Slow-cooker Black Bean Soup with Avocado Crema is an easy, hands-off meal that lets your crockpot do most of the work. The avocado crema adds a delightful, tangy creaminess to the soup. A perfect lunch, light dinner, or side-dish.
NOTE: this recipe was made possible by a kind gift from Bob's Red Mill. All thoughts are my own (see my disclosure & privacy policy for more details).
Bean Soup in the Crockpot: a lifesaver for busy weekdays
Before I dive into this Mexican-inspired black bean soup slow cooker recipe, I have to explain one of my favorite strategies for delivering hearty, wholesome meals during the workweek. That strategy is to put dried legumes into a slow-cooker with broth, herbs, spices, aromatics, and other yummy stuff, set it on low, and then go away for 8 hours.
When I come home, I have a delicious, savory soup waiting for me. It's so incredibly easy and healthy, you'll wonder why you haven't been doing this since...forever.
My favorite products for pulling off this type of dinner are from Bob's Red Mill: the lovely folks at BRM sent me a fabulous gift box a while back—I felt as giddy as a kid opening Christmas presents.
I have had a crush on this company for years because of its great products and wonderful back-story. Stated briefly, BRM is an employee-owned family business founded by Bob and Charlee Moore. Charlee’s mission to feed her family with healthful, wholesome foods reminds me of my own revelations about healthy eating made simple, which ultimately gave rise to Flipped-Out Food.
That brings us back to my black bean soup recipe...
Making Slow-Cooker Black Bean Soup with Avocado Crema
Making this soup involves about 10 minutes worth of prep in the morning. I slice and chop a few veggies, wash and pick through the beans, and add everything to the crockpot. Because the beans cook low-and-slow all day, there's no need to soak them overnight (in fact, doing so will likely yield mushy beans!).
I often prep vegetables for the garnishes in the morning as well. This includes chopping cilantro, slicing jalapeno, and chopping onions or scallions, for example. Then, I put them all on a platter or plate, cover with plastic wrap, and keep everything in the fridge.
After 8 or so hours, I remove the orange rind, ham hocks, and bay leaves from the beans. Then I zap the soup with my immersion blender. Sometimes I add back some meat picked off the ham hocks, sometimes not.
Finally, I make the avocado crema. This is a simple matter of (CAREFULLY!) pitting and peeling the avocado, and adding it—along with Mexican crema, cilantro, lime, salt, and pepper—to the blender cup of my (rinsed) immersion blender. I do a quick puree until the mixture is smooth.
Vegetarian option
Slow-Cooker Black Bean Soup with Avocado Crema is easily adaptable to a vegetarian diet: simply replace the beef broth with vegetable broth and leave out the ham hocks. You can recapture some of the smokiness conferred by the meat by adding a chipotle pepper to the soup as it cooks. Or, if you're not a fan of the added heat, simply add about ½ tbsp. more of cumin.
That's it! Easy peasy! Leftover slow-cooker black bean soup freezes well stored in air-tight freezer containers (sadly, the avocado crema has to be enjoyed right away). I hope this is a hit with your family! Be sure to check out my Mexican-Inspired Recipes for Cinco de Mayo for more Latin American cuisine.
—xoxo Michelle
Slow-Cooker Black Bean Soup with Avocado Crema
Slow-cooker Black Bean Soup with Avocado Crema is an easy, hands-off meal that lets your crockpot do most of the work. The avocado crema adds a delightful, tangy creaminess to the soup. A perfect lunch, light dinner, or side-dish.
Ingredients
FOR THE BEAN SOUP
- 1 lb dried black beans
- 1 sweet Vidalia onion, sliced into thick rings
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 1 orange rind
- 2 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 tablespoon ancho chile powder
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 2 teaspoon Mexican oregano
- 3 bay leaves
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 cups beef broth (or vegetable broth; see Recipe Note #3)
- 3 cups water
- 2 smoked ham hocks (optional; see Recipe Note #3 and 4)
- 1 chipotle pepper (optional, see Recipe Note #3)
FOR THE AVOCADO CREMA
- 1 avocado, peeled and pitted
- ½ cup Mexican crema or sour cream
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoon cilantro, chopped (optional)
- 2 tablespoon lime juice
FOR SERVING
- cilantro, chopped
- sour cream or Mexican crema
- sliced avocado
- sliced scallions
- sliced jalapeños
- cotija cheese, crumbled
Instructions
FOR THE BEAN SOUP
- Empty beans into a colander; rinse and pick through to remove any stones or other non-bean material. Add beans to slow-cooker along with all remaining ingredients for the soup. Lid and cook on low for up to 8 hours.
