This hearty Black Bean Quinoa Soup features sweet corn, fresh herbs, and delicious Mexican-style flavors. It's pleasantly satisfying and filled with nourishing plant-based nutrients. Garnish it with your favorite toppings! (Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free.)
This hearty Black Bean Quinoa Soup is beautifully dense with nourishing plant-based ingredients. It features black beans, quinoa, sweet corn, veggies, fresh herbs, and delicious Mexican-style flavors.
The best part is it's wildly customizable! (See below for some ideas to get you started.) Plus the easy assembly makes it a healthy choice for lunch, meal prep, or weeknight dinners.
It's family-friendly because everyone can garnish their bowl with their own favorite toppings! I enjoy a dash of hot sauce and crumbled tortilla chips for crunch.
Ingredients for Black Bean Quinoa Soup
For this recipe, you'll simmer in a large pot on the stovetop:
- Yellow onion: Or you can use sweet onion or white onion if desired.
- Carrot
- Fresh garlic cloves: Feel free to add more than what's listed if you love the flavor! Or you can substitute dried garlic powder if needed.
- Vegetable broth: Be sure to use low sodium if desired. The recipe calls for 5 cups broth, but you can use 4 cups broth plus 1 cup water for convenience. (I find there's usually about 4 cups in a regular carton.)
- Diced tomatoes: Either regular or fire-roasted tomatoes work great.
- Black beans: We'll use one 15-ounce can black beans for this recipe. Or if you cook your own from scratch, use about 1.5 cups.
- White quinoa: You'll need a half cup quinoa (dry and uncooked) for this recipe.
- Sweet corn: I buy organic corn whenever possible. Either frozen corn kernels or canned corn works great. Fire-roasted adds tasty flavor as well!
- Ground cumin
- Smoked paprika
- Dried oregano
- Fresh cilantro: Simply omit this if you don't care for the taste.
- Fresh lime juice: This is optional (but recommended!) to stir in at the end of cook time. It adds a vibrant, slightly acidic flavor to the broth which I really enjoy. I use about a tablespoon, but you can add more if you'd like.
Customizing
Make it spicy: Add jalapeño, cayenne pepper, chipotle in adobo sauce, red pepper flakes, black pepper, or simply top with your favorite hot sauce before serving.
Spices & seasoning: Add chili powder, ancho powder, taco seasoning, coriander, or more or less of the spices you enjoy. A tablespoon tomato paste can be added with the broth as well.
Vegetables: Swap in your own favorite veggies such as spinach, celery, diced green chiles, bell pepper, roasted red bell pepper, kale, sweet potato, white potatoes, butternut squash, zucchini, summer squash, etc.
Thickness: This is a fairly dense soup. So increase the broth to 6 cups for a thinner soup if desired. (Or slightly decrease the quinoa.) Be aware the quinoa continues to soak up liquid as it sits after cooking, and will thicken the soup to almost a stew-like consistency. Feel free to cook the quinoa separately and stir it in at the end if you prefer.
Serving
Enjoy this soup as is, or garnish your bowl with toppings for extra flavor and texture. A few ideas include hot sauce, diced avocado, crumbled tortilla chips for crunch, shredded vegan cheese, dairy-free sour cream, or an extra squeeze of fresh lime juice or more cilantro.
I haven't tried this yet, but I'm guessing a dollop of Chipotle Crema might be tasty for some smoky, creamy deliciousness.
Storing
After it cools, store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. I find it keeps for about 4-5 days. Simply reheat in the microwave when ready to enjoy.
Freezing: I haven't tried freezing this recipe, but I'm guessing it would do well as a freezer meal. Be sure to let the soup cool completely before transferring to a sealed, freezer-safe container. You can also freeze in individual portions for easier reheating.
For more inspiration, also browse all vegan soup recipes or quinoa recipes.
Black Bean Quinoa Soup (Easy!)
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 medium carrot
- 3-4 cloves garlic
- 5 cups vegetable broth
- 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
- 15 oz. can black beans
- 1/2 cup white quinoa
- 1 cup sweet corn
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika (or chili powder)
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
- 1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice (optional but recommended)
Toppings of choice:
- Hot sauce, diced avocado, tortilla chips, more lime juice or cilantro, etc.
Instructions
- Dice onion and carrot.
- In a stockpot over medium-high heat, sauté onion and carrot for 7-8minutes. (I use 3 Tbsp. water/broth for no-oil sauté method, adding more as needed.)
- Meanwhile, mince garlic.
- When onion is translucent, add garlic, cumin, smoked paprika, and oregano. Stir and sauté 1-2 minutes.
- Add vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, black beans (rinsed and drained), and quinoa (rinsed and drained). Cover and bring to a light simmer.
- Then reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until quinoa is cooked through.
- Meanwhile, chop cilantro. After soup is done cooking, stir in cilantro and lime juice (if using).
- Salt & pepper to taste to enhance the flavors. Serve with any toppings of choice.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving (Estimate)
Sodium content: This is omitted as I cannot provide an accurate number. I encourage you to calculate your own to provide a much more precise reading based on the exact ingredients, brands, and amounts you're using.
If you're enjoying this vegan quinoa black bean soup recipe, also check out:
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Darcy says
First time making black bean soup with quinoa. Yours looked the best! Used homemade chicken broth. Did not drain beans or use oregano. ADDED chopped celery leaves, Aleppo pepper, and cumin seeds. We rate our recipes and yours earned the coveted VVG (very VERY good). Thanks, Kaitlin.
Kaitlin says
Hello, Darcy! That's so fun to hear, and I'm honored to receive your "VVG" rating. Awesome. So glad you enjoyed it and thanks a lot for coming back to share your creative additions and thoughtful feedback. It's very VERY appreciated (VVA)! 😉
Shelley says
Hi, would pinto beans or cannellini beans work?
Kaitlin says
Hello, Shelley! Sure, you could substitute a different bean if you'd like. (The taste and texture will be slightly different, but it should work great!)
Jennifer says
Such a wonderfully simple weeknight meal! It was delightful and nourishing. I didn't have spinach on hand so I subbed in kale. The flavours were very well-balanced and made it super tasty! Thanks so much for sharing so many amazing recipes!
Kaitlin says
Excellent substitution with the kale! So glad you enjoyed the flavors, Jennifer. Your comments always feel like a warm hug through the screen. Thanks for your kind feedback!
Evelyn says
Simple to make, healthy, and so delicious! We added extra spinach and topped it with hot sauce.
Kaitlin says
Fantastic to hear! Thanks for sharing.
Seriouswon says
I went with what I had in the house. I mixed white and red quinoa. Kale for spinach. I also added a can of garbanzo beans. I like spice so I also added some ground red pepper. I added the kale with the stock since it is not as tender as spinach. Yum!
Kaitlin says
Your substitutions sound delightful! Glad you enjoyed and thank you so much for sharing.