Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup

I’ve been wanting to make Black Bean Soup forever.  I knew I wanted to make it in the slow cooker too.

So I went on a recipe search and found this Cuban Black Bean Soup from the Kitchn.  The recipe was a great excuse to use the ham bone I’d frozen from Christmas.

My recipe search also yielded Pioneer Woman’s Black Bean Soup.  Hers doesn’t use a ham bone.  And it has no vinegar, like the other recipe does.  But she did add some cumin and chili powder.

And neither recipe was for the slow cooker.  Black beans cooked on top of the stove become creamy and smooth.  In the slow cooker, this texture has to be forced a bit by pureeing some of the soup in a blender.

I ended up combining the two recipes I found, with my own thoughts on making it work for the slow cooker.  The result was wonderful.  It was even better the next day.

Here’s what you’ll need:  

I soaked the black beans over night.  Setting the reminder alarm on my phone kept me from forgetting.

And if you don’t have a ham bone, just use chicken broth in place of the water in the recipe.

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Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup

Servings: 6 -8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 lb. dried black beans
• 1 ham bone
• 1 onion diced
• 1 green pepper diced
• 3 cloves garlic crushed
• 6-7 cups water
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• black pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/3 cup vinegar to be added at end of cooking time

Instructions

• Sort and rinse black beans. Cover with water and let soak overnight.
• Place ham bone in slow cooker.
• Drain beans and add to slow cooker.
• Add onion, green pepper, garlic, water, salt, pepper, chili powder and cumin.
• Stir to combine.
• Cook on high 7-8 hours.
• Remove the ham bone from pot.
• Remove half of soup and place in a blender. Blend until smooth. Return to the slow cooker.
• Stir in vinegar.
• Serve with diced raw onion and sour cream, if desired.