- Remove orange rind and bay leaves; discard. Remove ham hocks: you can pick the meat off the bones and add back later (after pureeing the soup), if you'd like, or leave as-is.
- Puree the soup to your liking with an immersion blender (see Recipe Notes #1–2). Check seasoning; adjust as necessary. Serve with avocado crema, condiments, and garnishes.
FOR THE AVOCADO CREMA
- Add all ingredients for the avocado crema to a small food processor or into the blender cup of an immersion blender. Blend until smooth. If you like a looser crema, add 1–2 tbsp. water (this will likely be necessary if you use sour cream in place of Mexican crema).
Notes
- You can also use a blender, but you must cool the soup first and work in batches. (Hot soups in blenders can cause nasty burns and blender explosions!)
- If you like some intact beans remaining for texture, remove a few cups of beans first and add back after pureeing the rest.
- You can make this recipe vegetarian by omitting the ham hocks and substituting vegetable broth for beef broth. To recapture the smokiness of the ham hocks, add a chipotle pepper to the beans while they slow-cook, OR add an extra ½ tbsp. of cumin.
- If you can't find smoked ham hocks, you can use the bone from a smoked ham or simply add some smoked ham cubes (1.5 cups).
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 504Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 26mgSodium: 1234mgCarbohydrates: 63gFiber: 18gSugar: 7gProtein: 23g
Nutrition data provided here is only an estimate: if you are tracking this information for medical purposes, please consult a trusted external source. Thanks!
Monika Dabrowski says
I have tasted this kind of soup but I imagine is full of flavour from being slow cooked as well as the lovely ingredients in it! I just love the avocado crema!
Michelle says
Thank you, Monika! It's so easy and yummy—I'm making it again this week!
Edyta at Innocent Delight says
This is such a lovely and easy dinner idea during a week. Just set it and forget it. I love black beans and the addition of avocado creama is brilliant.
Michelle says
You're so kind, Edyta! I hope this is a hit with your family!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food says
Black beans are a favourite in our home! Love how easy, hearty and delicious this one looks!
Michelle says
Thanks so much, Dawn! I hope you love it. 😉
Jyothi(Jo) says
That soup sounds delicious Michelle. Love slow cooker soup for all its flavors.
Michelle says
I agree, Jo! The long slow-cook does magic for infusing flavor into a soup.
Elaine @ Dishes Delish says
I adore black bean soup! I love using slow cookers and this soup looks so delicious, especially with the ham hocks, not to mention the avocado crema! Hold me back!!
Michelle says
Thank you, Elaine! This is a regular in my slow-cooker rotation! 🙂
Jo Allison / Jo's Kitchen Larder says
Your soup sounds delicious Michelle! I do love ham hocks and very often use them to make split pea and ham soup which we all love but your black bean soup is definitely calling my name now. I will be so trying it! I love the sound of avocado crema too and the fact that you simply bang everything in the slow cooker and forget about it! It doesn't get better than that! 🙂
Michelle says
Thank you, Jo! I agree: ham hocks are just wonderful for adding loads of flavor to soups. You just made me hungry for split pea and ham! 😉
Beth says
I totally love to cook dry beans in the slow cooker! I can never get them to come out on the stove top! I love this recipe! I haven't made a black bean soup yet! Must give this a try!!!
Michelle says
Thanks so much, Beth!! I have the same problem with stovetop beans, so letting the slow-cooker do it all seems like a no-brainer!
Corina Blum says
It sounds delicious and I love how the soup is made from dried beans with no need for soaking. I need to try that again as I think I've made a soup that way a few years ago but I tend to use canned beans most of the time now. Thanks so much for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice and have a good weekend!
Michelle says
Thank you, Corina! I use a lot of canned beans as well, but this is one soup where it's actually easier start with dried! 😉