Instant Pot Ham and White Bean Soup
Smoky ham and white bean soup made easy in the Instant Pot, no need to presoak the beans.
I think my favorite thing to make in my Instant Pot so far, has been soup. I've made a lot of soups and my pressure cooker is my go-to for making chicken stock (or bone broth, if you prefer). Instant Pot Ham and White Bean Soup is so easy and so good. We love it.
I used to never make soups from dried beans because I was always turned off by having to soak them overnight. Don't have to do that with the Instant Pot. I didn't and they were perfectly tender. I wanted cannellini beans, but couldn't find dried, so I used Great Northern beans, which is probably the preferred white bean to use anyway. You need a one-pound bag of beans.
I love ham shanks for soups, they are meaty and add so much flavor. You could use a smoked ham hock but you won't get any meat to shred for the soup. You're better off with shanks or a meaty ham bone with some extra meat added. Just sayin'
I flavored the soup a couple different ways, each time I made it. I like fresh rosemary and thyme (or dried) a lot. I also like herbs de Provence. Whatever you got and like. And a bay leaf. That's it. Well, along with the onion, celery, carrot and garlic, that's it.
It all goes in the Instant Pot and you can walk away while it does all the work. While the actual cooking time is about 35 minutes, it takes awhile to reach pressure as well as naturally release the pressure. Count on about an hour and a half, start to finish.
Recipe Notes and Tips
- I do not presoak the beans and never have a problem with them cooking all the way. Use the manual pressure cook setting, set at high pressure. Do not use the bean or soup setting. I can not stress this enough.
- Make sure to use a natural release of at least 20 minutes before you open the pot.
- If the beans are not tender, remove the ham shanks and cook the beans under high pressure an additional 5 to 10 minutes.
- The soup will thicken upon standing as well as after refrigeration. I like it on the broth-y side but also like it after it sits for awhile and thickens.
- Use a ham bone, either leftover or shanks, to cook with the beans to make the best flavored broth. Add any leftover ham not on the bone at the end.
- Total time to make this soup is about an hour and a half. It takes some time to come to pressure and then the natural release time, but it's all hands off and easy.
Instant Pot Ham and White Bean Soup is a favorite around here. We love a hot bowl of soup for dinner, with crusty bread and a salad. It's even better the next day for lunch, and I usually manage to stash a quart in the freezer for later. I think you'll like this, homemade soup is so tasty and comforting. Enjoy, Kelly🍴🐦
If you're looking for Instant Pot recipes to try, you might like these favorites of mine:
- Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
- Pho Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Noddle Soup)
- Country Green Beans, Potatoes and Ham
- Easy Barbecue Ribs
- Split Pea and Lentil Soup
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Instant Pot Ham and White Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried Great Northern white beans, picked over and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 ribs celery, chopped
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary and thyme, minced or 2 teaspoons dried, or 2 teaspoons herbs de Provence
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 pounds meaty, smoked ham shanks
- 8 cups water
- 2 sprigs parsley
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot on sauté setting and heat olive oil in insert. I use the medium heat setting for sautéing. Add onion, celery and carrots and sauté until starting to soften, a few minutes. Add garlic, stir a few seconds until fragrant, then add herbs and bay leaf, stir and turn off sauté function.
- Add the dried beans to the pot along with the ham shanks. Pour in 8 cups of water and combine gently. Toss in 2 sprigs of parsley.
- Close lid and seal pressure cooker. Cook on high pressure and set timer for 35 minutes. It will take about 25 minutes to reach pressure and then the timer will start. When finished cooking, let pressure naturally release for 20 minutes.
- Manually release any remaining pressure, carefully open pot. Remove ham shanks to cutting board and shred/cut meat into bite-sized pieces. Add back to soup and season with kosher salt and black pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve with a little hot sauce on the side.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
I want to pre soak beans overnight for health benefits so how would that change the cooking time ? Thanks !
2 tablespoons of rosemary and thyme each or combined?
Combined ?
Making this tonight! I’m confused on if this recipe is for beans that have been quick soaked or only rinsed.
Thanks! Will update after devouring it 😉
Just rinsed, no pre-soaking ?
I changed a few things but not much. I have an 8qt instant pot so added 10 cups of water instead of 8. I chopped up about 1.5 lbs of ham and also used the ham bone. Added an extra carrot as we enjoy veg. The Herbes de Provence was so good in this! One of the best out of the gate Instant Pot recipes that we have tried.
