Use the crock pot to cook up a hearty and nutritious Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup with veggies and lots of kid-friendly flavor. It’s easy, versatile, and a great freezer meal!
Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup
My kids have always been hit or miss with soup, but they always love bean soups. (I honestly don’t know why, but I go with it!) This version of Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup is easy, nutritious, and really yummy. I love that it has veggies blended in and that it’s easy for me to throw together even when I’m in a rush!
There’s an instant pot version if you prefer cooking that way.
I love this recipe since you can put everything into the slow cooker in the morning and it’s basically ready come dinner time. It’s also easy to adjust the spice level, it can be thicker or thinner as you like, and it works as a dip to pair with crackers if that’s more appealing for your kids.
(You may also like my Sheet Pan Black Bean Quesadillas and my Chicken and Stars Soup.)
Your toddler won’t eat? Help is here!
Sign up for our email updates to get tips and ideas sent to your inbox.
Ingredients You Need
To make this crock pot bean soup you’ll need:
- Black beans: You can use canned beans here or beans cooked from dry.
- Sweet potato or butternut squash: Either of these work to add a little sweetness, which pairs nicely with the rest of the flavors. Use fresh veggies, precut ones from the produce aisle, or frozen diced ones.
- Onion: I usually cook with yellow onions, but white ones work here, too.
- Canned diced tomatoes: You’ll want diced tomatoes with their juices. You can also use crushed tomatoes if you prefer.
- Cumin, chili powder, garlic powder: These dried spices add wonderful flavor in the mix with the rest of the ingredients here.
- Vegetable or chicken stock: You can use my Vegetable Broth or any other broth or stock you prefer.
- Cooked rice: I like to stir in cooked rice at the end of cooking to thicken the soup and make it a little more filling.
TIP: I like adding in cooked rice to thicken the soup and make it easy for the kids to eat off of a spoon.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s a look at the easy process involved in making this recipe. Scroll down to the bottom of the recipe for the full information.
- 1. Gather the ingredients.
- Add the ingredients except the rice to the slow cooker. Cook on low.
- Puree soup. Stir in the the rice. Let sit, covered, to thicken.
- Season to taste with additional salt if needed. Serve with salsa, cheese, and/or sour cream.
TIP: You can use frozen sweet potato cubes or precut butternut squash to reduce the amount of chopping.
Best Black Beans for Soup
You can use canned black beans or beans that you’ve cooked from dry. I like to do big batches of Slow Cooker Black Beans since we use them so often and this is a more affordable way to prepare a pile of them at once! (My family eats a lot of beans…)
Tips for Toddlers and Soup
Well, first know that this is a common issue. Soup can be hard for kids to eat and hard to figure out since a lot of things are often mixed together. I like to suggest offering something for the kids to dip into their soup, like crackers or strips of toast. And also starting with a very small serving if you’re not sure if your child will be a fan.
TIP: This soup has a thick texture so it stays on the spoon relatively easily and it’s flavorful without being spicy.
Serving Suggestions
I like to serve this kind of soup with crackers, cheese, and/or corn muffins. You can also top it with things like shredded cheese, avocado, guacamole, sour cream…anything you like on tacos works here!
Best Tips for Success
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
- Instant Pot: Add the ingredients except the rice to the bowl. Cover and seal. Cook on HIGH pressure for 10 minutes and let naturally release. Puree and stir in the rice.
- We sometimes also stir in some frozen corn and additional whole beans in addition to some rice.
- You can use frozen sweet potato cubes or precut butternut squash to reduce the amount of chopping.
- Serve with crackers or corn muffins, in a bowl or a smaller amount as a dip.
- Add hot sauce to your adult portion as desired.
Related Recipes
I’d love to hear what your family thinks of this recipe if you try it out, so please comment below!
Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 6 cups black beans (drained and rinsed if using canned—or about 3 14.5 ounce cans)
- 2 cups peeled and diced sweet potato (or butternut squash)
- 1 cup onion (diced; about 1 medium)
- 1 quart vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
- 14.5 ounce can diced or crushed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1-2 cups fully cooked rice (brown or white)
- Shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado, optional
Instructions
- Add the beans, sweet potato, onion, tomatoes, stock, cumin, salt, and chili powder to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 7-8 hours or HIGH for 4-5 hours.
- Stir in the the rice, using 1-2 cups depending on how thick you'd like the soup.
- Let sit, covered, for at least 5 minutes before serving to ensure the rice is warm.
- Season to taste with additional salt if needed. Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, and/or avocado, as desired.
Equipment
Notes
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
- Instant Pot: Add the ingredients except the rice to the bowl. Cover and seal. Cook on HIGH pressure for 10 minutes and let naturally release. Puree and stir in the rice.
- We sometimes also stir in some frozen corn and additional whole beans in addition to some rice.
- You can use frozen sweet potato cubes or precut butternut squash to reduce the amount of chopping.
- Serve with crackers or corn muffins, in a bowl or a smaller amount as a dip.
