Instant Pot Cuban Black Bean Soup (Vegan)

Cuban black bean soup is so warm, delicious, hearty and perfect to consume for dinner during the fall and winter months. This island soup dish is made from scratch, full of bold flavours (not spicy) and ready in just under an hour in the instant pot.

If you're a fan of legumes and pulse like I am then you're in the right place at the right time.  

Beans or peas as we like to make reference to them in the English speaking parts of the Caribbean, play a central role, whether you're from a Spanish, English or French  island that fondness never seems to disappear.

This recipe is so flavourful, vibrant and a nice way to transition from summer to the cooler months. It would make the perfect soup bowl to curl up to with a good book.

This was another recipe that I often turn to when summer is coming to an end. Although you don't have to associate my instant pot Cuban black bean soup with cooler months, I do!

It took many attempts of trial and error and having my family critique it just like they did with my Moros y Cristianos both versions and the instant pot one too.

What is Cuban black bean soup?

In short it is a warm and hearty soup made from legumes, black beans to be precise. The black beans are left to soak overnight and rinsed off the next day.

The base ingredients  (green bell peppers, onion and garlic) which is known as the sofrito and then combined with the black beans (some people saute them) and seasoned with oregano, cumin, black pepper, salt. The bay leaf and ham hock or anything type of pork is cooked with the beans.

Traditional black bean soup isn't made within 15 minutes, the overall cooking process will take a few hours because true Cuban style black bean soup is a slow cooking process so the flavours permeate and also to allow the beans to break down slowly until a creamy soup like consistency.

Some people finished their soup with a splash of vinegar, sugar and more seasoning to taste. 

The overall concept of this soup is very very similar, if not the same as Cuban Black Beans (Frijoles Negros)

Ingredients you will need

My vegan recipe rendition - Non traditional

My version of this recipe has a few slight changes. The first change is very obvious and the clue is in the name, it's VEGAN. There's the use of a immersion stick blender to puree some of the beans, another this is not traditional.

If you are a dedicated reader then you will know I don't eat pork (although I am of Cuban ancestry) which is why I make mine without meat.

In terms of the liquid to make the soup, I use my homemade vegetable broth which I will include a link to the recipe, down below.

I prefer to use vegetable broth to compensate for the pork omission, this helps to boost the flavour by ten folds. This  is a change which I highly recommend.

I also like to puree my sofrito ingredients and include a red pepper plus the sofrito is a game changer. It's what the English Caribbean islands Like Trinidad and Tobago call Green Seasoning and Haitian refer to it as Epis.

Reasons to make this in your instant pot

• You can make a huge quality.
• It's a one pot, no fuss recipe.
• It takes less than an hour to make the soup as opposed to several hours.
• You don't need to baby sit your instant pot.
• The clean up is fairly minimal.
• It's a great reason to dust off and use your instant pot if you haven't used it in a while.

How to make Cuban black bean soup in your instant pot

• Switch on your unit and select the "saute" button.
• Once the inner pot heats up add your olive oil along with the minced onion and garlic and proceed to saute until translucent.
• Next add your minced red and green peppers and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes.
• Switch off the saute function by pressing "cancel" then add your seasoning - oregano, black pepper, cumin, and bay leaves then stir.

• Continue to add your black beans and vegetable stock.
• Switch the unit and place the lid on flick the valve to "sealing"
• Pressure cook on high and adjust the +/- to 40 minutes.
• Once the cooking time is over, allow the pressure to release naturally. This should take 10-15 minutes then release the excess pressure to switching the valve to "venting".

• Remove the lid and use an immersion stick blender to partially puree the soup (to your desire texture)
• Stir in the vinegar, coconut sugar and pink salt to taste along with the optional peppers.
• Add any additional seasoning if required.

Stove top version

• Rinse the black beans and soak them in the water overnight.
• Rinse and discard the bean water.
• Add the beans and bay leaf to a heavy duty stock/soup pot and bring the beans to a boil with the broth/water on high heat. As the liquid begins to boil, reduce the flame to medium.
• The beans should be cooked until tender, this should take 1hr - 1hr 30 minutes. Replenish with water if the liquid levels drop drastically, a cup at the maximum should be enough. You should have hardly any liquid left.
• Prepare the sofrito by adding the oil to a small frying pan on medium heat.
• Sauté the minced garlic and onions for 1 minute then add the peppers and stir in the cumin, oregano and black pepper. Continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes.
• Pour the minced mixture into the soup pot and stir.
• Use an immersion blender and pulse the black bean soup no more than three times, it will break down further with time. If you don't have an immersion blender, ladle a cups worth of beans and puree in a food processor/conventional blender.
• Finally, add the vinegar, palm sugar, pink salt and season to taste (add more if needed) and stir in the roasted red pepper if included.
• Remove the bay leaf and serve with a dollop of dairy free sour cream.

