Made from dried great northern beans, this recipe is surprisingly easy to throw together, packed with flavor… and affordable!
One of my favorite things to do is revisit old recipes I’ve created and transform them for my plant-based eating family and friends. This vegan Instant Pot white bean soup has got to be one of my favorites so far. And while it’s not a must, if you have time to make your own vegetable broth, that will work wonders for ALL of your soup recipes. Plus, there’s just something so satisfying about creating your food from scratch. Not that we always have time to do that, I’m just sayin…
The Process
Add 1-2 tablespoons of sea salt to glass dish.
Fill dish with at least 6 cups of lukewarm water. Stir to dissolve the salt.
Add beans to water and let sit for at least 8 hours, preferably overnight. Remove imperfect beans and any possible pebbles. Rinse well.
Just to be clear… When I say de-rib the kale…
…I simply mean removing the stem. They tend to be quite bitter.
Using sauté setting – Add oil to pot…
Cook for about 5 minutes (until onions are translucent and carrots begin to soften).
Add vinegar, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf.
Cook for about 2 minutes, until vinegar has evaporated.
Add broth…
…tomatoes…
…beans…
…and black pepper to pot. Mix well.
Finally, add kale to pot…
…and press down as much as possible, so that most of the kale is submerged. Resist the urge to stir here since it is much more important that the beans are in broth. Lock lid and cook for 15 minutes at high pressure. Once cook time is complete, quick-release pressure. Add salt to pot and mix very well. While stirring, remove bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Let soup sit for at least 10 minutes before serving. This will allow the beans to absorb the salt.
And this is the AMAZING result…
★ Did you make this Instant Pot White Bean Soup? Please give it a star rating below! ★
Vegan Instant Pot White Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb. great northern beans soaked overnight
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 cup yellow onion diced
- 1/2 cup carrots peeled, diced
- 1/2 cup celery diced
- 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. garlic minced
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 sprigs of thyme
- 6 cups vegetable broth homemade preferably
- 15 oz. fire-roasted canned tomatoes petite diced
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 8 oz. kale de-ribbed, torn into bite-size pieces
- 2 tsp. sea salt
Instructions
- Using sauté setting... Add oil, onions, carrots, and celery to pot. Cook for about 5 minutes (until onions are translucent and carrots begin to soften).
- Add vinegar, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf - cook for 2 minutes, until vinegar has evaporated.
- Add broth, tomatoes, beans, and black pepper to pot. Mix well.
- Finally, add kale to pot and press down as much as possible, so that most of the kale is submerged. Resist the urge to stir here since it is much more important that the beans are in broth.
- Lock lid and cook for 15 minutes at high pressure. Once cook time is complete, quick-release pressure and remove lid.
- Add salt to pot and mix very well. While stirring, remove bay leaf and thyme sprigs.
- Let soup sit for at least 10 minutes before serving. This will allow the beans to absorb the salt.
Notes
Nutrition
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This was delicious! Thanks for delicious, healthy, inexpensive recipe!
Excited to make this !! Looks great. I do have a couple of questions 🙂
Do you think I should reduce the pressure cook time if I used canned beans instead of dried? And 15 min at low or high pressure??
You’ll definitely need to reduce the cook time if using canned beans, since they are already fully cooked. My only concern is that, if you reduce it too much, the vegetables may be a little crunchy – particularly the celery. So what I would try is this… Sauté the celery first for a few minutes before adding the rest of the veggies. Then later – set the time for 5 minutes on high pressure. Not sure it’ll work, but that’s what I’d try. Let me know how it goes!
Love how easy this was to throw together!
Amazing! I had to use white balsamic vinaigrette and stewed Italian tomatoes but this was a hit among the entire family and extended family. My 8 year old said “Momma I need to try this now, it just smells SO, SO GOOD!” and she was right. This page is saved in my favorites as a go to simple soup that is a crowd pleaser. Tomorrow we try your summer squash lemon risotto. Thank you for sharing your recipes!!!
Awesome, thanks Tonia! Yeah, my 3-year-old can be brutally honest with the comments, so I appreciate winning the kids’ approval.
I made this with canned beans and followed your suggestions in the comments. The flavors are excellent but the beans are a little overcooked (as you implied) so I probably won’t do that again. But the flavors with the vinegar and ay leaf are wonderful! Thank you for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for updating us on how it went.
How long can I leave this on low?
I’m not sure I understand your question.
How long after the soup is cooked can I leave it in the instapot on the low setting?
I’m concerned it will get mushy.
I also really don’t want to have to watch it and turn it to quick release…Can I leave it on natural release and let it switch over to the “low”/“keep warm” setting?
I’m not sure how long you can leave it, but I’d guess at lease a few hours. And you can absolutely do a natural release for this soup. Please let us know how it comes out!
I never give reviews! But this recipe was so simple and so delicious that I had to say something! I did have kale have spinach added a little more garlic powder but other than that followed the recipe exactly. I was totally shocked! Good job!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent and easy to adjust to what additional veggies I have on hand.
G: have you made this not soaking the beans? I make drunken beans and dont soak the beans and cook for about 50 mins. I would just add the kale at the end just to wilt. Just wondering. I want to eliminate a step.
I have not made it without soaking before. The problem could be WAY overcooking all the other ingredients. They will probably turn to mush.
That was delicious, easy, and healthy, thanks! I did not soak my beans and doubled the pressure cook time. Turned our great.
Very good!! I used more vegetables. Next time I make this (and I will) I will add an habenero pepper for a little heat.
Excellent recipe!! My whole family loved it, even the picky eaters. I used dry thyme because I didn’t have fresh, it was still great!!
Always good when even the picky eaters love it. Thanks for the feedback! 🙂
Amazing and so easy to make! This was my first Instant Pot recipe ever, and I keep cooking this tasty soup again and again. Thank you chef!
This soup is delicious and makes enough for us to have delicious soup ready for lunch the next day! I was running late and didn’t want to soak the beans, but using the Instant Pot, I covered the dry beans with water, brought them up to pressure for 5 minutes then let them release pressure naturally. Perfectly soaked beans ready in about 30 minutes! I could prep the other ingredients while waiting. I did substitute rosemary for the thyme, since rosemary keeps growing throughout the winter in my garden. So glad I found this recipe!
Cane out good. We liked it, used canned beans and was do easy! Will make it again. I added a bunch of crushed Aleppo peppers ( we like spice) it was great with a big chunk of sourdough bread
This soup is hearty and delicious. One of my favorite Instant Pot recipes! I did add a bit more celery and found the soup to be seasoned perfectly without adding more salt at the end.
I bought all of the ingredients then realized this is for a pressure cooker. Can it be made using just the heat of the stove?
You could make this on the stove top, but I have not tested it so I’m not able to say how long the cook time would be. If you do cook it on the stove, I would hold off on adding the tomatoes and kale until the last 30 minutes of cook time. You will also need to increase the amount of broth. Again, I have not tested it on the stove top, so I’m not able to say the exact amount, but I’d recommend using at least 12 cups of liquid.
How much dried thyme will I need if I don’t have fresh?
About 3/4 tsp dried.
Delicious soup! May have cooked just a couple extra minutes after soaking beans about 16 hours… but otherwise loved it.