- Add hot sauce to your adult portion as desired.
Nutrition
(This post was updated and the recipe was streamlined November 2020. You can get the original recipe here.)
This was great! Made with the butternut squash and a mix of veg and turkey broth in the instant pot. My 2 yo and husband both loved dipping crackers and tortillas and the taco toppings – cheddar, avocado, sour cream – were all great additions! My daughter said “Mommy this is yummy”!! So it get her seal of approval!
My one year old daughter and I loved this both times we had it! We had it “fresh” and then I froze the other servings, and we had it again a week later. It was delicious both times.
I just made this and the cumin flavor is very strong. The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of cumin; I thought this was a lot when I was making it but I followed the recipe. The other black bean recipe on your site calls for 2 teaspoons of cumin. So, I am assuming this is a typo.
Hi, it’s not a typo. I’ve made it with less and it didn’t have much flavor. The other recipe has orange in it so I didn’t use as much. But good to know it was too much for you, I’ll take that into consideration.
I teach a special class in an intermediate school. My students make soup for teacher weekly. In the last two weeks, we made three batches of this recipe. The soup sells out so quickly. All the teachers LOVE it and many have wanted the recipe. The best part was of my 11 students 8 loved it!! I’ve never had such success with a recipe. Thank you!
That’s so amazing, thank you for letting me know!
This is such an easy and delicious recipe. I ended up not blending the ingredients at the end but instead left in the whole beans and sweet potato cubes and added quinoa at the start and It was similar to a healthier version of chili and was soo good. Even better as leftovers the next day : )
This soup was easy to make and on day two absolutely the best. Thank you for all your great recipes, our grandson loves them too 🙂
Just one question, it took my IP duo crisp almost 30minutes to build up steam. It is a new one and I wondered if that is normal. I hope you will reply to my question because I searched the internet and could not find any info about what is a normal amount of time to build up pressure for a 7.6 pot.
Hi- I’m glad to hear that about the soup. It can take time for it to build up pressure, but more so if the ingredients you put in are very cold. 30 minutes does seem long (it often takes at least 10), but not outside the window of what could be normal for a larger volume of food. I hope that helps!
Easy and tasty! My kids didn’t love it, but they ate it, which is impressive enough. 😉 My husband and I both enjoyed it, too. Not a go-to or a favorite, but something easy to pop in the slow cooker on a day where we’ll be out late. Thank you!
Do you think this soup would be fine if it was in the crockpot for around 10 hours on low? That’s how long we’re out of the house on weekdays.
I would set it for 8 hours, then it will turn to warm (at least most models work that way) and that will be fine until you get home.
Super easy to make and very tasty. Even without the rice in it (my husband had eaten the left over rice that I was going to use 🙃 and I didn’t discover that until too late).
I made this today in Instant pot.. So quick and so good.. Really like it.. My two year old enhoyed it as well.. Thank you..
Overall the family liked it but felt it should be used as a base to something since I pureed it well with the stick blender. I am unsure what to add beyond maybe corn but with one being prediabetic I am not sure. Any other suggestions on things that can be added after cooking to give good texture instead of a more creamy texture?
You could add more beans or add in cooked brown rice (that is what I mention in the recipe) which usually is a fine option with your situation since it’s high in fiber and slower to break down into glucose than white rice.
I made this for lunch today and it was a hit! My 18 month old and husband both ate it up. My toddler actually slurped it down with a straw! I was looking at muffin recipes this morning and this recipe was in the top bar, so I gave it a click. It was super easy and we had all of the ingredients on hand. I used frozen bn squash for ease. I have your black bean brownie bites in the oven now. Theme for the day!
I’m so glad!
AMY! This soup is delicious. I had to come on here and thank you for this easy and fast recipe – I made it in the instant pot. I am blown away! Such little work with such a delicious result at the end. My picky toddler actually ate several spoons of it!! Thanks again, you da best.
I’m so glad to do that!
Thanks so much! Just made this and was a hit. I added a bit more whole beans and no rice at the end. Our family enjoyed this!
I’m so glad!
Can you make this without a slow cooker?
Yes—I haven’t tried it so I don’t have the exact measurements but I would think you might need to reduce the liquid a little!
This sounds lovely! Do you think I could make it in a pressure cooker (different cooking time of course!) ?
I would think so though I’ve not tried it so I can’t say for sure what the timing would need to be! Let me know if you try it!
Hiya. I’m going to try this recipe, sounds lovely. I could only get dried black beans.. Will they work OK rather than tinned. Should I adjust the amount of stock? Thank you!!
If you can cook the beans separately first, that would be best!
I finally got the chance to make this, and it was, by household vote, the best soup I’ve ever made. Really great flavor and exactly my level of work and skill. You can add some wild rice mix to thicken, as we did, or zucchini, or bacon…endless options. Looking forward to freezing a batch, and making lots more times. #yum
High five! I’m so happy to hear that and I’m glad that everyone enjoyed it!