Instant Pot 15 Bean Soup–the classic 15 bean and ham soup recipe made in your electric pressure cooker in less than an hour. With just a handful of ingredients you’ll have a hearty and healthy pot of soup in no time. Big thanks to Hurst’s Beans for sponsoring this post.
Get the SLOW COOKER version of the recipe here
Instant Pot 15 Bean Soup
If you’re a fan of using dried beans in your cooking you know how long they can take to get soft. It can take 10 hours in the slow cooker and 2 hours on the stove. If you’re wanting to make dried beans for dinner but you’re in a hurry you can make them fairly quickly in the Instant Pot or your electric pressure cooker. It makes cooking with dried beans so convenient!
I love using Hurst’s products in the Instant Pot. There are so many options to choose from. My personal favorites are the 15 bean soup mix and the bacon and beans soup mix. The flavorings are spot on and they require very few ingredients. Look in the dried beans aisle at your grocery store to find them.
Today I’m sharing the basic 15 bean soup recipe, only it’s made in the Instant Pot. This recipe requires very few ingredients. It is purposely simple. You can always add in more ingredients, like carrots and celery, if you’d like.
More Hurst’s Instant Pot Recipes
Here are some other Instant Pot dried beans recipes that you might be interested in:
Instant Pot (or slow cooker) Cajun Sausage and Beans
Instant Pot (or slow cooker) Cincinnati Chili
Instant Pot Bean and Bacon Soup
Instant Pot (or slow cooker) Sausage and Bacon Chili Soup
And make sure to visit Hurst’s Beans on Facebook for more recipe inspiration!
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
For Instant Pot 15 Bean Soup recipe I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I also own the 6 quart Instant Pot IP-LUX60 V3 Programmable Electric Pressure Cooker.* They are both great pressure cookers! The first one I mentioned has a yogurt making function but other than that they are fairly similar. The price difference between the two is about $20.
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Instant Pot 15 Bean Soup
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes plus 10 minute natural pressure release
- Total Time: 10 minute
- Yield: 8-10 servings 1x
Description
The classic 15 bean and ham soup recipe made in your electric pressure cooker in less than an hour. With just a handful of ingredients you’ll have a hearty and healthy pot of soup in no time.
Ingredients
- 1 (20 oz) package Hurst’s HamBeens Brand 15 Bean Soup with seasoning packet
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 lb cubed ham
- 1 tsp salt
- 8 cups water
- 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Open the package of beans and reserve the seasoning packet for later. Soak the beans in plenty of water overnight in a large bowl (8-10 hours) and then pour them into a colander and rinse with cool water. OR do the quick soak method (outlined below).
- QUICK SOAK METHOD: First just pour the beans into a colander and rinse them off. Sometimes dried beans have a little dirt and debris in them. Once they have been rinsed you can add the beans to the Instant Pot.
- Next you’ll cover the beans with water. For every one cup of beans you’ll want about 3-4 cups of water. I used 8 cups of water for the entire package of dried beans.
- Now you’ll bring the pot to a boil by using the the “sauté” function on your Instant Pot.
- Once the water comes to a boil you will cover the pot with the lid and set the valve to “sealing.” Then you’ll set the manual pressure cooker button to 2 minutes.
- When the timer beeps you can open the valve very slowly. If foam begins to exit the valve stop releasing the pressure and wait for 30 seconds before you try again.
- Once the lid is removed go ahead and drain and rinse the beans in a colander under cool running water. Now you can proceed with the recipe that requires pre-soaked beans.
- Add beans to the Instant Pot. Add in onion, ham, salt and 8 cups of water. Cover the Instant Pot and lock the lid. Make sure valve is set to “sealing.” Press the manual pressure cook button and set the timer to 20 minutes.
- Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and then move the valve to “venting” to release the rest of the pressure. Remove the lid.
- Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. Add in the tomatoes*, chili powder, lemon juice and garlic. Stir. Add in the reserved seasoning packet. Stir. If needed, salt and pepper to taste. Cook on the saute setting for about 5 minutes.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.
Notes
*We don’t add the tomatoes and lemon juice at the beginning because they are acidic ingredients. Dried beans will not get soft if they are cooked with acidic ingredients.
- Category: Soup
- Method: Instant Pot
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Made these. Followed instructions. Way to mushy. Didn’t need to cook for 20 minutes. But, it could have been I used the high manual setting and not the bean setting on my instant pot.
Oh well I tried.
As usual Karen, you provide a solid foundation to use as is, or modify with what you have on hand. I used some bacon grease and browned the onions and garlic but pretty much followed the rest.
We had a bone from a spiral sliced ham so we used that instead of ham and added a jalapeno. Took advantage of the split cook time and threw in a venison/pork sausage when we added the tomato. Since I had some rice from the day before this made a heck of a one bowl meal.
