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Spicy Black Bean Soup (20 Min)

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Mexican inspired Vegan Black Bean Soup. Ready in 20 minutes | #dinner #vegan | hurrythefoodup.com

Here’s what I was thinking when I started to experiment with soup recipes: “Why the hell bother making a soup from scratch when I can just buy a can?

It’s clearly faster and it should be healthy too, right?! Are we wasting our time? Should HurryTheFoodUp’s soup recipes just HurryTheFuckOff?”

I quickly wrote down what I require from my ideal soup: It should…

  • …be at least vegetarian.
  • …contain only moderate sodium levels.
  • …taste great.
  • …be reasonably priced.
  • …and be available in any bigger grocery store.

I still haven’t found a canned soup that meets my requirements, especially with the sodium levels being the way they are.

Where do they get all the salt from anyway? Do they use sea water when they’re making it? Some soups are so salty they could float a rock.

Instead, I worked on perfecting my Black Bean Soup recipe, inspired by a visit to a Mexican mate’s house.

You can whip it up in just over 20 minutes and it tastes so good you’ll be licking the bowl clean.

Cumin, red pepper flakes, vinegar and cilantro do their magic and add flavor instead of a truck load of salt.

Add some avocado and bread to make a full (and fulfilling) meal out of it.

Health Benefits – Spicy Black Bean Soup

I saved the best till last. The fiber to protein ratio of black beans is 1:1, giving you about 15g of both per serving.

Apart from energizing you while simultaneously keeping you full, the high amount of fiber and protein helps to keep your blood sugar balance in check – something which helps to prevent type 2 diabetes in the long run (1, 2).

Pretty awesome, right?!

PS. A final question – do you ever buy canned soups?

Spicy Black Bean Soup (20 Min)
4.72 from 53 votes
So comforting you want to sit in it. Great taste and ready in 20 minutes. High in protein and fiber. You won't be disappointed!
Cuisine:Mexican
Diet: dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free
Prep Time:7 minutes
Cook Time:13 minutes
Total Time:20 minutes
Servings:2 servings
Calories:392kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Get a pot and add the olive oil.
    1 tsp olive oil
  • Finely dice up the onion and mince the garlic. Throw both in the pot and let it simmer on low heat.
    ½ onion, 2 cloves garlic
  • In the meantime cut the bell pepper into small pieces and add them to the pot.
    1 bell pepper, red
  • Rinse and drain the can of black beans.
    1.5 cups black beans, cooked
  • Squash a few of them with a fork or your hands to give the soup a creamy touch, then throw them into the pot with a bit of love.
  • Add the vegetable broth and nutritional yeast to the mix.
    1.5 cups vegetable broth, 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • Chop the cilantro and add it to the soup (holding a bit in reserve for garnish).
    2 sprigs cilantro/coriander, fresh
  • Now pimp it up with the cumin, red pepper flakes and balsamic vinegar.
    1 tsp cumin, ground, ¼ tsp red pepper flakes, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • Let the soup simmer for about 10 minutes.
  • In the meantime prepare some avocado slices.
    ½ avocado
  • If you want to be naughty, finish off the soup with a slice of cheddar.
    1 oz cheddar cheese
  • Taste test – adjust the seasoning, if necessary.
  • Soups on! Garnish the bowl with a little extra cilantro, avocado and you’re ready to roll.
    Mexican inspired Black Bean Soup. Ready in 20 minutes | Hurry The Food Up

NOTES

 
EQUIPMENT AND PRODUCT TIPS: You just need a solid pot to get this soup going, simple as that. About black beans: I’m a Goya fan boy all the way, but these fellas from Eden Organic seem to be the wiser choice (no salt added, BPA free, made in the US).
IF YOU LIKED THIS RECIPE: Why not try one of our other soups? We’ve got the awesome African Peanut Soup, Jenny’s Red Lentil Soup and even a really quick Vegan Red Onion Soup. See what you think 🙂 Also inspired by Cookie and Kate and Allrecipes

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Spicy Black Bean Soup (20 Min)
Amount per Serving
Calories
392
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
16
g
25
%
Saturated Fat
 
4
g
25
%
Polyunsaturated Fat
 
2
g
Monounsaturated Fat
 
8
g
Cholesterol
 
14
mg
5
%
Sodium
 
815
mg
35
%
Potassium
 
1009
mg
29
%
Carbohydrates
 
48
g
16
%
Fiber
 
18
g
75
%
Sugar
 
7
g
8
%
Protein
 
19
g
38
%
Vitamin A
 
2699
IU
54
%
Vitamin C
 
85
mg
103
%
Calcium
 
171
mg
17
%
Iron
 
4
mg
22
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Comments

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Recipe Rating




46 comments
  1. lol, it’s true, where do they get all that sodium from in canned soup? I’m a dietitian and I don’t even know. This soup looks great though!