Do I have to soak the beans overnight?

Like most Caribbean islands, Cubans also prefer to use dried beans because they are cheaper and more convenient to use. Although cooking process is longer, that's the beauty of cultural cuisines.

Yes, soak the beans if you want to adhere to the traditional way of doing it and if you are someone who suffers from bloating and digestive issues then definitely don't skip this step.

Discard the water once the beans have soaked for several hours or overnight.

Can I make this recipe with canned beans instead?

Yes, However, use 4 cans of black beans instead (rinse and drain them first) along with 3 cups of vegetable broth instead. Follow the cooking instructions making the aforementioned changes plus setting your unit to 20 minutes instead.

You may need to add extra broth so have some on reserve and just puree to your desired texture then add the final ingredients.

Notes and tips

• Don't forget to use my Homemade Vegetable Broth for the base of the recipe or use water if you want to instead.
• You don't have to mince the sofrito ingredients, it's just my personal preference.
• If possible use Cubanelle peppers, this is a popular long pepper used in most Spanish cuisines. It's known as a aji Cubanela.
• The vinegar and sugar,  yield a sweet/tangy finishing note to the soup, don't use if you don't like vinegar.
• Soak the beans overnight and use dried beans, not crucial but recommended.
• Once you have made the soup, do a taste test and adjust seasoning if needed. Everyone is different, so make your own changes if you wish to do so.
• Use an immersion stick blender or scoop out about ⅓ cup of the beans and puree. Follow whichever method you are most comfortable with.

More Caribbean vegan recipes

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Instant Pot Cuban Black Bean Soup (Vegan)

Vegan, gluten, dairy free black bean soup that's packed with Cuban flavours

5 from 5 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Lunch, Soup

Cuisine: Cuban

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 290kcal

Author: Charla

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 ½ cups of dried black beans
• ▢ 6 cups vegetable broth or water (see the link)

To make the sofrito/seasoning

• ▢ 4 large garlic cloves finely minced
• ▢ 1 a medium sized onion minced
• ▢ 1 large green bell pepper minced or Cubanelle pepper
• ▢ 1 large sweet red bell pepper minced
• ▢ 1 ½ tsp of cumin
• ▢ 1 ½ tsp of oregano
• ▢ 2 bay leaves
• ▢ 1 tsp of black pepper

To finalise the soup

• ▢ 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar use less or skip if you don't care for the tangy taste (optional)
• ▢ 2 tsp of coconut palm sugar optional
• ▢ pink salt to taste
• ▢ 1 roasted red pepper chopped (optional)

Instructions

• Switch on your unit and select the "saute" button.
• Once the inner pot heats up add your olive oil along with the minced onion and garlic and proceed to saute until translucent.
• Next add your minced red and green peppers and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes.
• Switch off the saute function by pressing "cancel" then add your seasoning - oregano, black pepper, cumin, and bay leaves then stir.
• Continue to add your black beans and vegetable stock.
• Switch the unit and place the lid on flick the valve to "sealing"
• Pressure cook on high and adjust the +/- to 40 minutes.
• Once the cooking time is over, allow the pressure to release naturally. This should take 10-15 minutes then release the excess pressure to switching the valve to "venting".
• Remove the lid and use an immersion stick blender to partially puree the soup (to your desire texture).
• Stir in the vinegar, coconut sugar and pink salt to taste along with the optional peppers.
• Add any additional seasoning if required.

Notes

• Don't forget to use my Homemade Vegetable Broth for the base of the recipe or use water if you want to instead.
• You don't have to mince the sofrito ingredients, it's just my personal preference.
• If possible use Cubanelle peppers, this is a popular long pepper used in most Spanish cuisines. It's known as a aji Cubanela.
• The vinegar and sugar,  yield a sweet/tangy finishing note to the soup, don't use if you don't like vinegar.
• Soak the beans overnight and use dried beans, not crucial but recommended.
• Once you have made the soup, do a taste test and adjust seasoning if needed. Everyone is different, so make your own changes if you wish to do so.
• Use an immersion stick blender or scoop out about ⅓ cup of the beans and puree. Follow whichever method you are most comfortable with.

Nutrition

Calories: 290kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Sodium: 1809mg | Potassium: 981mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 1450IU | Vitamin C: 94mg | Calcium: 118mg | Iron: 3mg

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