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Smoky Black Bean Soup with Chipotle

Name: Smoky Black Bean Soup with Chipotle
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 600 ml Chicken stock; 80 ml Mexican crema (soured cream); 2 cdas Vegetable oil; 3 cloves Garlic cloves; 50 g Tortilla chips (totopos); 1 Carrot; 60 g Fresh cheese (queso fresco); 2 Chipotles in adobo sauce; 15 g Fresh coriander; 1 Onion; 800 g Cooked black beans

35 min (10 prep + 25 cook) Easy 4 servings Nacional

Edmond Bojalil

Recetas Mexas

Published: 27 Mar 2026 · Updated: 30 Mar 2026

Velvety black bean soup with smoky chipotle, soured cream and crispy tortilla chips.

About this recipe

Smoky black bean soup with chipotle is a velvety soup that captures the essence of Mexican cuisine in a bowl: black beans - the backbone of the Mexican diet since pre-Hispanic times - transformed into a dense, smoky cream with chipotle in adobo sauce. Quick to prepare, comforting and extraordinarily tasty, this soup is a demonstration of how humble ingredients can create memorable gastronomic experiences.

History & Origin

The black bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) is one of the oldest crops in Mesoamerica, with archaeological evidence of its consumption dating back 7,000 years in the Tehuacán Valley, Puebla. Together with maize and chilli, it forms the Mesoamerican food Trinity that sustained the Olmec, Maya and Aztec civilisations. In contemporary cuisine, black bean cream soup appears in both fine dining restaurants and the simplest home kitchens. Chipotle - the smoked dried or tinned jalapeño in adobo - adds a completely new dimension to the soup: smoking is a technique that also has deep roots in pre-Hispanic cuisine, where drying chillies in smoke was a preservation method. Together, black bean and chipotle are two of the most representative flavours of Mexico.

Estimated cost

£7.00

Total cost

£1.75

Per serving

* Approximate prices based on UK supermarkets

Nutritional information per serving

280

Calories

12g

Protein

38g

Carbohydrates

Fat

10g

Fibre

480mg

Sodium

* Approximate values. May vary depending on ingredients used.

Method

1
Sauté in oil: 1/2 chopped onion, 3 garlic cloves and 1 carrot in small pieces over medium heat for 8 minutes until soft and lightly golden. Add 1-2 chipotles in adobo sauce (without seeds if you want less heat) and fry for 1 more minute.
💡 The adobo sauce from the chipotle tin is very flavourful - add 1 teaspoon to intensify the smoky flavour.
2
Add the cooked black beans (or tinned, drained and rinsed) to the pan. Add 600ml of chicken or vegetable stock, bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes over medium heat. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes before blending.
💡 If using tinned beans, rinse them well to remove excess sodium from the preserving liquid.
3
Blend the mixture in batches until completely smooth. For an ultra-velvety texture, strain the cream pressing with a spatula. Return to the saucepan, adjust salt and consistency (add more stock if too thick).
💡 A high-powered blender (Vitamix or similar) gives a smoother texture than a stick blender.
4
Serve the black bean cream hot in bowls. Garnish with a drizzle of Mexican crema, a teaspoon of crumbled fresh cheese, totopos (toasted corn chips) and fresh coriander leaves. Optionally, add a few drops of chipotle oil or olive oil and dried chilli.
💡 The totopos (tortilla chips) should be added just before serving so they do not soften in the soup's steam.