Creamy Mexican Corn and Bean Soup is one of our favorite soups when the family wants something a little spicy to warm us up on cold days. Actually we eat this on hot days too! Soups are comfort food in a bowl and this easy to make corn and bean soup is made with flavorful beans, corn, three kinds of peppers, and cheddar cheese. This is a fast and easy soup recipe that can be ready in under one hour.
Creamy Corn and Bean Soup
Why I Like This Soup
- Choose your favorite ingredients. You can easily change ingredients in this recipe depending on your tastes. For instance, you could add black beans, add different types of peppers or maybe just use one type of pepper. You could go crazy and make this soup extra spicy by adding pepper jack cheese along with the cheddar or use all pepper jack. The choices are endless.
- This recipe is meatless. The beans bring lots of fiber and protein, but adding chicken or ground beef would make this even heartier.
- Want a vegetarian soup? Exchange the chicken broth for vegetable broth.
- The star of this recipe is the cream. Yes, adding cream to this broth-based bean soup adds a wonderful creamy richness that pairs well with the spices and peppers.
- Make this soup in under an hour. That’s right, this soup just takes a short simmer time to cook those Mexican flavors in.
Ingredients for Corn and Bean Soup
Don’t be afraid of this long list, everything is easy and this recipe uses lots of spices.
Pinto Beans – a tender bean with an earthy and nutty flavor
Kidney Beans – a meaty textured bean with a slight sweetness
Olive Oil – use for sauteing the veggies. You can use canola or coconut oil too
Fresh or Frozen Corn – you pick, you can also use leftover corn on the cob
Chicken Stock – the base of the recipe for flavor use canned or homemade
Cream – the cream adds a delicious richness to the soup
Red Pepper – love the color and the sweet pepper flavor
Green Pepper – a more bitter flavored pepper
Poblano Pepper – a Mexican flavored soup needs this dark green mild pepper for an earthy flavor
Jalapeno Pepper – this soup will appreciate the heat from a jalapeno
Garlic – just one clove adds plenty of aromatic flavors
Ground Cumin – the warm earthy flavor and aroma adds a distinctly Mexican flavor
Ground Red Pepper – adds some heat to your soup
Cilantro – this love it or hate it herb definitely adds flavor to the soup with its tart lemon-lime taste. You decide if you want to use it.
Cheddar Cheese – for the creamy melt in your mouth goodness
Salt & Pepper – enhances the flavor of everything.
Toppings – Sour Cream, Cheddar Cheese, Lime, and if you like Cilantro toss some more on top.
Making Corn and Bean Soup from Scratch
This Corn and Bean Soup recipe is easy to make, just some chopping, shredding and stirring is all it takes. Let’s start!
Step 1. Prep all the veggies first so they will be ready to add to the soup pan. Seed and dice all the peppers and chop the cilantro and peel and dice the garlic.
Step 2. Heat your soup pot on medium heat then add the olive oil. Stir in the corn, use fresh or frozen, and cook for one minute then add all the spices and garlic. Stir and cook the corn and spices for about three minutes until they are fragrant.
Step 3. Add the peppers then stir and cook on medium heat for another three minutes to soften the peppers.
Step 4. Add the chicken broth, stir and bring back to a simmer, then add the cream, stir and bring the soup to a slow simmer for 15 – 20 minutes until the peppers are cooked through.
Step 5. Shred the cheese while the soup is simmering. I prefer using a small handheld cheese grater to shred cheese, it’s fast and easy. Add the shredded cheese in small amounts to the simmering soup and stir between each addition. Stir well until the cheese is melted then add the chopped cilantro. That’s it, you are done!
Creamy and Spicy Corn and Bean Soup
Soups On!
How to Store the Corn and Bean Soup
Store any leftover Corn and Bean Soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.
This soup freezes well. Just ladle the soup into an airtight bowl or even in single-serve bowls and freeze. It’s is best to let the soup thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then reheat on medium-low until hot.
Do you need a new soup pot?
If you make a lot of soups, stews and sauces a good soup pot or dutch oven is a necessity. Also, it is important that my pots and pans can do double duty for all types of cooking and baking. My pot is over 25 years old and the handle is falling off so it is time for an upgrade. These are my two recommendations.
I love the clear glass lid and the extra sturdy handles on this oven-safe Calphalon 5-quart soup pot, Dutch Oven. I am also a big fan of cast iron and this 6-quart blue enameled Dutch Oven can also be used for bread baking. Both pans are perfect for the stovetop and the oven.
There is nothing better than a great big bowl to hold a couple of ladles of soup, I like these stackable, oven and dishwasher safe 18-ounce blue stoneware bowls, perfect for soup, cereal, and ice cream. In order to serve soup make sure to get a nice ladle with a long handle to serve your soup. Look for an all one-piece ladle like this Newness Soup Ladle to makes washing a breeze and the solid one-piece keeps food out of nooks and crannies.
Pin for later when you want a delicious soup.
For some other Mexican flavors try these easy to make Mini Chicken Taco Cups for a tasty appetizer or light meal.
Creamy Mexican Corn and Bean Soup
Equipment
- Soup Pot 5 quart
Ingredients
Soup Ingredients
- 2 tbls olive oil
- 1 16 oz. can pinto beans drained
- 1 16 oz. can kidney beans drained
- 2 cups frozen corn
- 1/2 cup green pepper seeded and diced
- 1/2 cup red pepper seeded and diced
- 1/2 cup pasilla pepper seeded and diced
- 1 jalapeno seeded and diced
- 1 clove garlic chopped
- 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 1/4 tsp. ground red pepper
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 lb cheddar cheese grate this to make 1 cup of shredded cheese
- 2 tbls. chopped cilantro
Corn and Bean Soup Toppings (optional)
- sour cream
- shredded cheese
- lime
- diced onion
Instructions
- Prep your ingredients first by draining the beans, chopping the garlic, and seeding and dicing the peppers.
- Place a large stockpot on medium heat. I use 5.75" stockpot. Once the pot is hot add the olive oil.
- Add the corn to the pot and cook for a minute. Add all the dry seasoning plus the garlic to the corn and stir, frequently until the corn is cooked and the spices are fragrant about three minutes.
- Add the beans and the chicken stock to the corn mixture, stir well then bring to a boil. Turn the heat to medium-low and let cook at a simmer for 15 minutes.
- While the soup is simmering shred the cheddar cheese using a box grater or a micro plan cheese grater, this should yield 1 cup of shredded cheese. Alternately you can use pre-shredded cheese.
- Add the cream to the soup pot and stir well. Bring the soup back to a simmer then add the cheese in small batches, stirring between batches so it melts easily, then stir in the cilantro. Taste the soup to adjust any season and let simmer for 5 minutes.
- Serve the soup hot. Add any of the optional toppings.
Notes
Nutrition
Creamy Corn and Bean Soup
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I never thought of putting corn in a soup and the soup looks amazing, I can’t wait to make it definitely something new for us. Gorgeous pictures too!
I grew up in corn country in the mid-west, we put corn in everything.
I am in love with this soup and only eating it on cold days isn’t enough. So many fresh flavors that I think is perfect for a Summery soup too. Yum!
This is actually a refreshing soup with all the veggies.
This sounds delicious and quite different to my standard range of soups! May well have a go soon
This soup is a bit different than either chili or bean soup, it kind of a cross between the two.