Black Bean Soup

4 T of cumin is far too much. I made this with half that amount and the taste was still overwhelming. A pity, it might otherwise be a nice recipe.

This is a marvelous detailed recipe from Craig Claiborne - and this man could cook! I forgot the garlic and I was out of carrots, so I added a few tablespoons of tamarind paste, 1 chipotle chili and a spoonful of sauce, and a few tablespoons of red wine vinegar. It was wonderful and lead me to face fall with renewed hope. On the second day, it was even better! Thank you Mr. Claiborne.

I just pressure cooked 2 pounds of black beans and have 2 quarts (no liquid) in the fridge. How long would you cook this (on low?) after adding the beans?

Delicious! The spices obviate the need for all but a tiny amount of salt, so quite healthy too. I find 16 cups of stock makes for a watery soup, even after puréeing it. I use 12 cups. If that’s too thick, you can always add liquid. Taking it out is tough

This was absolutely delicious. Spectacular. It was so creamy and tasty. I didn’t have bacon so we used 1 1/2 cups of leftover honey-baked ham that was in the freezer from Easter. I ran out of cumin so we added a tablespoon of smoked paprika. And we added two chipotle peppers (the ones in the can). Everything else we followed exactly. It’s addictive and magically delicious.

Since I was planning to serve this for 20 adults, I doubled the recipe (yep - 2 pounds (!) of black beans - I used two different types of Rancho Gordo black beans) and used homemade broth with a meaty honey-baked ham shank. After cooking this for a couple of hours on the stove, I transferred the pot to the oven (@ 325) for several more hours. I also made the salsa (link in the recipe) and Martha Rose Shulman's Savory Cornbread Muffins With Jalapeños and Corn. My guests raved!

We made this yesterday and ate it tonight for dinner. It was so creamy and delicious. I didn’t use chicken broth, just water. And I used regular bacon because that’s what we had. I took the crispy bacon out before simmering the beans, then added the bacon back at the end to the individual bowls. I also added a dash of smoked chipotle powder. We garnished it with avocado, sour cream, salsa, and ate it with corn chips. It came out great.

Help - the recipe does not call for overnight soaking of the beans, but some comments/notes mention it. Do you need to do that or will they cook properly with just a quick pre-rinse?

The crisped bacon became of course flabby and unpleasant in the soup. Next time I’ll use smoked ham hocks during the browning and simmering then pick out and add the meat to the finished soup. Or a ham bone if I’m lucky enough to have one. And even with overnight soaking of the dried beans, the cook time was at least an hour longer. A bit of dry sherry added a nice depth, too

This is a super soup and tastes great the moment it’s ready (though I am excited to try it tomorrow too)! Used sliced bacon, three cans of rinsed black beans and two cartons of broth (about half what the recipe calls for) and still found it to be a terrifically flavorful soup. I puréed the soup a bit with an immersion blender and liked the creaminess it added.

Super yummy!

This simply did not work for me. I don’t know what I did wrong but it didn’t come together.

This recipe is fantastic! My family loved it and I'll definitely be making it again. I garnished with salsa and sour cream.

There is another NYT recipe for black bean soup claiming to be the “best black bean soup.” I beg to differ: This Craig Claiborne recipe, followed exactly and consumed the day after making, made the best black bean soup ever! Loved it!

There's no real reason to substitute canned beans here (in soup). If you don't wish to soak overnight, just do a quick soak: In a large saucepan cover dried beans with triple their volume of cold water. Bring water to a boil and cook beans, uncovered, over moderate heat 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat and soak beans 1 hour. While the beans soak, continue your prep.