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 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 the cooler months, I do!

It took many attempts of trial and error and having my family critique it just like they did with my

• Black beans - You will need some dried black beans to make this soup.
• Onion/garlic/red and green bell peppers - These ingredients all need to be individually minced to make the sofrito (the base of the recipe similar to epis/green seasoning).
• Cumin/oregano/black pepper - These spices are commonly used in Cuban black bean soup
• Bay leaves - I like to use 2 bay leaves, this gives the soup a more earth tone.
• Vegetable broth/stock - I use my homemade version which is vegan friendly
• Apple cider vinegar/raw cane sugar - This helps to enhance the flavour of the soup both vinegar and soup counterbalance each other.
• Pink salt - To enhance the flavour.
• Roasted red bell pepper - Optional but I like the chunky pieces make the soup taste amazing.

My vegan recipe rendition (the non traditional method)

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 non traditional aspect.

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, trust me, this 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.

The steps

• 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 on the unit and place the lid on, flick the valve to "sealing".
• Pressure cook on high and adjust the +/- to 30 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.
• Discard the bay leaves prior to serving.

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 - 2 hours. 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 one 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, 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 you 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 the 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 you make this recipe with canned beans instead?

Yes, However, use 4 cans of black beans instead (rinse and drain them first) along with 3-4 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 recipes to try

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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.

5 from 5 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Lunch, Soup

Cuisine: Cuban

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 290kcal

Author: Charla

Ingredients

• ▢ 3 cups of dried black beans (582g)
• ▢ 6 cups vegetable broth (1.42litres) or water (see the link)

To make the sofrito/seasoning

• ▢ 1 a medium sized onion minced
• ▢ 4 large garlic cloves finely minced
• ▢ 1 large green bell pepper minced or Cubanelle pepper
• ▢ 1 large sweet red bell pepper minced
• ▢ 2 teaspoon cumin (4g)
• ▢ 2 teaspoon oregano (4g)
• ▢ 2 bay leaves
• ▢ 1 teaspoon black pepper (2g)

To finalise the soup

• ▢ 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (10g)
• ▢ 2 teaspoon raw cane sugar (8g)
• ▢ 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 on the unit and place the lid on, flick the valve to "sealing"
• Pressure cook on high and adjust the +/- to 30 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.
• Discard the bay leaves prior to serving.

Stovetop 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 - 2 hours.
• 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 one 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, 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.

Video

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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