Dried beans are cooked to tender perfection without any pre-soaking in this deliciously seasoned Instant Pot 15 Bean Soup. Old fashioned comfort food at its best!
I’ve been cooking with my Instant Pot for 3 years now and I’m still amazed at what it can do with dried beans. You can decide to cook up a pot of Instant Pot 15 Bean Soup whenever the craving strikes. There’s very little advance prep and the way it cooks dry beans to tender perfection just gives me a little thrill every single time.
Pressure cooking has been around for ages, but the Instant Pot is a real game-changer. It has effectively changed how and what we cook for dinner. You can decide on bean soup from scratch late in the afternoon and it’s on the table in time for dinner.
Bean soup falls at the top of the my list of nostalgic comfort foods. It’s pretty much on par with grilled cheese and tomato soup in my book. It is part of that special group of foods that somehow make things better.
If you have cozy bean soup memories, I think you’re going to love this quick and easy bean soup recipe. It has a creamy, tomato based broth, smoky ham, and a delicious blend of seasonings to evoke that classic feel.
Table of contents
Ingredient Notes
- Dry beans: There are many different brands of 15 or 16 bean soup mix and any will work for this soup. If yours comes with a seasoning packet, just toss it. You can create great flavor with far less sodium by using your own seasonings.
- Ham: Seasoning hams are bony pieces of ham that are used solely to add meaty, smoky flavor to recipes. A leftover meaty ham bone from a holiday ham is a great option, but since we don’t always have one tucked in our fridge, check the meat department for a ham hock or ham shank. You can also buy a ham steak to chop up and add for an even meatier soup if you’d like but this is totally optional.
- Seasoning: A mix of dry spices including oregano, cumin, chili powder, bay leaves, black pepper, and a little cayenne adds great classic flavor. You might notice I didn’t include salt in this list. Between the seasoning ham, tomato sauce, broth, and spices, I find the soup to be perfectly seasoned. I recommend waiting until the end of the cooking process to taste and add salt only if you feel it needs it.
How to Make Instant Pot 15 Bean Soup
- Set your Instant Pot on the Sauté setting and add the oil. Once heated, add the onion, carrot, and celery. Cook, stirring, for 4 to 5 minutes, or until onion and veggies begin to soften. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute then press Cancel.
- Transfer the rinsed dried beans to the Instant Pot.
- Pour in the tomato sauce, broth and water.
- Add the chili powder, cumin, oregano, cayenne, and the bay leaves. Stir well to combine.
- Tuck the seasoning ham (ham hock, shank, or meaty leftover ham bone) down into the mixture. Lock the lid in place and make sure vent is sealed (on older models). Pressure cook on High for 40 minutes.
- When time is up, allow the steam pressure to naturally release for 15 minutes then manually release any remaining pressure. Unlock and remove the lid. You can remove any good chunks of ham from your seasoning ham (if any) to chop up and add back to the soup. Discard the remainder of the seasoning ham and bay leaves.
If a creamier (less brothy) texture is desired, pulse the mixture with an immersion blender 3 or 4 times. Just enough to break up some of the beans. Don’t go overboard, you want lots of whole beans and a few pulses will yield a nice and creamy result.
Serving Suggestions
This 15 Bean Soup is delicious in its natural state or garnish it will a little shredded cheese.
Serve it with some crusty bread for a truly delicious meal. It would also be delicious served with a warm slice of Mexican Cornbread.
The Best Instant Pot
I own and LOVE the 6 quart Instant Pot Duo Nova and based on the Amazon reviews, it looks like I’m not alone! They improved on several features that makes this unit simpler and easier to use than older models. Once you close the lid and set the time, it automatically seals and begins to come to pressure without any need to move the steam release valve. After cooking, the steam releases with an easy press of the button. It is slick, easy to use, and has never failed me.
