Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Sopa Negra
A silky Costa Rican black bean soup, seasoned with onion, sweet pepper, garlic, and cilantro and crowned with a poached egg, served with rice.
Costa Rican · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 40 min
~380 cal · 21g protein · 47g carbs · 13g fat · 11g fiber · 4g sugars · 2g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Sopa negra is Costa Rica's soul-warming black bean soup, a silky, savoury bowl built on the same beans that make gallo pinto. It is home cooking at its most economical, traditionally made from the rich cooking liquid left over after a pot of black beans, seasoned generously and blended smooth.
The flavour comes from a sofrito of onion, sweet pepper (chile dulce), garlic, and plenty of cilantro, with cumin and bay to round it out. What makes it unmistakably tico is the finish: whole eggs are poached right in the simmering soup, and the bowl is served with a side of white rice, often stirred straight in.
Comforting and inexpensive, sopa negra is the kind of dish every Costa Rican grandmother makes, and it is easily kept vegan by leaving the egg out. A squeeze of lime and a little more fresh cilantro brighten each bowl.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten-, dairy-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
4 cups cooked black beans with their liquid
1 onion, finely chopped
1 sweet bell pepper (chile dulce), chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 bay leaf
4 eggs
2 tbsp vegetable oil
to taste salt
1 lime lime wedges, to serve
Instructions
1
Soften the onion, sweet pepper, and garlic in the oil until fragrant, saving a little of the raw chopped pepper and cilantro to finish.
✎ Chef’s note
For a smoother, darker soup, blend half the beans with their liquid before they go in; leaving the rest whole keeps some texture.
2
Add the black beans with their liquid, the cumin, bay leaf, and most of the cilantro, and bring to a gentle simmer.
3
Simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes, adding a little water if it gets too thick, until the flavours meld. Season with salt.
4
Crack the eggs into the simmering soup and poach for a few minutes until the whites set and the yolks are done to your liking.
5
Ladle into bowls, each with an egg, scatter over the reserved pepper and cilantro, and serve with white rice and lime wedges.
San José home tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
San José. The soda is the format rather than the dish: a small family-run counter serving a set lunch to whoever turns up, the day's casado chalked on a board and no menu of any length. The cooking is fresh rather than fiery, with hot sauce left on the table for anyone who wants it.
🗺️
Costa Rica. Casado has two explanations and neither is settled: that it was the plate a married man was fed at home, or that it describes the marriage of several dishes on one surface. Whichever, it is rice, beans, plantain, salad and a protein, and the bottle of Salsa Lizano on the table is the specifically Costa Rican element, going into gallo pinto as much as onto it.
🌍
North America. North America's table began with Indigenous foodways, the "three sisters" of corn, beans, and squash, plus chiles, tomatoes, and cacao, then layered on colonial, African, and immigrant influences. From Mexico's UNESCO-recognized cuisine to the Cajun and Creole pots of Louisiana and the fiery jerk of the Caribbean, the region turns ancient staples into something new. Barbecue, tacos, gumbo, and mole all carry stories of migration and adaptation.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Costa Rica
CasadoThe soda-counter plate that "marries" rice, black beans, sweet plantains, salad, and a griddled protein.
Chorreadas con NatillaSweet-savory fresh corn pancakes, crisp at the edges, served with a dollop of cool natilla (sour cream), a Costa Rican country breakfast.
ChifrijoA layered bowl of rice, beans, crisp fried pork, and pico de gallo with tortilla chips, Costa Rica's favorite bar snack.
Browse all Costa Rica recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Soup keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and freezes well. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water or stock if needed.
Make it a Costa Rica meal
Agua de SapoDrink
Cajeta de CocoDessert
Olla de CarneDinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Sopa Negra?
A silky Costa Rican black bean soup, seasoned with onion, sweet pepper, garlic, and cilantro and crowned with a poached egg, served with rice.
Where does Sopa Negra come from?
Sopa Negra is a Costa Rican dish from San José, Costa Rica.
Can Sopa Negra be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Sopa Negra recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Sopa Negra safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Sopa Negra take to make?
About 55 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 40 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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