This Instant Pot Ham and Bean Soup is one of my favorite pressure cooker recipes! Pressuring cooking the soup makes it taste like it simmered away all day, but it’s actually ready in less than two hours!
Are you in need of a reason to try out that Instant Pot you’ve been scared to take out of the box? Or maybe you’re a pro at pressure cooking and just looking for something to do with that leftover ham or a bag of dry beans!
We are obsessed with this Instant Pot soup – loaded with beans, diced ham, and veggies and perfect for cold days when you just need something warm and comforting.
(No Instant Pot? No problem! Check the notes section of the recipe card for instructions on how to make this in the slow cooker!)
This soup is hearty and delicious and I think it’s a great way to test out the magic of the Instant Pot. Cooking beans at high pressure makes for tender, flavorful beans in less than two hours, which makes beans one of our favorite Instant Pot recipes to make!
We’re starting with a bag bean soup mix that comes with a handy little seasoning packet to add a great flavor to your soup – of course, it’s easy to make your own seasoning mix too.
The soup tastes like it’s been simmering all day and is just bursting with flavor. But! It’s definitely an easy soup and you can use leftover ham from the holidays or just buy the pre-diced ham. You could even toss in a leftover ham bone, if you wanted to add in extra flavor.
I’ve also made pressure cooker pinto beans that you should try sometime soon! Beans are such a filling food and they’re great for holidays, get togethers, and cool autumn days.
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What Readers are Saying!
“Excellent flavor. This was the first time I’ve made ham and bean soup and my family loved it. Thanks for sharing this recipe.” – Karahi
Ingredients:
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Bean Soup Mix: We use Hurst’s 15 Bean Soup Mix in this recipe. It has a variety of beans, including navy beans , white beans, black beans, and baby lima beans for a hearty soup that makes a delicious meal any night of the week. This is easy to find in just about any grocery store in the US.
Chicken Stock: We use chicken stock rather than water to add extra flavor to our soup.
Veggies: We’re using carrots, celery, and onion in this soup.
Ham: You can use leftover ham or just dice up a ham steak.
Seasoning: We use the packet of seasoning that come with the soup, but you can make your own seasoning blend with a bay leaf and other dried seasonings.
Instant Pot Recommendation!
We use our Instant Pot regularly for cooking rice, making the easiest to peel hard boiled eggs, and for making tasty soups in no time. It’s a great little tool to have in your kitchen!https://amzn.to/3p9BHCj
How to Make:
Start the Pressure Cooker: Set your pressure cooker to “Saute” and begin adding the carrots, celery, and onion. Once that’s all cooked together we’ll add in the ham. Easy peasy!
Prepare the Beans: While the carrots, celery and onion are cooking you can begin rinsing and sorting the beans. When that is finished, add to the pressure cooker with the chicken stock.
Cook: Set the pressure cooker to “high pressure” and a 40 minute cook time. After it has reached pressure and cooked, do a natural release for about 20 minutes. Remove the lid and stir in the seasoning packet, ham, black pepper and red pepper.
Serving Suggestions:
Our Instant Pot Ham and Bean Soup recipe goes perfect with our sweet cornbread or a side of homemade biscuits.
Ham and Bean Soup FAQ:
Remove 3 tablespoons of broth from the ham soup and stir in 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to create a slurry. Turn pot to saute and stir in the cornstarch slurry until thickened.
Depending on how fresh the ham you use is, ham and bean soup will last for 4-5 days in the fridge, tightly covered.
To freeze, ladle cooled soup into a freezer safe container or freezer safe bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat in the microwave or on the stove.
More recipes you will enjoy:
This is a great recipe for leftover ham from Christmas or Thanksgiving dinners, or for any time of the year. It seems like whenever we make ham there is a lot left over, and this is the perfect way to utilize it.
I also have a few other recipes for you to try that could use leftover ham. My crock pot breakfast casserole is always a win. So is my slow cooker Cajun ham and beans.
Instant Pot Ham and Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 large carrots peeled and diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 1 sweet onion diced
- 20 ounces Hurst’s Beans 15 Bean Soup 1 bag
- 7 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 2 cups cooked diced ham
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Turn pressure cooker to “saute” and add the oil to the pot. Once hot, add the carrots, celery, and onion and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes.
- Rinse and sort through the beans. Add to the pressure cooker along with the chicken stock. Set the seasoning packet aside for later.
- Turn the pressure cooker off. Put on the lid and set the vent to “sealing.” Set the pressure cooker to “high pressure” for 40 minutes.
- Once the soup has reached pressure and cooked for 40 minutes, allow the pressure to release naturally – about 20 minutes.
- Remove the lid carefully and stir in the seasoning packet, ham, black pepper, red pepper flakes. Taste and add salt if needed.
- Stir well and let set for 5 minutes to allow the ham to heat through.
- Serve hot. Sprinkle with fresh parsley as desired.
Slava Ukraini says
What’s someone going to do if their grocery store doesn’t have this Hurst’s Beans 15 Bean Soup like mine? throw random beans in?
Karly says
Many stores carry a bean soup mix, but if you can’t find it, you’ll probably just want to find another recipe. Unfortunately, not every product is available at every store – especially these days.
Mickey says
Fantastic. Exactly what I was looking for.