Instant Pot 3 Bean Soup: a delicious and budget-friendly plant-based meal that's ready in under 1 hour!

This recipe was originally published on February 28, 2020. It was updated on September 2, 2021.

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Article summary:

In this blog post we will be making Instant Pot Bean Soup. This vegan and gluten-free soup is hearty, budget-friendly, and super easy to make! Read on for illustrated recipe instructions, recipe FAQs, pro-tips, and more.

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Though I'm not gluten-free, I try my best to eat my carbs from a variety of sources. By getting my carbs from oats, beans, potatoes, fruits & veggies, & non-wheat grains, as well as whole grain wheat, I find I eat a more diverse -- and hopefully more nutritious --- diet than I would be eating otherwise.

In this, I've been trying to work more beans into my diet. While I've been playing around with a black bean brownie recipe, throwing beans onto our salads, and -- of course -- making hummus, I have discovered an unfortunate, and probably common, issue.

Digestive issues, that is. 😐

Eek! I know. But before you go running away -- I promise that will be it for that topic -- I ask you to continue reading on. That is, because I discovered a way to lessen the impact beans have on my system. 🙌

Enter the pressure cooker. As Dr. Steven Gundry says, pressure cooking legumes can make them easier for your digestive system to handle.

So, I played around with a few pressure cooker bean recipe ideas and landed on this 3 bean soup recipe. It's a straightforward, but flavorful soup with budget-friendly and easy to find ingredients like onions, carrots, celery, pantry spices, salt, and water.

And the dried bean soup cooks up in about an hour total, making it pretty much a miracle, compared to how long it can take to cook up dried beans on the stovetop!

So, pull out your Instant Pot or pressure cooker, grab your dried beans, and get ready for a delicious and gluten-free way to enjoy some healthy carbs tonight.

This quick Pressure Cooker Bean Soup is...

• Creamy
• Hearty
• Savory
• Lightly spicy

If you're looking for a healthy and easy pressure cooker bean soup recipe the whole family will enjoy, this one's for you!

Ingredients:

• Dried pinto beans
• Dried black beans
• Dried great northern beans
• Onions
• Carrots
• Celery
• Garlic
• Spices - cumin, coriander, chili powder, and cayenne pepper
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Water

Substitutions:

• Beans - any combination of 1 ½ cups of the above beans (pinto, black bean, or Great Northern) can work for this recipe. You can even just do all of one type of bean to simplify this recipe.
• Liquid - vegetable broth or chicken broth or stock can replace the water in this recipe. It will add more dimension and flavor to it, too, though it will also add some sodium so you may want to decrease the amount of salt you add to the soup. If using a chicken broth, this recipe will no longer be vegetarian or vegan, either.

How to make Instant Pot bean soup:

1. With the pressure cooker's sauté setting set to medium heat, sauté the onions, carrots, and celery until the onions and celery start to become transparent.
2. Stir the garlic into the veggie mix and sauté until the garlic becomes fragrant.
3. Add the cumin, coriander, chili powder, and cayenne pepper (if using). Cook, stirring frequently until the spices are toasty and fragrant.
4. Pour the beans, salt, and water into the pressure cooker and give the soup a few good stirs.
5. Turn off the pressure cooker's sauté feature. Lock in the pressure cooker lid and seal the air pressure valve on the lid.
6. Pressure cook the soup on high pressure for 45 minutes. Quick-release the pressure.
7. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup to your desired consistency, or carefully pour the soup into a blender and blend with the lid vent removed while running.
8. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve!

Recipe pro-tips:

• Blend the soup to your desired level. If you want the soup super smooth, blend it completely. If you want some chunks of veggies and bean in the soup, only blend it half way.
• How to safely blend soup in a blender. The easiest way to blend this soup is with an immersion blender. If you don't have one, however, you can also blend it in an blender. Be careful moving the hot soup to the blender and remove the heat vent from the blender lid before blending the soup (you can place a paper towel or kitchen towel over the vent if you are worried about splattering).

Recipe FAQs:

Serving suggestions:

This bean soup is very filling so you can serve it on its own, but it's also delicious served with sides like tortilla chips or warm rolls.

You can also top the soup with pumpkin seeds, mozzarella or Mexican cheese, sour cream, and/or green onions to give it a taco flavor and make it more filling.

Dietary adaptations:

This recipe is naturally gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and vegetarian. It's a great source of carbohydrates and plant-based protein and contains no processed sugar!

Storage directions:

Leftover bean soup last covered in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. It can also be frozen in freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months.

Tools needed to make this recipe:

• Cutting board
• Chef knife
• Measuring cups & spoons
• Heat safe sauté paddle
• Instant Pot or other brand pressure cooker
• Silicone spatula
• Immersion blender

More healthy soups & Instant Pot recipes:

• Instant Pot Turkey Chili
• Pressure Cooker Spiced Red Lentil & Butternut Squash Soup
• Leftover White Bean Chili
• Vegan Cream of Asparagus Soup
• Italian Lentil Soup
• Colorado Pork Green Chili
• Steak Soup
• Minestra Soup
• Pumpkin Sausage Soup

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