Alright, friends. I know that it’s the second week of November, so I should be posting Thanksgiving recipes galore. But I’m not quite feeling the turkey and pumpkin pie cravings yet. So I decided to dedicate an entire week to another highly-requested topic on the blog:
5-ingredient soup recipes!!!
Ever since I posted my 5-Ingredient White Chicken Chili recipe, you all have (a) turned it into the highest-traffic recipe on the blog right now and (b) been emailing with requests for more recipes like it. So I decided to take the challenge and put on my “minimalist” ingredient hat and see if I could simplify five classic soups. It definitely took a bit of trial and error, but I’m happy to say that there are now five delicious 5-ingredient soups coming your way this week.
First up? 5-Ingredient Black Bean Soup.
I am a huge fan of black beans soups, as is clearly noted by the Spicy Black Bean Soup, Black Bean Chili with Chocolate & Coconut, and Smoky Black Bean Chili recipes already on the blog. Black bean soups are usually quick, healthy, and full of lots of spices and flavor — which I love!! But still, the idea of an even simpler 5-ingredient black bean soup sounded intriguing.
So I made it happen. And in 20 minutes, nonetheless. (Bonus!)
Can you guess the 5 ingredients?
I initially planned to make the soup using canned black beans (although you could substitute fresh if you plan ahead and soak them overnight), salsa, cumin, fresh cilantro and vegetable broth. But once I stirred in the first four ingredients and gave it a taste, I realized that the soup was actually nice and thick and well-seasoned even without the vegetable broth!
Granted, I used the entire cans of beans, including the liquid — which is simply water and salt and perfectly safe to eat (and a perfect thickener for soup!). But if you’re one of those folks who insists on draining your beans, hakuna matata. Just add in an extra cup of vegetable or chicken broth.
So since I still had an ingredient to spare, I added in a little bit of minced garlic, since I seem convinced (along with Monica on Friends) that everything tastes better with a little extra garlic. ;)
I will say, though, that the key ingredient to this soup is salsa that you really like. If you like spicy soup, add in some nice hot salsa. If you like milder, go mild. If you really like the tomatillo flavor, you can add in salsa verde.
In the name of a true 20-minute meal, I opted to use store-bought salsa. If anyone is looking for a recommendation, I love the national brand Herdez. Their “Caesera” salsa (available in mild, medium or hot) always work well in recipes, as well as my favorite of theirs — Chipotle. It’s probably the most widely-available brand that I like so far, and it’s also some of the most affordable.
All in all, this recipe turned out to be a delicious start to our 5 Ingredient Soup Week on the blog. Stay tuned for a new quick and easy recipe each day this week!
5-Ingredient Black Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 3 (15 oz) cans black beans, with liquid
- 1 lb. (about 2.5 cups) good-quality salsa, homemade or store-bought (I love the brand Herdez)
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, loosely packed (plus extra for garnish)
- 2 tsp. ground cumin
- 1 clove garlic, minced
Instructions
- Stir all ingredients together in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until simmering. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for at least 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Serve soup warm topped with additional fresh cilantro as garnish.
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
I made this in a Dutch oven, too, and simmered the hell out of it (probably around 40-60 minutes). It was so thick and hearty and tasted great. Simple recipe with big payoff. I also added diced onion, canned tomatoes and canned chilis but definitely appreciate the simplicity of just five ingredients for the base.
Thanks for sharing with us, Jocelyn — we’re happy you enjoyed it!
I made this for our vegetarian friends and a meat loving husband and everyone loved this! It has been requested on multiple occasions and I now have to make a double batch for 4 grown adults!
Thanks for sharing with us, Steph — we’re so glad it was a hit! :)
I made this to serve as a complement to quesadillas for my husband and 2 small children. It was a total hit with the grownups. My older daughter hasn’t caught on to beans yet, but we’re working on it. This was a great early intro, kid-friendly dish that was easy to get to the table on a hectic afternoon, and I think she liked it (I’m no longer hearing how she doesn’t like beans.) The kids liked sprinkling cheese on the soup. I will quibble with the serving numbers on the recipe. It says 2-4, but I think it’s probably more like 4-6, even 8 if you measure servings like canned soups do. Considering adding diced butternut squash to this when it gets chilly.
We’re so glad to hear that, Hannah — thanks for sharing! :)
when buy canned beans I usually use liquid of pink an white beans, but black beans and kidney beans have thick yucky looking stuff in it. so I rinse. if I knew why it was like that, I might use it as is.
This is super easy and so flavorful! I made it in January and froze some. It’s May now, and i just defrosted a batch and ate it for lunch all week. Still tastes great!
Thanks — we’re so happy you like it! :)
I’m making this for lunch right now-it smells amazing! It’s already in the rotation…I make it often! It’s yummy and so easy…
That’s great to hear Kay — we’re so happy you’re a fan of the recipe! :)
What if I have dried beans not the canned kind? What liquid can I use to make it “soupy”?
Hi Ashley! So we would use 3/4 pound of dried beans for this recipe. You’ll need to simmer them in chicken or vegetable stock (about 1 1/4 quarts). You can do a combo of stock and water too, if you like. We would also recommend adding a bay leaf or two. You’ll need to simmer for about 2 hours (up to 2 1/2), until the beans are tender. Then you can add your other ingredients, simmer for another 10 minutes or so, and then puree the soup a bit with an immersion blender (to thicken everything up). We hope this helps!
I drained the beans, drained and added a can of corn, and added a 32oz carton of low sodium chicken broth. I skipped the cilantro since hubby hates it. I left it on low in my Dutch oven pot covered for several hours. Everyone including my picky 2 and 8 year olds ate it and asked for seconds, saying it was the best soup I ever made. Thank you for posting. ☺
That makes our day Helene — thanks for sharing! :)
I think bay leaves can be substituted for cilantro, would you agree?
Definitely, we think that would be yummy! :)
This was delicious and super easy. I was afraid it would be plain but it turned out great. I had a couple modifications. First, I sautéed a diced yellow onion along with the clove of garlic for a minute or two before adding the other ingredient. Second, I put about one third of the soup in a blender for a few seconds and returned it to the pot to simmer.
Thanks Jonathan, we’re glad you enjoyed it and we like your modifications! :)