Mouthwatering vegan black bean soup made with roasted poblanos and tomatillos, corn, red onions, carrots, celery, and cilantro.  

This recipe is not your ordinary vegan black bean soup.  

Awaken the taste of fresh home cooked black beans with roasted poblano peppers and tomatillos in a sautéd mix of aromatic vegetables, herbs, and spices to create a mouthwatering soup layered with flavor and texture.

It will take a bit longer to cook everything from scratch, but the end result will absolutely be worth it.

Stay organized to be efficient. Sauté and roast simultaneously to save time. Pressure cook the soup with an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker to finish preparing this hearty dinner.

I recommend the Fagor Lux pressure cooker over other pressure cookers. Read my Fagor pressure cooker review to get a comprehensive evaluation of why it is so amazing.

Vegan Black Bean Soup Ingredients

The Star of the Show

Black turtle beans or frijoles negros in Spanish (commonly referred to just as black beans) are the main ingredient in this hearty vegan soup.  

Black beans are dense, meaty, creamy, fudgy, and earthy. The inky broth from the cooked beans make an ideal base for soup.

Grown and cultivated in the Americas, shared throughout the world, and beloved at home, black bean soup is an American classic.

Soak black beans overnight for easier digestion and reduced cooking time.

Roasted Ingredients

Poblano Peppers are mild chili peppers originating from Mexico.  When roasted they have a spicy complex flavor, perfect for adding just a little heat to the soup.

Green Tomatillos, a relative of the tomato, are tart and have their own unique taste.  They provide a sweeter flavor when roasted.

Roast the pepper and tomatillos for a deeper flavor. Skip the roasting if you are short on time.

Flavor Base

Carrots, red onion, and celery make an aromatic mirepoix.  

Mirepoix is a French cooking technique used to describe sautéing vegetables to soften them and bring out their sweet taste in a flavorful base.

Flavor Boosters

Garlic, cilantro, cumin seeds, oregano, bay leaf, and corn boost the flavor of the mirepoix.

Cooking Liquid

Vegetable or beef broth (if you aren’t vegan) cooks the black beans.

Flavor Enhancers and Balancers

Lime juice and salt balance and enhance the flavor of the soup.

3 Layers of Flavor in Black Bean Soup

Roast to Bring Out New Flavors

The first layer of flavor comes from roasted vegetables.  This step is optional, but it adds a new dimension of flavor.

An interesting scientific change happens during roasting.  High dry heat causes the Maillard reaction (or browning) and develops more flavor in the food.

• Preheat the oven to 425° Fahrenheit.

The poblano peppers take 25 to 30 minutes to roast while the tomatillos only take 10 to 15 minutes to roast.

• Prepare the vegetables.

Use food handlers gloves and cut the stem off the pepper.  Slice it in half vertically and remove the seeds.

Remove the husk from the tomatillos and cut them in half.  

Brush the poblano peppers and the tomatillos with a a high smoke point oil.

• Place the poblanos in the oven first.  Turn them with tongs after 15 minutes.

• Add the tomatillos.  Turn after 10 minutes.

Keep an eye on the vegetables and remove any that have finished cooking before the rest of the vegetables are roasted.

• When everything is done roasting, remove the pan from the oven and cool.

• Place the poblano peppers in a bowl covered with a kitchen towel.  As they cool, the skin loosens. Cover for about 10 minutes, or until cool to touch.

• Use food handlers gloves to peel off the skin.

• When the skin is removed, dice the pepper.

In a hurry? You can substitute canned diced chili for fresh roasted poblanos and skip roasting the tomatillos.

Mirepoix

The soup base is the second layer of flavor.  Take a few minutes to make a mirepoix with aromatic vegetables – red onion, carrots, and celery.

A mirepoix is a French cooking technique where onions, carrots, and celery are slow cooked to soften and sweeten them.  

• Dice the vegetables to equal sizes so they will cook quickly and evenly.
• Modify a traditional mirepoix ratio by using 1 cup red onion, 1 cup carrot, and ½ cup celery.
• Make the mirepoix in the pressure cooker pot on the sauté setting.
• Cook the onions and carrots for 10 minutes, until they begin to soften.
• Add the celery and sauté for another 5 minutes until it softens.
• Add the garlic to boost the flavor, followed by the freshly ground cumin seeds, allowing the flavor to bloom as it cooks in the oil.  

Pressure Cook

When the flavor base is made and the vegetables are roasted, add the remaining vegetables, broth and beans to the pot.

Close the lid and pressure cook for 15 minutes if you are using pre-cooked black beans or black beans from a can.

Partially Blend

When the black bean soup has finished cooking, allow the pressure cooker to release pressure on its own.  This gives the beans a chance to cook a little more, resulting in a creamier bean and broth.

Use an immersion blender to partially blend the soup.  

Another option is to blend half the soup in an electric blender and then return the pureėd soup to the pot and stir to blend.

Add the lime juice and the salt.  Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Garnish and serve hot.

Garnish

Black bean soup tastes so good with a few garnishes on top.  Try one to three of these garnishes for a tasty meal.

• Avocado chunks (learn how to cut an avocado to garnish) or homemade guacamole
• Roasted red pepper, diced or sliced
• Tortilla strips
• Cilantro
• Green onion, diced
• Red onion, diced
• Caramelized onion
• Cotija cheese (vegan or regular)
• Monterey jack cheese (vegan or regular)
• Crema or sour cream (vegan or regular)

Black Bean Soup Work Flow Timeline

Because there are three cooking methods used for this soup and because I don’t want to spend all day in the kitchen, organization is the key to making black bean soup.

How to Get Lots of Flavor Even With Minimal Time

If you are in a hurry, you can still eat delicious black bean vegan soup.  Throw all of the ingredients, except the lime juice and salt, into the pressure cooker.

Pressure for 25 minutes, partially blend when finished, and add the lime juice and salt to taste.  

Garnish like crazy!

The ingredients and the garnishes will give the soup tons of flavor.

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Did you taste all the layers of flavor in this vegan black bean soup recipe? Comment below and let me know your experience.

More Soups to Try

• Vegetable Soup with Ground Beef: Combine tender vegetables and savory ground beef in a flavorful broth to get a mouthwatering vegetable soup with ground beef, packed with vitamins, minerals, and protein.

• Butternut Squash Soup: Rich, creamy soup with butternut squash, cream cheese, white beans, diced tomatoes, and flavorful herbs.

• Pumpkin Soup: Blend fresh herbs and spices with pumpkin puree, coconut milk, red lentils, and apples in this seasonal soup, ready in 30 minutes.

• Turkey Soup: Use leftover turkey, along with potatoes, onions, leeks, celery, and fresh seasonal herbs for a true comfort food experience. Don’t have turkey? Substitute chicken instead.

• Split Pea Soup: Hearty, healthy crock pot split pea soup with ham, carrots, onions, celery, and dried herbs, partially pureed for an easy dinner soup recipe.

• Taco Soup with Ground Beef: Quick, easy crock pot soup featuring ground beef, 3 kinds of chiles, 2 kinds of beans, and fresh herbs and spices.