Instant Pot 15 Bean Soup

This Pressure Cooker / Instant Pot 15 Bean Soup is a hearty soup loaded with ham and good-for-you veggies. It’s the perfect way to use that ham bone leftover from your holiday ham. 

Today’s post is sponsored by Hurst Beans. The N.K. Hurst Company is a four-generation family-owned business that began selling beans in 1947.

Beans are inexpensive, high in protein and fiber but low in calories, so they’re a great option around the holidays! The American Cancer Society recommends eating beans as part of a heart-healthy diet and says adding beans to your diet may help keep you feeling full longer.

Hurst’s HamBeens brand was the first brand to include a seasoning packet with their 15 Bean Soup mix, and it became an immediate success. Even if you don’t have a leftover ham bone, the seasoning packet ensures you’ll still get a great, flavorful soup.

HOW TO COOK INSTANT POT 15 BEAN SOUP IN THE INSTANT POT / ELECTRIC PRESSURE COOKER

This Instant Pot 15 Bean Soup recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or Mealthy MultiPot.

You’ll save time making 15 Bean Soup in the pressure cooker! The pressure cooker takes about one-third of the time it would take to cook beans on the stove.

The high-quality Hurst HamBeen 15 bean soup mix is a blend of fifteen bean varieties: northern, pinto, large lima, yelloweye, garbanzo, baby lima, green split, kidney, cranberry, small white, pink, small red, yellow split, lentil, navy, white kidney, black bean. The blend is great for soup because some of the beans breakdown while they’re cooking, easily creating a thick, delicious soup.

Canning beans changes the taste and texture of beans. Plus, it costs significantly less to cook dry beans than to use canned beans. You also control how much salt you use.

Not only is pressure cooking the easiest and fastest way to cook dry beans, but the pressure cooked beans taste better, too!

Quick Soak or No Soak Recipe Options

My recipe uses a Quick Soak method that eliminates the overnight soak. I like the Quick Soak method because I get fewer split beans than if I pressure cook the beans without soaking.

To use the Quick Soak pressure cooker method, you set the cook time for 1 minute at High Pressure. Once the cook time ends, use a natural pressure release and let the beans soak for 1 hour without removing the pressure cooking lid. 

After the 1 hour soak, remove the lid and add the tomatoes, carrots, and seasoning packet. Return the lid and set the cook time for 3 minutes.

After the 3 minute cook time, you’ll use a natural pressure release for at least 10 minutes to allow the soup to stop boiling. (This trick allows you to open the pressure cooker without liquid coming up through the steam release valve.

No Soak Method for 15 Bean Soup: If you don’t have time to soak your beans for an hour, you can pressure cook the beans at high pressure for 35 minutes, do a 10-minute natural pressure release, then add the other ingredients and proceed with the recipe as written.

Overnight Soak Method: if you used a traditional overnight or all day soak method, you can skip to step 6 in the recipe.

Should I Add Salt When Soaking Beans?

You do not want to add salt while you are quick soaking the beans because it will prolong the soaking process. Add salt and pepper at the end of the cook time.

I added 1 teaspoon of salt and about 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper after pressure cooking. How much you’ll need will depend on how salty your ham is and how much meat is on your ham bone.

Why Don’t You Add All the Ingredients At Once?

It’s important to add the ingredients in the order specified in the recipe for optimal cooking. (Don’t worry—the contents of the pot are so hot that your pressure cooker will return to pressure quickly.)

I opted not to add the tomatoes with the initial soak because it increases the cook time needed for tender beans. (Any acid will do this.) Hurst recommends adding tomatoes after the beans are tender.

In addition, I love the pop of color the carrots give to the soup, but they’d be mushy if you added them too soon. Adding the spinach after pressure cooking wilts the spinach, but adds a nice fresh green color.

Adding the lemon juice at the very end enhances the flavor of the beans and adds a little brightness to the soup. If you wanted, you could also add the spice packet with the lemon juice.

Do I Need To Discard the Soaking Water?

No, quick soaking the beans with the ham bone, onion, and celery creates a flavorful broth that you do not want to discard.

Does Soaking Beans Reduce Gas?

I mentioned this in my Cajun 15 Bean Soup recipe, but I wanted to repeat it again here. I often hear people say that soaking and discarding the soaking water lessens gas problems from eating beans. However, my contact at Hurst’s Beans says:

In reality, the tried-and-true best way to reduce gas from eating beans is to actually eat beans more regularly. Your digestive system gets more accustomed to processing the natural components in beans, peas, and lentils—thus reducing gas

How Do I Store Leftover 15 Bean Soup?

• Store leftover 15 bean soup covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Sometimes I’ll just put the pressure cooker inner pot in the fridge with a lid, then use the saute function to reheat the soup.
• Or, freeze leftover soup in individual serving sizes, about 1 1/2 cups, in ziptop freezer bags or containers for up to 3 months.

Tips for Pressure Cooking 15 Bean Soup

This recipe cannot be doubled in a 6-quart pressure cooker. Never fill the inner pot of your pressure cooker more than half full when cooking beans.

Adding at least 1 tablespoon of oil when pressure cooking dry beans helps keep their shape and exterior skin intact, and also helps lessen froth and foam during pressure cooking.

How to Cook Beans at Altitude in an Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker

Beans are one of the things that you will need to add more pressure cooking time if you are cooking at altitude. 

The technical rule is to add 5 percent more pressure cook time at 3,000 feet above sea level, 10 percent for 4,000 feet above sea level, and so on, increasing by 5 percent every additional 1,000 feet.

For this recipe, if you live at altitude, I would increase the quick soak cook time to 2 minutes. After the beans have soaked for an hour and you’ve added the other ingredients, increase the second pressure cook time by a minute or more depending on your altitude.

Where Can I Find Beans to Make 15 Bean Soup?

I’m sure many of my American readers are already familiar with Hurst’s HamBeens, since they offer their 15 Bean Soup Mix in every state in the U.S.

To find Hurst products in a store near you, use the great store locator on their site: www.hurstbeans.com/wheretobuy. Or, you can use their online store if the product isn’t available in your area.

Still Have Questions about Beans?

Hurst Beans has a FAQ page on its site that is a great resource for all your questions about cooking with beans and their other products.

What to Serve with 15 Bean Soup

This Instant Pot 15 Bean Soup includes good-for-you vegetables, but you could also serve it with a salad for even more leafy greens.

Cornbread or rolls are also great additions.

Be sure and check out my video that shows just how easy this Pressure Cooker / Instant Pot 15 Bean Soup is to make: