Veggie-Packed Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup
A hearty, healthy slow cooker black bean soup that’s packed with vegetables, and only takes a few minutes to prepare!
If you want a hearty, healthy dinner, but you don’t want to actually have to spend more than 5 minutes making it (I feel you), this slow cooker black bean soup is the answer to your prayers. It’s packed with veggies, and practically cooks itself. Just chuck everything in the slow cooker, and a few hours later, it’s ready to eat. Hallelujah!
Summer slow cooking
I don’t often think to use my slow cooker at this time of year. Slow cookers are obviously great for cooking wintery vegetarian stews and hearty casseroles – but there’s no reason you can’t enjoy slow cooked food in the warmer months too.
This black bean soup is great year-round. In the winter, you can make it extra hearty with some melted cheese and crusty bread and butter. Or, in the summer, keep things light by topping it with some extra veggies and a dollop of sour cream.
Slow cooker black bean soup
Black bean soup is one of my favourite soups of all time, and this slow cooker version checks every single box.
- It’s full of healthy, whole ingredients like fresh vegetables and beans.
- It’s completely delicious, with heaps of flavour.
- It’s a great fridge clearer, and can easily be adapted to use whatever veg you have lingering in the fridge.
- It’s very low effort, and cooks itself in the slow cooker.
- It reheats beautifully, if you have any leftovers.
- It can be personalised with your own choice of toppings.
I’ve never had a more perfect soup.
Veggie-packed soup
The soup begins with the vegetables.
I like to chop the veg fairly small (I even grate the carrots), and they cook down so much that they become almost invisible in the finished soup. If you’re trying to hide the vegetables – either from picky kids, or just from yourself – it’s perfect. And if you’d prefer a chunkier soup with bigger pieces of veg, just don’t cut them as finely.
Hiding in this black bean soup, there are two big carrots, a huge handful of spinach, and a whole red pepper. They bring extra flavour and goodness to the soup, without putting off any veggie-haters.
Refried bean soup
Next up, add the black beans, and a tin of chopped tomatoes. I also love to add a tin of refried beans. I’m obsessed with these things – they may look like cat food when you first open the tin, but they’re unbelievably tasty, and they help to make the soup extra thick and creamy.
Make sure your refried beans are vegetarian, if necessary. In the UK, I’ve never seen non-veggie ones, but I’ve heard that elsewhere, they can contain lard, so just make sure you check before you buy. The Old El Paso refried beans* are my favourite ones on the planet. I could eat them straight from the tin (in fact, I regularly do…).
Or you can use homemade refried beans instead, if you prefer!
When you’ve added all the ingredients to your slow cooker, just give it a good mix, and it’s ready to go.
Slow cooker soup
This slow cooker black bean soup is pretty forgiving. It doesn’t really matter how long you cook it for – anything from 5 to 7 hours will be totally fine (or even a little longer), so just serve it up whenever is convenient for you.
Obviously the longer you cook it, the richer it will be, and the more the vegetables will have cooked down – so I’d err on the side of slightly longer, if you have the time.
When it’s ready, it should look a little bit like this.
Chunky vs smooth soup
I left my black bean soup chunky, because that’s how I like it, and seeing little flecks of green and red vegetables in my soup doesn’t put me off (considering I put the vegetables in myself, it would be a bit odd if it did).
However if you really want to deny the vegetables’ very existence (or you just like a smooth and creamy soup), you could always blend your soup before serving so that nobody suspects a thing.
I actually blended up my kids’ portions, and it worked really well as a smooth soup, too. The beans make it nice and thick, so just add a splash more water if you prefer a thinner soup.
Soup toppings
You know I love a good topping, especially with Tex-Mex style food. This black bean soup is absolutely perfect for topping!
The soup itself is vegan, but you can add whatever toppings you fancy. Here are a few ideas:
- melted grated cheese
- sour cream
- fresh coriander (cilantro)
- sliced spring onions
- crushed tortilla chips
- diced avocado
Can I reheat the leftovers?
Since it’s already been cooked to oblivion, this black bean soup is just as good reheated the next day. It’s the perfect thing to make in batches, to last you a few days for lunch.
If it were me, I’d pop some cheese on top before you reheat it, and it’ll get nice and melty. The perfect black bean soup.
