Instant Pot Ham and Bean Soup is flavorful as can be, so hearty and filling, and incredibly easy to make thanks to the pressure cooker! It’s the perfect recipe to use when you have leftover holiday ham.
Cozy up with more pressure cooker soup recipes like Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup and Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup!
Table of Contents
Ham and bean soup is simple but when made just right, it can have such amazing flavors! Most of the flavors here comes from the best part, the ham. Using leftover ham in this bean soup actually infuses the soup with the flavors of the ham. If you glazed a ham for a holiday dinner, make this ham and bean soup with the leftovers. Whatever flavors you baked on the ham will transfer into the soup beautifully.
The main reason that the ham infuses so much flavor into the soup is because it’s cooked in an Instant Pot. Pressure cooking is a great method for infusing a lot of flavor into the dishes.
Besides infusing a lot of flavor into the soup, making it in the Instant Pot will speed up the process. The whole soup will take you less than an hour to make. I’m still amazed that you can get tender, soft beans by pressure cooking it for just about 30 minutes!
PRO TIP: If you cooked ham on the bone for the holidays, you can throw in the bone as well. Cut the meat off the bone and add the bone into the pot while sautéing the veggies. Then, simply dice the meat that has been cut off the bone and add it to the soup as well. This bean soup will be amazing with or without the bone. This will just be a good way to utilize the bone instead of just tossing it away.
Ingredient Notes
Ham – This is an excellent way to use up that leftover holiday ham in your fridge! One of my favorite recipes to make every Christmas is Baked Ham with Cherry Glaze.
Chicken Stock – I love keeping Homemade Chicken Stock on hand for recipes like this but you can always use your favorite store-bought.
Vegetables – This recipe uses a simple medley of carrots, celery, and yellow onions.
Navy Beans – These are my favorite beans to use in ham and bean soup because they’re small and cook perfectly every time.
Garlic – Freshly smashed and minced garlic cloves yield the very best flavor.
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes – I like to add just enough to enhance the savory flavor and add a little spicy touch. Add more or less as you see fit.
See the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and instructions.
How to Make Instant Pot Ham and Bean Soup
Prepare. Start by preparing all your veggies and ham. Dice onions, celery, carrots, and ham. Peel garlic and set it all aside. Rinse the beans to get rid of any debris that might be in the bag and set aside to let it strain.
Sauté. Set Instant Pot to sauté and let it heat up. Add oil, onions, celery, and carrots and saute until veggies soften and start to golden (1). If using ham bone, add ham bone to the pot.
Add garlic. Press garlic and add it to the pot (2). Sauté until fragrant.
Ham and beans. Stir in diced ham (3), stir, and sauté for a few minutes, then stir in the beans (4).
Add broth and seasonings. Pour in the chicken broth (5), thyme, bay leaf, crushed red peppers, and salt (6). Don’t forget to taste to make sure you have enough salt.
Cook the soup. Stir, close the lid and make sure it’s latched. Turn the valve to “SEAL” and set the Instant Pot to pressure cook on high pressure cook mode for 30 minutes.
Release the pressure. Let it do a natural release for about 10 minutes and then do a quick release (7). Be careful opening the lid.
Recipe FAQs
You can easily convert this recipe to a slow cooker recipe instead! All you’ll need to do is sauté the vegetables and ham on the stove top first, then transfer it into a slow cooker.
Preheat a medium pot over medium heat and add oil, onions, celery, and carrots and sauté until veggies soften and start to turn golden. Press in the garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add diced ham, stir, and sauté for a couple of minutes.
Transfer it all into a slow cooker. Add ham bone if using.
Add beans, chicken broth, thyme, bay leaf, crushed red peppers, and salt. Don’t forget to taste to make sure you have enough salt. Close the lid and set it to cook on LOW for 8-10 hours (until beans are tender).
Add as many of your favorite vegetables as you’d like, or just some extra carrots, onions, and celery. Some good veggies to add include diced tomatoes, bell peppers, corn, and root vegetables.
