Slow Cooker Black Bean and Rice Soup is a filling, healthy, and hearty soup recipe that's easy on the wallet, and waistline!

crock pot black bean and rice soup in a bowl with tippings

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!

slow cooker black bean and rice soup in a bowl with fresh avocado

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?

a white spoon digging into a bowl of slow cooker black bean soup

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.

Crock Pot Black Bean and Rice Soup is a filling, healthy, and hearty gluten-free crock pot recipe that's easy on the wallet, and waistline! | iowagirleats.com

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!

slow cooker black bean and rice soup in 2 bowls with spoons

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Slow Cooker Black Bean and Rice Soup

4.5 from 8 votes

by Kristin Porter

Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 3 hours 15 minutes
Total: 3 hours 35 minutes
Servings: 8
Slow Cooker Black Bean and Rice Soup is a filling, healthy, and hearty soup recipe that's easy on the wallet, and waistline!

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

Nutrition

Calories: 193kcal, Carbohydrates: 38g, Protein: 9g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 0.2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 2mg, Sodium: 1340mg, Potassium: 561mg, Fiber: 9g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 1416IU, Vitamin C: 45mg, Calcium: 70mg, Iron: 3mg

Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.

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photo collage of slow cooker black bean and rice soup

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.

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48 Comments

  1. Melissa says:

    Used the immersion blender to smooth the soup out and did not add the rice. it was delicious!!!

  2. Sabrina says:

    lovely, great set of ingredients here and happy for you that your kids can enjoy it too without any allergies!

  3. Stephanie says:

    This recipe sounds delicious! Instead of taking some out and blending it in a blender, would you be able to use an immersion blender in the crockpot to just blend some of the soup? Thank you!

    1. Kristin says:

      Definitely!

  4. Julie says:

    Hi Kristin! Have you ever done this on the stovetop? I don’t have a crockpot bc of space constraints, but I’d love to make this recipe. Thinking it would need to simmer at least an hour?

    1. Kristin says:

      I haven’t but I’m sure it would work just fine! I’d saute all the vegetables until softened (vs boiling to soften,) then maybe cook the rice in all the broth in the soup pot vs separately.

  5. Melissa says:

    THIS is in the crockpot right now!! We have an insanely busy evening with sports, work schedules and school meetings. I’m hoping this will save my sanity. Serving with some cheese quesadillas (loosely termed – really toasted cheese on a tortilla!!). Already smells amazing in here. I upped the cumin a bit because we all love cumin flavor. Will let you know the results!

    1. Kristin says:

      YUMMMMM quesadillllaaaaas – my favorite. :) Hope you love it, Melissa!

  6. Terri says:

    Is the nutrition information available?

    1. Kristin says:

      Hi Terri! I recommend a website like Livestrong or MyFitnessPal if you need that information!

  7. Emily says:

    I have a 3 and 1 year old… I truly enjoy your blog …. BUT I just don’t understand how your kids/babies eat soup?!? I’m jealous and confused!

    1. Kristin says:

      I think it’s repetition – I fed Lincoln soup when he was 2 or so and he loved it so I kept making it over and over and over. I spoon feed it to my 1 year old – he doesn’t feed himself from a spoon yet!

  8. Lynn says:

    This looks like another fantastic soup recipe, excited to try it!

    1. Kristin says:

      Hope you love it, Lynn!

  9. Angie says:

    Could one substitute brown rice for the white rice?

    1. Kristin says:

      Sure! You’d just need to adjust the amount of broth according to the brown rice cooking instructions.

  10. Lindsey says:

    My daughter is a week older than Cameron and she eats pretty much anything I put in front of her (yippee!) but I have yet to try soup. How do you do that? Do you try to go for more solids with broth drained or does he use a spoon reasonably well? Clara thinks a spoon is for holding in the hand you aren’t using to shovel food in your mouth! ?

    1. Kristin says:

      Every time he’s held a spoon he’s immediately thrown it to the floor – definitely not feeding himself with anything but his hands right now! ? That said, this soup is really thick so I just spoon feed it to him. For brothy soups I drain away most of the liquid so it’s just the solid food that he eats.

  11. Broanna says:

    This looks amazing- definitely making this Thursday when we get snow. I made your maple, apple, and bourbon cocktail on Sunday and it was absolutely wonderful! Thank you for sharing!

    1. Kristin says:

      Snow – ACK!! Where are you located? So glad you loved the cocktail, too!

  12. Ally says:

    This looks delicious! and so easy to make vegetarian by using veggie stock instead so my boyfriend can eat it too! thanks for the great idea :)

    1. Kristin says:

      Definitely! Super easy swap. :)

  13. Nicole @ Bento Momentos says:

    Blend half the soup? Interesting, I don’t cook much but I would imagine this is how to make soup thicker. I like to stir plain greek yogurt into my soups like this as a sour cream replacement. :) Thanks for sharing!

    1. Kristin says:

      Exactly, Nicole! Nice and thick and smooth. Hope you love it!