Pressure Cooker Black Bean Soup

Name: Pressure Cooker Black Bean Soup
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 cup coarsely chopped onion; 1 tablespoon mild or hot chile powder; 1 1/2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds; 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves; 7 cups water; 1 pound (2 1/2 cups) black beans, picked over and rinsed; 4 ounces diced Spanish chorizo; 4 to 6 cloves garlic, minced; 2 bay leaves; Salt to taste; 1 large, ripe Hass avocado, diced; 2 large plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped; 1/3 cup chopped red onion; 1/4 cup chopped cilantro; 1 jalapeño, seeded and diced (optional); 2 to 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice; Salt

Recipe from Lorna Sass

Adapted by Mark Bittman

Pressure Cooker Black Bean Soup — Craig Lee for The New York Times

Total Time: About 1 hour
Rating: 4(1,424)
Comments: Read comments

This inky soup, made in a pressure cooker, shows off black beans at their toothsome best. Adapted from the cookbook author and pressure-cooking maven Lorna Sass, the soup gets a bold finish with a mound of tomato-avocado salsa. It is hearty enough to serve for lunch or a light dinner. —Mark Bittman

Featured in: Apply a Little Pressure

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings

For the Soup

1tablespoon olive oil
1cup coarsely chopped onion
1tablespoon mild or hot chile powder
1½teaspoons whole cumin seeds
1½teaspoons dried oregano leaves
7cups water
1pound (2½ cups) black beans, picked over and rinsed
4ounces diced Spanish chorizo
4 to 6cloves garlic, minced
2bay leaves
Salt to taste

For the Avocado Salsa

1large, ripe Hass avocado, diced
2large plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
⅓cup chopped red onion
¼cup chopped cilantro
1jalapeño, seeded and diced (optional)
2 to 3tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
Salt

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

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Step 1
In a 6-quart or larger stovetop pressure cooker or an electric pressure cooker, heat the oil over medium-high heat or using the sauté function. Stir in the onions, chile powder, cumin and oregano and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions begin to soften, about 1 minute.
Step 2
Add the water, beans, chorizo, garlic and bay leaves.
Step 3
Lock the lid in place. Over high heat, bring to high pressure. Reduce the heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for 30 minutes. If using an electric pressure cooker, cook on high pressure for 30 minutes.
Step 4
Turn off the heat if using a stovetop cooker, and allow the pressure to come down naturally, about 15 minutes. Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow the steam to escape.
Step 5
Stir well. Discard the bay leaves and add salt to taste. The soup will thicken on standing.
Step 6
Just before serving, prepare the avocado salsa by tossing the ingredients together in a bowl. Ladle the soup into bowls and top each portion with a large dollop of salsa.

Ratings

4 out of 5

1,424 user ratings

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Comments

Karen7 years ago

I added 3 stalks celery, 1/2 orange pepper & 1/2 red pepper. Increased garlic to a bulb, added a lg onion. Doubled cumin & oregano. Better Than Bouillon chicken base was essential, I added about 2 Tbls., tasting after each addition. I added about half a cup of sour cream, but a little at a time. I upped bay leaves to 3. Without the bouillon and the sour cream the soup was flat, had no depth. I upped the chorizo to a package of chorizo instead of 4 oz. all done stovetop.
It was great!

Kathelita7 years ago

Made soup without pressure cooker. Instead of chorizo (I don't eat meat), I used some tomato paste. Tasty.

Paulette7 years ago

I used the pressure cooker and it is way too much liquid. I like my black bean soup to be thick. This was not remotely thick. I would try it again with maybe 5 cups of water or increase the black beans to 3 1/2 cups.

BEVERLY A SAUER4 months ago

After sautéing the onions and adding spices to the pot, i discovered i had no black beans. Result: navy (white) beans work really well. The next day i sautéed leeks, onions, carrots and kale stems and added the veggies to the cooked beans. I garnished with diced kale and fresh cherry tomatoes for serving. Spectacular. Surprisingly the chile spices and oregano worked well. (My regular navy bean soup tends to be bland-er. )

nancyintoronto '10 months ago

I wasn’t overly thrilled with this. There wasn’t a lot of depth to the flavour and the, while the salsa was a nice addition, it wasn’t enough to save this. Easy to make, though. I prefer the black bean soup recipe on smittenkitchen.com and probably won’t make this again.

Peg10 months ago

I prefer a slightly “toothy” texture to soups. Pressure cookers/I. P. make soups quite soft, even mushy. My hack: Prepare the sofrito (consider in increasing volume of sofrito: onions/garlic/carrots/celery/herbs/spices. etc.) BUT BEFORE adding beans or split peas or lentils (plus broth/water/tomato/whatever else to the pot,) REMOVE about half of sofrito and it set aside. Once beans, etc. are done cooking, and after pressure is released, stir the reserved sofrito back in. Then add fresh herbs.

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