Most black bean soups fall into considered one of two camps. The primary depends on dried beans, intensive simmering, and a protracted checklist of aromatics to construct taste slowly and methodically. The second leans on shortcuts—canned beans, aggressive seasoning, and a pile of garnishes—to get one thing on the desk quick, usually on the expense of taste. This soup, developed by Amanda Stanfield in our Birmingham, Alabama, check kitchen, threads the needle between the 2. It makes use of simply 5 core elements, takes about half an hour, and nonetheless manages to style actually, actually good.

Amanda’s black bean soup succeeds as a result of two easy methods work collectively to resolve the feel issues that plague most fast bean soups. First, as a substitute of draining and rinsing the beans, the complete contents of the can are used. That murky liquid is loaded with starch and soluble bean solids that assist thicken the soup and provides it physique, mimicking the results of hours of simmering dried beans. Mashing about three-quarters of the beans takes {that a} step additional. Breaking them down releases much more starch, turning the soup creamy with out the necessity for a blender, whereas the remaining intact beans maintain the feel from turning into flat or one-note.

A bonus is that those self same strikes additionally enhance taste. Simmering the beans in their very own liquid concentrates their pure savoriness as a substitute of washing it away. Mashing a few of the beans permits that concentrated bean taste to completely combine into the added broth, so the soup’s taste is well-rounded.

The flavour profile of this soup stays deliberately slim. Onion types the spine, cooked simply till gentle and candy. A single chipotle chile in adobo provides smoke, warmth, and acidity in a single environment friendly transfer, eliminating the necessity for a number of spices. Lime zest and juice go in early, so their brightness integrates into the soup as a substitute of studying as a last-minute repair. A restrained quantity of inventory (hen or vegetable—your selection) enriches the soup’s taste and thins it with out watering it down.

Like most five-ingredient recipes, this one works finest whenever you consider it as a versatile start line relatively than a hard and fast system. Begin with the listed non-obligatory garnishes for distinction and brightness, then department out as wanted. Add shredded hen or leftover pulled pork, a bit of additional adobo, or a small dollop of plain yogurt (my go-to) to simply construct layers of taste.

The completed soup proves that canned beans do not want disguising or overcomplication—just a bit strategic dealing with to indicate what they’re able to.