Thanks to your Instant Pot® (a slow cooker, pressure cooker and stove-top stand-in, all in one), the beans for this creamy Mexican soup don’t need to be soaked overnight. And they cook, under pressure, for just 1 hour. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can puree the beans in batches in a regular blender (but take care, they will be hot).
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 40 min |
| Active: | 25 min |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 medium white onion, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 4 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 1/2 cups dry black beans, picked over and non-beans removed
- 2 bay leaves
- Kosher salt and freshly grated black pepper
- Sliced avocado, cilantro leaves, chopped scallions, lime wedges and sour cream, for serving
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot® (see Cook’s Note) to normal saute. Add the oil and once shimmering, but not smoking, add the onion and cook, stirring, until translucent and soft, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin and oregano and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the beans, bay leaves and 7 cups water. Follow the manufacturer’s guide for locking the lid and preparing to cook. Set to pressure cook on high for 1 hour.
- After the pressure cook cycle is complete, follow the manufacturer’s guide for quick release and wait until the quick release cycle is complete. Careful of any remaining steam, unlock and remove the lid and remove the bay leaves. Then remove 1 cup of the beans with a slotted spoon and set aside. Use an immersion blender to blend the black beans with 1 tablespoon salt until thick and creamy. Stir in the reserved whole beans and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with sliced avocado, cilantro leaves, chopped scallions, lime wedges and sour cream.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 240 |
| Total Fat | 3.5 grams |
| Saturated Fat | 0 grams |
| Cholesterol | 0 milligrams |
| Sodium | 480 milligrams |
| Carbohydrates | 40 grams |
| Dietary Fiber | 6 grams |
| Protein | 12 grams |
| Sugar | 6 grams |
Reviews
Is the immersion blender necessary? I’d never even heard of one before.
We really enjoyed this soup!
My changes:
No salt: we don’t use any salt, so I routinely increase the seasonings in a recipe. After reading several of the reviews, I doubled all of the seasonings, including the garlic, and added a tablespoon of Mrs Dash. We don’t handle really hot spice, so I used a small amount of chili powder, and the rest I used smoked paprika, which worked well for our taste preference.
No oil: I sautéed the onion and garlic in a few tablespoons of water.
Measured, then soaked the beans overnight: I drained and rinsed the beans, and then cooked everything in the IP for 10 minutes on high pressure, with a natural release. Since the beans were pre soaked, I added only five cups of water to the IP, which made a nice, slightly thick, creamy soup.
Additions: I stirred in some frozen corn and the juice of a lime after I had puréed most of the soup. I topped each soup bowl with chopped cilantro, and several small grape tomatoes. We were out of tortillas, so we had crackers along side, plus a large chopped salad. Very filling and satisfying. This is definitely a keeper recipe for us.
My changes:
No salt: we don’t use any salt, so I routinely increase the seasonings in a recipe. After reading several of the reviews, I doubled all of the seasonings, including the garlic, and added a tablespoon of Mrs Dash. We don’t handle really hot spice, so I used a small amount of chili powder, and the rest I used smoked paprika, which worked well for our taste preference.
No oil: I sautéed the onion and garlic in a few tablespoons of water.
Measured, then soaked the beans overnight: I drained and rinsed the beans, and then cooked everything in the IP for 10 minutes on high pressure, with a natural release. Since the beans were pre soaked, I added only five cups of water to the IP, which made a nice, slightly thick, creamy soup.
Additions: I stirred in some frozen corn and the juice of a lime after I had puréed most of the soup. I topped each soup bowl with chopped cilantro, and several small grape tomatoes. We were out of tortillas, so we had crackers along side, plus a large chopped salad. Very filling and satisfying. This is definitely a keeper recipe for us.
Here’s to the first recipe I made in an instant pot! (have made it again too) This was a huge hit with the family when I made it a few weeks ago and again more recently. They love black bean soup when we go to mexican or cuban restaurants or get take out. I was pleasantly surprised when my son (who is the biggest fan of black bean soup) liked it more than any in our area. He even asked me to make it again this past weekend. The soup is a wonderful consistency when you follow the recipe and full of flavor. It’s also really easy to make. Love topping with diced avocado, scallion, cotija, fresh squeezed lime and (some also use) sour cream.
Delicious! Made exactly by the recipe. Don’t think it is bland at all and for me the seasoning is perfect. Used all the toppings except for the sour cream. I appreciate the recipe. Thank you Food Network Kitchen!!
Excellent. Be less cheap on the spices, and stir in 1/3 cup of vinegar at the end. Cooked it with some leftover ham in it as well. Perfect.
This was super yummy!! I used low sodium chicken broth instead of water, and heaping measurements of the spices, but everything else was by the recipe. I will for sure make this again!
Made with chicken broth, otherwise kept true to the recipe. Came out amazing, topped with tortilla strips, a squeeze of lime, and a few spoonfuls of cooked chorizo.
Needed a lot of doctoring to become flavorful. Also was way too runny so I whisked in a can of refried beans after I used the immersion blender, which really helped improve consistency. I think I can eyeball my own “recipe” and it’ll be better than this.
I actually thought it was pretty good just following instructions. This was my first time making it. Maybe I would add some celery and peppers to the onions next time but with garnishes it was good as is. Definitely appreciate not using anything with more added sodium.
Won’t make again. The soup was bland and had an odd taste. My husband didn’t like it at all. Good thing I also made corn muffins.