When I was a teacher, I worked 8-10 hour days. With a commute in and out of Boston, I was often gone for 12 hours at a time. Slow cooker meals like this saved my life! This black bean soup requires only 5 minutes of prep, and you can let it cook for 4, 6, 8, or even 10 hours in your slow cooker. This dump dinner is really hard to mess up, precise timing isn’t necessary, and it’s a very forgiving recipe if you want to add or take away any of the ingredients. Which means you can come home after a long day and have dinner ready to go. The smell of the house as it cooks is incredible. AND this recipe makes a ton, so you can keep some in your freezer for later.
How to make black bean soup in your slow cooker
How / why to soak the dry black beans
I love cooking with dry beans because they’re SO cheap, and they’re perfect for cooking low and slow in your slow cooker or pressure cooking in your instant pot. But it’s important to soak, drain, and rinse your beans before cooking with them. This doesn’t take long, but it does take some planning ahead. Soaking the beans in salted water does a few things: Cooking dry beans without soaking them first is possible, and many recipes swear by it, but I’ve personally found that pre-soaked beans are easier to cook, more flavorful, and much easier to digest.
How to cook black bean soup in your instant pot
The easiest and fastest way to make this black bean soup in your instant pot is to combine all the ingredients (except for the lime juice and cilantro) in your pressure cooker, cover, and set the pressure to manual, high for 15 minutes. Allow the pressure to naturally release for at least 10 minutes, at which point you can quick release. Then, stir in the cilantro and lime juice and mash until desired consistency is reached. For extra credit, before pressure cooking, you can cook the bacon using the sauté function, remove it and set aside, then add the onions, celery, and carrots to sauté in the bacon fat for a little bit too. Then, add the remaining ingredients, including the bacon, and proceed.
How to cook black bean soup on the stovetop
Cook the bacon in the bottom of a large pot or dutch oven. Remove the bacon and set aside. Add the onions, celery, and carrots to the bacon fat and sautè until softened and starting to brown. Add the remaining ingredients, including the cooked bacon, except for the lime juice and cilantro. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 2 hours, until beans are completely cooked and tender. Then, stir in the lime juice and cilantro and mash.
How to make super smooth, creamy black bean soup
When you’re done cooking the black bean soup, you’ll use a potato masher to mash some of the beans to thicken it up. You can keep mashing them as long as you want- the more you mash, the creamier the soup will be. Or, you can take it a step further and use an immersion blender to puree the soup.
Other easy black bean recipes:
Quick and Easy Black Beans and Rice Spicy Quinoa and Black Beans Black Bean and Corn Salad
Other dry bean soup recipes:
Slow Cooker 15 Bean Soup with Ham and Kale Instant Pot Split Pea Soup with Ham Greek Lentil Soup (Fakes Soupa) Instant Pot Chili with Ground Beef and Dry Kidney Beans Instant Pot Black Eyed Pea Soup
Check out all my slow cooker recipes here, including this super yummy Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili! Did you make this slow cooker black bean soup recipe? Please comment below and Rate this Recipe!
