Made from dried great northern beans, this vegan Instant Pot White Bean Soup is surprisingly easy to throw together, packed with flavor... and very affordable!
One of my favorite things is revisiting old recipes I've created and transforming 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.
Ingredients That Won't Break the Bank
How to make Vegan Instant Pot White Bean Soup
And this is the AMAZING result…
Notes
- If you prefer to use canned beans (drained and rinsed), cook the soup for 4 minutes at high pressure. Then quick-release the pressure.
- One variation I love with this soup is using frozen spinach instead of kale. But you don't need to cook the spinach, so I recommend adding it after you release the pressure. It will be perfectly cooked after sitting in the residual heat for a few minutes; just be sure to break up any clumps.
- If you don't have kitchen twine to bundle the thyme, I like to add it to the liquid after all the other ingredients are mixed and ready to cook. This makes it easy to find and remove the sprigs.
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Vegan Instant Pot White Bean Soup
Made from dried great northern beans, this recipe is surprisingly easy to throw together, packed with flavor... and affordable!
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Servings: 8
Calories: 153kcal
Ingredients
- 1 lb. great northern beans soaked overnight
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 cup yellow onion diced
- ½ cup carrots peeled, diced
- ½ cup celery diced
- 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. garlic minced
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 sprigs of thyme
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 15 oz. fire-roasted canned tomatoes petite diced
- 2 tsp. kosher salt
- ½ tsp. black pepper
- 8 oz. kale de-ribbed, torn into bite-size pieces
Instructions
- Using sauté setting... Add oil, onions, carrots, and celery to the 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 the vinegar has evaporated.
- Add broth, tomatoes, beans, salt, and black pepper to the pot. Mix well.
- Finally, add kale to the 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 the lid.
- Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Mix well.
Video
Notes
- If you prefer to use canned beans (drained and rinsed), cook the soup for 4 minutes at high pressure. Then quick-release the pressure.
- One variation I love with this soup is using frozen spinach instead of kale. But you don't need to cook the spinach, so I recommend adding it after you release the pressure. It will be perfectly cooked after sitting in the residual heat for a few minutes; just be sure to break up any clumps.
- If you don't have kitchen twine to bundle the thyme, I like to add it to the liquid after all the other ingredients are mixed and ready to cook. This makes it easy to find and remove the sprigs.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cup | Calories: 153kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 4g | Sodium: 930mg | Potassium: 446mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 4785IU | Vitamin C: 39mg | Calcium: 115mg | Iron: 2.1mg
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Stacey L Williams
This was delicious! Thanks for delicious, healthy, inexpensive recipe!
Kelly
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??
Chef Gary
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!
Katie
Love how easy this was to throw together!
Tonia
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!!!
Chef Gary
Awesome, thanks Tonia! Yeah, my 3-year-old can be brutally honest with the comments, so I appreciate winning the kids' approval.
Kate
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!
Gary White
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for updating us on how it went.
Nicole
How long can I leave this on low?
Gary
I'm not sure I understand your question.
Nicole Darling
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?
Gary
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!
Carol
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!
Gary
So glad you enjoyed it!
Newby
Excellent and easy to adjust to what additional veggies I have on hand.
Alana Sult
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.
Gary White
I have not made it without soaking before. The problem could be WAY overcooking all the other ingredients. They will probably turn to mush.
ME
That was delicious, easy, and healthy, thanks! I did not soak my beans and doubled the pressure cook time. Turned our great.
Charles Howlett
Very good!! I used more vegetables. Next time I make this (and I will) I will add an habenero pepper for a little heat.
Heather
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!!
Gary White
Always good when even the picky eaters love it. Thanks for the feedback! 🙂
Ira
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!
Culpritsmom
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!
Kaycee
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
Jessica
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.
Chris
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?
Gary White
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.
Judit
How much dried thyme will I need if I don’t have fresh?
Gary White
About 3/4 tsp dried.
Liz
Delicious soup! May have cooked just a couple extra minutes after soaking beans about 16 hours... but otherwise loved it.
Diane
Fabulous Recipe my husband loved it
Felecia McGusty
This recipe is saved in my "family favorites" folder. My entire family loves it (including the 3 and 6 year old). The thing I do different is add a cup of green bell peppers to the saute with the onions, celery and carrots! The flavor is incredible!! Thank you for sharing!
Katy
Substituted the carrots for butternut squash and served it over cous cous. This recipe is amazingly easy to make and absolutely delicious! Love my Instapot!!!
Melissa Pikulin
I had San Mazano chopped tomatoes on hand so I used them instead, and baby kale. The flavor profile is excellent! Complex and so tasty! A hit and we will definitely make again. Would be great with some crusty fresh bread.
Maidellyn Easey
Absolutely delicious recipe! Had to substitute regular diced tomatoes for the fire-roasted tomatoes. Because of that, I added a little bit of smoked paprika for a little bit of the roasted flavor. Added an entire bell pepper too. I did not have red wine vinegar, but had pomegranate balsamic vinegar that was gifted to me. Also, I used. 2 lbs of dry navy beans and doubled up all of the other ingredients.
It's cold right now and this meal hit the spot. It was warm and filling. Thank you for sharing this keeper.
Kelly
This is amazing!
Deb
I made this soup and loved it! I’m on the Noom diet, and this soup is low in calories, high in nutrition and very satisfying. I did make a couple of adjustments to the recipe, neither of which are necessary to have a great soup. I used half beef broth and half vegetable broth for a little extra flavor. And I happened to have some fennel olive oil (which I could never figure out what to do with) so I used it for the olive oil, and wow that added an amazing extra dimension. Give it a try!
Tami Rossignol
I soaked my beans for 6 hours first. Then I made this soup with all required ingredients but substituted a few things because I didn’t have the others on hand. 1. I added one can diced Italian basil oregano and garlic tomatoes for the fire roasted tomatoes. 2. Instead of regular olive oil I used Tuscan olive oil and 3/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning instead of fresh thyme. I’d like to try it the way it was written next time though!
Deb
This has become a standard recipe in my home-cooking repertoire. It's so warming, delicious and easy. And healthy! Great if you're trying to watch your weight. Try pairing it with cornbread, or topping it with some Parmesan cheese. Highly recommended for family meals.