Smoky Kidney Bean Soup
A tasty but simple red kidney bean soup recipe using canned beans. Full of smoky Mexican style flavors, with a thick, smooth and creamy texture thanks to the richness of the pureed beans. This soup is filling enough to be a complete meal with a variety of contrasting toppings and can be easily made vegan.
Ingredients
- 1 large white or brown onion
- 1 small carrot
- ½ stalk celery
- 5 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp chili powder
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 28 oz (800 g) canned kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 3.5 cups (830 ml) vegetable stock
- ½ tsp salt, see notes
- ½ lime, for juicing
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) sour cream , optional
Toppings
- crumbled tortilla chips
- sour cream
- lime wedges
- chopped cilantro (coriander)
Instructions
- In a large soup pot, heat a shallow layer of coconut or olive oil and saute the onions, carrots and celery over a low heat until they are all soft. This will be around 10-15 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste to the pan and stir through for a few more minutes, then add the garlic and fennel seeds and mix until their fragrance is releasing.
- Add the ground spices and mix through, again adding more oil if the pan feels dry, just until the spices are fragrant.
- Add the beans to the pan and mix through.
- Now pour in the vegetable stock and allow the soup to simmer for at least 15 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and puree the soup. The easiest way is to use a hand blender to puree the soup directly in the pan. If you don't have one, you can use a jug blender as an alternative. You just need to allow it to cool down a little and then blend it in small batches.
- When you're ready to serve the soup, squeeze in juice of 1/2 lime (saving the other half to cut into wedges for serving) and stir the sour cream through the soup until it's just mixed in.
- Serve with your choice of toppings.
Notes
Salt: If you're using salted beans you can skip this. In the US, most canned beans are salted unless they specify "low sodium". In the UK, canned beans are typically not salted but some of the jarred ones are.
Nutritional information excludes toppings.
Calories: 256kcal, Carbohydrates: 43g, Protein: 13g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 11mg, Sodium: 1466mg, Potassium: 807mg, Fiber: 13g, Sugar: 10g, Vitamin A: 3362IU, Vitamin C: 11mg, Calcium: 135mg, Iron: 4mg