More Black Bean Recipes
Veggie-Packed Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup
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Print Pin CommentIngredients
- 2 medium carrots, grated
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 1 large handful spinach, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 x 400g tins black beans, drained (480g, or ~ 2 1/2 cups, when drained)
- 400 g tin (~ 1 1/3 cups) chopped tomatoes
- 435 g tin (~ 1 1/3 cups) refried beans (spicy or mild)
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp hot chilli powder optional
- 200 ml (~ 3/4 cup) water
- Optional toppings: chopped fresh coriander (cilantro), grated cheese, crumbled tortilla chips, sour cream, etc.
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients (apart from your toppings) into the slow cooker, and mix well. Cook for at least 5 hours on high (longer is also fine).
- You can blend the soup before serving (add a splash more water if it ends up too thick), or leave it chunky. Add your chosen toppings to serve.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
Love the name of your blog!
Recipe looks great and I’ll Pin to try it later.
Wow, this recipe sounded great and then I read the cooking instructions and now I really love it! Dump everything in the crockpot and go have a cocktail. Can’t wait to try it.
Hahaha lady I like your thinking ;) I don’t really get the point of slow cooker recipes that require pre-cooking, seems to sort of defeat the point!!
Thanks Becca, this is ready and cooling off on my hob now (had to do a hurry-up stovetop version) for Friday night dinner after DH and I pick up the kids. Because there are little people involved there is no chili powder in the pot, but my bowl will have some. Cheers!
Ooh great! I really hope you all enjoy it Katharine :)
Just discovered your website, and ive enjoyed having a look around at the scrummy recipes and the gorgeous photos.
Just wondered if the refried beans add a lot to this soup? I have everything in my cupboard but those.
Thanks in advance
Hi! To be honest I think they actually do add something – they make it nice and thick. You could definitely make it without the refried beans and it will still be nice, but I do think they take it to the next level.
Cool, il wait and make it as intended ;-)
Thanks for the reply
Would I be able to use frozen spinach in this recipe or would it perhaps alter the consistency of the soup? Also do you know if this is a good soup to make in bulk and freeze for later? Thanks!
I can’t see why you couldn’t use frozen spinach! And I have no idea about freezing the soup itself but again, I can’t think of any reason why you couldn’t!
You’re so quick to respond, thank you so much! I just came across your site and am so excited to try all the different recipes that you’ve posted!
Thanks for this delicious recipe! My kids loved it and told me to make it again soon. I’m always happy when they enjoy something so healthy. And I had fun explaining to my American children what grams and tins are!
Hi Kristen, thanks so much for your message! I’m so glad your kids liked the soup and that they learned something new at the same time!! :)
wonderful recipe. Thanks for sharing.
This sounds delicious, but here in the US, tin can linings contain a hormone-disrupting chemical called BPA (Bisphenol-A) that leaches into the foods they contain. Have you ever made it with dried beans? I would imagine you could just add more liquid. Any thoughts or tips?
I’ve actually never cooked with dried beans! So I’m afraid I don’t have any tips.
Thanks for your reply; if I try it, I’ll let you know what happens. :)
That would be good! Thanks! :)
If you have pressure cooker , you can put your 1 cup of dried beans to 3 cups of water and Cook directly . I usually keep my pressure cooker open until it starts boiling and then close the lid . May be 5-6 whistles . Turn down your gas low heat for 10 min . That’s it
Dry beans will work. I recomend and over night soak and cook then for 1 1/2 to 2 hours before putting in the crock pot with anything acidic, like tomatoes, as they seem to stop the beeans from absorbing liquid. I hope this helps!
I had the exact same question, and found a few rather useful discussions at stackexchange
and at chowhound
In essence, most of the discussion seems to indicate that it is wise to pre-cook the beans. I feel obligated to mention that I’ve also read about warnings about how some beans in dried form require cooking/boiling at a certain temperature hot enough to break down any toxins (phytohemagglutinins?) that exist in the beans’ raw form (like kidney beans) and that sometimes undercooking the beans can increase the level of toxins in the bean– boiling for at least 10 minutes seems to be the most recommended solution for beans like kidneys. More info can be found here
Thanks so much! I will give it a try!
I just tossed the carrots, spinach & garlic in my food processor. Zap and I was done! It’s cooking now. WIll advise of outcome. Also thought a bit of kale wouldn’t hurt either.
I just made this and it was incredible! It was so easy to put together on a day that I woke up sick and miserable. Thank you for another great recipe.