Instant Pot Navy Bean Soup
Instant Pot Navy Bean Soup makes a hearty main dish soup perfect to warm you up on cooler days. It's packed with chunky vegetables, tender white navy beans, and a rich, smoky flavor. A vegetarian soup that's filling on its own or you can add some ham for flavor and bits of meat. There's no soaking required for the dried beans and cooks up in about an hour.
Why This Instant Pot Navy Bean Soup Recipe Rocks!
Love Instant Pot soup recipes? Try this Chicken Minestrone next! It's so good and cooks up in minutes!
Ingredients
- Oil: I prefer cooking under high heat with unflavored coconut oil. However, you can use any type of neutral-flavored vegetable oil you prefer.
- Veggies: We're using onions, carrot, and celery to add more depth of flavor to the soup. Cooking it in a bit of olive oil before cooking the soup under pressure softens and enhances their flavor.
- Garlic: Use fresh garlic cloves for the best flavor.
- Chipotle with Adobo Sauce: These add a bit of smoky flavor and a slight spicy kick. You can also use a bit of extra smoked paprika for a similar smokiness and use some red pepper flakes for the heat.
- Navy Beans: Navy beans are the main ingredient in this simple recipe. For best results, use a recently purchased bag of beans.
- Broth: Choose your favorite broth option. Chicken broth or stock, bone broth, vegetable stock, or beef all work great.
- Seasonings: All you need are some bay leaves, salt, and pepper for flavoring the soup. Add some smoked paprika at the end of cooking for a more intense smoky flavor than the chipotle peppers alone.
- Greens: I am using fresh spinach but this soup works equally well with kale, Swiss chard, or arugula
Check the recipe card further down the page for the full list of ingredients and quantities of each one you will need.
How to Make Navy Bean Soup in the Instant Pot
Step 1: Saute the veggies. Cook the chopped onion, carrot and celery with olive oil using the saute setting of the Instant Pot until softened. Add the garlic and chipotle and cook for one minute longer.
Step 2: Add and cook. Add the dry navy beans, broth, and bay leaf. If you’re using the smoked ham hock or ham bone you can add it at this point. Cover with a lid and cook on high pressure for 30 minutes. When done, use natural release for about 15 minutes and then open the lid.
Step 3: Add the spinach. Remove the bay leaf. Stir the greens and smoked paprika into soup. The leaves should wilt in just a few minutes.
Step 4: Season and serve. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve up your vegetarian navy bean soup while it's hot.
Handy Tip: Prefer to Soak Your Beans?
Soaking the beans isn't necessary when cooking them in the Instant Pot. For some, it may help improve the digestibility of the beans a bit. To soak, place the dry beans in a pot of cold water and add a generous amount of salt. Let them soak overnight or for a minimum of 8 hours. Drain the water rinse the beans very well, and then add them into the Instant Pot at the correct point in the recipe. Reduce the high pressure cooking time to 18-20 minutes. Be sure to add salt to the cooked soup in small increments at the end of cooking.
Alternate Cooking Methods
- Stove: Follow the instructions for sauteing but use a large Dutch oven or soup pot instead. After sauteing, add everything to the pot. Cover with a lid and cook on low heat for an 50-60 minutes or until the beans are tender. Stir occasionally as the soup cooks. You may need to add additional liquid if some evaporates as it cooks. Add the greens towards the end of cooking to wilt. Check your seasonings before serving.
- Slow Cooker: Start by sauteing the vegetables on the stove in a pot or skillet. When softened, transfer to your slow cooker. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the spinach) to the slow cooker. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 5-6 hours or until the beans are tender. Stir in the spinach when the beans are tender and stir to wilt. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper to your tastes.
Dietary Modifications & Variations
- Ham: If you prefer your hearty navy bean soup with a bit of meat you can add ham hocks, a leftover ham bone, or chopped diced ham to the pot when cooking. I do suggest waiting until the end of cooking to add salt as ham contains higher amounts of salt and you don't want the soup to be too salty.
- More Flavor: If you love a vegetarian soup that packs a bit more umami flavor, add a tablespoon or so of white miso. It contains sodium, so wait to add salt until after you've stirred into the soup as you likely can reduce the salt by about half.
- Mild: If serving kids or anyone sensitive to spice you can skip the chipotles. I'd suggest adding a couple drops of liquid smoke or a bit more smoked paprika to boost the smokiness.
- Meat: You can also stir in some cooked ground beef or turkey, or chopped rotisserie chicken if you prefer a meaty soup.
Storage Tips
- Store: Place the soup in an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to four days. You can also freeze the soup in individual portions using these souper cubes (which I love!) or in a freezer-safe container for up to three months.
- Reheat: Place the soup in a saucepan and heat over medium heat until heated through. If frozen, thaw it out in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Expert Tips
- Always rinse and sort your beans. It's not uncommon for a bag of beans to contain small stones or damaged beans. I prefer to dump them in a colander under running water. Move the beans around and look for weird pieces to remove before cooking.
- Turn off the maintain heat function. This may be a personal preference but I find that I have more control over the consistency of my food with it turned off. After you set the clock, hit the button, and the light will go off. Once the time elapses for pressure cooking, it will stop heating and start the depressurization process.
- Add salt and pepper at the end of cooking. I find you have more control over the seasoning when added at the end of cooking. It also allows for the difference in saltiness of broths and also if you add any ingredients such as ham, bouillon, or miso that contain salt.
- Serving ides. Serve up your bowl of soup with some cornbread croutons on top, a loaf of your favorite crusty bread, or a fluffy baked biscuit.
Recipe FAQs
Sure! The flavors of this soup will work with just about any white bean including great northern beans or cannellini beans, but the cooking time may vary depending on the beans you use.
Likely, the beans simply need to cook for longer. This may happen if your beans are a bit older and have been sitting around for a while. Simply place the lid back on top and cook for 5-10 minutes longer. It will take less time to pressurize and you can use quick release when it's done cooking. If they still aren't done, repeat the process again. There are rare occasions when beans are so old they simply don't completely tenderize.
No, while technically you can, I haven't tested it and don't recommend it with this recipe. Likely you would need to reduce the liquid substantially and would need several cans of beans to replace the dried. It's simply best to find an alternate recipe if you aren't starting with the dried navy beans.
Smoky Navy Bean Soup (Instant Pot)
Ingredients
Soup Base
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil or other vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 carrot sliced
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced
- ½ - 1 chipotle with adobo sauce chopped, about 1 tablespoon
- 1 pound dried navy beans
- 8 cups broth (chicken, vegetable, or beef)
- 2 bay leaf
- 6 ounces fresh greens spinach, kale, or arugula
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- Salt and pepper to taste see notes
Optional Flavors
- Ham hocks leftover ham bone, or chopped diced ham
- White miso adds flavor for vegetarian soup
- 1-2 drops Liquid smoke or another ½ teaspoon smoked paprika adds smoky flavor for vegetarian or ham-free soup
Instructions
- Heat the oil using the saute setting of your Instant Pot. Add onion, carrot and celery to the Instant pot. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and chipotle, cook one minute more.
- Add beans, broth, and bay leaf. If you’re using the ham hocks or ham bone you can add it at this point. Cover with lid and cook on high pressure for 30 minutes.
- Allow the heat to release naturally for about 15 minutes and then open the lid.
- Remove bay leaf and ham bone or ham hock if you used it. Stir the greens and smoked paprika into soup. The leaves should wilt in just a few minutes.
- If you’re using miso, diced ham, liquid smoke or smoked paprika add it now. Stir to dissolve the miso. Heat long enough to warm up the diced ham.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
Recipe Tips
Nutrition
