Skip to Content

Instant Pot Ham and Bean Soup

Instant Pot Ham and White Bean Soup Pinterest image

Like many of you, I am IN LOVE with my Instant Pot (generic version, not-sure-what-brand but it works). This Instant Pot ham and bean soup might be the best thing I’ve made yet!

I’ve been trying out tons of recipes I used to make in my crockpot and I get a huge thrill when what used to take half a day is ready in 30 minutes.

The recipes that have turned out best so far have been soups and chilis. I guess it’s because they have plenty of liquid to help the pressure cooker get up to pressure without any issues.

A big win in our house has been this Instant Pot ham and bean soup. It’s got lots of veggies, is easy to pull together, and is super affordable.

If you have leftovers from a ham (I always throw a few bags in the freezer after we have a ham in Christmas or Easter) then the biggest expense are the beans. They’ll set you back about 80 cents for this recipe. Ridiculous, I know.

Ham and white bean soup from an Instant Pot

This soup has a bunch of flavor and is super filling. Pair it with a loaf of french bread and dinner is ready! My five-year-old daughter loves it so I deem it kid-friendly, too.

I strongly suggest using Great Northern beans in this recipe because they will hold together and not turn to mush. If you can’t find them you can use Cannellini beans or Navy beans (learn the differences among the four kinds of white beans here).

When I make this, I use the “quick soak” method for getting the white beans recipe ready. Now, you can put the dried beans right in, but do this at your own risk! Unsoaked beans are known to cause lots of gas, so get ready to teach your kiddos the “beans, beans, the musical fruit song”.

Alternately, if you can manage to plan ahead, you can soak the beans overnight in water that covers them by a few inches and just rinse and go when you are ready to cook.

So here is the recipe for my Instant Pot Ham and Bean Soup (adapted from this Slow Cooker Ham and White Bean Soup from Dinner Then Dessert).

Instant Pot Ham and Bean Soup

Instant Pot Ham and Bean Soup

Ham and white bean soup made fast in the Instant Pot.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb. pre-soaked Great Northern white beans (about 2.5 cups)
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 1 medium carrot, coarsely chopped (or about 12 baby carrots)
  • 1/2 cup celery, sliced (about two stalks)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
  • 1.5 cups diced ham (can use a ham steak)
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Turn your Instant Pot on saute mode.

Rinse the pre-soaked beans if you haven't already.

Add olive oil to Instant Pot and let it get hot but not smoking.

Saute the onion, carrot, and celery until the onion starts to soften.

Add the garlic and saute another 30 seconds.

Add chicken stock, ham, beans, thyme, and rosemary. 

Cancel saute mode, put the lid safely on the Instant Pot, and set to 20 minutes. 

If you liked this post you might also like:

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Joan VS

Friday 1st of December 2023

Soooo good. Came out perfectly and has the house smelling delightful.

Kathryn A. Hogue

Wednesday 29th of December 2021

This recipe is the best, my whole family loved it. I served the bean soup with scratch made cornbread. It’s a whopping 22 degrees outside and snowing. Everyone got a tummy full of beans, ham & cornbread. This will definitely be my go to recipe from now on.

Blue

Thursday 2nd of December 2021

Please add a "Jump to recipe" at the top of your recipe pages. I'm going to try this soup tonight.

Kit

Wednesday 27th of March 2019

Instead of diced ham, Id like to use chicken breast for my own version of this soup. We dont usually buy ham so chicken I think is a good substitute.

Yang

Wednesday 20th of February 2019

Your white bean soup looks delicious, and I would really want to make it for my grandmother who has Alzheimer's disease. I'm not sure where to buy those white beans here though, but I will look for them in the imported goods sections. Thank you for this awesome recipe!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.


Privacy Policy | Disclosure Policy | Contact Me
Skip to Recipe