Panera Bread Black Bean Soup is a comforting and delicious soup you can make using pantry staples! It's perfect for a healthy weeknight dinner and is naturally vegan and gluten-free!
Course Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine American, Gluten-Free, Vegan, vegetarian
Keyword beans, black beans, copycat recipe, fall, soup, winter
Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Once hot, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and red bell pepper. Season with a pinch of salt and saute for 10-15 minutes, until the vegetables are golden and begin to caramelize.
Add the tomato paste and minced garlic and saute for 1 minute, until the tomato paste has darkened in color. If it starts to burn add a drizzle of olive oil or a splash of water.
Add the spices- smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, onion powder, and red pepper flakes. Toast the spices for 30 seconds.
Pour 1 cup of vegetable broth and scrape down the bottom to get any of the browned bits off. Pour the rest of the broth, and add the rinsed black beans, alongside salt, and black pepper.
Cover the pot with a lid and bring to a boil. Simmer over medium-low heat for 35-40 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Then, pure half of the soup using an immersion blender or a regular blender. Stir in the lime juice.
Taste and adjust the flavor as needed, adding more salt, lime juice, or black pepper to taste. Serve!
Notes
Take your time when sauteeing the veggies. Panera's black bean soup relies on simple ingredients so it's important to build flavor in any way we can. By sauteing the vegetables for 10 minutes or longer they start to release their natural sugars and begin to caramelize.
Adjust the spices to your liking. I love how versatile this recipe is. You can add more or less of the spices, or even add some extra like onion powder, chili powder, cayenne pepper, etc.
Adjust the thickness as desired. Use vegetable stock to thin out the soup as needed. I've found that 6 cups make for a thicker soup and 8 cups make for a soup that's on the thinner side.
Use a standard blender for a smoother consistency. For safety, it's important to let the soup cool a bit before transferring half of it to the blender. Don't fill the jar more than halfway and make sure that you leave the hole in the lid open so that heat can escape. Always be careful when handling hot liquids!
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. Accuracy is not guaranteed. Information shown should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.