Kudos for this recipe and for the recipes I am seeing on Facebook!
I love the sound of your version Brad! Thanks for the ideas 🙂
We don’t have the 15-bean soup in any stores (most beans are sold out due to coronavirus shopping) but found an 11-bean mix at Whole Foods, so will use that, and adjust for size and add some spices.
One question: would it be better to use raw chicken (maybe bone-in thighs) and cook the same as for the ham, or put pre-cooked chicken in at the end? Or either? Thanks!
Hi Beth, really either would be great!
Thank you so much for sharing such a wonderful and delicious recipe. I found you last year when I first started using my instant pot, (after FINALLY getting over the fear of using it) and this has been and will continue to be my go to each and every time I make this meal. I always use a ham bone when I make it, so I purposely buy a ham 6 or 7 times a year just to make this recipe, lol. My husband and I always have plenty of leftovers, and we keep these beans stocked in our pantry for a quick Sunday dinner that’s out of this world. I follow the recipe step by step, except I add 2 cans of diced tomatoes and I leave out the chili powder. Thanks again for sharing such a fantastic and super easy recipe for other families to enjoy! 😊
★★★★★
Ahhh thanks Catina!!
The only bummer is that the seasoning packet that comes with the 15 Bean Soup With Cajun Seasoning really makes the recipe! Maybe you can look and see if you can find the seasoning ingredients on line!
I haven’t seen Hursts bean brand here in Newfoundland. I do have Bob’s Red Mill 13 Bean Soup Mix packs but no seasoning is included. I would love to have some idea of what goes into the Hurst seasoning pkt
I think seasoned salt, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper…Not sure what else???
I don’t use seasoning packets because of the preservatives and sodium. I made this adding garlic and onion powders, crushed pepper flakes and just a little salt. Chopped ham in it took care of any salt needed.
Love that..I don’t like the packets either..thank you
I use Goya brand ham concentrate. One little box has lots of packets, so it lasts awhile
What is considered liquid smoke?
You can find it in the grocery aisle by ketchup and bbq sauce. It’s in a small bottle.
First time using my new Instapot. Decided to try making this 15 Bean soup. I was a bit hesitant after reading the reviews about “mushy” beans but I went ahead with very good results! I added carrots (with beans) and celery (with garlic and tomatoes). It came out delicious and though some the beans were very soft, some did fall apart, overall the soup is a success! I feel the softer beans have the broth a nice texture. I would make this again!
★★★★★
Every time I have cook the 15 bean soup on the stove I have loved it. I tried it for the first time in the instant pot tonight and I’m going to be throwing it out. There is way too much liquid, and the beans turned to mush. Also, there’s barely any flavor to it, I would assume that’s from all the liquid. I wish I would have read the comments before I made the soup. This recipe definitely needs to be reworked.😔
★
Hi.
I mostly followed this recipe for my instant pot, and it came out not bad. I do want to thank you for your comment about putting the diced tomatoes in AFTER the instant pot. I should say that I found the soup rather watery. Maybe this was because I had a 1 pound bag of beans and not the 20-oz bag, but I did add other ingredients (mushrooms, celery, cut-up boneless pork chops instead of ham — not surprisingly, the pork chops came out flaky). And used chicken broth instead of some of the water. Of course, the canned diced tomatoes did also add liquid, and people may want to make adjustments in the total liquid to reflect this.
I wasn’t able to soak the beans overnight, but was able to give them something of a soak for several hours between lunch and dinner, and used the “quick soak” anyhow, then followed the rest of the instructions. (Since the beans had already swollen, maybe the 8 cups of liquid plus canned diced tomatoes may have been a bit of overkill? I used my own combination of spices (don’t forget the cumin! And the bay leaf!), cooked in with the beans, etc.
I do anticipate that I will make this again. But next time, I’ll probably see how a 15-bean mixture comes out as a chili and not as a soup.
★★★★
Thanks Ed for sharing your experiences with this recipe! I wonder if the mushrooms and celery put off a little liquid too.
How would i make this with a chuck roast?
Instead of the ham? I would just cut the roast into thinner steak pieces about 1 inch each. Then use them in the place of ham. Should be okay with the 20 minute cook time if the roast is sliced. Then you can shred it up after is has pressure cooked. You might need to add extra salt since the ham is so salty.
I tried the boil and soak for 2 min per package but the beans are still hard. Should I soak them overnight or just hope they will soften up in crockpot for soup? I dont want to add all of the soup ingredients and wind up with hard beans. Thanks.
They should be a little hard after soaking. Just add them in to the pot, they’ll soften up.
