Refried bean soup with chipotle

We went from weeks in the deep freeze to almost civilized temperatures in the space of about a day. Taking it for what it's worth. At least it makes the car easier to start and it's warm enough to get out and walk amid the sidewalk puddles.

But even at 58 degrees warmer for the high compared to the low on Tuesday, it's still soup weather. When you start in double digits below zero, there's lots of room for improvement.

So time to make that pricey Bon Appetit subscription pay for itself.

Spicy pork and refried bean soup

Adapted from Bon Appetit, March 2025. It calls for ground pork, but I went with ground chicken since that's that I had on hand. 

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped 

3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 pound ground pork, turkey or chicken
3 to 5 canned chipotles, chopped, plus 3 tablespoons chipotle liquid
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground coriander
1 16-ounce can refried beans
4 cups chicken broth
Sliced radishes, crumbled cojita cheese, fresh cilantro leaves for garnish
Lime wedge for serving.

Method

Heat a large heavy pot. Add olive olive oil, onion and garlic over medium heat. Heat until onion starts to soften. Add ground meat, breaking up with a spoon, and salt, oregano, cumin and coriander. Cook until meat is almost cooked. Add refried beans and broth, breaking up beans to incorporate.

Heat through about 10 minutes. Serve topped with radishes, cojita and cilantro with a lime wedge on the side. Serves 6

Rating: This makes a warm, surprisingly mellow soup. I think it's all the canned refried beans, which resembled nothing so closely as dog food and seem to need robust flavors to compensate for being an otherwise insert mass. Flavorwise, it's Dave-approved. I thought it reasonably pleasant, and am looking forward to seeing if the leftovers reflect a bit more heat.