Mexican Bean Soup is one of our favourite spicy vegetarian recipes to cook at home in the Fall and Winter.
Our authentic Mexica Bean Soup recipe is quick and easy to make, ready to serve in under an hour.
You’ll love spooning through a bowl of homemade Vegetarian Bean Soup featuring flavourful garlic, onions, cumin, chipotle peppers, lime juice and avocado.
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What Is Soup?
Soup is a liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but can also be served cold like gazpacho), that is prepared by combining meat or vegetables with stock or water.
Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavours are extracted, creating a rich broth.
Soups are similar to stews, and in some cases there may not be a clear distinction between the two. Soups generally have more liquid (broth) than chunkier and heartier stews.
In traditional French cuisine, soups are classified into two groups: clear soups (bouillon and consomme) and thick soups (purees, bisques, veloutes).
Purées are vegetable soups thickened with starch; bisques are made from puréed shellfish or vegetables thickened with cream; cream soups may be thickened with béchamel sauce; and veloutés are thickened with eggs, butter, and cream.
History of Soup
Evidence of the existence of soup can be found as far back as about 20,000 BC. Boiling was not a common cooking technique until the invention of waterproof containers, such as clay pots. To boil the water hot rocks were used.
The word soup comes from French soupe (broth), which comes through Vulgar Latin suppa (“bread soaked in broth”) from a Germanic source, from which also comes the word “sop”, a piece of bread used to soak up soup or a thick stew.
The word restaurant (meaning “restoring”) was first used in France in the 16th century, to refer to a highly concentrated, inexpensive soup, sold by street vendors, that was advertised as a cure to physical exhaustion. In 1765, a Parisian entrepreneur opened a shop specializing in such soups. This prompted the use of the modern word restaurant for eating establishments.
In America, the first colonial cookbook was published by William Parks in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1742, based on Eliza Smith’s The Compleat Housewife; or Accomplished Gentlewoman’s Companion, and it included several recipes for soups and bisques.
English cooking dominated early colonial cooking; but as new immigrants arrived from other countries, other national soups gained popularity. In particular, German immigrants living in Pennsylvania were famous for their potato soups. In 1794, Jean Baptiste Gilbert Payplat dis Julien, a refugee from the French Revolution, opened an eating establishment in Massachusetts called The Restorator, and became known as the “Prince of Soups”.
Travel to Mexico by Cooking Bean Soup at Home
I love traveling to Latin America.
As a professional food and travel journalist, I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy amazing meals in Central America, South America and the Caribbean, from traditional markets to award winning restaurants.
For over ten years, I’ve been on the hunt for the best Mexican Bean Soup recipe. I’ve embarked on culinary adventures at local restaurants in Cuba, Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Curacao, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil.
In Mexico, I’ve slurped through steaming bowls of traditional Mexican Bean Soup at restaurants in Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, Mexico City, Merida, Chichen Itza and Playa del Carmen.
Authentic Mexican Bean Soup is a spicy vegetarian soup featuring tomatoes, garlic, onions, spicy chipotle peppers, pureed black beans, cumin, avocado and lime.
After enjoying your first few sips, you’ll realize why a steaming bowl of traditional Mexican Bean Soup is a must-try when visiting Mexico!
Where To Eat Authentic Mexican Soup
If you live in a large city in Canada or America you’ll likely have access to a local Mexican restaurant that serves traditional Spicy Bean Soup.
Haven’t traveled to Mexico before? It may be helpful to first sample traditional Mexican Bean Soup at a local restaurant to better understand how it is served. You’ll get an idea of how much avocado and tortilla to garnish on the top of each bowl. You’ll also find inspiration on what to pair with Mexican Bean Soup including queso, fajita tacos or baked jalapeno poppers.
In Toronto, the best Mexican restaurants that may offer vegetarian bean soup include El Rey, La Carnita, Playa Cabana, El Catrin, Campechano, El Trompo, Fonda Lola, Hot Mess Tex Mex, Rosalinda, Reposado Bar, Grand Electric and Milagro.
My Family Loves Mexican Bean Soup
My family has a tradition of eating soup and salad for lunch on Sunday’s after getting home from church. Soup is such an simple and brainless meal to serve a busy family with kids.
My dad would often make cream of tomato soup and serve a bowl with grilled cheese sandwiches and pickles. Our family also loved slurping through bowls of Butternut Squash Soup, French Onion Soup and Chicken Noodle Soup.
Some of the fondest memories of my childhood spent in Toronto, Markham, Oakville and Muskoka are cozying up to a bowl of homemade soup with gourmet crackers, artisanal cheese and sourdough bread.
During October in Ontario we’d often visit popular Fall Fairs in Norfolk County, Niagara and Prince Edward County to go on fun rides, run through corn mazes and purchase fresh local fruits and vegetables at the peak of harvest season.
Carrot, celery, onion, black beans, tomatoes and cilantro are available in abundance year round in Canada but we especially love to serve this savoury soup during Thanksgiving and the chilly winter season.
The best vegetarian Mexican Bean Soup is full of hearty ingredients. The simple and spicy bean soup is a great way to incorporate nutritious ingredients into your diet during the colder months of the year.
Bean Soup Health Benefits
Our Mexican Bean Soup recipe is packed full of healthy ingredients!
