This Instant Pot Black Bean Soup recipe is a simple pour and cook recipe that's great for beginners. It's also a great base recipe for bean soups in your pressure cooker.
What Makes This Soup So Great?
- Easy. A simple Instant Pot recipe.
- Delicious. Packed with flavor.
- Vegetarian. Omit the bacon for a Vegetarian or Vegan version.
- Pour and Cook. Just pour the ingredients in and cook. Adjust the texture of this soup with an immersion blender after it's cooked.
Sometimes the simplest of recipes can produce unexpectedly robust taste. This easy Instant Pot Black Bean Soup is one of those recipes. It tastes so good, it's hard to believe how little time goes into making such a hearty dish!
Are Black Beans Healthy?
Yes, black beans are a healthy option. Here's why:
- Fiber. 7.5 grams of fiber per serving.
- Protein. 7.6 grams of protein in each half-cup portion.
- Vitamins. High in calcium and iron.
- Filling. You're less likely to overeat with this filling ingredient.
How Do You Make Black Bean Soup From Scratch?
You won't believe how easy this black bean soup recipe is. I couldn't be happier with how helpful my Instant Pot can be on busy days. Here's how you do it:
- Combine all ingredients in Instant Pot or pressure cooker.
- Cook for 45 minutes on High Pressure.
- 10 mins Natural Pressure Release.
- Use an Immersion blender on a portion of the soup.
- Garnish with green onions and enjoy!
Black Bean Soup Variations
I can promise you this recipe is fantastic as written. That being said, it's also a great base recipe. Use one of my suggestions below to take this recipe up a notch or two.
- If you have more time, brown the bacon and diced onion separately while the soup cooks and add at the end for a burst of flavor!
- Leave the bacon out entirely for a Vegan version.
- You can use red beans for this soup if you prefer.
- You can also pour all the ingredients into your slow cooker and make a great slow cooker black bean soup in this fashion.
- I use this immersion blender for a smooth and creamy Pressure Cooker Black Bean Soup.
- Serve over rice for a Black Bean and Rice soup.
Tips and Tricks for Cooking Black Beans In Your Pressure Cooker
Cooking black beans in your Instant Pot isn't hard or intimidating. Use some of my tips and tricks below to make the next time you cook beans in your pressure cooker a breeze.
Soaking. Soak these beans in hot water for an hour before cooking to get them done quickly.
Pressure Cooking. Using the Instant Pot cuts down on HOURS of cooking time versus traditional stovetop cooking methods.
Liquid. Having the right ratio of liquid helps these cook correctly in a fraction of the time without being under-cooked or over-cooked.
Absolutely! I love cooking beans and even rice in my Instant Pot. Cooking beans or lentils at high pressure infuses flavor like no other cooking style can, and cooks at a fraction of the time.
Check out this post on how to make lentils and beans in a pressure cooker.
It depends on the type of bean, and how much you're cooking at once. Every bean cooks differently and needs different ratios and cook times for the Instant Pot.
Looking For More Soup Recipes?
- Tuscan Ribollita Bean Soup! It's a hearty vegetable soup that's perfect for a cold day!
- Butternut Squash Soup with Ginger- A quick and easy side dish OR a main course.
- Indian Tomato Soup- A traditional tomato soup recipe with a delicious Indian twist!
- Instant Pot Taco Soup- Flavorful, creamy, and low carb.
- 34+ Low Carb Soups- a variety of Instant Pot and Stovetop recipes.
If you want the perfect soup, give this Instant Pot Black Bean Soup a try. If you love it as much as I do, make sure you share it with your friends on Facebook and Pin it to make it again soon.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (172 g) dried black beans
- 4 cups (0.94 l) beef broth
- 4 strips (4 strips) bacon, chopped, omit for vegan version
- 1 (1) Onion, diced
- 1 (1) Bell Peppers, chopped
- 1 (1) Jalapeño Peppers, diced
- 4 cloves (4 cloves) Garlic, minced
- 1/2 bunch (0.5 bunch) Cilantro, minced
- 2 teaspoons (2 teaspoons) Kosher Salt
- 2 teaspoons (2 teaspoons) Dried Oregano
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon ) Dried Thyme
- 2 teaspoons (2 teaspoons ) Ground Cumin
- 2 (2) Bay Leaves
- 1/2 cup (50 g) Chopped Green Scallions
Instructions
For Pressure cooker
- Place all ingredients except green onions into the inner liner of your Instant Pot or Pressure cooker.
