This instant bean soup is filling, nutritious, and full of beans and vegetables! The best part is that you’ll have this family favorite on the table in less than 30 minutes!
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It’s very important for me to eat well, but also to have recipes that I can make quickly and easily. That’s why I love my Instant Pot pressure cooker. You may be like me, I don’t always plan my meals ahead of time and that’s when I turn to my pressure cooker!
This instant bean soup is a regular at our table. It’s tasty, filling, and the ingredients are staples that I always have on hand. In addition, the ingredients are very adaptable. Keep reading my variations below.
While I love using dried beans, I don’t always have time for that. This recipe uses canned beans that greatly reduce cooking time. Canned beans are delicious and very convenient.
This pressure cooker bean soup is
similar to my slow cooker minestrone soup, which is another family favorite! And just like my minestrone, leftovers freeze very well. Win! Win!
While you have the instant pot, be sure to try my delicious instant chicken pie pot as well, it’s a delight!
For complete ingredient quantities and complete instructions, scroll to the bottom of the printable recipe card page.
Olive oil
- – Use light or regular olive oil. While you can use sunflower oil or other oil you can use, for the best taste, buy a bottle of olive oil, you won’t regret it!
- Bacon – I always have bacon in the freezer. I buy a larger amount and then divide it into portions that I know I will use, wrap them in plastic, and freeze them in plastic or zip-lock bags.
- Onion – This is the first of the “Holy Trinity” of Italian cuisine. Chop is as fine as you get.
- Carrot – The second ingredient of the Italian “Holy Trinity”. Cut the carrot into small pieces, at least smaller than cannellini beans.
- Celery – Finally the last ingredient of the “Holy Trinity”. Gently frying a mixture of finely chopped onion, carrot and celery is commonly known as soffritto and many Italian recipes start with this. For best results, do not skip this step.
- Garlic – You will find that the garlic simply melts in the soup and you will not notice any pieces.
- Potato – The starch in the potato gives the bean soup a little full-bodied.
- Chicken broth: Store-bought broth is perfectly fine for this recipe. Buy the low-salt version if you are concerned about your salt intake.
- Diced tomatoes – You’ll only need half a regular can of diced tomato. I can buy small cans, but if you have diced tomatoes left over, just put them in a small container or zip-lock bag and freeze for next time. Don’t forget to tag!
- Cannellini Beans – A couple of cans of beans are needed for this recipe. The use of canned beans makes this recipe much faster to prepare! Dried lentils: Dried lentils do not need to be soaked and decompose during cooking to thicken and flavor the soup. Be sure to wash before use, sometimes there is a little dust or sand.
- (optional) – I mentioned this before, but buy parmesan in pieces of your deli, cut the peels and freeze them for soups and risotto for a delicious umami punch. If you don’t have it, don’t stress, leave it out. Also, if you ask at your local deli, they might give you some free crusts!
- Bay Leaves – Because I have a bay leaf, I use fresh but dry substitute with no change in taste.
- – Once again I have rosemary growing in my garden, so this is not a problem for me. However, if you prefer, use 1/2 teaspoon of dried rosemary.
- Salt – Just a little salt. If you are concerned about your salt intake, you can skip it.
- Pepper – Freshly ground black pepper has the best flavor
- – Not only does green lift the color of the soup, but spinach is full of nutrients and cooks very quickly.
Parmesan bark
Fresh rosemary
. Fresh spinach
- If you prefer to use dried cannellini beans, cook under pressure for 35 minutes and then do a natural release for 25 minutes. Soak the beans overnight to prevent them from splitting and exploding, but the non-soggy beans will also cook at this time.
- Use 2 tablespoons of tomato paste instead of canned diced tomatoes.
- Electric pressure cooker – I use an instant cooker, but if you’re familiar with another brand of pressure cooker, this recipe will work.
If you do not have an electric pressure cooker, see below the stove method.
This recipe starts by sautéing the first few ingredients, so if your electric pressure cooker doesn’t have that function, you can do this step in a pan on the stove.
- Heat the Instant Pot using the “sautéed” feature and then add the olive oil, bacon, onion, carrots and celery. After 5 minutes add the garlic.
- Press “cancel” and then add the remaining ingredients, except spinach. Stir up, scraping the bottom well. Place the lid on and turn the vent to “seal”. Press “pressure cooking” and set for 6 minutes.
- When the time is up, leave the instant pot in “keep warm” mode for 10 minutes, then press “cancel” and make a manual release and then add the spinach.
- The heat should be enough to wither spinach. If not, press “stir stir-fry” and simmer for a minute or two.
If you use the “skipped” function, press “cancel”. Then serve the Instant Pot bean soup with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
For this Instant Pot bean soup do not use the “bean” setting. Just follow my instructions for a perfect soup.
If you want a thick creamy soup, mix 1 or 2 cups of soup and then return to the pot. Or use a dip blender to puree some of the soup.
Instant beansoup is
a fairly filling soup and is perfectly nutritious and satisfying on its own. However, one thing I always add is a good zest of Parmesan cheese.
But a piece of bread or focaccia like my Focaccia Genovese or Ligurian Focaccia will match perfectly, plus my family loves to clean the soup with it!
Did you make this recipe? Let me know if you liked it by leaving a star rating and review ★★★★★ below. Please share a photo of your creation tagging me on Instagram @marcellina.in.cucina!
