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.
Monica Yelton says
This is my go to recipe for the best bean soup I’ve ever had. My husband says it’s better than canned store bought brands. Just has the best flavor and on a chilly day warms you up.
LyubaB says
It is one of my favs for a cold day, am so glad you liked it!
Christi says
I made it the way you wrote. The recipe turned out very good! Thank you very much. Added it to my much loved recipes book.
Michelle says
Very tasty. But… beans did NOT cook throughly. I used Great Northern beans. I added an additional 20 minutes cook time and they were perfect. Thank you!
Melinda says
This was so easy and delicious!!
LyubaB says
I am so glad you liked it, Melinda!
Christine says
This soup is amazing! Based on comments, I pressure cooked for 1 hour and natural pressure release for 30 minutes. I did not soak the beans. Delicious!
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LyubaB says
So happy you liked it, Christine!
Crystal says
Love it, so yummy! Made it tonight, thankyou for sharing!
LyubaB says
I am so glad you liked it, Crystal!
JimmyB says
I made this tonite and it was beyond delicious! My house guest said it was even better than his Mother’s ham and bean soup. I followed the recipe fairly closely with just minor exceptions. I used Great Northern beans and instead of red pepper flakes I used some red bell pepper. I am unable to do spicy. Because the beans I used are larger than navy beans I soaked them for about 5 hours. I cooked this for 45 minutes and did a 15 minute natural release before opening the Instant Pot. I did include the ham bone and all the meat on it fell off into the soup. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful and tasty recipe.
P.S. Readers should be aware that because the Pot will be so full that it will take longer than usual to come up to pressure. Mine took 30 minutes instead of the customary 15 minutes or so.
LyubaB says
So glad you liked it, Jimmy!
Lisa E says
Just made this and it’s marvelous! I did go the 45 mins and the beans were perfect. This recipe is a keeper.
FreyaFL says
This was delicious! I did cook it longer (50 minutes + 10 natural release) and the beans were almost perfect (I like them pretty soft in soup). I think I’ll do 1 hour next time then immediately release. As good as this was last night, it was even better today! I’m so making this again. Thank you!
LyubaB says
I am glad you liked it!
Jenny Gibbs says
I really messed up this recipe. I doubled the beans accidentally. I also mixed navy beans and great northern beans. The result: an almost-solid block of beans that didn’t cook through. Ugh. I added water and put my Instant Pot on slow cook overnight, and now it’s edible. The flavor is delicious, and I’ll definitely make this again.
LyubaB says
I am glad you were able to save it and it taste good!
Joyce says
Can I use pinto beans? Soak or not?
LyubaB says
Sure, I don’t soak them but you can if you like.
Sue Bee says
I used a pound of great northern beans in my 6 quart instant pot. I upped the time to 55 minutes with 25 minutes npr. A few of the beans were oh-so-slightly crunchy so I will adjust the cook time to 60 minutes next time. The seasoning is perfect.
This recipe is delicious and will certainly be making it again!
LyubaB says
I am so glad you liked it, Sue!
Jerri White-Haskins says
After reading other people’s response about adding more time for cooking I soaked the dried beans over night then cooked the soup for 90 minutes and did natural release for 10 minutes. It turned out perfect and delicious. I didn’t add salt because the ham was already salty.
LyubaB says
GLad it worked out for you!