- Cook on high pressure for 45 mins (can also use Bean cycle). Allow it to release pressure for 10 minutes, and then slowly release all remaining pressure. If it foams, stop and start the pressure release, or just wait a little longer for more pressure to release naturally.
- Using an immersion blender, roughly purée some of the soup to thicken it while leaving other beans intact.
- Garnish with green onions and serve.
For Slow Cooker
- Place all ingredients into a slow cooker and cook for 8-10 hours on high, or until the beans are soft. If you want to speed up cooking time, use beans that have been soaked the night before, or soak beans in hot water for 1 hour prior to cooking.
- Using an immersion blender, roughly purée some of the soup to thicken it while leaving other beans intact.
- Garnish with green onions and serve.
- If you have more time, brown the bacon and diced onion separately while the soup cooks and add at the end for a burst of flavor!
- Leave the bacon out entirely for a Vegan version.
- You can use red beans for this soup if you prefer.
- You can also pour all the ingredients into your slow cooker and make a great slow cooker black bean soup in this fashion.
- I use this immersion blender.
Get support & connect with our community on Facebook!
Nutrition
Originally Published September 22, 2017
Don't forget to check out my other Best-selling Instant Pot Cookbooks!
Indian Instant Pot, Keto Instant Pot, Instant Pot Fast and Easy, Healthy Instant Pot & Vegetarian Instant Pot.
Lynn
Amazing soup!!!
evs
This was a perfect light and satisfying soup! Appreciate this version, which is more liquid than the typical black bean soup - with all the flavour, less of the bulk. I happened to make it without bacon, bell pepper, cilantro, dried thyme or green scallions (for various reasons), sub'd the jalapeno for some unknown dried chili and only used 1 tsp of sea salt - and still came out delicious! Will definitely make again 🙂
Bob
If using canned black beans, cook for 10 minutes on high pressure, do natural release for 7 minutes and then quick release.
Chicken or vegetable broth/stock works, too. If using canned or boxed broth/stock, check for its sodium level and as necessary adjust the amount of salt called for in the recipe.
Liz Kline
I would like to make this soup today. However, I’m using a pound of presoaked black beans. Do I use less liquid (I’ll be using chicken broth) since the beans have already absorbed a lot of water overnight? I’m having a dinner party with a couple who can’t have dairy, so black bean soup sounds like the perfect solution as an appetizer// salad, looking forward to your advice‼️😁
Marya Kowal
This was not only a great soup, but the advice was helpful for cooking other beans, too.
Carol
You are definitely my "go-to" recipe source. Love your stuff and love that I can trust the steps. I used this one as a basic template and then attempted to go off in a different direction, and it turned out well. I used adzuki beans that I had soaked overnight, skipped the bacon, green peppers and green onions and tried dried coriander instead of cilantro, because every time I buy cilantro it ends up as a soggy mess in the fridge - I can never get my timing for purchase and use synchronized. Also used jarred pickled jalapenos and minced garlic (I know, I know... but easy and no extra trip to store sometimes wins out). I wasn't sure about cook time with pre-soak so tried 30 min and it worked fine. I wanted a thicker soup, so used your trick from Texas Chili and crumbled up 6 corn tortillas after cooking and THEN blended. Perfect texture! But I did make a huge mistake - I used a box of chicken stock and didn't factor in that it was pre-salted. First taste was way too salty. I was able to recover with 2 packets of True Lemon and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar but in the future, I'll skip the salt. Also, would like to experiment with making it spicy/hot. I think this would be nice with some more mouth heat. One thing you could help with is a reminder to remove bay leaves before blending.
Ann
Yes, i completely forgot about the bay leaves and blended them up!
Carla B
Too thin. Needs more beans and less water / stock.
URVASHI PITRE
It’s a soup not those thick black beans, as I say in the post.