I don’t think I have ever seen a black bean soup that looked this good! This plant-based recipe was shared with us by my friend Janelle. She’s run several foodie ventures over the years, including three different blogs.
Janelle goes the extra mile, making this black bean soup with dried beans for a cleaner taste and texture. She usually purees about 2 cups of the bean mixture and leaves the rest chunky, but you can puree more or puree it all for a creamy black bean soup.
She also adds Caribbean-style twists to her recipe with ingredients like rum, lime, and brown sugar. It’s delicious as a side, or simply served with a salad or dairy-free cornbread. You can also enjoy the soup as is, or top it with homemade dairy-free sour cream, packaged dairy-free sour cream, avocado, or tropical salsa.
Special Diet Notes: Caribbean Black Bean Soup
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan, plant-based, and vegetarian.
- 2 cups dried black beans, washed
- 2 quarts vegetable stock, plus additional if needed
- 2 cups chopped yellow onion
- 4 to 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano or 2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 (16-ounce) can roasted or chopped tomatoes, with juice
- 1 large anaheim pepper, finely chopped with seeds (or 2 jalapenos)
- ½ bunch cilantro, washed and cut into chiffonade
- 3 tablespoon dark rum
- 2 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Dairy-free sour cream or chopped avocado, for serving (optional)
- Place the beans in a large saucepan, and cover with warm water by 3 inches, cover with a lid. Bring to boil over medium heat. Let them boil hard for 1 minute, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Drain the beans, return them to the saucepan, and add the stock. Bring the stock to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. If the stock starts to drop below the bean level, add more stock.
- Add the onion, garlic, and oregano, and cook for 1 to 2 hours, or until the beans fall apart. Stir occasionally so the beans don’t stick to pan.
- Roughly chop or lightly puree the soup with an immersion blender. Add the tomatoes, pepper, cilantro, rum, lime juice, and sugar. Bring to a simmer.
- Puree about half of soup. Season the soup with salt.
- Serve topped with dairy-free sour cream or avocado, if desired.