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
Can’t wait to taste this! Just got it all in my pot and turned it on. This is the bone from my Easter ham. We’re having this for supper along with grilled cheese paninis.
Love this recipe
Thank you, we love it, too.
Just made this using my leftover ham bone from Easter. Great directions, easy to follow for a beginner like me! I took out the bone am cooking an extra 5 minutes. Absolutely delicious and an absolute keeper! Thanks so much.
Can i use leftover diced ham for this soup and if so do you add it right away with bean
I'm planning to do this with leftover ham today. I think what I will do is cook the beans and the ham bone as the recipe states and then add the diced ham in at the end for a simmer to warm through. That way the ham bone flavors the broth and beans, and if the beans aren't done I can easily remove the bone and restart the pot to finish as the recipe states. I don't know about ham, but I do know the longer precooked chicken stays cooking in a broth, the less flavor/more boiled tasting it is. So I'm assuming cooked to death ham would become similarly waterlogged as well. I'll report back later on how it went....
Did everything I said I would do and it turned out great. I had soaked my beans for a few hours prior to cooking so I reduced the amount of liquid by two cups. Beans came out great. Removed the ham bone and the meat on the bone was soggy and flavorless I'm really glad I did not cook my diced precooked meat at the same time as the beans. My mother-in-law who hates ham bean soup devoured two bowls!
Sounds delicious, glad you liked it. That’s the best compliment seeing someone who doesn’t like something eat it up! I use ham shanks and the ham still has flavor. Your method makes sense, tho. Thanks for letting me know how it went ? ?
Just got my Pot this week and love this recipe! Served it with homemade biscuits just the way my mom did growing up in Michigan. I used 4 cups of low sodium chicken stock and 4 cups of water.
I’m new to the instant pot. Why do you have to wait for it to natural release instead of quick release?
To continue cooking the beans and when you manually release, the contents boil vigorously and I like the soup more on the brothy side. That said, the soup does thicken up a bit upon resting.
This is only the 3rd dish I’ve made in my instant pot nd was not impressed with the first 2. But this- this was not only delicious but so easy to put together! I had a ham bone from Christmas dinner and everything else already in my pantry and fridge. A cold winters dinner ready in no time
It takes awhile to figure out Instant Pot cooking, I definitely don't like everything in the IP. This soup, though, is a favorite. I'm glad you tried it and liked it.
This was really good. Couple subs (1) used 2 smoked ham hocks and an 8-oz slab of ham, diced; (2) used 4 cups low sodium chicken broth and 4 cups water. Mine was perfect after 35 minutes with 20 minute rest. Very, very good, filling and comforting. Leftovers for lunch!
Leftovers are the best!!
Delicious, I just added more ham that I happened to have already carved off from a few days ago. Way easier with the Instapot. With a glass of red wine, crusty bread, a perfect easy dinner.
It's so good and so easy, glad you enjoyed it with a glass of wine!
So my house smells terrific. But my beans were not fully cooked. The only change i made was 4 cups of stock and 4 cups of water. I'm on high pressure in the 6 quart Instant Pot Duo. Its my first time doing dried beans. I'm certainly up for any thoughts. A lot of the liquid was absorbed, so I added 4 more cups of water and am running it for another 15 minutes.
I've made this soup several times in the Ultra under high pressure and 35 minutes is enough time. I let it naturally release for about 20 minutes and I don't salt the beans. Not sure why it's taking longer for you but there are definitely variables. Maybe 40 minutes is a better time in your model? Hope it eventually turned out for you. I bet your house smelled divine!
I also cooked this on high pressure in the 6 quart Instant Pot Duo (for 40 minutes), and the beans were still pretty hard. I followed your instructions for the 20 minute natural release after the 40, then released the steam. I removed the ham, and cooked the beans for another 15 minutes (with quick release), and they were still not done. Any thoughts?
Not sure why, mine always cook in the stated time. I've read that the age of the beans matters, that could be a possibility if the beans are on the older side. They should have been cooked and tender in the time you stated. Also, salting the cooking water can toughen beans. I'm stumped, sorry.
Do you soke the beans overnight?
Nope. You can if you want but I find it's unnecessary in the pressure cooker.
I made this recipe and put the insta pot on for 75 min with the stew button after pressure was built, than let pressure out and the beans are not cooked. I just put the pressure back on for soup for 35 more minutes. I have to wait for the pressure to come again and than the 35 min starts. Why is my batch taking so long?
I use the high pressure setting, not the stew setting, that could be why.
What size instant pot do you use?
6-quart Ultra.
Just made this and it really does taste delicious!! I used 6 cups of chicken broth and 2 cups of water but other than that followed the directions exactly! Was a hit and this recipe is definitely a keeper! Thank you!!
This was delicious. I made two changes. Used navy beans and omitted the rosemary. Cook time was perfect.
This soup is outstanding. I just got my Instant Pot and this was the second recipe I ever made in it.
I sautéed 6 onions and left out the carrot since I didn’t have any. I also added more garlic than I care to admit 🙂 I used Herbs de Provence and rosemary as you suggested.
Your instructions were super helpful for a first timer. I think this is the first scratch-made soup I’ve ever made that I actually enjoyed.
If anyone else doesn’t love the texture of whole beans, I stuck my immersion blender in the pot after it was done cooking and it was still spectacular. Thank you for this recipe!!
Question. Would you recommend replacing the water with chicken broth? or would that be too much?
You could use chicken broth if you want, it would be very good, I’m sure. I find the ham and seasonings are enough for a very flavorful soup.