Black Bean and Sausage Soup Recipe (Slow Cook or Instant Pot)

Hearty and flavorful black bean and sausage soup is quick to make and cooks up in either a slow cooker or instant pot – your choice! It’s an easy dinner served with chips & salsa that your family will enjoy.

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When our family tried this black bean and sausage soup recipe for the first time we knew it was a keeper.

It’s filling and really tasty, plus I love the fact that I can make it as a slow cooker dish if I will be away from home or make it quicker in my Instant Pot. I make this often during the winter months, and I think you will like this simple soup with Tex-Mex flavors, too.

I adapted this recipe years ago from a library book I had, adding more vegetables, spices, and sometimes even changing the type of beans (which I know doesn’t make it ‘black bean’ anymore, but work with me here).

I like to use the beans I have in the freezer cooked and ready to go and for most soup recipes it seems that beans are pretty interchangeable. I’ve used pinto beans and white beans in addition to the black beans – and sometimes a combo of them.

This is such an easy dinner, too! Since it’s pretty much a one-dish meal with all the vegetables, I usually serve this with chips and salsa or warmed tortillas.

Sometimes I add a plate of carrots and celery with this best ranch dressing as a dip, too. It all depends on how much time I have.

And if you do have the time, you might want to make these 10-minute chips from corn tortillas – they have a great fresh flavor that can’t be beat with store bought. And of course I like to serve my favorite canned salsa if I have any.

Black Bean and Sausage Soup Recipe

Ingredients

I think you’re going to love this as much as I do. It’s a recipe with mostly basic real food ingredients, there’s not too much prep (sautéing the onions is about it) and you throw it in the cooker of your choice and dinner’s done!

Here are the ingredients you’ll need:

• Cooked sausage (any type)
• Onions
• Black beans
• Corn
• Canned tomatoes
• Mild peppers like anaheims or ancho
• Optional hot pepper like jalapeño
• Garlic, spices, and olive oil

I like to buy sausage that has real ingredients, so if I can’t find cooked sausage like that at a good price, I’ll buy uncooked sausage and cook it first along with the onion. So it’s pretty flexible that way.

And if you have chopped peppers in the freezer from your garden or farmer’s market, this is the time to use them!

Instructions & Tips

It’s simple to change this up to cook in either a slow cooker or the Instant Pot. If you have an IP, you can use it to sauté the onions and then choose either to slow cook the soup (using a glass lid like this) or pressure cook the soup.

Using an Instant Pot

You can watch the video I made to see how to make the soup using an Instant Pot and then how to choose either the slow cook function or the pressure cook function.

Using a Slow Cooker
Of course, using a classic slow cooker is how I first made this years ago and it’s still a great hands-off option. (And no, I haven’t gotten rid of my slow cooker – I find that meats come out more moist in the slow cooker, especially pork, than using the IP’s slow cooker function.)

Which slow cooker is best?

Many slow cookers spit hot water out when cooking on high. I always look for a rubber sealer along the lid to minimize this.

The newest version of the slow cooker I use and love is the Hamilton Beach Stay or Go 6-qt Slow Cooker. It has the thick lid seal so it doesn’t spit hot liquid.

I love these kinds of easy recipes where you basically throw all the ingredients together and let them cook.

They are one dish meals that are pretty much done for you, and should be a part of our regular menus, don’t you think?

Other Slow Cooker/Instant Pot Recipes to Try:

Slow Cooker Chicken Chili

Slow Cooker Chicken Sausage Cassoulet

Slow Cooker Pork-Vegetable Stew with mashed potatoes

 

This recipe has been updated – it was originally published October 2009.

 

 

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