There are many versions of Mexican inspired soups ripe with gorgeous Mexican flavors like tomatoes, black beans and garlic. This easily made slow cooker soup contains classic ingredients that you most likely have stocked up on, which makes this sausage and black bean soup recipe perfect to throw together before work to be ready for dinner.
Slow cooking side dishes, appetizers and main dish meals can be a real blessing during busy weeks. Plus the added benefit of very little kitchen mess makes this one pot soup a no brainer.
While this recipe contains a variety of ingredients like hominy, flavored tomatoes, and black beans, this recipe is also super easy to alter and add additional ingredients for a more hearty soup. Other alternative and additional ingredients include (drained) golden corn, cut up fresh sweet peppers and a diced can of jalapenos.
Sausage Black Bean Soup
Unlike other black bean soups, this delicious dish uses pork sausage over ground beef or chicken, giving it a natural seasoned taste.
- Ground Sausage – Personally I like Jimmy Dean ground sausage. Keep in mind that breakfast sausage, pork sausage and Italian sausage varies in spices. Get the plain pork sausage.
- Chicken Broth – Either (2) 14 oz. cans of chicken brother or 1 large box that is 32 oz. chicken broth.
- Black Beans – 1 can of 15.5 oz. black beans, no need to rinse. An extra can of black beans if you really want it to more black bean soup is totally fine. One suggestion I have that I do with other soups is to crush one can of beans down (using the end of can or glass) and fold into the soup. This makes the soup thicker.
- Hominy – Hominy is made from dried maize and you can find golden hominy canned. If preferred, use golden corn over hominy.
- Potatoes – The easiest way to add potatoes to sausage and black bean soup is to use diced hash browns.
- Onion – Half a large onion, more to taste is fine.
- Tomatoes – Any type of stewed tomatoes work fine however when I make Mexican inspired soups, I prefer Rotel blends that include lime and jalapeno for that extra flavor without the work.
- Seasonings and Herbs – Oregano, Minced Garlic, Chili Powder, Black Pepper
- Lime
How to make Mexican Soup Creamier.
Because this soup has a base on chicken broth, it tends to have the consistency of a more traditional soup. If you prefer a creamy soup, what I have learned is to add a can of REFRIED BLACK BEANS to the soup, which gives it a more creamy and thicker base.
If you do add extra cans of refried beans (or any additional ingredients) it is likely that the spices will need to be adjusted and more added to avoid thinning out the flavor too much.
Slow Cooker Sausage and Black Bean Soup
There is only about 15 minutes prep for this slow cooker recipe, with most of that being opening up cans and cooking the ground pork sausage.
Once sausage is cooked, combine all ingredients together and place in a (4-8 quart) slow cooker on low for 4-5 hours or high on 2 hours.
Toppings to add to Sausage and Black Bean Soup
One of the best parts about soups like this is the toppings. Adding extra ingredients to the top of soups is an art and allows everyone to super customize their own bowl of sausage and black bean soup.
A few common soup topping ingredients that I keep available for serving is:
- Shredded Cheese – Mexican cheeses are the most obvious choice and blends work beautifully, but as long as there is shredded Cheddar Cheese around, you are good to go! Shredded cheese melts quickly in hot soups leaving huge strings of cheese in every bite.
- Fresh Cilantro – Cilantro is a controversial ingredient as some people detect a “soap” flavor in Cilantro. Personally I love it. Fresh cilantro, chopped up, tastes great and looks beautiful as far as presentation is concerned.
- Sour Cream – Adding a dollop of sour cream is a great way to bring down an over spiced soup and also gives a creamier soup base.
- Fresh Tomatoes – This dish does have canned tomatoes, but my husband likes to add fresh small diced tomatoes to the top of his too.
- Fresh Avocado – Fresh avocado gives a great texture to round out the soup. Do not add on until just ready to serve.
Serve this soup with a side of tortilla chips to dip (bonus points if you make homemade tortilla chips – so easy, I promise! AND WORTH IT!)
Mexican Inspired Meals
Additionally, a few other great slow cooker meals we have made and enjoyed this week are slow cooker cabbage and sausage and slow cooked gouda potatoes!
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