Our family doesn’t usually eat meat-free meals just because we always a meat/protein. If your family aren’t big meat-eaters or they are willing to try a vegetarian meal, slow cooker black bean soup is a good one! I will say we used chicken stock but it could be swapped for vegetable stock easily. Also, I used grilled chicken thighs as a topping so be forewarned when you see the pic!
Also, I am drawn to this recipe since it uses dried beans instead of canned. I love the idea of using dried beans but I can never seem to remember to soak them the night before. This is why I usually cook with canned beans. I guess you can call it laziness or just busy, you decide!
Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup
Ingredients:
- 2 TBL olive oil
- 2 large onions
- 3 stalks celery
- 3 carrots
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 1/2 TBL cumin
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (i didn’t use since my kids don’t like the heat)
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 cups water
- 3 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)
- 1 lb dried black beans, rinsed (about 2- 2.25 cups)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- Shredded cheese
- Sour cream
- Chopped fresh onion
- Chicken (optional of course! Could be rotisserie or grilled, which I have a great recipe for grilled thighs BTW!)
Directions:
Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Chop onion, celery, and carrot.
Add the chopped vegetables to the pan and then minced (or garlic-pressed) cloves of garlic with cumin, pepper flakes and salt.
Cook until everything has softened and lightly browned, 10-12 minutes.
Add the vegetables, water, broth, black beans, and bay leaves to the slow cooker.
Stir to combine everything. Cover and cook on low for 9-10 hours or on high for 6-7 hours.
After the time is done, remove bay leaves.
Ladle out 2 cups of soup and puree in a blender or with immersion blender until smooth. Stir back into rest of soup.
Season with cilantro, and also salt and pepper if needed. Serve and top with toppings as desired. Enjoy!
- 2 TBL olive oil
- 2 large onions
- 3 stalks celery
- 3 carrots
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1½ TBL cumin
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes (i didn't use since my kids don't like the heat)
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 cups water
- 3 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)
- 1 lb dried black beans, rinsed (about 2- 2.25 cups)
- 2 bay leaves
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- Shredded cheese
- Sour cream
- Chopped fresh onion
- Chicken
- Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Chop onion, celery and carrot.
- Add the chopped vegetables to the pan and minced cloves of garlic with cumin, pepper flakes and salt.
- Cook until everything has softened and lightly browned, 10-12 minutes.
- Add the vegetables, water, broth, black beans and bay leaves to the slow cooker.
- Stir to combine everything. Cover and cook on low for 9-10 hours or on high for 5-6 hours.
- After time is done, remove bay leaves. Ladle out 2 cups of soup and puree in a blender or with immersion blender until smooth. Stir back into rest of soup.
- Season with cilantro, salt and pepper. Serve and top with toppings as desired.
My kids love this kind of stuff! Each one asks for more cheese or more sour cream, whatever they like!
It gets a little messy there for the little guy so he eats his dinner topless 😉
For those of you that have been wondering, ‘why haven’t I been receiving the post emails?’ Well, I haven’t been posting much, that’s why! Lots of changes have been happening in our household and we’ve been traveling and visiting family quite a bit. Thankfully, I feel like I’m finally getting my groove back! Thanks for the continued support!
Please let me know what you think about the Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup! I’d love to hear what you think!