Cuban Black Bean Soup – Rich in protein and loaded with veggies and flavorful spices, this black bean soup is thick, hearty and absolutely delicious! Oil-free, vegan and 100% healthy recipe!
I had the weekend off and decided to make this vegan black bean soup. I’ve been wanting to make this soup for some time and am so happy to finally add it to the recipe collection.
Black beans are a ‘superfood’ containing good amounts of fiber, protein and other trace minerals so important to good health. They are an ingredient I want to incorporate more of into my diet and this cuban black bean soup is a great recipe for that.
For this recipe, you will need to begin a day ahead with soaking the dried black beans. I have also included a shorter version, using canned black beans, for those who would rather have it ready within 1 hour.
Although, using dried beans does take longer to put together, it’s pretty simple and so very good. My goal was to make this a black bean soup anyone can make whether from scratch or not.
Ingredients You’ll Need
In this recipe, black beans are simmered with veggies and flavorful spices for a wonderfully hearty vegan soup that will surely be a new favorite!
Here is everything you will need:
- Black beans – use dried or canned (see notes in recipe card)
- White onion
- Celery
- Carrots
- Red bell pepper
- Garlic
- Bay leafs
- Cumin
- Smoked paprika
- Vegetable broth – I like to use vegetable concentrate with water. My favorite is this Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base (affiliate link). For this recipe I used 1/4 teaspoon.
- Orange
- Salt + pepper
How To Make Cuban Black Bean Soup
- Prepare the black beans. If using dried beans, pre-cook them or cook in the instant pot. Canned beans can simply be drained and rinsed before using. Set aside until ready to use.
- Squeeze orange. Squeeze the orange juice and set the juice aside. Keep the orange halves for the soup.
- Add ingredients to pot. Add in the beans, carrots, celery, red bell pepper, cumin, smoked paprika, salt & pepper, orange halves and water, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook for at least 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Puree soup. Remove the oranges halves and bay leaves. Using a stick blender or cup blender, puree the soup until desired consistency.
And now your black bean soup is ready to enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
This hearty black bean soup is great on it’s own, but can be served with various toppings and sides to make it even better! Here are a few of my favorite options:
- Toppings: When serving, topping the soup is especially amazing with Vegan Sour Cream, Pico de Gallo and/or Fresh Corn Salsa.
- Grain: Serve with a side of Cilantro Lime Rice or brown rice. You can also stir it into the soup!
- Salad: Serve with a leafy green salad like this Southwest Chickpea Salad or Sweet Corn & Arugula Salad.
How To Store Leftovers
- Refrigerator: Leftovers will keep for 5 – 6 days in the refrigerator, stored in a covered container.
- Freezer: This cuban black bean soup is freezer friendly and freezes well for up to 2 – 3 months. To freeze, let cool completely and store in freezer safe containers (affiliate link), leaving 1/2 inch head space for expansion. Let thaw before reheating. You can also freeze larger portions in large ziplock bags.
- Reheat: Simply re-warm on the stovetop over low heat until warmed through. Alternatively, reheat in the microwave using 30 – 60 second intervals, stirring after each, until warm.
If you try this easy black bean soup recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment and rate it below. I love to hear what you think, or any changes you make.
PrintCUBAN BLACK BEAN SOUP
A healthy, hearty, veggie filled cuban black bean soup that’s absolutely delicious!
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 40 min
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4 - 6 1x
- Category: Entree, Soup
- Method: stovetop, simmer
- Cuisine: Vegan, Cuban
Ingredients
- black beans, 1 lb. dried or 3 cans (15 oz.), rinsed and drained (see notes)
- 1 large white onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 2 medium carrots, chopped
- 1 medium red bell pepper, cored and chopped
- 2 bay leafs
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 – 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 3 cups water or vegetable broth
- juice of one orange + orange halves
- himalayan salt and pepper to taste
Garnish
- diced tomatoes
- onion
- vegan sour cream
- lime wedges
Instructions
Soak beans: The night before, rinse beans in colander with cold running water. Pick through and remove any broken or shriveled beans. Place beans in large pot with 5 or 6 cups water and cover to soak overnight.
Pre-Cook Beans: Next day, drain beans and rinse again. Place beans back in pot, add water, bring to a boil and simmer covered for 1 hour, drain and rinse.
Orange: Juice the orange and set the juice aside. Reserve the orange halves for the soup.
Cook Soup: To the pot of freshly cooked beans, add the bay leaves, garlic, cumin, paprika, onion, celery, carrots, bell pepper, water/broth, orange halves, salt and pepper, reserving the orange juice for later. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 40 minutes to one hour, or until beans and vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Add extra water as necessary (I used another 1 cup of water).
