa! I love it the first day and gobble it up, but agree, soups and chilis always taste even better the next day!
As someone who is never super confident in the kitchen, I love turning to your step by step (with pictures) recipes! Second soup of yours that I’ve made this week. Thanks heaps, it’s delish!
This means so much to me, thank you Shelly!
LOVE THIS! Just found this and your site today! Made it for lunch and cannot stop consuming it! Question: has anyone tried freezing portions of this? Incidentally, I’m doing a few make ahead meals in anticipation of an upcoming procedure. This would be delicious IF I can freeze a few servings and reheat without sacrificing much. Thank you so much!
That is so wonderful to hear, Ashley! So happy you loved this soup! I have not tried freezing this personally, but soups usually freeze really well, so I’d think it would freeze fine!
Wonderful oil free soup! I have made it several times, I add frozen corn the last five minutes of cooking. Thank you!
So happy you love it, thank you Lynette!
This is so delicious!!! I also like the fact that it’s very easy to adjust the taste or the depth of the flavours by varying the spices. I had left overs and added more tomatoes and accidentally too much cumin and black pepper, which left it tasting more like a curry.
Love this recipe and this is definitely a keeper. Thank you!!
So happy to hear this Faye, thank you for the review!
I have used this recipe for delicious dehydrated backpacking meals. The only step I have to add for dehydrating is to mash the beans a little before I add them to the pot, so they rehydrate easier. It is so much healthier than the freeze dried meals for backpacking. It makes a big difference to have a delicious meal after hiking all day and setting up camp in the wilderness.
Delicious and super easy! I added a can of corn and ate with corn tortillas. I’m on the 21 day Daniel Fast and this was some much needed weight in my stomach. Thank you!
Woohoo, that is amazing to hear, thank you Stefany!
WOW!!!!
This is delicious!! I actually made this to save for later and when I was putting it in my jars, I was scraping the bottom of the pan to eat spoonfuls of it!
Hi, I know it’s vegan, but how would I cut the sodium down? That’s to much for me. Thank you
Just omit the salt and add to taste to your individual bowl!
This is the first black bean soup I made that I actually like. Thank you so much for this recipe. Nobody was able to tell that it’s oil free! And it’s super quick to make.
That thrills me to hear, thank you Andrea!!
This soup is great! So easy and so flavorful. I added a little cayene and a little more salt and it was perfect! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Awesome to hear that Burt!!
This is delicious!! Great recipe. We used spicy salsa as we appreciate heat and it was a winner and will be a staple now since making it last week.
A question: making it for the kids this time so I’m going to mix the onion with the salsa so there’s less “what’s this?!” While they eat 😁 should I still cook the onion until soft before added to salsa or just do it raw? Thank you
Awesome! Yes, definitely cook the onion first or it’ll have an overbearing flavor!
Hi Brandi!
I’m cooking the black beans from scratch for the Black Bean soup, and when the beans are cooked, should I drain the cooking liquid off of them, or should I use some of it or all of it?
Hi Sandra! Yes, drain them first!
I made this soup! It was wonderful! So tasty! My family loved it! Thank you!
Fantastic recipe, delicious, easy, and fast. It smells so good in here right now!
This recipe is so good and simple. I did add spinach at the end and some extra ground red pepper. Loved it. Thanks!
Loved this! I’m in Houston and used H‑E‑B’s organic thick and chunky salsa, medium, which was pretty spicy. For guests, I’ll double recipe and use a mild and a medium salsa. The recipe is so good, I made it a second time after finishing the first batch. I like to get grains with my protein, so I added some red quinoa (counts as a grain though technically a seed) after blending the soup with the stick blender. I bake corn tortillas til crispy then breakup after crisped. The chips and avocado and cilantro at serving made it perfect!
This is my new favorite black bean soup! I love how easy and quick it is to make. Flavor is on point!
Very tasty! I had a bunch of sprouted black beans I cooked up in my Instant Pot. I used 3 cups in this recipe. Delish! I don’t think I used as much smoked paprika as the recipe called for. I was at the end of my jar. Didn’t matter. Lots of flavor. I’m buying more smoked paprika tomorrow and using the rest of my beans. Yum!
So happy you loved it Lisa!!