No, not necessarily. Navy beans are small and cook nicely but you can use any beans you’d like. You can even use a mix of beans, like a 7-bean mix. Just remember to discard any seasoning packets that come with it because you will be using your own seasoning.
30 minutes is a nice average cook time for beans that are about the same size as a navy bean or smaller. If you want to use larger beans, your cooking time will increase. So for beans like cannellini or white kidney beans, you will want to add another 5-10 minutes. Note that some beans may be larger in size but thinner in thickness, they will have a slightly different cook time. You can always consult your pressure cooker manual for exact cook times.
Freezing Instructions
When freezing any food, it’s important to cool it to room temperature as quickly as possible before freezing. Cooling it quickly and freezing it will extend its shelf life by giving less time for bacteria to grow.
To cool the soup, place the pot with soup into a larger container filled with ice and let it cool, stirring occasionally.
Once ham and bean soup is cooled to room temperature, portion it into freezer zip-lock bags. Get the air out and seal. Label and date each bag and lay them flat on a cutting board. Place it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
It’s easier to freeze soup in freezer bags because you can easily stack flat bags of frozen soup. This will save you a lot of room.
Thaw the Instant Pot Ham and Bean soup slowly, overnight in the refrigerator (or for up to 24 hours depending on the amount).
Storing and Reheating
Store cooled cooked soup in an airtight food storage container, in the refrigerator. Properly stored, it should last for up to 5-7 days. Make sure you always use a clean ladle when getting a serving out of the container. This will help ensure longer shelf life.
Reheating this soup is simple: you can reheat individual portions in the microwave or in a small sauce pot over medium heat.
More of Our Favorite Ham Recipes
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Ham and Bean Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 2 long celery ribs
- 2 medium carrots
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 1/2 cups diced ham use leftover holiday ham is available
- 1 lb dried navy beans
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 1 large bay leaf
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- salt
- ham bone from leftover whole cooked ham OPTIONAL
Instructions
- Dice onions, celery, carrots, and ham. Peel garlic and set it all aside. Rinse the beans to get rid of any debris that might be in the bag and set aside to let it strain.
- Set Instant Pot to SAUTE and let it heat up. Add oil, onions, celery, and carrots and saute until veggies soften and start to golden. (If using ham bone, add ham bone to the pot.)
- Press garlic and add it to the pot. Saute until fragrant.
- Add diced ham, stir, and saute for a few minutes. Pour in beans, chicken broth, thyme, bay leaf, crushed red peppers, and salt. Don’t forget to taste to make sure you have enough salt.
- Stir, close the lid and make sure it’s latched. Turn the valve to “SEAL” and set the Instant Pot to pressure cook on high pressure cook mode for 30 minutes.
- Let it do a natural release for about 10 minutes and then do a quick release. Be careful opening the lid.
- NOTE: don’t forget to discard the bay leaf and ham bone if using.
Video
Notes
- Ham Bone: If you cooked ham on the bone for the holidays, you can throw in the bone as well. Cut the meat off the bone and add the bone into the pot while sautéing the veggies. Then, simply dice the meat that has been cut off the bone and add it to the soup as well. This bean soup will be amazing with or without the bone. This will just be a good way to utilize the bone instead of just tossing it away.
- Using other beans? 30 minutes is a nice average cook time for beans that are about the same size as a navy bean or smaller. If you want to use larger beans, your cooking time will increase. So for beans like cannellini or white kidney beans, you will want to add another 5-10 minutes. Note that some beans may be larger in size but thinner in thickness, they will have a slightly different cook time. You can always consult your pressure cooker manual for exact cook times.
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in April 2019.
Nina E Mullen says
Made this tonight, beans at 30 minutes weren’t done. Next time I’ll use soup button, which is 45 minimum. Thyme I feel could be less too. But other than that, really delicious.
Lori S. says
Made per the recipe, except used 1 T fresh Thyme, and it turned out so great! It was my first Instant Pot recipe. My dried navy beans turned out soft and perfect in the 30 mins, despite my concern after reading others’ reviews. This is a keeper for me – thank you!
LyubaB says
So glad you liked it, Lori!
