We have a salsa problem in our house.
We continue to buy new jars of salsa, open them, eat 75% of the salsa, put the unfinished jar in the fridge, and restart the cycle.
Which means our fridge is constantly filling up with mostly-empty salsa jars. Corn salsas, chipotle salsas, regular chunky salsas, green salsas. Salsa jar storage has become the main function of our fridge door.
This soup has become a go-to for the days we realize we have an obscene amount of salsa and need to do something about it. We love it not only for it freeing up our fridge door, but also because it’s a really delicious, chunky, flavorful black bean soup that requires minimal effort.
Throw your favorite salsa, black beans, and cumin into a pot and simmer away.
The salsa you use will have a big impact on the flavor of your soup, so pick one you like! I’m partial to a chipotle salsa or a regular chunky salsa, but there’s really no way to go wrong. Get wild and experiment!
Of course, you can also use a combination of all of the partially-eaten salsa jars you (may or may not, I promise I won’t tell) currently have taking up valuable real estate in your fridge.
As always, 80% of my desire to make/eat soup is for the soup itself, and the other 20% is for the toppings. Black beans soup is perhaps the best base soup for all of the Mexican toppings! Avocado, jalapeño, onion, sour cream, cheese, lime, cilantro, and definitely tortilla chips!
Now I need to go deal with the fact that I have both greatly improved our salsa situation, and made it drastically worse by increasing our household salsa needs so we can keep eating this soup!
30 Minute Black Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 4 (15.5 ounce) cans black beans
- 2 cups salsa
- 2 teaspoons cumin
For serving: Lime wedges, cilantro, shredded cheese, sweet corn, sour cream, sliced jalapeño, chopped red onion, diced avocado, tortilla chips
Directions
Place all ingredients in a medium stockpot. Cover and simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes, until heated through. If you like a thicker black bean soup, remove 1-2 cups of the soup to a blender and puree. Stir back into the soup.
Serve piled high with all your favorite toppings!
If I have them on hand, I use these stovetop black beans to make this soup. Use 6 cups of beans and 2 cups of their liquid to replace the 4 cans of beans.
The salsa you use will have a big impact on the flavor of this soup, so pick a favorite!
