Crockpot Black Bean Soup

This week I cleaned out the pantry and I found so many dried beans and lentils I decided I needed to utilize them. I had some black beans, so I decided to make a soup with them in my crockpot. I think a lot of people are turned off by dried beans because there's the whole soaking overnight and cooking on the stove for hours, however using a crockpot eliminates most of the problem. For larger beans, soaking may be necessary even when using the crockpot, but for smaller beans like black beans, soaking isn't necessary at all. Thanks to the crockpot, there's no reason not to cook such an inexpensive protein source like beans.

I prefer black bean soup made from dried beans because they seem to thicken the broth more successfully than canned beans. This soup is very customizable because you can make it more or less spicy, you can garnish it with whatever you want, you can add rice, sausage, chorizo...the possibilities are endless.

Crockpot Black Bean Soup

1 cup dried black beans
3/4 cup diced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1 14.5-oz can petite diced tomatoes
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
green chilies, minced, to taste (optional)
garnishes: shredded cheese, sour cream, sliced scallions, diced onion, whatever you like!

1. Place the beans in a colander and rinse them until the water runs clear.
2. Add the beans along with the rest of the ingredients (except garnishes) to the crockpot.
3. Turn the crockpot on and cook on high for 6-8 hours or low 8-10 hours.
4. Serve immediately with garnishes.

Servings per recipe: 3
Per serving:
Calories: 266
Fat: 1.4 g
Saturated fat: 0.3 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 408 mg
Carbohydrates: 50 g
Fiber: 12.2 g
Sugar: 6.2 g
Protein: 15.8 g