    1. Thanks for reading! Yep it’s really surprising. I was at my parents home over Christmas and found out that my mum was using a veggie broth with 4400mg of sodium per 100g. That was by far the saltiest broth I ever came across.

  2. Black beans and avocado is quite a bold combination… I will definitely thinking about it next time i buy an avocado 🙂
    To answer the question (as all good pupils should ;)): I don’t eat canned soups and I really don’t understand why people have need to buy it. Maybe just plain lack of inspiration…

    1. The avocado does a great job in neutralizing the spicyness in your mouth. I hope you understood my sentence, haha 😉

  3. This looks so awesome..if only it were easy to get black beans here..canned ones are hard to find and dry ones don’t exist…

    1. Finding black beans! Definitely a sport I’m doing every now and then as well. Spanish people love legumes and sell tons of them in their supermarkets, but for some reason they don’t sell black beans. You only get them in small corner shops. Funny that is.

  4. 5 stars
    I need to get my fill of beans soon – they’re a New Years good luck tradition!

    1. I didn’t know! But is it your personal tradition or do actually other people consider it as a tradition as well?

  5. Canned soups just don’t come close to homemade ones for me!

    1. I totally agree! I used to eat lots of ramen noodles. I still like them, but since I have so many other quick recipes up my sleeve now, they got quite unattractive 😉

  6. Soup never tastes great from a can in my opinion… but when it’s homemade… ahhh, glorious. And this is the exact kind of flavors I love! Great recipe dude!

    1. True!! But, sometimes I fancy some ramen noodles. But thats not exactly canned soup 😉

  7. I’m so excited to try this soup. A friend whose lunch smelled amazing pointed me to the recipe – she actually added a little scoop of pico to the top too! I think I’ll be trying it out tonight 🙂

    I buy A LOT of canned soup – from using it in recipes to keeping some stashed in my desk at work for days that I don’t have leftovers available. It’s definitely not a matter of taste, but convenience. And as a meat eater, I will say that I have NEVER tasted a good (or even real) meat in a canned soup. Making from scratch is definitely preferred, just not always convenient.

    1. Hi Kristine,
      Oh, how cool! I’m glad this recipe’s making the round, that’s definitely a huge compliment!! 🙂
      Yess, sometimes it can be a pain to make a soup from scratch. But actually, I find this one easy enough to make that it doesn’t bother me to spend a couple of minutes in front of the oven. By experience the soup is even better the next day btw 😉
      Greetings to your friend!!

  8. Can you tell me how much is 250ml? How many cups?

    1. Yes, of course! One cup 🙂
      will add it right now!

  9. 5 stars
    I added in a little bit of lime juice and some chili powder to make it a little extra spicy! And served it with rolls, cuz I don’t soup is good without some biscuits on the side.

    Thanks for the recipe. It was delicious!

    And I also had no idea that so many people had issues finding black beans (From the previous comments). Theres like 47 different brands of black beans in our super market here in South Florida. Guess the spanish food makes them a necessity! 🙂

    1. Hey Aubri!
      Glad you liked the soup 😀
      Yess, I can definitely see lime juice and chili powder giving this another kick!
      Funny enough, I also have trouble finding black beans over here in Germany. It’s not a basic staple in most supermarkets unfortunately.

  10. I’ve never been a big fan of soup, so it was with great reluctance that I convinc d myself to try this recipe. Holy cow! It was amazing. I was so impressed, and realized afterward that I hadn’t added any salt, which (as per the comments above) seems a mainstay of soups. I think I’ll be dreaming of this soup.

    1. Hi Hayley, so great to hear you liked the black bean soup! Dave and I will be making it this evo as well 😀
      I’m not sure if I every dreamed of tasty food, but I do like the idea a lot, hahah

  11. 4 stars
    Sounds delicious! I just have one request. When talking about the risk of developing diabetes, can you please specify the risks refer to Type 2 diabetes? Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that has no known cause or cure. Insulin is not a cure. The myths and misinformation the media continues to perpetuate about both types of diabetes is frustrating for those of us who have to live with this challenging disease. Long story short the misinformation can prevent people from getting diagnosed early, leading to complications and even death. Your help is greatly appreciated.

    1. Hi Suzan! That’s a very good point, and the post has been updated to reflect that. Thanks for the heads up, much appreciated!

      1. Thanks so much for your help! I rarely get a positive response when I make similar requests.

        1. You’re more than welcome Suzan! It was a very good and important point for us to take on board 🙂

  12. I made this recipe because I am learning about being a vegetarian. I added carrots, celery, and corn to the recipe and topped it with avocado, diced tomatoes, and sour cream. It probably is not authentic but I need to eat more veggies and find that sneaking it into main dishes enables me to enjoy them much more than as a side dish.

    1. All that extra veg sounds awesome Sara! I would say it doesn’t really matter if it’s authentic or not, if you enjoy it AND get a load of veggie goodness down you, what’s not to like?! Yep, it can be quite tough to eat lots of veg, but it’s a good habit that builds up over a short time. I enjoy veg much more now than I ever did before, and really appreciate how tasty they can be when cooked right 🙂

  13. 5 stars
    Made this spicy black bean soup for dinner tonight and it was amazing!!! And only minutes to make.

    1. Ah soo cool the soup turned out great 😀
      It’s one of my faves too!

  14. 5 stars
    A great recipe that came out really well. You definitely want to double the liquid at least – triple if you’re planning on adding a pasta or anything else that’ll suck up the liquid. The single cup of broth I just knew wouldn’t be enough, but even after doubling it and adding some ditalini I barely had any broth left.

    If you’re not vegan or vegetarian, a beef or ham broth would go really well with this recipe too.

  15. 5 stars
    Hi.
    The soup looks delicious. I was just thinking; what if I premade it and freeze it? Would it lose its nutritional value in any way?

    1. Hi April, I think you could defintely freeze this one. Most food loses only a very small amount of nutritional value when frozen, and this one would still come out looking great. I’d keep the avocado fresh though 😉

  16. Can our double check the nutritional info on this recipe? The numbers seem a little high for the ingredients. Thanks!

    1. Hi Brandon! How you doing? I’ve just gone through them and they seem pretty much spot on. The nutritional table IS taking into account the optional items (the cheddar cheese and tortillas) so I suspect it might be that that’s caught your eye!

  17. 5 stars
    Very lovely soup! We really enjoyed the flavors and simplicity of this recipe!

    1. Thanks Sarah! Happy to help 🙂

  18. 5 stars
    Just tried this and loved it, I’ve send the recipe to my friends. I’m not vegan but currently trying to broaden my horizons as it were, great recipe.

    1. Thanks Elly! That’s awesome, happy to hear you enjoyed it as much we did!

  19. What can I sub for vegetable broth, I don’t have any of that but have everything else (except cilantro)! I want to try it.

    1. Hi Jill, the veggie broth is quite important to the taste really. It’s sometimes known as vegetable stock if that helps. Otherwise I suppose you could just use water but add in extra herbs instead 🙂

      1. 5 stars
        Excellent Recipe, will surely try it.

  20. 5 stars
    Absolutely love this recipe. Great for a quick night time meal!!

    1. Really happy to hear that Patrick, thanks a lot!

  21. 5 stars
    I made this today (minus the cheese and tortillas) and it was delicious! I added some more water and blended it down as I prefer a smooth soup but it was so nice with the sliced avocado. Another winner from this site!

    1. Faye, so good to hear this!! Funny enough I looked at this recipe again today and put it on my make-again list 🙂

  22. 5 stars
    I’ve been eating vegan for a month now but have been struggling with enough protein to support my bodybuilding requirements. This soup was so easy to make and a good protein boost to boot! Looks inviting with so many colours.
    PS. I don’t eat canned soups, they forever disappoint in flavour and sodium levels always exceed my daily intake levels

    1. Really glad to hear this worked out for you! We just recently overhauled the recipe and added a bit more protein too (nutritional yeast).