Spicy Black Bean Soup
It’s a new year so I thought I’d kick it off with a new soup. This is one of those recipes that combines simple, hearty ingredients that come together to create a damn fine soup. I’m still in the “comfort food” mood as the winter season really settles into my bones and this soup really hit the spot. It’s an economical meal (I think the whole thing is less than 10 bucks and you can serve it for multiple meals) the soup actually gets better a few days in so remember that when you’re making it and thinking “wow that’s a lot of soup!” The leftovers are glorious! If you’re feeling fancy you can pair this with the honey & jalapeño corn bread from my most recent cookbook Local Dirt. That’s how we served this and it was a delicious addition. However, this is also great served with corn chips, hunks of sourdough bread or a simple salad on the side. This soup could not be easier to make and I hope you all enjoy it as much as we do. Don’t skimp on the tangy yogurt topping. It adds such a lovely element to the soup and it’s one of my favorite parts! Also, quick tip about the beans- we source our dried beans from Sun Gold Farm in the Portland area so if you’re a local I highly recommend supporting this farm. They also attend quite a few farmers markets in the Portland area throughout the year but you can also order online. The beans are AWESOME!!
Happy cozy soup making season everyone. Cheers from Tumbleweed Farm.
Spicy Black Bean Soup
Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 1 1/2 hours Serves: 8-10 servings
- 1 pound dried black beans, rinsed and picked over
- 3 tablespoons cooking fat of choice (bacon fat, oil, butter or ghee)
- 1 large onion, finely chopped (red or yellow are both fine)
- 5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 2 medium sized carrots, chopped
- 4 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt plus more to taste (beans absorb a lot of salt so you can be heavy handed)
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 6 1/2 cups of water (plus more to thin as needed)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup whole milk yogurt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- flakey sea salt
- finely chopped parsley for serving
Preparation
- Place the beans in a bowl and cover with cold water and soak overnight. OR add the beans to a medium sized pot and cover with hot water. Bring to a boil for 1 minute, remove from the heat, cover the pot and soak the beans for 1 hour. Drain and rinse the beans and keep them to the side.
- Over medium heat, add your cooking fat to a large dutch oven or soup pot and once hot add your onion. Cook, stirring occasionally until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, carrot, cumin, pepper flakes, and oregano along with the salt. Stir, and continue to cook until fragrant, about 5 minutes longer. Deglaze the pan with the red wine vinegar and cook until it's reduced by half.
- Add the beans, water and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot cook for 1 1/2 hours or until the beans are tender (cooking times will very depending on your beans). Stir the pot every 30 minutes to insure the beans don't stick to the bottom and add more water as needed.
- In a bowl mix the yogurt with the red wine vinegar and salt. Set to the side.
- After the soup has cooked, remove the bay leaf. At this point you have the option to use an immersion blender to puree a little bit of the soup for a thicker, creamy texture (you can also transfer half of the soup to a stand blender) otherwise, you can serve the soup as is.
- Dollop with the yogurt, parsley and season with plenty of salt and pepper
Notes
Cooking times will very from kitchen to kitchen.
Hi Andrea! This looks incredible. Any idea if I can do this in an Instant Pot? As a RN, I tend to run short on time!
I’m sure it would work in an Instant pot, though I haven’t tried it prepared that way but I don’t see why not! Let me know if you make it that way!
This is simmering on my stove and smells soooooo good. It’s 100+ degrees in Austin today, but it’s never too hot for bean soup! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
ahh! Love hearing this. And yes, I’m of the same mindset that it’s never too hot for soup!! Enjoy. xo