Elizabeth Nelson says
I made this twice now and this time I didn’t have carrots, I added bacon and ham, and only did 1/2 tsp of Thyme and cooked on high pressure for 70 minutes. Perfect!
LyubaB says
Glad you liked it 🙂
Miss Cindy says
I added a bit of bacon as I did not have as much ham as I thought. I also recommend one can of diced tomatoes for flavor and color. Also cooked for 60 minutes under pressure because I like a very tender bean. Thank you for this base recipe, tasted just like mom in Indiana used to make!
LyubaB says
So glad you liked it! 🙂
Elizabeth N says
My family really loved this. I made it twice the week after Christmas (with my shiny new Instant Pot of course!), and its been on regular rotation since then. My bean-hating husband especially liked this.
LyubaB says
I am so glad you liked it, Elizabeth!
Sandy S. says
Had beans and ham for supper tonight. First time I’ve ever tried my IP and they were delicious! I had to substitute a couple of things but they were great. Thanks for easy instructions.
LyubaB says
So glad you liked it! 🙂
Carol says
I’ve done quite a bit of searching on Pinterest to find the right recipe for a flavorful navy bean and ham soup in the Instant Pot. I’ll be making this tomorrow for New Years Eve. Thank you for sharing this recipe, and for answering my questions about possibly freezing the finished soup to take to an elderly cousin for a few meals. I appreciate your post.
LyubaB says
Hi, Carol! I am glad you liked it!
Colleen says
If dried beans are used without soaking , 60 minutes is required to get beans totally cooked .
Also ; beans should be soaked overnight for slow cooker .
I make a version of this soup often (yesterday!) and 50 minutes was just shy of what was needed to get tender beans.
I leave celery stalks in 4 inch pieces to pull out later. We do not enjoy mushy celery.
Last thing: Add a large can of diced tomatoes!!! It adds a brightness to flavor. Delicious!
Parker says
Just finished the 30 minutes of instapot cooking as per the recipe. Colleen, you are so right. dried beans NOT cooked – it would be helpful if the recipe would be corrected. This is my first time to try to cook beans NOT soaked overnight.. I decided to read comments to see what I might have done wrong. No brainer – beans not cooked.
Catina says
How much celery? Have you ever added potatoes?
LyubaB says
Catina, It’s two stalks of celery. And I haven’t but I think it would be good!
Nicki says
You don’t say how much celery to use.
LAURA E CONANT says
I halved this recipe, thinking it would be too much for my small family of 3. Plus my husband is an anti soup kind of guy, but willing to eat whatever I put in front of him. I had a frozen ham bone from Christmas and some frozen left over ham, as well. I also had pork stock, which is basically the juice left over from making pork chops in the instant pot. I can’t get over how delicious this is! I used small white beans (I guess they were navy? or cannelloni?? and cooked for 30 minutes. I could see cooking longer but loved that the beans had just a little firmness still to them. I served it with rice, a staple in our house, and I mixed the left over with the left over rice and put in fridge. The next day it was more like a rice casserole and IT ROCKS!!! Seriously good. Oh, and my husband loved it, too. Had seconds, even though it was soup! Thank you so much!!
LyubaB says
Laura, thank you for taking the time to let me know how much you liked it!
Rhonda Childress says
How much celery?
Rondi says
She said 2 ribs
LyubaB says
Thanks, Rodi! You are correct it’s 2 celery ribs!
Carole from Carole's Chatter says
Hi there! I’m Carole from Carole’s Chatter. I think you do really super things with food. I wondered if you would like to join the group of bloggers who share their posts on a monthly basis via Food on Friday. I host this link up on the second Friday of each month. Every month there are a few different themes. This month they are Breakfast, Soups and Easter Food. If you would like to check it out just hop on over to Carole’s Chatter. We would all love to see you there. Cheers
Maria McBride says
delish! I made this soup for dinner tonight. I set the timer for 60 minutes, like suggested, and used dry beans. I definitely make this again. Even my mom loved it!
LyubaB says
I am so happy to hear you liked it!