How long it takes: 1 hour, 40 minutes (most of the time is hands off) Equipment you’ll need: Instant Pot, immersion blender (optional) Servings: 6 A good-for-you soup. You’ll love Instant Pot bean soup. It’s just so homey, with good plant protein, fiber, and healthy vegetables. While it’s perfect for vegetarians and vegans, it will please pretty much everyone in your family. One pan meal. Since you can sauté the vegetables right in your Instant Pot, that makes this a one pan meal, and you know what that means! Easy clean up! Great make-ahead soup. Black bean soup is really good leftover. Since this recipe makes a pretty big batch, you’ll probably have enough to enjoy for lunch the next day. I often freeze half of the soup for an easy meal on a busy day.
How To Make Black Bean Soup
Prep and cook the vegetables. Chop up the veggies and sauté them briefly in your Instant Pot, adding the garlic and spices for the last minute or so. Pressure cook the soup. Turn the Instant Pot off, add the beans, broth, bay leaf, and water, and set the pressure cooker for 45 minutes on Pressure Cook (or Manual, High Pressure, depending on what model you have). It will take about fifteen minutes to come to pressure. Natural release. Once the soup has cooked, let the pressure release naturally for another fifteen minutes. If you add the time together, you’ll see that the cooking time is pretty close to an hour and a half, with another 10 minutes of prep time. Blend a portion of the soup. This step is optional but recommended. For really creamy soup, remove about half of the soup from the pan and, using a stick blender or a regular blender, purée it. You can either purée the soup you removed or the soup that’s remaining in the pan, it doesn’t really matter. If you prefer chunkier soup, simply skip this step; however, it does help to thicken the soup too. Finish up. Mix the puréed soup with the remaining soup and stir in the cilantro and lime juice. The lime juice adds just a bit of acidity which enhances the flavor of the soup. You could skip it but I really recommend adding it. Check the seasonings and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Keep warm. If you’re not quite ready serve the soup, no problem, just keep the soup on Warm until you are. Like most soups, black bean soup doesn’t mind waiting around.
Serving suggestions
Toppings: This soup is made for a dollop of sour cream or sliced avocado, or even guacamole. Shredded cheese is great idea, too, or a sprinkling of chopped jalapeño peppers, fresh cilantro or onions. Sides: Serve black bean soup with warm whole wheat cornbread or cornbread muffins with herbs and cheddar. Baked tortilla chips (or try air fryer tortilla chips!) and salsa are always good, too. Texas toast garlic bread is another great choice; air fryer grilled cheese sandwiches go well, too.
Can you make this soup with canned beans?
If you’re looking for a faster option, you can make this soup with canned beans. It requires a much shorter cooking time and it may be easier to just simmer it on the stove. However, if you would like to cook it in the Instant Pot, five minutes under high pressure will likely do the trick. You’ll need three cans (15.5 oz. each) of beans which is equivalent to 1 pound of dried beans.
Recipe Variations
Like most soup recipes, you can change pretty much anything you like and still have good results.
Use different beans. Try a different type of bean if you don’t happen to have black beans or don’t care for them. Pinto beans are a good substitute. Change the seasoning. Play around with the seasonings to come up with your own special recipe. Add meat. Add diced ham, cooked bacon, sausage, or another meat of your choice. Since the meat is already cooked, it can be stirred in after you purée the soup. Cook it on your stovetop. Follow package directions for soaking the beans overnight or doing a quick soak. The soup will still have to simmer about two hours even after a soak. An alternative is to substitute three 15.5 ounce cans of black beans instead of the dry beans for a quick cooking soup. Rather have brownies? Try black bean brownies. They’re pretty amazing, fudgy and gluten-free, too.
Storing & Reheating Leftovers
Refrigerate/Freeze: Instant Pot black bean soup can be stored for three to four days in the refrigerator in a tightly covered container. You can also freeze the soup for up to a month. Thaw it overnight in the fridge for best results. Reheat: Individual bowls can be reheated in the microwave or on the stove. Sometimes beans sort of explode in the microwave, so to avoid a mess, be sure to cover the bowl of soup. If soup seems too thick, stir in a bit of water or broth.
More Instant Pot soup recipes
Do you love soup but feel like you just don’t have time to simmer it? Your Instant Pot speeds up the process. Try:
Interested in a weekly meal plan that includes this recipe? Take a look at my Meal Plan #14 and Meal Plan #89. You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list. Let me do the planning for you this week! We add a new meal plan weekly.
Instant Pot Tomato Soup Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Soup Instant Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup Instant Pot Minestrone Soup Recipe Instant Pot White Chicken Chili Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
in your Instant Pot!