Puree: Once beans are tender, remove the orange halves and bay leaves. Use an immersion blender to blend soup to desired consistency. I blended about 3/4, leaving some chunkiness. You could also use a food processor/blender (this method may take two batches to complete). Blending is optional, you may like it chunky as is. Add the orange juice to the pureed soup and cook another 5-10 minutes.
To Serve: Serve alone or over a bed of cooked buckwheat, farro or brown rice. Top soup with a dollop of Sour Cream, Lime Cilantro Cashew ‘Sour Cream’ or Paprika Cashew Crema. You may also like to top it with diced onion, tomatoes, bell peppers, avocado, jalapenos, a squeeze of lime and/or cilantro.
Serves 4 generously, or 6 smaller portions.
Notes
Canned beans: If using canned beans, be sure to drain and rinse them well. Put ingredients in pot as in the instructions for ‘Cook’ but only use 2 cups water to start, bring to boil and simmer for 40 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Add more water as needed. Continue with step 3. You may also decide to saute your onions, celery, carrots & bell pepper first on medium high heat using oil of choice for about 5 min before you start with your canned beans.
Instant pot: If you have an Instant Pot, you can cook dried black beans for 25 minutes with 4 cups of water. For reference, use this Instant Pot Black Beans recipe, see notes for making plain black beans.
Updated: Cuban Black Bean Soup was originally published in September 2012. It has been updated with new photos and helpful tips in February 2020.
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Laura Román says
Bitter soup… :(
jana says
wow. Made as written excepting only 1 tsp of cumin. Absolutely fabulous soup
★★★★★
Samantha says
This was a BIG HIT in our house! YUM! Easy! I never took the orange halves out – just blended them right in.
★★★★★
Natalie says
A whole TABLESPOON of cumin??? Nope. Not Cuban. Why do people insist on adding so much cumin to recipes? In Cuban cooking, cumin is not suppose to overpower the whole dish.
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
I agree Natalie, typically the spices in Cuban cuisine are minimal, but the cumin is just so good in this recipe I used 1 tablespoon. I will add a note to use only 1 teaspoon for authenticity. Thank you for the feedback!
Kristen Seery says
Great recipe, lovely response to another user’s “feedback”, though I agree with you that the cumin is so good that the amount in your recipe works great. Thank you for posting!
★★★★★
B says
This looks so good! Will try to convert for my IP.
Emily says
Why is the sodium count so high?
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
Hi Emily,
Thank you for pointing that out! I just updated the nutrition counter and a few of the recipes are off, in this case the sodium. I’ve updated it, assuming you’re using dried beans and about 1/2 teaspoon of mineral salt. Hope that helps! Cheers :)
Chrius says
Were the tomatoes just for the garnish at the end or were they meant to add in to the cooking soup. They aren’t mentioned in the recipe until the garnish bit, but the other garnishes weren’t listed in the ingredients so I’m not sure which way is right?
★★★★★
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
Great question! They are meant as a garnish. I’ll update the recipe to make it clear. Thank you for pointing that out! Cheers :)
Jan says
Great recipe. This one is a keeper. I got confuse as well about the orange. Thinking I was following directions, I used two, one for reserved juice and one to halve to place in the soup mixture. The taste of orange was great, not overpowering. I think the additional flavor from the oils from the peel really adds something. This was so good that we ate it all the next day for breakfast. Thank you, I can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
★★★★★
Vanessa says
hi the recipe sounds delicious but I’m confused about the orange halves and orange juice. When do they go in and are the halves the remaining parts from juicing the orange? Do I put in the pith and all? Please let me know. Thank you.
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
Yes, squeeze the orange juice, but don’t add that to the soup until the end, just add the the orange halves when cooking. Remove the orange halves once soup is done cooking, and add in the OJ. You can leave out the orange halves if you prefer, just adding the orange juice towards the end. Hope that helps. Enjoy!
jackie says
Delicious recipe. I’ll definitely use it again!
Cheryl says
I am making this now but with a change, instead of smoke paparika i am using chipotle. Usually when I make black bean soup I only use onion and garlic, but this looks so healthy I had to give it a try.
Anonymous says
How many servings does this make?
julie@thesimpleveganista says
Serves four to six.
dllcool says
Are those pictures the same soup? They sure don't look like it and I want the recipe for the top photo, recipe seems to be for the bottom photo.
julie@thesimpleveganista says
It’s the same soup. The top photo is after pureeing 3/4 of the soup. Just showing before and after. Enjoy! :)
cookingwithlysa says
I have to get those beans going also…I don't eat enough of them. Your soup looks so delicious. Its really a good thing you added some orange jucie; I heard that the orange juice with the beans is the combo to assimilate the iron in the beans!
Julie says
That's good to know about the orange and iron combo with black beans. Makes it even better than. I had some leftovers tonight with diced onions, jalapeno's and sriracha chili sauce…really was good with the spice.