Being a vegan, 90 percent of the time (sometimes we have eggs, but not much – maybe a dozen times a year) we really eat a lot of beans. I have found that soaking makes a much better product. Oh yes, we have cooked the pre-wash/no soak method, but it just didn’t make the cut – and the concomitant flatulence that no-soak brings along for the ride is never fun. SO, we soak – and don’t be afraid if you forgot to cook your beans after a longer that 8-10 hours as is traditionally done. – I often go as long and 15 hours and even have gone as much as 20 hours. I am not kidding, and I think the beans are way better. 20-25 minutes with ALL ingredients added is fine if you soak ’em. We let the beans naturally release. Doing it this way we have had the best beans ever.
★★★★★
Thank you so much for your tips! Soaking is better for my tummy too!
I made this recipe exactly as written and I did pre soak the beans. It was absolutely wonderful and plan to do again. I had previously made the “Tomato Artichoke 15 bean Soup” with the slow cooker and was wondering what I need to do to make this in the instant pot.. In other words, when do I add the artichokes and do I need to ise more tomato? Thanks flr the delicious recipe!
★★★★★
Fantastic.
The only thing I did different was use chicken broth instead of water and skipped adding any additional salt. It was delicious.
★★★★★
Great tip!
This version seems complex for an Instant Pot. No need to soak. Just throw the washed, unsoaked beans in the pot along with all the other ingredients (minus the seasoning packet, save that for the end), cook for 45 min + 15 min of natural pressure. You can sauté the ham and onion on the front end if you want. Same delicious outcome.
★★
Tried skipping the soak and cooking for 45 minutes with a 15 minute natural release but still sauteing at the end while adding the diced tomato, etc. Turned out better than doing it the way the recipe was written – beans weren’t as mushy, and it was much easier! Thanks for this suggestion!
Good tip!
Yes i agree. I clicked on this recipe thinking it was one I’ve used in the past. So I was confused when I saw the extra steps. I just rinsed the beans, and threw everything in the IP (tomatoes too). Cooked on high pressure for 45 mins, did a natural release for around 10 mins. Turned out great.
★★★
I wish I would have taken the time to read comments BEFORE I STARTED THIS MESS. I did EXACTLY what the recipe instructed and oh my gosh. That was not easy or really fast. Last time I cooked pinto beans and I guess I just happened to find an easier recipe. Water, beans, salt, ham. 35 min and great. THIS RECIPE….while bringing the water to a boil on acute, it BURNED A LAYER OF BEAN ON THE BOTTOM. HAD TO LEAVE BEANS OUT WHILE I dumped burnt beans and scrubbed bottom of crock pot. Maybe I am just dumb but I dont think so except I should have searched for an easier recipe!
I followed your recipe and did the quick soak in the instapot. And then 20 minutes high pressure when it finished after 10 minutes natural release the beans were so mushy, and I had beans all over the lid, I’ll try it again but do it overnight soak instead of a quick soak.it seems like 20 minutes was too much after the quick soak in the instapot maybe with the overnight they won’t be a soft and mushy
★★★
Yep me too. Truly lost alot of beans. I wont do that again.
I went with chipotle chilli. This recipe is great. I am looking forward to trying out others in your list of recipes
★★★★★
Best bean soup I’ve had, by far. I add ham shanks, celery, and a bit of jalapeno olive oil. My husband loves it and asks me to make it all the time. He even randomly tells me how much he likes that bean soup! I soak my beans in the morning and make the soup in the evening after work. So good!
★★★★★
Good idea to soak the beans while you’re at work! I love it!
I have a ham bone I wanted to use but is it ok to put it in the IP right from the beginning (after quick soak)? Noticed you put the ham in at the end. I have made many times in Crockpot but wanted to try in the IP!
I bet that would be amazing!
I put my ham bone in from the beginning with my split pea soup in the IP can’t be any different.
I love this soup from the slow cooker, so I had to find the IP version. Thank you, I’m mak ing it next.
★★★★★
Hope you like it!
My ip is the mini 3.5 qt. How do I cut it down? Also no bean button.
Thanks
You could halve the recipe. Keep the cooking time the same. Use manual or pressure cook button.
My instant pot has a high pressure setting and a low pressure setting – which would you recommend for this recipe?
high pressure
My Instapot took 30 minutes to pressurize. Is that too long? I noticed you don’t add that time into the cook time. Curious. First time cooking with it. Made this soup and it was FAB!!
That seems like a long time to pressurize. Things that affect “coming to pressure time:” how full the pot is, how much liquid, what temperature the liquid is. I like to use hot tap water to help it come to pressure quicker. Sometimes while I’m prepping the food I’ll turn the IP to the saute mode. This helps the pot heat up.
I’ve always read – articles/health experts/EPA – that we should not drink/use hot tap water, even in cooking, due to possible contaminants. Be careful out there!
