Bean & Salsa Blender Soup

This bean and salsa soup is spicy and satisfying. Made in the blender, it's also super quick and easy. Years ago, when I got my Vitamix, I was very excited about the soup function. Being me, I did not read any recipes or directions and simply put the raw ingredients for a vegetable soup in the blender and pressed go. It was disgusting, like a hot garlicky vegetable smoothie. When I looked into the matter further, I discovered that you need to put cooked food in the blender to make soup. Really?! Why would I cook food to make soup instead of just cook soup the usual way?! Fast forward a decade and it occured to me that I could put pre-cooked canned/jarred items from my "pantry" and dried herbs/spices that I often have on hand in the blender to make soup. This recipe is my second such blender soup and it's pretty good! I've made it with soybeans that I had made earlier in the week (in my Instant Pot), and with canned black beans (a higher-carb option). I have not made it with canned soybeans, so please do let me know if you give that a try. I find the Eden black soybeans rather firm for my tastes and wonder if they'd be a bit too chalky in this recipe. Tip - choose the heat level of your salsa wisely. A hot salsa will make for quite a spicy soup. Happy slurping!
Yield: 6 servings of about 1 cup (245g) each or 4 servings of about 1½ cups (365g) each, totaling roughly 6 cups (1,455g)
​Macros (per 1 cup serving): 185 calories | 12g protein | 11g fat | 6g net carbs ​
​Macros (per 1½ cup serving): 275 calories | 18g protein | 17g fat | 9g net carbs
Prep: 10 minutes | Cook: 10 minutes
Equipment required: a blender with a soup function and a large (48-ounce [1.5-liter]) carafe.
Storage: refrigerated for up to 5 days. Reheat on low to prevent separation.
Ingredients:
  • 2 cups (480ml) vegetable broth or 1 boullion cube and 2 cups (480ml) of water ✎
  • 1½ cups (258g) cooked or canned soybeans (or black beans ✎)
  • 1½ cups (398g) jarred tomato salsa, divided ✎
  • ½ can (200ml) full-fat coconut milk
  • ¼ cup (20g) nutritional yeast flakes
  • 1 tsp dried oregano 
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp ground cumin 
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ½ cup (120ml) unsweetened soy or pea milk
  • lime wedges​ (for serving - optional) ✎
Directions:
  1. Put the broth and beans in the blender. If using canned beans, drain and rinse the beans first.
  2. Select the soup function on your blender and start. ✎
  3. When the cycle has finished, add 1 cup (259g) of the salsa and the coconut milk, nutritional yeast, oregano, and spices to the blender.
  4. Select the soup function on your blender and start (again).
  5. When the blender has stopped, mix in the soy/pea milk and remaining ½ cup (129g) of salsa by hand.
  6. Divide equally between 4 or 6 soup bowls (about 1½ cups [360ml] or 1 cup [240ml] per bowl), top as desired, serve with lime wedges, and enjoy hot.​
Black Beans (soy-free / higher-carb):
Macros (per 1 cup serving): 165 calories | 8g protein | 7.5g fat | 11g net carbs ​
​Macros (per 1½ cup serving): 250 calories | 12g protein | 12g fat | 17g net carbs
✎ Notes:
  • I found that running the beans and broth through a soup cycle before adding other ingredients for a second soup cycle helped to reduce the chalkiness I found when making the soup on a single cycle. Please be careful when removing the lid of your carafe, especially the second time around. There will be a lot of hot steam inside eager to get out.
  • Using black beans increases the net carbs quite a bit and lowers the protein. However, this may still be an option for those with a higher carb limit or if the soup's enjoyed as a small serving and balanced with other very low carb and high protein items in the day.
  • Macros on jarred salsas can vary significantly. Avoid ones with added sugars, corn, and beans. I am use Tostitos hot salsa, which has only 1g net carbs per 2 tablespoons (35g). However, macros are calculated with NCCDB data, which states 1.5g net carbs per 2 tablespoons (32g). Made with hot salsa, this soup is quite spicy.
  • Vegetable broths and boullion cubes, pastes, or powders are often high in net carbs due to added sugars and starches, so check your labels. I use Edward & Sons bouillon cubes, which have almost no carbs, and water.​​
  • Adding a little lime juice helps to round out the flavors and mask the slight bitterness that many beans have.
  • Macros for this recipes are calculated with American national nutritional data (i.e. NCCDB & USDA entries in Cronometer) for all ingredients apart from the bouillon cubes (Edward & Sons), coconut milk (Aroy-D), nutritional yeast flakes (blend of Bob's Redmill and Foods Alive unfortified). Macros for the soy-free black bean version of the soup are calculated with Ripple pea milk.
  • Macro numbers are rounded. Numbers equal to or greater than 10g are rounded to the nearest whole number (e.g. 10g, 11g, 12g, etc.) and numbers below 10g are rounded to the nearest 0.5g (0.5g, 1g, 1.5g ... 9g, 9.5g). Any numbers below 0.5g are given as is (e.g. 0.1g, 0.2g, etc.). Calories are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5.