This Instant Pot Bean Soup is a delicious and budget-friendly plant-based meal that's ready in under 1 hour. It's made in a few simple, beginner-friendly steps and less than 15 minutes of active cooking time — our favorite appliance does the heavy lifting for us! Top it with sour cream, cheese, and smoked paprika for a nutritious and comforting meal.
This recipe was originally published on February 28, 2020. It was updated on September 2, 2021.
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Table of contents
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!
Looking for more easy and tasty bean recipes? Check out my Creamy Tuscan White Bean Skillet, Cheesy Refried Bean Dip, and 5 Bean Salad.
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
- 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.
- Stir the garlic into the veggie mix and sauté until the garlic becomes fragrant.
- Add the cumin, coriander, chili powder, and cayenne pepper (if using). Cook, stirring frequently until the spices are toasty and fragrant.
- Pour the beans, salt, and water into the pressure cooker and give the soup a few good stirs.
- Turn off the pressure cooker's sauté feature. Lock in the pressure cooker lid and seal the air pressure valve on the lid.
- Pressure cook the soup on high pressure for 45 minutes. Quick-release the pressure.
- 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.
- 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
I prefer to thicken my bean soup by pureeing some of the beans. You can do this by partially blending with an immersion blender or blending half of the soup in a blender (just make sure to remove the lid vent) before mixing it back into the rest of the soup.
Most small to medium size beans, like the black beans pinto beans, and great northern beans in this recipe, will cook up in a pressure cooker in about 40-45 minutes.
Yes, you certainly can make a double batch of this soup in the pressure cooker, as long as the ingredients don't surpass the max fill line inside the pot of the pressure cooker. If they don't, just follow the recipe directions as listed, sautéing the veggies longer if needed until the onions are cooked through and transparent. Otherwise, you don't need to adjust the pressure cooking time on the Instant Pot. It will naturally take longer to bring to pressure and will therefore adjust the total cooking time for you.
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.
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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 Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Turkey Chili
- Pressure Cooker Spiced Red Lentil & Butternut Squash Soup
- Instant Pot Beets
- Colorado Pork Green Chili
- Instant Pot Baby Potatoes
- Instant Pot Chicken and Potatoes
Recipe Card
Pressure Cooker Bean Soup (Vegetarian & Gluten-free!)
Instant Pot 3 Bean Soup: a delicious and budget-friendly plant-based meal that's ready in under 1 hour!
For extra flavor, substitute vegetable or chicken broth or stock for the water.Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ cup diced onions cut into ¼" dice
- 1 ½ cup sliced carrots cut into ¼" cubes
- 1 ½ cup diced celery cut into ¼" dice
- 3 large garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon dried cumin
- ½ teaspoon dried coriander
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper optional
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup dried pinto beans
- ½ cup dried great northern beans
- ½ cup dried black beans
- 5 ½ cup water
Instructions
- With the pressure cooker's sauté setting set to medium heat, sauté the onions, carrots, and celery for 4-5 minutes or until the onions and celery start to become transparent.
- Stir the garlic, cumin, coriander, chili powder, and cayenne pepper (if using) into the veggie mix and sauté for another 2 minutes, or until the garlic becomes fragrant.
- Pour the beans, salt, and water into the pressure cooker and give the soup a few good stirs.
- Turn off the pressure cooker's sauté feature. Lock in the pressure cooker lid and seal the air pressure valve on the lid.
- Pressure cook the soup on high pressure for 45 minutes. Quick-release the pressure completely.
- 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.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and serve!
So easy and so much flavor even made with water vs broth! I will definitely make it again!
Oh perfect, Linda! I'm so glad to hear you like it as much as I do! Those seasonings really make the soup pop!
Thanks for sharing and reviewing!
Chelsea