I made this with my power cooker.
Fantastic meal! The only thing I did was add cornstarch (1tsp+water)
To make it slightly thicker. I also made basmati rice to pour it over.
Excelent meal.
Thank you!
you’re welcome!
I mash the beans to thicken the soup up
★★★★★
I love that idea!
I put Soaked beans, tomatoes, fresh chopped parsley, potatoes and (pre-cooked) Italian sausage in mine all at once. Turned out delicious!
Skyler is adorable ❤️
I am wondering as I make this for the first time if I should add the carrots now to pressure cook with the beans, or add at the last 5 minutes on saute with the tomatoes and lemon.
I would add them at the beginning but cut them in large chunks.
I want to add uncooked chicken thighs to this recipe. Do I need to make adjustments to the cooking time?
No you can keep it the same 🙂
Will this work in a 3 qt.cooker
You’ll have to halve the recipe.
A tablespoon of EVOO or veg oil added to beans for quick cook is supposed to keep them from foaming. Good recipe!
★★★★★
Great tip. Thanks for sharing.
I am trying this recipe in my instant pot for the first time. When do you add the carrots and celery, while sautéing or when you add the tomatoes and spices?
I’d add it with the onions in step 2.
mine came out fine the first time!! trying it the 2nd time now!! added 1 lb chourico and 1 lb kielbasa fried up in the frying pan before adding to the IP. this came out awesome!! i had a hard time giving a bowl to our neighbor!! but we share all the time!
★★★★★
That sounds great! I like the idea of kielbasa.
Terrific recipe- many thanks. I used 4 cups of low sodium chicken broth and 4 cups of water, frozen sausage instead of ham, and added chopped tomatoes, diced carrots, and brown rice at the end. Yummy!
★★★★★
Note. When quick cooking the beans at the start, it says there may be foam. So, after the soak, check the release valves, both of them, and clean before moving on. I had a lot of gunk and the silver button would not close for round two of cooking. But, the recipe works great. I used carrots and added sausage that I sautéed first. This is a real winner for day two at work for lunch. Thanks.
★★★★
Could have used your note at the BEGINNING of recipe: “dry beans will not get soft when cooked with Acidic foods”. Too late now. Guess I’ll find out how well it works all together!
I just did the same, waiting for it to cook to see if it turns out now.
mine came out fine the first time!! trying it the 2nd time now!! added 1 lb chourico and 1 lb kielbasa fried up in the frying pan before adding to the IP. this came out awesome!! i had a hard time giving a bowl to our neighbor!! but we share all the time!
★★★★★
Ditto! I didn’t add the lemon juice, but I added the tomatoes already. 🙁
My third time with the instant pot. My husband and I did it together. Also put a few carrots in there.
Incredible bean soup. Thank you.
Glad you liked it!
This was good, but even better on day 2! Hearty, low calorie soup. I’m new to cooking beans from dry. I soaked over night and they were perfect.
I’m so glad you liked it. I agree with you…it’s better on day 2!
This was delicious! Using the Instant Pot made this a perfect weeknight recipe. It’s hard to cook a home-made dinner after a long day at work. The soup was easy and there are plenty of leftovers to take to work later. Thank you!
★★★★★
So glad you liked it Tiffany! Thanks for your comment 🙂
Made this and hubby and I loved. Thanks for the great recipe.
You’re so welcome! Glad you liked it 🙂
I am trying this tonight. Very excited , however, seems like a lot of water . Could you do have water have chicken or veggie stock/broth
Did you end up using stock? You totally could. The seasoning packet adds a lot of flavor though.
I did end up using 4 cups of low sodium chicken broth and 4 cups of water . It came out very well. I also added some diced carrots. Bringing some left overs for lunch today. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe!
★★★★
Good to know!! Thanks Adam.
I made this yesterday. I didn’t pre soak beans and they came out perfect. 30 minutes. Plus, I used chicken broth and ham bone left over from Christmas.
Oh I bet that was super flavorful with the ham bone 🙂
I love 15 bean soup but have not made any since I found out I was allergic to soy. MSG, and other additives give me problems also. What spices could I substitute for the seasoning packet?
I’d say a little liquid smoke, onion powder, garlic powder and maybe some salt.
Hi Karen
Did you ever try the quick bean method? I don’t want to take a short cut if the beans will still be hard. Happy New Year to your family
★★★★★
I’ve used the quick soak method many times and it seems to work great! I hope you like it!
I made my own 15 bean soup dry mix, using a cup each of various beans, spices. My question, how much do I use for a gallon sized pot of soup?
★★★★★
I’d use a pound or maybe a pound and a quarter
We just made this and live at high altitude. My electric pressure cooker has a “beans” setting. Turned out excellent with quick soak method.
★★★★★