Easy Black Bean Soup

Ingredients

Soup:

• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 medium white onion , diced
• 1 medium red bell pepper , diced
• 5 cloves garlic , minced
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 3-15 ounce can black beans
• 15 ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 7 ounce can diced green chiles
• 1-2 tablespoons Mexican hot sauce optional, to your liking
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons lime juice juice of 2 limes

For Serving:

• 3 cups tortilla strips or tortilla chips
• 2 medium avocados , diced
• 1 cup crumbled cotija cheese
• 1/2 cup freshly chopped cilantro
• 1 cup Mexican crema

Instructions

1. Heat cooking oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add in onion and bell pepper and sauté 5 minutes. Add in garlic, chili powder, cumin, and paprika and toast for 60 seconds.
2. Pour in vegetable broth, black beans, diced tomatoes, and green chiles. Return soup to a simmer and let simmer 5 minutes.
3. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup briefly to smooth the soup a bit. Do it to your liking. You can also use a blender, I recommend doing only half the soup so that you have textures still in the soup.
4. Turn off the heat and stir in and lime juice. Season with salt, to taste. Serve hot, topped with tortilla strips, diced avocado, cheese, crema and cilantro.

Recipe Notes:

• Can use dry beans as well, using 1 pound of dried black beans- soak over night, drain and add into the recipe with an additional 2 cups of water and simmer for an additional 45 minutes before blending.
• Slow Cooker Instructions:
• You can add all of the ingredients to the slow cooker except for the lime. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours. Blend and add lime juice and garnish with what you want right before serving.

For Instant Pot:

• Using Sauté mode, Heat cooking oil. Add in onion and bell pepper and sauté 5 minutes. Add in garlic, chili powder, cumin, and paprika and toast for 60 seconds.
• Add in remaining ingredients. Put lid on and set to high pressure for 10 minutes and natural release. Blend to your texture preference.
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