This delicious vegan black bean soup is hearty and nourishing and makes wonderful comfort food. It’s super easy to make and high in protein too.
This vegan black bean soup is divine! It reminds me of a minestrone soup in the way that it’s almost more like a stew than a soup, but in the best way.
It’s thick and filling and a full meal on its own, nothing else is needed.
It’s also so quick and easy to make. In fact it’s probably going to be your new favorite recipe. And I don’t make tall claims.
And if you love all things beans then you’ll also love our fabulous vegan baked beans, vegan refried beans and vegan chili.
What You’ll Need:
Ingredient Notes
- Black Beans – canned black beans for the win! They’re easy to find and they take all the time consuming aspects out of the equation for this soup. If you don’t want to use canned black beans then you can use 4 and ½ cups of cooked black beans.
- Chopped Tomatoes – these are also canned, and work wonderfully in this soup.
- Vegetable Stock – you can use vegetable stock or broth. If you use a low sodium variety then you may need to season the soup with more salt, but just taste test at the end and add salt and pepper as needed.
- Coconut Sugar – this is just added for flavor balance. You can use any sugar or omit it if you prefer.
- Fresh Cilantro – this is for serving. We also serve with a dollop of homemade cashew cream, but this is entirely optional.
How To Make Vegan Black Bean Soup
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Sauté onions and garlic with oregano, cumin, smoked paprika, coriander powder and cayenne pepper and then add in chopped carrot and celery and mix in.
- Add black beans, chopped tomatoes, tomato paste and vegetable stock. Bring to the boil and then turn down the heat and let it simmer until the carrots and celery are softened.
- Add coconut sugar (or other sugar) for flavor balance and salt and pepper to taste and your soup is ready.
- You can serve it as is or you can blend it just a little bit with an immersion blender so that you have a thick soup with lots of delicious chunky bits! You can skip this step, but I thought it worked great for the texture of this soup.
- If you don’t have an immersion blender you can just blend some of it in your regular blender and then add it back to the pot. You definitely don’t want to blend all of it, just a little of it, so that it’s nice and thick but chunky at the same time.
Recipe FAQ
The best way to thicken it is to blend some of it. This way you get a deliciously thick soup that is still chunky. You can use an immersion blender if you have one to blend it directly in the pot or you can transfer some of it to a regular blender, blend it and then return it to the pot and mix in. Don’t blend all of it, because you want the soup to stay chunky, just blend some of it.
It’s totally divine served with a dollop of cashew cream on top. Some fresh cilantro is great to serve with this as well. I’ve seen similar soups served with sliced avocado and that’s a great idea too. Of course if you serve this with some deliciously fresh home baked whole wheat bread for dipping, well now that is some next level stuff! It’s also divine alongside some vegan cornbread.
Leftovers keep very well in the fridge and will stay good for around 4-5 days.
This soup is definitely freezer friendly if you want to freeze it.
More Hearty Vegan Soups
- Vegan Zuppa Toscana
- Vegan Split Pea Soup
- Vegan Lentil Soup
- Vegan Potato Soup
- Vegan Butternut Squash Soup
- Vegan Potato Leek Soup
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Black Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Medium Onion White, Yellow or Brown, Chopped
- 1 tsp Crushed Garlic
- 1 tsp Oregano
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 1 tsp Smoked Paprika
- ½ tsp Coriander Powder
- ¼ tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1 Large Carrot Sliced
- 3 Stalks Celery Sliced
- 3 (15-ounce) Cans Black Beans Drained
- 14 ounces Canned Chopped Tomatoes (400g)
- ¼ cup Tomato Paste (65g)
- 3 cups Vegetable Stock (720ml)
- 1 Tbsp Coconut Sugar
For Serving (Optional):
- Cashew Cream
- Fresh Cilantro
Instructions
- Add the onions and garlic to a pot with the olive oil and sauté until the onions are softened. Then add in the oregano, cumin, smoked paprika, coriander powder and cayenne pepper and fry with the onions and spices for a minute.
- Then add in the chopped carrots and celery and mix in.
- Add in the black beans, canned tomatoes, tomato paste and vegetable stock.
- Bring to the boil and then reduce heat and let it simmer until the carrots and celery are cooked.
- Add in the coconut sugar and salt and pepper to taste.
- Blend a little of the soup with an immersion blender or take some out and blend in a regular blender and then add back to the pot. Don’t blend all the soup, just a little of it, so that it’s nice and thick but also chunky.
- Serve with a dollop of cashew cream (optional) and some fresh chopped cilantro.
Video
Notes
- We used three 15-ounce (425g) cans of black beans. If you don’t want to use canned black beans then you can use 4 and ½ cups of cooked black beans instead.
- Leftovers keep very well in the fridge for 4-5 days. It is also freezer friendly.
- Nutritional information does not include cashew cream.
- This recipe was first published in April 2019. It has been updated with extra tips but the recipe itself is unchanged.
This is so good! Comfort in a bowl! Definitely making this again!
That’s great Kim! Thanks so much for sharing and for your great review!
A most delectable, hearty soup! I made this today and it’s just great in flavour and texture.
Wonderful! Thanks Anna!
Love this recipe. Very easy to make. Sometimes we put it on top of rice and it’s like a chilli con carne. My husband said last night would be great over a baked potato too.
Thanks Jane!
Can’t get enough of this recipe, I make it every Sunday to take to work throughout the week
Awesome David! I’m so happy to hear that. Thanks for the wonderful review.
Since I just finished cooking a large pot of black beans, I wonder if you know what the equivalent in cups to 3 cans of beans would be?
Hi Sherri, yes sure, it would be 4 and 1/2 cups. 🙂
Thx for the quick response, gonna make it right now!
I made the cornbread in the waffle maker then poured the soup over the cornbread. Yum!,
Oooh sounds yum! 🙂
Do you have a recipe for the cornbread? TIA
Hi Lynda, you can check out our recipe for vegan cornbread. 🙂
Heavenly! I was a bit sceptical, but this soup is truly delicious. I also added some potatoes that were laying around for quite some time. This recipe has just earned its place amongst my regulars. Thank you!
So happy to hear that Martina! Thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂
Wow. Amazing flavor. My husband loved it too. This is for sure a new favorite recipe in our home!
So happy to hear that Rebecca! Thanks for the fabulous review. 🙂
Hi, Alison!! Yum! This looks deeeeelish! Can it be made in a pressure cooker as well?
Hi Alison! I’m sure it can, but I don’t have a pressure cooker (yet) so have no advice to give about cooking times or anything else. Sorry I can’t be more help! 🙂
Delicious! Originally I wasn’t going to blend some of it but I’m glad I did.
Yay! Yes, blending it really works great! Thanks for the awesome review. 🙂
Really easy to make and delicious