Crock Pot or Instand Pot Spicy Bean Soup

I love my crockpot. I honestly don’t know how I went so long without using a crock pot. It’s so great to be able to leave the house and come back to the entire house smelling of dinner that you didn’t spend the whole day in the kitchen preparing. One of my favorite things to make in the crock pot is spicy bean soup. I put everything in the crock pot Sunday morning and we come back from church to the smell of bean soup that my husband can then take to work throughout the week as part of his lunch. The base of this soup is home made bone broth which is SUPER good for you. But if you don’t have bone broth you can replace it with store bought chicken stock. Just pay attention to the ingredients in the broth. So many brands are packed with junk.

Here is my black bean soup recipe I make almost every Sunday. This recipe makes about 5 bowls of soup.

Ingredients:

• 16 ounces dried black beans (soaked overnight)
• 1-2 TBS chopped jalapenos
• 6 cups of home made bone broth (You can use store bought but you wont get as many of the same health benefits. You can also use chicken OR beef. My hubby prefers beef but we don’t always have it on hand. I often do half and half.)
• 2 tsp garlic powder or 2 garlic cloves (I use the powder when I’m in a hurry before church on Sunday)
• 1 heaping TBS chili powder
• 1 heaping tsp ground cayenne pepper
• 1 heaping tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp sea salt .We buy our Redmonds Real Sea Salt at Thrive Market. 

Directions:

1. Soak beans in filtered water in a large jar overnight. I just use the unplugged instant pot to soak them. I cover them in water and add a splash of apple cider vinegar.

2. In the morning place your drained soaked beans in the crockpot along with all the other ingredients.

3. If using a crock pot… turn crock pot on high for 6 hours

4. Turn crock pot to low and cook 2 more hours. If you have an instant pot I find that you don’t need the additional 2 hours on the slow cooker setting.

5. If using an instant pot…. set the pot for 17 min high heat and then make sure you let it slow release pressure on it’s own.

6. I then separate into 5 glass bowls and put in the fridge for my hubby to take to work each day. You can serve it hot out of the crock pot as well. My husband likes to add shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese on top as well. But it’s plenty good all by itself.

You can add more or less spices depending on your taste. Another spice I like to add is smoked paprika when I have it in stock from Trader Joes. Mmmmm… good stuff!

Here is a bowl of soup I gabbed out of the fridge to photograph. My hubby dishes out each days worth into glass containers to put in the fridge to be able to eat each day for lunch on work days. He works from home and just brings out a dish when he’s ready for lunch.

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