Slow Cooker Black Bean and Rice Soup
Try this Slow Cooker Black Bean and Rice Soup recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Slow Cooker Black Bean and Rice Soup recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 3/4 cup long grain white rice
- juice of 1/2 lime
- 2 , 15oz can mrs. grimes black beans drained and rinsed
- 2 bell peppers seeded and chopped (i used a green an
- 1 - 2 jalapeno peppers seeded and minced
- 1/2 yellow onion chopped
- 1-1/2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 cup salsa (see notes)
- 3-3/4 cups gluten-free chicken or vegetable broth divided
- toppings: tortilla chips corn chips, chopped cilantro, guacamole, chopped avocado, sour cream
- Carbohydrate 9.9645827784127 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0.215477222429578 g
- Fiber 0.574911120656356 g
- Protein 1.05490666681368 g
- Saturated Fat 0.0485583889242848 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (43g)
- Sodium 7.55738890218823 mg
- Sugar 9.38967165775634 g
- Trans Fat 0.0363497222565642 g
- Calories 46 calories
Step-by-step
- 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.
- Meanwhile, when soup has 20 minutes left to 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.
Swapping vegetable broth for rich chicken stock introduces instant depth, though a good mushroom-based bouillon works equally well for strict vegetarians. Dried black beans require soaking, but canned varieties bypass this multi-hour hurdle entirely when rinsed thoroughly to remove excess canning liquid. Thorough rinsing prevents the starchy canning brine from dominating the final broth.
Achieving the correct consistency requires removing a portion of the heated soup for mechanical pureeing. Blending roughly one-third to one-half of the cooked bean mixture creates a natural thickening agent without adding heavy cream or flour. Hot liquids expand rapidly inside enclosed blender jars; always vent the feed cap slightly with a folded towel to release steam safely. Simmering the long-grain white rice separately in a covered saucepan for 10 minutes, followed by a 5-minute steam off the heat, prevents the grains from over-absorbing all the broth and turning mushy inside the slow cooker.
Common failures usually stem from adding raw rice directly into the cooker, which yields a gummy, disintegrated starch. Cooking the rice separately maintains individual grain integrity. Storing leftovers in an airtight glass container for up to four days actually improves the dish. Starches continue to hydrate overnight, melding the chili powder and cumin notes together, though thinning the pot with an extra splash of broth during reheating may be necessary once the starches cool.
