Sopa Negra: Costa Rican Black Bean Soup Recipe

Sopa negra is Costa Rica’s black bean soup: black beans simmered in their own cooking liquid with onion, sweet pepper, garlic and cilantro, then served with an egg in the bowl and white rice on the side. It’s simple home cooking, not a spice-heavy soup. With cooked or canned beans, it takes about 30 minutes; from dried beans, plan on a few hours, most of it hands-off.

This guide is for travelers who tried sopa negra at a soda (a small, family-run Costa Rican restaurant) and want to make it at home, and for anyone curious about Costa Rican food. It covers what goes in it, a step-by-step recipe, shortcuts, how Ticos serve it and where to try it in Costa Rica.

The basics

What Is Sopa Negra?

Sopa negra means “black soup.” Costa Rican cooks make it from the same pot of black beans that feeds gallo pinto and casados all week, using the dark, starchy bean liquid as the broth. Some purée part or all of the beans for a thicker soup; others leave them whole in a thinner broth. Most bowls come with a hard-boiled or poached egg, and rice goes on the side or straight into the soup.

The flavor comes from the sofrito (onion, sweet pepper and garlic cooked in a little oil) and from fresh cilantro, not from heavy spices. Some cooks add celery, a pinch of oregano or a splash of Salsa Lizano, the tangy brown sauce found on nearly every Costa Rican table. See our guides to gallo pinto and the casado.

Ingredients

Sopa Negra Ingredients

For the beans (skip if using cooked or canned)

• 1 pound (about 450 grams) dried black beans
• 10 cups water
• ½ onion and 2 garlic cloves
• Salt

For the soup

• About 4 cups cooked black beans plus about 4 cups of their cooking liquid (or two 15-ounce cans of black beans, undrained, plus 3 cups water or broth)
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 red sweet pepper (chile dulce or red bell pepper), finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped (optional)
• 1 small bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Salt and black pepper
• Salsa Lizano or Worcestershire sauce, a splash (optional)
• 4 eggs

To serve

• Cooked white rice
• Avocado, natilla or sour cream, corn tortillas (optional)

Recipe

How to Make Sopa Negra: Step by Step

1. Cook the beans (if starting from dried). Rinse the beans, then soak them overnight in plenty of water. Drain, add 10 cups fresh water, the half onion and 2 garlic cloves, and simmer until very soft, about 1½ to 2½ hours, adding water if needed. A pressure cooker cuts this to roughly 30 to 40 minutes. Salt the beans near the end. Keep all the liquid.
2. Purée some of the beans. For a thicker soup, purée about half the beans with some of their liquid in a blender until smooth. For a brothy soup, purée less or none.
3. Make the sofrito. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the onion, sweet pepper, celery and garlic for about 5 minutes, until soft.
4. Simmer. Add the puréed beans, the whole beans and their liquid, about 8 cups in total. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and a splash of Lizano.
5. Add the eggs. Either hard-boil the eggs separately for about 10 minutes, peel and halve them, and put them in the bowls; or crack the raw eggs into the simmering soup, cover and cook for about 8 minutes, until set.
6. Finish and serve. Stir in most of the cilantro, ladle into bowls with the eggs and top with the rest. Serve with rice and any extras.

Serving

How Costa Ricans Serve Sopa Negra

• Egg in the bowl: a halved hard-boiled egg or an egg poached in the soup is standard.
• Rice: on the side or spooned into the soup.
• Extras: avocado, a spoonful of natilla, tortillas or slices of boiled green plantain.
• Heat: Costa Rican food isn’t spicy. Add hot sauce or a chopped hot pepper at the table if you like.

Variations

Easy Variations

• Vegetarian or vegan: use water or vegetable broth, and skip the eggs for vegan.
• Heartier: add diced potato, carrot or green plantain while the soup simmers.
• Richer broth: replace some of the water with chicken broth.
• No cilantro: use parsley or green onion instead.

In Costa Rica

Where to Try Sopa Negra in Costa Rica

Look for it on soda menus, usually at lunch, where it typically comes with rice. San José’s Central Market, with its small sodas, is a good place to try traditional Costa Rican dishes. See our guides to Costa Rican sodas, pulperías and sodas and the Central Market.

Cilantro, chile dulce and fresh eggs are easy to find at weekend farmers markets; see our Costa Rica farmers markets guide. Want to cook it at home with the real thing? Bring back a bottle of Salsa Lizano; see our list of Costa Rica souvenirs. For more dishes, see our Costa Rican food guide and our chorreadas recipe.

FAQ

Sopa Negra FAQ