Instant Pot Ham and Bean Soup

This Instant Pot Ham and Bean Soup is one of my favorite pressure cooker recipes! Pressuring cooking the soup makes it taste like it simmered away all day, but it only needs 15 minutes of hands on time and is ready in less than 2 hours.

Whether you need a reason to try out that Instant Pot you’ve been scared to take out of the box or you’re an old pro who just wants to test out a new recipe, this Instant Pot Ham and Beans Soup is going to be a hit.

This Instant Pot soup is loaded with beans, diced ham, and veggies, making it perfect for cold days when you just need something warm and comforting.

(No Instant Pot? No problem! Check the notes section of the recipe card for instructions on how to make this in the slow cooker!)

This ham and bean soup is hearty and delicious and I think it’s a great way to test out the magic of the Instant Pot. Cooking beans at high pressure makes for tender, flavorful beans in less than two hours, which makes beans one of our favorite Instant Pot recipes to make!

Instant Pot 15 Bean Soup:

We’re starting with a bag of 15 bean soup mix that comes with a handy little seasoning packet to add a great flavor to your soup – of course, it’s easy to make your own seasoning mix too.

You’ll likely find 15 Bean Soup in most grocery stores under the brand name Hurst Beans, but other brands do make versions of this mix. Goya has a 16 Bean Soup that would work as well, though I don’t believe it comes with a seasoning packet.

Feel free to use a different mix of beans when making this soup. We like the 15 bean soup because it has such a wide variety!

If you can’t find the 15 bean mix (or something similar), any sort of dried mixed beans should work fine or you can just stick with a bag of dried pinto beans.

Why Use the Instant Pot?

The Instant Pot makes cooking dried beans quick and easy. The beans turn out so tender, with an delicious texture that you won’t find anywhere else. These will be better than canned beans, promise!

We don’t even bother to soak dried beans before pressure cooking them!

I’ve also shared our recipe for pressure cooker pinto beans that you should try sometime soon! Beans are such a filling food and they’re great for holidays, get togethers, and cool autumn days.

Ingredient Notes:

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Bean Soup Mix: We use Hurst’s 15 Bean Soup Mix in this recipe. It has a variety of beans, including navy beans , white beans, black beans, and baby lima beans for a hearty soup that makes a delicious meal any night of the week. This is easy to find in just about any grocery store in the US.

Chicken Stock: We use chicken stock rather than water to add extra flavor to our soup.

Veggies: We’re using carrots, celery, and onion to add flavor and nutrition to our soup.

Ham: You can use leftover ham or just dice up a ham steak. The bag of pre-diced ham from the store will work great here as well.

Seasoning: We use the packet of seasoning that come with the soup, but you can make your own seasoning blend with a bay leaf and other dried seasonings. We’ll include a seasoning blend below if you’d like to make your own.

How to Make Ham and Bean Soup:

Prepare the Beans: Add the beans to a colander and rinse them well. Pick through the beans to remove any debris or damaged beans while doing this.

Saute: Set your pressure cooker to “Saute” and begin adding the carrots, celery, and onion. Let those cook for a few minutes to start to soften up.

Pressure Cook: Add the beans to the pot. Set the pressure cooker to “high pressure” and a 40 minute cook time. Place the lid on and set the vent to sealing. After it has reached pressure and cooked, do a natural release for about 20 minutes.

Ham: Remove the lid and stir in the seasoning packet, ham, black pepper and red pepper. Stir well and place the lid back on the pot and let the mixture set for about 5 minutes. This will warm up the ham and you’ll be ready to dig in!

Ham and Bean Soup FAQ:

Seasoning for 15 Bean Soup:

We typically use Hurst’s Beans 15 Bean Soup for this recipe which comes with a packet of “ham seasoning” in the bag.

If you’re using another brand of beans, or just prefer to make your own seasonings, we’d recommend adding the following:

• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons salt, more to taste
• 1 teaspoon garlic poder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

Leftover Ham Recipes:

This is a great recipe for leftover ham from Christmas or Thanksgiving dinners, or any time you make ham. We love this crockpot spiral ham and we always have plenty leftover for use in other recipes, like ham and beans!

I also have a few other recipes for you to try that could use leftover ham. My crock pot breakfast casserole is always a win and so is my slow cooker Cajun ham and beans.

This recipe was originally part of a partnership with Hurst’s Beans and was published in 2017. The partnership has concluded but the recipe is still delicious and made often in our house. We updated the blog post in 2024 to include other options beyond Hurst’s Beans for making this soup, in case it’s not available where you live. Original photo below: