Packed with bright, Mexican-inspired flavours, this black bean soup with sweet corn is so tasty that it’s sure to become a quick favourite for lunch or a light dinner. It’s easy to play around with the heat level of this soup and it uses a lot of really complex, vibrant and classic “south of the border” flavours that it’s sure to scratch that Mexican food itch – not unlike my Mexican-style brown rice recipe.
You can also easily get this soup on the table in less than an hour and you can make it in any season because it’s great even if you’re using frozen corn!
How to Make Mexican Corn and Bean Soup
Like most of my soup recipes (see my chickpea and rice soup or white bean soup, for example), this recipe starts with cooking down the aromatics.
I urge you not to skip out on this step as it’s quite essential in building the flavour profile of the finished soup.
Add some oil to a large saucepan and set it over medium heat. Add in a diced onion, some finely diced celery, a couple of diced jalapeños (go ahead and remove the ribs and seeds if you’re sensitive to heat) and the finely minced stems of some cilantro (you will add the leaves later).
Season these generously with salt and cook, stirring every so often, until they’ve reduced significantly in size and are beginning to brown around the edges – this will take about 10-15 minutes. Be patient – it’s worth it!
Once you’ve reached this stage, add in a bunch of finely minced garlic and a touch of tomato paste. Stir this in and cook until the garlic is very fragrant and the tomato paste begins to darken – only about a minute or two longer.
Then, add in some chili powder (I tend to make my own with ground, dried chiles and some spices, but store-bought will work, as well) a touch of ground cumin and some cocoa powder.
Again, to adjust the heat of this recipe, go ahead and use a mild chili powder if you want it less spicy and a hot chili powder if you want the soup to pack a punch.
Stir the spices into the mixture and cook for only about a minute longer before adding your black beans.
Stir the beans in to coat in the onions and spices and then add some canned tomatoes along with a bit of chipotle chiles in adobo and some lime zest. Stir all of this to combine.
Now, pour over some vegetable stock (or use chicken stock if you don’t care about making this vegetarian/vegan), some soy sauce and a bit of salt. Bring everything up to a gentle simmer.
Next, it’s time to puree half of the soup. You can do this by using a stick blender to partially puree it in the pot, ladle half of the soup into the jar of a standard blender and puree it that way or use a potato masher to mash up a good portion of the beans. It’s really up to you!
After you’ve done this, bring it up to a simmer again and add your corn. Then, allow the soup to bubble for about 10 to 15 more minutes before stirring in some lime juice and your cilantro leaves. This is a good time to also taste and adjust for seasoning.
Mexican Black Bean & Corn Soup
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion finely diced
- 1-2 ribs celery finely minced
- 2-3 jalapeños finely diced, ribs & seeds removed if desired (see note)
- 20 g (¼ cup) fresh cilantro leaves picked and stems finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic finely minced
- 2 tsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp cocoa powder
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 (400g/14oz) cans black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 (400g/14oz) can whole peeled tomatoes thoroughly crushed with hands
- 1 tbsp chipotle chiles in adobo finely diced
- ½ tsp lime zest
- 1 litre (4¼ cups) vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 500 g (1 lb) corn kernels fresh or frozen
- 1 tbsp lime juice from about ½ lime, plus more to taste
Instructions
- Add 3tbsp of neutral oil to a large saucepan or Dutch oven and set over medium heat. Once shimmering, add the onion, celery, jalapeños and cilantro stems along with a generous pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are beginning to brown around the edges and the moisture has been cooked off – about 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic and the tomato paste. Cook for a few more minutes, just until the garlic is very fragrant and the tomato paste begins to darken.
- Add the chili powder, cumin, cocoa powder and cinnamon and stir until well combined and cook until very fragrant – only about one minute longer.
- Add the beans and stir to combine in the onion and spice mixture. Pour over the tomatoes, chipotle chiles and the lime zest. Stir to combine.
- Pour over the vegetable stock, soy sauce and add ½ tsp of salt. Stir to combine and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Using a stick blender, puree until the soup is about half pureed. Alternatively, ladle half of the soup into a standard blender and puree until soup. Pour into the pot with the remaining soup and stir to combine. If neither of these suit, use a potato masher to mash half of the beans in the soup,
- Add the corn and bring to a simmer. Allow the soup to simmer for about 10-15 minutes.
- Stir in the cilantro leaves and the lime juice. Taste to adjust for seasoning, adding more salt or lime juice as you see fit. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutritional information is automatically generated and provided as guidance only. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
You can serve this soup immediately along with some crispy tortillas or topped with cheese. Alternatively, it freezes brilliantly so go ahead and make a big batch of it to freeze for later use!
Are you looking for a great black bean soup? Have any questions about this recipe? Let me know in the comments!
