Recreate Panera’s beloved black bean soup in your own kitchen! This hearty vegetarian soup combines tender black beans with aromatic vegetables and warm spices for a satisfying meal that’s both nutritious and delicious. Perfect for cold weather comfort or year-round healthy eating, this restaurant-quality soup costs a fraction of the original.
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Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
This authentic Panera copycat focuses on building layers of flavor through proper vegetable sautéing and balanced seasoning. Unlike many online versions that incorrectly include chicken broth, this recipe stays true to Panera’s vegetarian original using vegetable broth. The cornstarch slurry technique creates the perfect thickness, while fresh lemon juice brightens the entire dish.
Ingredients
Aromatic Vegetable Base:
- White onion РProvides sweet foundation flavor when properly saut̩ed
- Celery – Adds essential aromatic depth and subtle crunch
- Carrot – Contributes natural sweetness and vibrant color
- Vegetable oil РFor saut̩ing vegetables to develop flavors
Main Components:
- Red bell pepper – Adds sweetness and beautiful color contrast
- Garlic – Essential aromatic that enhances all other flavors
- Vegetable broth – Creates the soup base (never chicken broth for the authentic vegetarian version)
- Canned or cooked black beans – The protein-rich star ingredient
Seasonings & Finish:
- Salt – Enhances all flavors throughout the cooking process
- Ground cumin – Provides warm, earthy depth characteristic of black bean soup
- Fresh lemon juice – Brightens flavors when added just before serving
- Cornstarch – Thickens soup to perfect consistency when mixed with water
How to Make Panera Black Bean Soup
- In a large pot over medium-high heat, add vegetable oil, onions, celery, and carrots.
- Sprinkle the vegetables with a pinch of salt
- Sauté the vegetables until the onions become translucent.
- Add bell pepper and garlic.
- Continue to sauté vegetables until the garlic becomes fragrant.
- If using canned black beans, rinse the beans to remove excess starch.
- Add beans, vegetable broth, salt, and cumin to the pot.
- Allow the soup to simmer until heated through.
- Taste the soup and add more salt if needed.
- Mix cornstarch with water to make a slurry.
- Slowly add the cornstarch slurry to the soup while stirring briskly.
- Just before serving, add the lemon juice and stir to combine.
Chef’s Notes
The key to restaurant-quality flavor is properly sautéing the vegetables until they’re aromatic and the onions are translucent. Please don’t rush this step; it builds the soup’s flavor foundation. The lemon juice should be added at the end to preserve its bright, fresh taste.
Storage & Reheating Instructions
- Refrigerator Storage: Store in airtight containers for up to 5 days. Flavors improve after sitting overnight.
- Freezing Method: Freeze in individual portions using freezer bags for up to 3 months. Lay bags flat for efficient storage.
- Reheating Tips:Â Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then reheat in a saucepan over medium heat. Add extra broth or water if the soup becomes too thick.
Love Panera? Check out these Panera copycat recipes!
- Panera Bread Autumn Squash Soup
- Panera Bread Baked Potato Soup
- Panera Bread French Onion Soup
- Panera Bread Mac and Cheese Recipe
- Panera Bread Muffins
- Panera Bread Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Panera Bread Creamy Tomato Soup
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Check out my easy soup recipes and the best Panera recipes here on CopyKat!
Copycat Panera Black Bean Soup – Vegetarian Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup white onion chopped
- ½ cup celery chopped
- ½ cup carrot chopped
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ½ cup red bell pepper chopped
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 32 ounces vegetable broth
- 30 ounces black beans or 3 to 4 cups of cooked black beans
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1½ teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon of water
Instructions
- In a large pot add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.
- Add onions, celery, and carrots. Sprinkle the vegetables with a pinch of salt to help them release the water in the vegetables.
- Saute vegetables until onions begin to become translucent.
- Add bell pepper and garlic.
- Continue to saute vegetables until the garlic becomes fragrant.
- If using canned black beans, rinse them to remove excess starch.
- Add beans and vegetable broth to the pot.
- Add 1 teaspoon of salt and cumin to the soup.
- Allow the soup to simmer for about 10 minutes to heat through.
- Taste the soup and add more salt if needed.
- Add cornstarch and water mixture to the soup. It will help thicken the soup.
- Just before serving, add the lemon juice.
I am cooking it now. I add more cumin. it turned out great. Thank you. I too blended half of it.
Okay y’all if you’re gonna make this, you need a lot more cumin. Like 7x the amount. I’m adding as a go and I’m easily at 5 tablespoons and it’s just barely strong enough to resemble the original. Celery was a smart pick to put in! I was surprised how much it added to recreating the flavour. Also make sure you have a food processor ready. Maybe try taking out all the ingredients before the Blackbeard, pureeing them, then adding it all together, then taking out some of the beans and pureeing those
I followed the recipe exactly and my 8-yr who was craving the Panera Bread black bean soup absolutely loved it! It’s a great recipe that mimics the original exactly! Loved it!
While it’s not Panera Bread, it’s still absolutely delicious! I’ll be making this as part of my meal prep this upcoming week for sure!
I am so glad you like it.
Hi I would like to make this soup, using my slow cooker and with dry beans.
Can you please suggest how I should go about it? Thank you.
I just did this recipe with dry beans. I cooked the beans using seriouseats.com’s recipe. Then I sautéd the vegetables and added them along with the stock and cumin into the crock pot. I left it for an hour. Then, I reserved a few cups of the beans/veggies and immersion blended the rest. It was thick, so I skipped the cornstarch.
I will have to give your method a try.
I make this occasionally,we love it. I definitely do the cornstarch and yes an immersion blender
I made this soup and blended some of it to mix back in before serving- it gave it a thicker consistency and was delicious!!
So this was simply amazing…it was a hit! I garnished it with a little Mexican cheese blend and avacado…yum!
Very disapointing. It had very little body, and it was weak in flavor.
I am sorry you didn’t enjoy the recipe. To save the soup, you could make it thicker by adding a slurry of cornstarch and water mixed together and then reheat the soup. You may also want to adjust the seasonings to your personal preference to help it satisfy you.
I had the same issue, even used the cornstarch and puréed 1/2 the soup and added it back. Watery and missing something.
I made this soup exactly as the recipe shows. We had Panera’s Black Bean Soup yesterday, and thought we found the recipe. It does not taste anything like Panera’s. Very disappointed.
MY guess is that it may never be the same, my question is was it good?
I love this soup I add a little bit of ham it’s really good my family said it was a keeper will be making it again Thank You