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
What part of if is a SOUP do some of you get...? I can't wait to make this..and I will make it as directed..I love soup and cornbread..Thank you for the recipe..I'm sure it will be awesome!🙂
I've made this recipe a few times now. It is absolutely perfect. Just delicious and I don't do anything beyond your instructions, comes out perfect every time! I can't make a batch now without making enough for my Mom & Dad who are absolutely obsessed with it! Thank you so much!
Great recipe! I didn't have enough ham so I threw in some Kielbasa. Also, didn't have celery so used celery seed. Even with reducing water/broth to 6 cups as others suggested I felt it was still too liquidy at the end so I'll decrease to 5 cups next time and maybe 7 cups for 1.5 times the recipe. I also felt some of the beans were underdone so I will pressure cook for 40-45 mins next time. This was sooo yummy with sweet Mexican corn bread. My 2 kids went back for seconds...WIN WIN :)!
Let me start off by saying I live in Tennessee. So know you know I live in the South and grew up on white beans and ham. Its definitely a main staple where I live. I tried this recipe one night wanting to try out the new instant pot I got, and let me tell you this is without a doubt one heck of a meal. If you use this recipe I promise you won't regret it. So don't look at any other white beans and ham recipes. This is the one to go for your waiting your time with all the others.
I made this for the first time…it is delicious!! I love beans and cornbread!!! I will definitely fix this one again!!!
Omgosh it’s my new, never have to find another recipe bean soup! Thank you for a great recipe. Reminds me of my mom’s and no one made better soups than her. ( except me now lol ) So happy I found your recipe!
Thank you so much for letting me know, Joanna. I'm so happy you liked this comforting soup and honored it reminds you of your mom's!
I am only giving 3 stars as I had to make modifications to the recipe. I used 6 cups of chicken broth vs 8 cups water and I still had to take almost 2 cups of the soup out and blend with an immersion blender and added a half cup of heavy cream. I used dried navy beans as those are smaller and they cooked fine for 35 minutes on high pressure.
Also on the spices used 1 tbsp of chopped sage along with 1 tbsp each of fresh chopped rosemary and Italian parsley And 6 sprigs of thyme (can pick out the stems at the the end). Finally at the end, to add a flavor burst, heat some olive oil with a sprig of rosemary and then drizzle on top of soup along with some grated Parmesan cheese.
Hi Pam, sounds like this recipe isn't quite what you expected. It's definitely brothier than others, although it does thicken upon resting or reheated for leftovers. And it sounds like you found a mix of spices that works better for you, and a great way to finish off the soup before serving.
@PamM, How can you rate a recipe when you changed everything in it even the type of beans, that ain't right
Made this recipe, this evening in the IP. Too much liquid, but was very tasty. Needed 'something', maybe will add some jalapenos next time. Did have to add another 8 minutes of pressured cooking to get the beans to not be chewey.
It is more brothy than creamy, might need more salt. I like to serve with a few dashes of hot sauce!
This soup is delicious! After reading other comments, I chose to quick soak my beans first and cut down the liquid (I used chicken broth) to 6 cups. I cooked for 35 minutes and it was perfect. Herbs de Provence seasoning is so good in this soup! Will definitely make this again! (And again!)
Delicious recipe and easy to throw together.
Cannellini beans need about 15 minutes more in the IP, unsoaked, than great northern beans. If some people here are using cannellini that might explain their beans being toothsome at 35 minutes.
This is a very tasty soup recipe. I ended up cooking the beans (navy beans because that’s all I could find at my local store) for an additional 15 mts. Used a Honey Baked Ham soup bone and 4 cups of unsalted chicken stock with 4 cups of water. Love cooking soups in an electric pressure cooker. Gives them such a delicious, in-depth flavor. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Made this today in an 8 quart IP. My main modifications were Navy beans - what my hubby picked up - and 10 cups of water/broth (would stick to 8 cups next time. Turned out great! Meat fell right off the bone. Beans were perfect. Followed the recipe for cooking time.
Thanks for letting me know, Jean, so glad you liked it! I have some stashed in the freezer from my last batch, so yummy.
This was so delicious! Had it with warmed ciabatta rolls and red wine, my husband loved it!
I didn’t have any ham so I sautéed bacon chunks instead .It was so good there’s no leftovers.Thanks for a great recipe
Nice substitution, Jim. Glad it worked out for you, sounds like it was delicious.