• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • All Recipes
  • About
Occasionally Eggs

Occasionally Eggs

Healthy Vegetarian Recipes for Every Season

  • Cookbook
  • Contact
  • All Recipes
  • About
  • Cookbook
  • Contact
Soups and Stews

End of Summer Spicy Black Bean Soup

September 15, 2021 by Alexandra Daum
This quick spicy black bean soup is full of high-summer vegetables - tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini, topped with a little pickled onions. A great cool weather summer meal.
Jump to Recipe
A bowl of soup on a plate with bread and lime pieces.

I’m a big believer in summer soups, because there are always chilly days, even in August, and certainly when summer begins to wane in September. In northern Europe you’re guaranteed at least one day in the low teens in summer. So, use some of the fabulous seasonal produce in a soup.

With a refreshing mix of fresh red pepper, zucchini, and pantry staples like black beans and canned tomatoes, this spicy black bean soup is just right for weeknight dinners. Even if the weather isn’t so warm I still want a summery meal, and that means short cooking times.

Try serving this with some zucchini cornbread for a cozy dinner, sitting outside if you can! We have to take advantage of the longer daylight hours while they last.

Ingredients

  • Onion: small, about a tennis ball in size. Yellow or red.
  • Carrots: scrubbed is fine, they don’t need to peeled unless really necessary.
  • Sweet Pepper: preferably red, for the best taste, but orange or yellow work too.
  • Zucchini: courgette – a yellow disc type is pictured, but any variety can be used.
  • Eggplant: aubergine – small. If it’s quite large, scoop out the seedy innards before using.
  • Garlic: three cloves.
  • Hot Pepper: fresh, as pictured, or dried seeds or powder.
  • Spices: cumin, paprika, black pepper, and sea salt.
  • Canned Tomatoes: or fresh (see below) if preferred. Diced or whole but not puree.
  • Water or Vegetable Broth: you can get away with water here as it’s such a flavourful soup.
  • Black Beans: cooked or canned. If using canned, rinse them very well before adding.
  • Toppings: pickled onion, lime, and parsley or cilantro.
Spicy black bean soup ingredients.

Step by Step

  • Translucent cooked onions in a pot.
    Sauté the onion in olive oil until translucent.
  • Carrots added to the soup pot.
    Add the carrots and cook another few minutes.
  • Pepper, zucchini, and eggplant added to the pot.
    Add the remaining vegetables.
  • Garlic and spiced added, showing that the vegetables have reduced during cooking.
    Stir in the garlic, hot pepper, and spices.
  • Canned tomatoes, water, and black beans added to the pot.
    Add broth, tomatoes, and beans.
  • Finished soup in a large black pot on the stove.
    Simmer for about 15 minutes, and serve.

Notes and Substitutions

Use whatever vegetables you have on hand. Corn or even new potatoes or sweet potato would all be good here – just add a little more simmering time if using potatoes. You can switch out the black beans for kidney beans.

Fresh tomatoes are an excellent substitution for canned. Weigh them if possible, or use 2-3 medium sized tomatoes.

If you’re very sensitive to spice (but making a spicy black bean soup) the hot pepper can be reduced. Use half a pepper, or scrape the seeds and pith (the white part) out before chopping.

Without toppings, the soup freezes well in airtight containers for about three months. Apart from pickled onions, avocado or a vegan yogurt or sour cream are great additions to top the soup.

More Summer Dinner Ideas

Mexican Lentil Salad with Lime Vinaigrette
Summer Harvest Burrito Bowl
End of Summer Greek Chickpea Salad
Vegan Quinoa Black Bean Tacos

More Quick Soups and Stews

Vegetarian Borscht
Black Bean Sweet Potato Chili
Roasted Tomato, Zucchini, and Eggplant Soup
Spring Green Vegetable Coconut Rice Noodles

Let’s connect! For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email. If you make this recipe, I’d love to see! Tag your instagram versions with @occasionallyeggs.

Yield: 4

End of Summer Spicy Black Bean Soup

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
No ratings yet

Ingredients

Metric – American
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 small onion diced
  • 2 medium carrots halved lengthwise and sliced
  • 1 large sweet pepper diced
  • 1 medium zucchini diced
  • 1 small eggplant diced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 hot pepper finely diced (to taste)
  • ½ teaspoon cumin
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt to taste
  • ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika optional
  • 400 grams canned tomatoes
  • 1 litre 4 cups vegetable broth or water
  • 500 grams cooked or canned black beans, rinsed well
  • Toppings: pickled onions lime juice, and parsley or cilantro

Instructions

  • Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large pot. Once hot, add the onion. Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until fragrant and translucent.
  • Add the carrots and cook for another 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Add the sweet pepper, zucchini, and eggplant, and cook for another couple of minutes.
  • Stir in the garlic, hot pepper, cumin, black pepper, salt, and paprika. Cook another minute or so.
  • Add the tomatoes, broth or water, and black beans. Stir to combine, then cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, reducing the heat to low if necessary.
  • Taste and season if needed. Serve topped with pickled onions, a squeeze of lime, and a small handful of parsley or cilantro. Leftovers will keep for up to three days in the refrigerator and freeze for up to three months.

Notes

Use whatever vegetables you have on hand. Corn or even new potatoes or sweet potato would all be good here – just add a little more simmering time if using potatoes. You can switch out the black beans for kidney beans.
Fresh tomatoes are an excellent substitution for canned. Weigh them if possible, or use 2-3 medium sized tomatoes.
If you’re very sensitive to spice (but making a spicy black bean soup) the hot pepper can be reduced. Use half a pepper, or scrape the seeds and pith (the white part) out before chopping. To use dried, either use 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or hot pepper flakes, or add to taste.

* For American cup measurements, please click the pink link text above the ingredient list that says ‘American’.


Nutrition

Serving: 1 Calories: 231kcal Carbohydrates: 43g Protein: 11g Fat: 4g Saturated Fat: 1g Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g Sodium: 890mg Fiber: 15g Sugar: 10g

Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.

© Alexandra Daum
Course: Soups and Stews
Cuisine: American
Print

Newsletter

Sign up for weekly updates and subscriber-only recipes.

This post was first published in June 2014. It has been updated with significant improvements to the text and recipe as of September 2021.

More Soups and Stews:

Pinto bean soup with tortilla chips, avocado, and red onion.Spicy Pinto Bean Soup
A bowl of creamy parsnip soup with bread and herbs.Roasted Parsnip Soup
Close up of two bowls of soup on a warm wooden background.Creamy Cauliflower Potato Soup
A bowl of tomato soup with rough croutons and pesto added.Roasted Tomato, Zucchini, and Eggplant Soup

Previous Post: « Vegetable Udon Noodle Stir Fry
Next Post: Roasted Broccoli and Sweet Potato Lentil Bowl »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Alexandra
Recipes
FAQ
Contact
Work With Me

STAY IN CONTACT
get weekly updates, exclusive recipes, and more

   

Get the cookbook

© 2023 Occasionally Eggs | Images and text may not be used without permission | Privacy Policy