• Home
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • VIDEO SERIES: Learn to Cook on a Budget
    • How-To & Cooking Tutorials
    • Popular Recipes
  • Meal Plans
    • Weekly Meal Plans
    • Freezer Meal Plans
    • The ORIGINAL 20 Meals for $150 Plans
  • Classes
    • Grocery Savings 101 Workshop
    • Freezer Cooking 101 Workshop
    • Meal Planning 101 Workshop
    • Instant Pot Cooking 101 Course
    • My Efficient Kitchen Course
  • Store
    • COOKBOOK: Feeding Teenage Boys on a Budget
    • COOKBOOK: Learn to Cook on a Budget
    • COOKBOOKS & PREP KITS: MyFreezEasy Freezer Meals
    • Whis-Kid Cooking Lessons
    • Erin’s Favorite Gadgets
  • Blog
  • Contact
    • About
    • Press
  • Login

$5 Dinners | Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals

Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals and Cooking Tutorials for the Busy Home Chef

Save on Groceries in 2025

Rice and Bean Soup

November 21, 2008 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 11 Comments

34 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Sign up to receive FREE weekly emails with recipes, coupons and other money saving tips right into your inbox. Become a friend on Facebook too AND/OR join the $5 Meal Plan Family and get meal plans delivered to you each week!

rice and bean soup

On to the soup…Rice and Bean Soup…aka “Cupboard Soup,” as in use what you’ve got in the cupboard…aka “Oops, don’t have any split peas, so can’t make split pea soup Soup“…So, yes I am not prepared for this one! Totally thought there were split peas in the cupboard, but there weren’t, so we improvise…

Rice and Bean Soup | 5DollarDinners.com
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Recipe Saved!

Rice and Bean Soup

The perfect way to use ingredients in your pantry!
Prep Time5 minutes minutes
Cook Time2 hours hours
Servings - 4 servings

Ingredients 

  • 1 cup red beans
  • 1 cup black beans
  • 1 cup uncooked rice
  • 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, no flavoring
  • 8 oz can tomato sauce
  • 3 cloves garlic, smooshed not crushed
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Lots of water...Start with 6 cups and add as necessary
  • 8 oz Cascadian Farm Organic frozen corn
  • 2 HUGE sweet potatoes

Instructions

  • Rinse beans and soak overnight.
  • Forgot to soak em overnight. Put them in a sauce pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Turn off and let soak 1-2 hours.
  • Drain water, add new water and cook. Cook 2 cups of beans enough water to cover + 2 inches. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and cook on medium for 1.5-2 hours, or until beans are soft.
  • Add garlic, tomatoes, salt and pepper when you first start cooking the beans. About 2 minutes before beans are done, add 1 cup rice. Add more water if you need to, as the rice will soak up about 2 cups of water.
  • Cook corn as directed on package.
  • Bake sweet potatoes (don't forget to slit/pierce them!) at 350 F for 1 hour in baking dish with 1/4 inch of water, and covered with foil. Makes for a delicious, sweet and mushy sweet potato!
  • Options...add taco seasoning (I did not!), add corn in with the soup (I wanted the boys to eat their veggies, and figured they would prefer them out of the soup!), replace diced tomatoes with "tomatoes and green chiles" to give the soup some kick.
  • Replace corn with diced potatoes...the possibilities are endless! I just used what I had in the cupboards 🙂
  • Did I mention how I love simmering soups because they add a little humidity to the otherwise dry and stale air!

Rice and Bean Soup | 5DollarDinners.com

34 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet

Filed Under: Beans Recipes, Budget Friendly Recipes, Dairy Free Meal Ideas, Gluten Free Recipes, Rice Recipes, Soup Recipes Tagged With: corn, sweet potatoes

Comments

  1. Emily says

    November 21, 2008 at 6:02 pm

    love this recipe! we have rice & beans pretty regularly (with cheese and salsa on top), but this sounds like a nice new idea! for the same low price!

    i'm sure i'll be trying it out soon. 🙂

    Reply
  2. Stacey says

    November 21, 2008 at 11:23 pm

    I can’t get over the price difference in different areas of the country. I’m in Colorado and just paid .99 a pound for sweet potatoes at our King Soopers which is a Kroger owned store! I thought I’d gotten a good deal, guess not!

    Reply
  3. Janet says

    November 22, 2008 at 8:13 am

    The sweet potatoes are on the side, correct? Not mashed & put in the soup?
    Thanks–sounds yummy.

    Reply
  4. $5 Dinner Mom says

    November 22, 2008 at 8:25 am

    Yes Janet, the sweet potatoes were on the side. And I’m sorry to hear about the higher prices in CO Stacey, I hope they are on sale next week.
    🙂 Erin

    Reply
  5. Erik says

    November 22, 2008 at 12:18 pm

    Rice and beans are a winning combo on all levels: flavor, nutrition, and cost. And so many varieties you can make…perfect way to empty the cupboard!

    Reply
    • Virgil Koon says

      March 30, 2015 at 11:03 pm

      Yes and with the options of sandwiches with the soup it can make 2x more meals!

      Reply
  6. Aleta says

    November 23, 2008 at 3:28 pm

    where does the olive oil go? I’m really confused. Sweet potatoes on the side. That would have been nice to have added…

    Reply
  7. Crystal says

    January 1, 2012 at 10:08 pm

    I added worcestershire sauce to the soup… much better that way

    Reply
  8. Rhonda says

    December 21, 2014 at 1:39 pm

    I’m trying to figure out what to do with the olive oil. Rub it on sweet potatoes so they’re crispy maybe? Also, is 2 minutes for the rice really sufficient? I think I’m going to add it 15-20 minutes before the beans are done to be sure it’s cooked. This looks like a good recipe just a tad confusing.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Rice & Bean Soup « Beans & Rice….The Book says:
    February 14, 2013 at 4:39 pm

    […] celebrate both I tried a Rice & Bean Recipe from Erin at $5 Dinners. Her recipe started with dry beans instead of canned beans so the recipe had to be […]

    Reply
  2. Way #8 | 101 Ways to Cook Rice and Beans says:
    July 25, 2014 at 5:18 pm

    […] an awesome recipe for Rice and Beans Soup […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Search $5 Dinners

Favorite Meal Planning & Cooking Resources

Whis-Kid Cooking Lessons Grocery Budget Makeover My Freezeasy Erin Chase Store 5DD Freebie Library 20 Meals for $150 Plans

© 2025 5 Dollar Dinners | Disclosure Policy | Copyright Information | Terms of Service/Privacy Policy | Accessibility | Design & Tech Support by Klong Designs



Copyright © 2025 · 5 Dollar Dinners Genesis Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in