Cuban Black Bean Soup – EASY slow cooker recipe!

In honor of this weekend being the first day of fall I have a very easy slow cooker soup recipe for you!  This soup is healthy! It is high in protein and low in fat. It is yummy and freezes well!  It is super easy and VERY budget friendly!  The entire slow cooker full costs about $5 – $10!

My whole family LOVES this soup!  I am so excited for cozy weather to come back!  We make a lot of slow cooker soups during the fall and winter.  It is yummy and I love watching my budget drop a bit during these months.

Cuban Black Bean Soup is VERY easy to make!

Here are the ingredients I used and the cost breakdown………..

• one bag 365 brand dry organic black beans – $2.29
• one box 16 oz 365 brand organic vegetable broth – $1.99
• two large carrots – rough chopped, keep the skins on – these are less than $1 lb – so pennies
• two stalks of celery – also rough chopped – it was about $1.50 for the whole bunch, I only used two stalks – so maybe 25 cents!
• whole yellow onion chopped – about $1
• About five green onions from our community garden – so FREE for me, but would have been about 25 – 50 cents (maybe less!)
• basket of cherry tomatoes (or one/two tomatoes chopped) – also from our community garden (FREE!) but maybe $2 or so to buy
• a few cloves of crushed garlic – 10 cents or so
• cumin, salt, pepper, dried parsley to taste

First you gotta soak the black beans over night.  Put the whole package in the slow cooker and cover with water. I make sure to have a couple inches of water over the beans.  Soak overnight and drain the water out in the morning.

After beans are drained – add in all veggies.

Pour in the entire box of veggie broth (I actually added more water too – whatever is needed to cover the contents by a few inches).

Add in crushed garlic and spices.  Just whatever you like.  I always season to taste once it is all done.

Cook on high for 6 hours.

At 6 hours take out and puree about half of the mixture and put back into slow cooker.  Leave on warm for another 30 minutes or so and serve!

We put a dollop of Greek yogurt on top (you could also use sour cream), a sprinkle of cheese, and some chopped green onions.

This works out to LESS than $1 a serving!  It freezes well (my hubby takes it to work for lunch sometimes).  And the BEST part?! It is TOTALLY healthy!  Healthy AND inexpensive?!  Yes Please!  These are really easy ingredients to just have on hand, and it is a REALLY easy recipe to make on busy days.

Enjoy ~ Kate

* This post has been sponsored by the good folks at Whole Foods Market in Encinitas*