Slow Cooker Black Bean and Rice Soup is a filling, healthy, and hearty soup recipe that's easy on the wallet, and waistline!
The idea of writing a post about what I’m feeding my kids these days has been swirling around in my brain for the past few months, until I realized it’d be about a paragraph long. Right now, at 4 and 1 years old, the boys eat what we eat!
Watch How to Make It!
Slow Cooker Black Bean and Rice Soup
When Ben and I started introducing table food to Lincoln, we went at a snail’s pace. This time around, we’ve been throwing EVERYTHING Cam’s way and it’s been a blast. Since he doesn’t have any food allergies that we know of he mostly eats what we eat, including the Slow Cooker Black Bean and Rice Soup I’ve made about 10 times in the past two months.
He (and we) are obsessed!
I like to cool Lincoln and Cameron’s bowls down by stirring in guacamole, which not only bumps up the good-fat content for their growing bodies and brains, but keeps them full until the next meal. HAHAHA what am I saying we all know children never stop eating. Anyway, I load Ben’s and my bowls up with lots of sour cream, chopped avocado, and plenty of fresh cilantro.
Ready to dig in?
How to Make This Recipe
To a 6-quart slow cooker add 2, 15oz cans black beans that have been drained and rinsed, plus chopped bell peppers, minced jalapeno peppers, chopped yellow onion, minced garlic cloves, salsa, chicken broth (use vegetable broth to keep this recipe vegetarian/vegan), plus and herbs and spices including chili powder, cumin, salt, and dried oregano. Place a lid on top then cook for 3-4 hours on HIGH, or 5-6 hours on LOW.
When the soup has 20 minutes left to cook, cook long grain white rice in a saucepan with chicken broth (or again, vegetable broth or water.) While that’s cooking, scoop 1/2 – 1/3 of the cooked soup into a blender (might need to do this in batches, and never fill your blender more than half full with hot liquids,) then blend until very smooth. Stir both the rice and blended soup back into the slow cooker then season to taste with fresh lime juice and a little bit of salt if necessary.
The soup will thicken as it cools so let sit for 10 minutes or so before ladling into bowls and topping with goodies like chopped cilantro, avocado, and lots of sour cream. I hope you love this delicious, filling, and healthy slow cooker recipe as much as we do – enjoy!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2, 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 bell peppers, seeded and chopped
- 1 - 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Tablespoon chili powder
- 1-1/2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 cup salsa, see notes
- 3-3/4 cups gluten free chicken or vegetable broth, divided
- 3/4 cup long grain white rice, Lundberg Rice recommended
- juice of 1/2 lime
- Toppings: tortilla chips, corn chips, chopped cilantro, guacamole, chopped avocado, sour cream
Directions
- Add black beans through salsa to a 6-quart slow cooker then add 2-1/2 cups broth and stir to combine. Cover then cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours or LOW for 5-6 hours (depending on how big the peppers were chopped.) Scoop approximately 1/3 or 1/2 of the soup into a blender then blend until very smooth. NOTE: you may need to do this in batches as hot liquid expands while being blended! Add blended soup back into the slow cooker then stir to combine.
- When soup has 20 minutes left to slow cook, bring rice and remaining 1-1/4 cups broth to a boil in a small saucepan. Place a lid on top then turn the heat down to low and simmer rice for 10 minutes. Remove pan from the heat then let sit and steam with the lid on for 5 minutes. Stir cooked rice into the soup then add a little bit of lime juice at a time until desired taste is reached. Add more salt if necessary then let soup sit and thicken for 15 minute before serving with toppings.
Notes
- I like using my Secret-Ingredient Restaurant-Style Salsa for this soup.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
Faribault Foods sponsored this post, and has paid me to write about its Mrs. Grimes Beans products. Samples were provided to me free of charge by Faribault Foods. The opinions expressed herein are my own and based on my own experiences.
I’m surprised nobody else has commented on the spice level! I put in the jalapenos since you said your little one eats this soup, but it was SPICY. I think I’ll have to leave it out next time, my 5 and 3 year olds liked it but their noses were running and they had to drink a LOT to get through it. I think it’s a great flavor profile even without the jalapenos
Hi Maddy! I wonder if a hotter pepper made it into the jalapeno pepper bin at the grocery store or something? That being said, jalapeno peppers can also vary in heat – smaller jalapenos will always be hotter than larger ones as well, just a heads up for next time!
Long time IGE fan. We LOVED this soup! It exceeded my expectations. Don’t skip the lime. Added just a touch of sour cream and it was perfection!
SO glad to hear that, Megan!! Thank you so much for your comment and recipe rating!!
Made this last night. Smelled great in the slow cooker, but the results were unimpressive. Way too much rice. I’m not sure what else it needs, but it was missing something… We’ve had success with other IGE recipes, just not going to make this one again.
Shoot, I’m sorry to hear that Marie! I haven’t received similar feedback, but you could always cut back on the rice added to the soup to fit your preferences!
Does this freeze well ?