Made with dried navy beans and fresh vegetables, this creamy Instant Pot white bean soup is nutritious and budget-friendly.
This is a warm and cozy soup that happens to be vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free. Serve as your main dish or a side dish.
Normally, dried beans must be soaked or pre-cooked before you can prepare a dish, but with this dish, there is no need. This Instant Pot white bean soup is a great way to use dry beans without having to soak them overnight. The pressure cooker does all the work.
Why you'll love this recipe
- Budget-friendly: Using dried beans and fresh veggies, this is a low-cost meal.
- Faster: Instead of pre-cooking or soaking the dried beans overnight, the pressure cooker does all the work.
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Looking for more Instant Pot soup recipes? Try my tortellini and sausage soup.
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Ingredients
- olive oil
- yellow onion
- carrot
- celery
- garlic
- dried navy beans
- Yukon gold potato
- vegetable broth
- Italian seasoning
- salt
- crushed red pepper
- kale
Need ideas for garnishes? Try fresh parsley, shredded parmesan cheese, and freshly cracked black pepper. Serve with crusty bread.
See the recipe card for quantities and see substitution ideas below.
Instructions
Using the Instant Pot’s Sauté setting, heat the olive oil. When hot, saute the onion, carrot, and celery.
Cook until the onion becomes translucent. Then add the garlic and continue cooking for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Cancel the sauté. Add the dried navy beans (unsoaked beans), diced potatoes, vegetable broth, Italian seasoning, salt, and crushed red pepper. Do not stir.
Close the lid and turn the knob to Sealing. Set the Instant Pot to Pressure Cook on High for 35 minutes. It will take the pot about 15-20 minutes to come to pressure before the cooking time begins.
When the cooking time is complete, allow the pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes, then release any remaining pressure with a quick release.
For the natural release portion, you do not need to take any action. The pressure will slowly release on its own. For the quick release, you need to flip the pressure valve or press the release button (depending on your electric pressure cooker model).
Transfer about half of the soup into a blender and purée the soup on low speed (see safety notes below).
Return the soup to the pot. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Add torn kale and stir into the soup.
Allow the kale to wilt for about 2 to 3 minutes, then serve.
Safety notes
Be careful when blending the hot soup. Here are a few tips for a safe purée.
- Let the soup cool slightly before blending.
- Vent the lid to prevent pressure from building up.
- Do not overfill the blender. Only fill it to the halfway mark. Blend in batches if needed.
- If this lid does not lock, hold it down while blending.
- Wear an oven mitt while handling the blender.
Substitutions
Below are a few quick and easy substitution suggestions:
- olive oil - For a whole food, plant-based, no-oil (WFPBNO) version, sauté the vegetables in one to two tablespoons of water or broth.
- yellow onion - Sweet onions are another good pick for this soup.
- dried navy beans - Dried navy beans are the creamiest white bean option, but Great Northern beans and cannellini beans will do in a pinch.
- Yukon gold potato - Russet potatoes and red potatoes will also work well in this recipe.
- vegetable broth - Chicken broth does change the flavor profile slightly but is also tasty.
- kale - Try this recipe with fresh baby spinach.
Equipment
- Pressure cooker - Your favorite pressure cooker will do the trick. I use an Instant Pot Duo 6-Quart.
- Blender - This is a Ninja Foodi Blender. An immersion blender will also work.
- Chef's knife - Chop those veggies with a high-quality knife.
Storage
Allow the soup to cool before refrigerating. Refrigerate for 3 to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot White Bean Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 large carrot diced
- 1 rib celery diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound dried navy beans rinsed
- 1 large Yukon gold potato diced
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 8 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups kale destemmed and torn into small pieces
Instructions
- Using the Instant Pot’s Sauté setting, heat the olive oil. When hot, saute the onion, carrot, and celery until the onion becomes translucent. Then add the garlic and continue cooking for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Cancel the sauté. Add the navy beans, diced potatoes, Italian seasoning, salt, crushed red pepper, and vegetable broth. Do not stir.
- Close the lid and turn the knob to Sealing. Set the Instant Pot to Pressure Cook on High for 35 minutes. It will take the pot about 15-20 minutes to come to pressure before the cooking time begins.
- When the cooking time is complete, allow the pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes, then release any remaining pressure with a quick release.
- Transfer about half of the soup into a blender and purée the soup on low speed (see safety notes below). Return the soup to the pot. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
- Add torn kale and stir into the soup. Allow the kale to wilt for about 2 to 3 minutes.
Video
Notes
- Let the soup cool slightly before blending.
- Vent the lid to prevent pressure from building up.
- Do not overfill the blender. Only fill it to the halfway mark. Blend in batches if needed.
- If this lid does not lock, hold it down while blending.
- Wear an oven mitt while handling the blender.
Lacey says
Easy recipe and it was amazing, I was a little worried when I opened the pressure cooker and saw the beans kind of floating on top, but after a good stir and blending some of the soup and adding it back it was perfect. I didn’t have any celery and I added some ham. Definitely a keeper recipe.
Kelsey Smith says
Ham sounds excellent!
Marie C says
Made this with half cannelloni beans and half navy beans. Tastes delicious! Easy to follow. Used immersion blender rather than blender.