More Comfort in a Bowl
- Instant Pot Navy Bean Soup
- Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas
- Creamy Southwest Chicken Soup
- Hamburger Stew with Rice
- Cabbage Roll Soup
Instant Pot 15 Bean Soup
Equipment
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound 15 or 16 dried bean soup mix, any brand will work (toss the seasoning packet)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1½ cups diced yellow onion
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
- 3 cups water
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne, optional (it adds a nice kick)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 ham shank, ham hock, or meaty ham bone
- salt, to taste and only if needed
Optional Garnishes
- grated Parmesan or Monterey Jack cheese, oyster crackers, crushed saltine crackers
Instructions
- Place beans in a colander and rinse them well with cold water and allow to drain. Pick through the beans and remove and discard any debris.
- Add oil to the Instant Pot and press the SAUTE button. When display reads "Hot" add the onion, carrot, and celery. Cook, stirring, for 4 to 5 minutes, or until onion and veggies begin to soften. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute then press CANCEL.
- Add beans, broth, water, tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin, oregano, cayenne, and the bay leaves. Stir well to combine. Tuck the ham shank (or meaty ham bone) down into the mixture. Lock the lid in place and make sure vent is sealed (on older models). Press the MANUAL or the PRESSURE COOK button, select HIGH, and cook for 40 minutes.
- When time is up, allow the steam pressure to naturally release for 15 minutes then manually release any remaining pressure. Unlock and remove the lid. Transfer ham shank (or bone) to a cutting board. Use a fork to remove the ham from the bone and stir it into the soup. Discard the bone.
- If a creamier (less brothy) texture is desired, pulse the mixture with an immersion blender 3 or 4 times, just to break up some of the beans. Don't go overboard, you want lots of whole beans and a few pulses will yield a nice and creamy result.
- This soup is excellent reheated. It will thicken when refrigerated so just add a little water to reach desired consistency.
- Taste and season with salt and additional pepper, if desired. I don't recommend adding any salt until the end of the cooking process as the seasoning ham, tomato sauce, and broth tend to add enough.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
More Instant Pot Recipes
I have made this a few times. In my Instant Pot, I have to cook it at least 50 minutes (instead of 40) to get the beans to “Al dente” and 60 minutes to get to what I consider the beans properly tender. Granted, this may be my old Instant Pot Duo which is crap since it doesn’t get hot enough for saute and has never worked for slow cook since it does not get hot enough.
Different appliances can vary a bit depending on age, etc. I’m glad it worked out for you!
I asked my family if I could have the leftover ham bone after Easter cause I had a random bag of 15 beans in the pantry and have been waiting to make this, I am SOOOO happy I followed this recipe! Wow was this amazing!! Ate it with some sourdough with Irish butter and what a chefs kiss. Will be saving this forever!!
Fantastic! Thanks so much for your comment, Hannah. 🙂
This recipe is a keeper; I didn’t change a thing! My husband and I loved it.
This has become a staple in our house!! Sometimes I use different types of sausage instead of the ham bone!
This was absolutely delicious and so easy! I did feel gassy from the beans afterwards though, could I pre-soak? And if so, should I pressure cook the same amount of time?
Hi Emily. If you pre-soak the beans they will cook a bit faster. Without testing, I can’t say for sure how much faster but typically it reduces the cooking time in half.
The soup was very delicious and flavorful! Was great that didn’t have to pre soak beans. Love using Instant Pot. I don’t use it to sauté. Find using cast iron skillet easier. Perfect blend of ingredients. Even my husband enjoyed it.
This was my first instant pot recipe and it was perfectly approachable! Mine was a 3 quart, so I halved the recipe. I subbed bacon during the saute for the meat bone, and fire roasted diced tomatoes for the tomato sauce. 40 minutes worked perfectly for my batch. Thanks for the great initiation.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Instant Pot cooking! 🙂 I’m so happy it worked out well for you.
Very easy and delicious. I was fearful mine wouldn’t taste right because I didn’t have the ham but it had plenty of salt from the broth. Beans were still a little hard so I’d do a little longer next time. Thank you for the recipe.
This soup was so good, flavors were right on , made for New Year’s Day .
This recipe makes such a delicious soup that it is my go-to and I won’t be looking to replace it! I highly recommend it!
I love to hear this! Thanks, Kim. 🙂
I love recipe but I’m making for the second time and could only find a pre-cooked ham shank. How should I adjust recipe?
I’m unsure what you mean by a pre-cooked ham shank. Most ham is precooked so I think you’ll be fine!