This soup was amazing! I decided to add some fresh kale at the end. I just stirred it in before we dished it into our soup bowls. It added a new color and it was yummy!
This was amazing! First recipe I made in my Instant Pot. The only thing I did differently was 4 cups chicken broth/4 cups water.
Chicken broth is good!! Glad you liked the soup.
Made this tonight with just a few tweaks:
1. I added 3 Tbspns of chicken Better Than Bouillon
2. I cooked for 40 minutes
3. I removed about one third of the beans and soup water and used a hand mixer to emulsify
All good tweaks!
I cooked it for the 40 minutes as this review did, the beans are still hard. I wish I had soaked them the night before. I'm going another 15 minutes. If that doesn't work then I'll have to throw something else together for dinner. Sad though, I was really looking forward to this.
Sorry to hear things didn't work out for you. I've made this soup many times with no issues with the beans, as have many other readers. Impossible for me to tell what's causing the issue you're having, too many variables.
I don't know about your beans, of course, but if they are a bit old, this will sometimes happen.
Yes, I've heard that older beans can be tough. I've also heard not to salt the beans while cooking, that can make them tough, also.
@Kelly, From Epicurious Magazine (Mar 5, 2020 )..
Myth 6: Salted Beans Take Longer to Cook—If They Ever Finish Cooking at All
One of the most persistent myths about how to cook dried beans involves salt. In our test, we compared a batch cooked with salt added at the beginning against a batch made with salt added at the end, and guess what? The beans that were salted early on were more tender.
Takeaway: Salt early and often.
Did you do a quick release without waiting 20 minutes?
I had the same experience- the beans didn’t cook thoroughly. I pressure cooked a little longer per the recipe and the beans still were not completely done. I put on slow cook overnight and the beans still aren’t completely done. I give up. However, the flavor of the soup is good, next time I will soak the beans first.
Beans not softening may be caused by any of the above. Definitely don’t add salt (or tomato products, if you’re making a different recipe) until the beans are cooked. If you’re cooking beans at higher altitudes, they will most definitely take longer. I speak from personal experience on all of these. ? At the moment, all the ingredients are in the pot. Can’t wait to see how it turns out!
Great recipe! I've had an Instant Pot for over a year and did not use it until a week ago with this recipe. Tweaks I made: Used baby lima bean, cut up smoked turkey leg instead of ham and unsalted chicken stock instead of water. Turned out fantastic. Thanks!!
YUM!!
Hi Kelly - Excited to try your recipe! The family is looking for a thick “southern style” white bean and cornbread supper. Do you recommend I reduce the amount of water or add a thickener?
Thanks, Sheila
It thickens up upon standing but you could do a quick release of the pressure, that will thicken it, too. I don’t think you need to add a thickener.
Hi Kelly & Sheila
I loved the easy ingredients!
I don’t like recipe comments but this does not change the recipe.
Sheila and the world, I peeled 2 potatoes (your choice) and threw them in at the start. This always gives me something to mash if I want to thicken or eat coz I love ‘em!
If you don’t have any, try to keep powdered mashed potatoes in your cubbard; good for thickening soup, gravy etc.
Single John in Costa Mesa
To thicken, take an immersion stick blender to about ¼-½ cup of the beans, works great.
I am a fairly new Instant Pot user but this recipe was really easy to follow and it turned out really, really tasty! I will definitely be making this recipe again! Very yummy!
AMAZING! I've been craving white bean and ham soup. I threw this together last night and walked away to do some sewing. Boy did I have a wonderful dinner waiting for me downstairs. Thanks for a great recipe.
Best bean soup ever! And soooooo easy.
I'm so glad you liked it, we think it's the best!
Full of flavour and easy to pull together. Thanks for this recipe!
You are very welcome, glad you liked it!
Your soup looks delicious, on the line up for this week. Making your IP Country green beans and potatoes tonight. Thank you for sharing.
We love pho ga and its so easy in the pressure cooker. Hope you like the Country Green Beans ~ I just made it for Sunday supper with some skillet cornbread, delish!
I will definitely be trying this recipe
Making this soup tonight. Our first cool evening in Florida! I think I'll make some corn muffins to go along. Let you know, but it looks simple and delicious.
It tastes as good as it looks.