Black Bean Soup With Chorizo, Ham, and Bacon

In a heavy frying pan over medium heat, cook bacon until of the fat has rendered and bacon is crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 2 tablespoons of the rendered fat in pan (save the rest for another use or discard it).

Add the chorizo, onion, and garlic to the pan along with the 2 tablespoons reserved bacon fat. Cook over medium heat, stirring as needed, until onion is translucent.

Put all of the ingredients into a large crock pot (except sour cream and chopped cilantro) and stir to distribute ingredients. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for about 6-8 hours.

Serve topped with sour cream and chopped cilantro if desired.

Cook’s note: This soup is spicy hot, but the level of heat depends on the how the manufacturer has seasoned the chorizo and also upon the chipotle chile in adobo. Different varieties of chorizo may be seasoned hotter than others. For those who need to cut back on the heat level, don’t add the chipotle chile in adobo because it carries quite a bit of heat. Another option is to cut the chile open and remove the seeds prior to chopping the chile. Throw the seeds away and just add the remainder of the chopped chile to the soup.

Recipe inspired by Charro Beans at Allrecipes.