Onions are a humble vegetable packed with vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. Regular consumption of leeks can help boost digestive health and reduce the risk of developing heart disease.
It is only recently that scientists have begun to identify the components responsible for garlic’s myriad health benefits. Rich in phytochemicals and potassium, garlic helps boost your immune system, fight cancer and protect your heart.
An excellent source of vitamin A and the phytochemical beta-carotene, carrots help keep your eyes and bones healthy, and may help protect against several types of cancer.
Celery is a great source of antioxidants, reduces inflammation and supports digestions.
Rich in a group of phytochemicals called carotenoids, tomatoes may help reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, and provide protection against cancer. Tomatoes are also a good source of immune-boosting vitamin C.
Beans are rich in cancer-fighting vitamin C, energy-boosting B vitamins, and gut-healthy fibre.
A rich source of phytochemicals and vitamin C, limes help boost your immune system and neutralize free radicals that cause disease and skin aging. Lemons also protect against heart disease and help improve blood flow to the brain.
Packed with calcium and friendly probiotic bacteria, sour cream and yogurt help keep your bones strong and your gut healthy. Yogurt may also help reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes and some types of cancer.
Avocados contain almost 20 different vitamins and minerals, phytochemicals, and good fats that together support your heart health and nervous system.
A rich source of blood-building iron, cumin may also help balance your blood sugar levels and reduce bad cholesterol. It is also traditionally used as a digestive aid.
A good source of bone-strengthening vitamin K, cilantro is also rich in antioxidants that help protect the eyes from damage by free radicals.
Mexican Bean Soup Recipe Tips
This healthy vegetarian Mexican Soup is quick and easy to make at home. We’ve included a few tips for first time soup makers!
- Use a large cast iron dutch oven with a high rim to reduce splatter when cooking and pureeing the vegetables.
- In our recipe below we suggest using an immersion blender to puree the cooked vegetables but you could also use a heavy duty Vitamix.
- We suggest using a high quality rubber spatula spoon when making soup so you can easily stir, scrape down the side of the pot and sip to check if it needs to be seasoned further with more salt before spooning into bowls.
- You can make a vegan Mexican bean soup recipe by omitting the sour cream.
- If you’re a meat lover looking for additional protein, feel free to add shredded chicken, roast pork or slices of steak.
- If you’d like to make the recipe extra spicy, feel free to top with fermented jalapeno peppers or your favourite hot sauce.
What To Serve with Bean Soup
There’s nothing more comforting on a cold day then cozying up to a bowl of soup with a fresh salad, gourmet crackers, artisanal cheeses, sourdough bread, savoury muffins and homemade pickles.
If you’re hosting a large dinner party you might want to serve our easy Mexican Bean Soup as an appetizer before serving heartier mains. We love serving this soup with Osaka Okonomayaki, Calgary Ginger Beef, Keto Jalapeno Poppers, Instant Pot Short Rib Ragu, Cheesy Polenta, Vegetarian Roti Canai Curry, Gruyere Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Old School Cheese and Onion Pie, Green Onion Cake, Baked Mediterranean Chicken Thighs, Baked Chicken Cracklings, Homemade Savoury Pickle Pie, Indian Crepes, Vietnamese Crepe Bánh Xèo, Tartiflette Reblochon or Ricotta Gnocchi.
After dinner why not dazzle your guests with one of our popular desserts such as Oat Flour Cookies with Chocolate Chips, Dark Chocolate Lindt Lindor Cookies, Maraschino Cherry Cupcakes Recipe or Cinnamon Babka For Chocolate Lovers.
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Storing Soup
If you have leftover Mexican Bean Soup you can store it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week. To reheat simply zap it in the microwave or simmer in a small saucepan on the stove.
We love doubling our soup recipes so can store leftovers in the freezer and save time on cooking in the kitchen. We suggest storing leftover soup in Pyrex freezer safe containers that have a snug lid so there’s not spilling. My mother often uses old glass pasta sauce jars to store soup in the freezer.
Be sure to let your soup reach room temperature before storing it in the freezer. If you add a hot jar of soup to a cold freezer it will significantly reduce the interior temperature and potentially spoil your food.
How To Make Mexican Bean Soup
Vegetarian Spicy Mexican Bean Soup
Equipment
- Large pot or Dutch Oven
- French knife
- Wooden spoon or spatula
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Canola oil
- 19 oz Canned Black Beans
- 4 Roma tomatoes roughly chopped
- 1 Spanish onion roughly chopped
- 2 Celery ribs roughly chopped
- 1 Carrot roughly chopped
- 5 Garlic cloves minced
- 1 Chipotle Pepper
- 4 cups Vegetable broth
- 2 tsp Cumin
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- 1/8 tsp Black Pepper
- 2 tsp Lime juice
- 1 Avocado sliced
- 1/4 cup Sour cream
- Cilantro
- Tortilla chips
Instructions
- Stir in the cumin and chipotle pepper and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Pour in the beans and broth and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cook, reducing heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer, until the broth is flavourful and the beans are tender, about 25 minutes.
- Stir in the cilantro, lime juice and salt and pepper, to taste. Serve garnished with sliced avocado, dollop of sour cream and tortilla chips.
Nutrition
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