Instant Pot black bean soup
Dried black beans cooked straight from the bag into a thick, smoky, cumin-scented soup with a squeeze of lime, for well under a dollar a bowl.
- 100 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 6
- About $0.92 a serving
- 330 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 1 lb dried black beans, rinsed
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
- 3 vegetable bouillon cubes, check the box: most cubes make 2 cups each
- 1 lime, juiced
- ½ cup sour cream (optional)
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 7 cups water
- 1 tsp salt
Each serving has about 330 calories, 18 g protein, 52 g carbs and 6 g fat, and costs about $0.92 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No green bell peppers? Red bell peppers or yellow bell peppers work.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No sour cream? Plain Greek yogurt works.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the beans and pick out any stones or shriveled beans. the onion and bell pepper and the garlic and jalapeño.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Press , heat the oil and cook the onion and bell pepper for 5 minutes, until soft.
Sauté. Sautéing means cooking cut-up food in a little oil or butter over medium to medium-high heat, stirring now and then. It cooks things quickly and browns them lightly without burning.
How you’ll know: You hear a steady, lively sizzle, not a hiss and spit, and the edges start to soften and color.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Stir in the garlic, jalapeño, cumin, smoked paprika and oregano for 1 minute.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Press Cancel.
Add the beans, bay leaves, water and bouillon cubes and scrape the bottom so nothing is stuck. Don’t add the salt yet.
Lock the lid, set the valve to Sealing and pressure cook on High for 40 minutes. Let the pressure release on its own for 20 minutes, then vent the rest.
Timer: 60 min
Dolly’s tip: Unsoaked beans need the full time plus the slow release to turn creamy.Pull out the bay leaves and stir in the salt. Mash about a third of the beans with a potato masher until the soup is thick.
Dolly’s tip: If the beans aren’t soft all the way through, cook them 10 more minutes at pressure.Stir in the lime juice, taste for salt, and serve topped with sour cream and cilantro.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
