Hearty Instant Pot Ham and Bean Soup

Discover the ultimate comfort food with our easy Instant Pot Ham and Beans recipe, perfectly adaptable for your Ninja Foodi. This wholesome, hearty meal is an excellent way to transform leftover ham into something spectacular, brimming with fresh celery, onions, and carrots. Best of all, there’s absolutely no need for pre-soaking your Great Northern beans, making it a quick and convenient weeknight dinner or a delightful weekend feast. Prepare to enjoy a savory, flavorful dish that satisfies the soul and nourishes the body.

There’s nothing quite like the rich aroma of ham and beans simmering, especially when it’s crafted effortlessly in your Instant Pot. After enjoying a delicious smoked ham, I found myself with a generous amount of leftovers – the perfect opportunity to create a batch of pressure cooker ham and beans. Using simple, dry Northern beans and a handful of pantry staples, the result was a wonderfully satisfying and flavorful meal that quickly became a family favorite. This recipe exemplifies why the Instant Pot is a game-changer for so many Instant Pot recipes.

Whether you own an Instant Pot, a Ninja Foodi, a Crockpot Express, or a Mealthy pressure cooker, this recipe is incredibly versatile. All these appliances operate on similar pressure cooking principles. For the Ninja Foodi, you’ll simply use the dedicated pressure cooking lid rather than the air crisping lid. This flexibility ensures that no matter which popular kitchen gadget you have, a comforting bowl of ham and beans is always within reach.

This dish truly shines when you have a good amount of leftover ham from a holiday gathering or a special meal. Wasting food is something I always try to avoid, and this recipe offers a fantastic solution, transforming what might otherwise be discarded into a wholesome, budget-friendly meal. By starting with dried beans, you gain full control over the ingredients, ensuring a healthy outcome that even my picky eaters adore. It’s a fantastic way to stretch your ingredients and savor the flavors of a holiday meal long after the celebration.

Crafting Your Perfect Bowl: Essential Ingredient Notes

The beauty of Instant Pot Ham and Beans lies in its simplicity and the quality of its core ingredients. Choosing the right components can elevate this dish from good to absolutely outstanding. Here’s a closer look at what goes into our recipe and why:

Selecting the Right Beans

For this recipe, we highly recommend Great Northern beans due to their creamy texture and mild flavor that perfectly complements the savory ham. While you can certainly experiment with other dry bean varieties like navy beans or cannellini beans, Great Northern beans consistently yield the best results for a classic ham and bean soup. If you’re a fan of Pressure Cooker Pinto Beans soup, for example, you could easily substitute pinto beans here. Most legumes cook within similar timeframes in a pressure cooker, so the recipe below remains largely applicable with minor adjustments for your preferred bean.

The Star of the Dish: Ham

This recipe is a celebration of leftover ham. Whether it’s from a holiday Ninja Foodi ham or a succulent Instant Pot ham, the residual richness and flavor are exactly what you need. The diced ham contributes incredible depth to the broth. For an even more intense smoky flavor, consider adding a smoked ham hock or a ham bone during the cooking process. These elements slowly release their essence, creating a profoundly savory and complex base for your soup. Just remember to remove any bones before serving.

Hearty Vegetables for Flavor and Texture

The vegetables in this soup are not just for nutrition; they contribute significantly to the overall flavor profile and add a delightful texture. We opt for hardier vegetables that can withstand longer cooking times in the pressure cooker without turning to mush. Carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds or half-moons, add a touch of sweetness and vibrant color. If you’re short on time, a handful of bagged baby carrots works just as well. Celery provides a refreshing crunch and a subtle earthy note, enhancing the broth’s depth. And, of course, no savory soup is complete without the foundational aromatic duo of white or yellow onions, diced to release their sweet and pungent flavors into the mix.

The Flavorful Foundation: Liquid

For the cooking liquid, chicken broth or stock is highly recommended over plain water. Broth introduces an additional layer of savory flavor that water simply cannot replicate. If you’re mindful of sodium intake, opt for low-sodium chicken broth, or dilute regular broth with an equal part of water. This allows you to control the saltiness while still benefiting from the added flavor. The liquid is crucial for both cooking the beans and creating the rich broth of your final soup.

Subtle Seasonings and Optional Enhancements

While the ham and vegetables provide a robust flavor base, a touch of seasoning can tie everything together beautifully. I prefer a subtle approach, allowing the natural flavors of the ham and beans to shine through. A pinch of salt and a dash of black pepper are usually sufficient. However, feel free to experiment with a hint of garlic powder, onion powder, or a touch of dried thyme if you desire. Bay leaves are an optional, yet highly recommended, addition. They impart a gentle, herbaceous aroma and flavor to the soup. Just be sure to remove them before serving, as they are not meant to be eaten. This recipe is just one of many delightful Instant Pot bean recipes we love sharing, each designed for maximum flavor with minimal fuss.

If you’ve never ventured into making a pressure cooker bean soup from scratch, you’ll be surprised at how straightforward it is. The Instant Pot simplifies the process dramatically, allowing you to cook a variety of dry beans quickly and efficiently. For instance, you can easily prepare Instant Pot black beans from dry, which are perfect for homemade burritos or flavorful taco bowls. The principles remain consistent: the pressure cooker does the hard work, transforming tough dry legumes into tender, delicious additions to any meal.

Mastering Cook Times: How Long to Cook Ham and Beans in the Instant Pot

One of the most common questions when pressure cooking beans is about timing. Achieving that perfect, tender bite without them becoming mushy is key. For dry Great Northern beans, a good starting point is around 30 minutes under high pressure to ensure they are thoroughly cooked. If you prefer your beans exceptionally soft and creamy, you can extend the cooking time to 40 minutes. For a truly melt-in-your-mouth texture, add an additional few minutes, but always be mindful not to exceed the maximum fill line of your pressure cooker.

Understanding Instant Pot cooking times for beans is incredibly helpful, as different varieties of dry beans may require slight adjustments. The good news is that with a pressure cooker – be it an Instant Pot, Crock Pot Express, or Ninja Foodi – the overall cooking time is significantly reduced compared to traditional stovetop methods. All these appliances utilize high-pressure settings, followed by a natural release of pressure until the steam completely dissipates. This natural release is crucial as it allows the beans to continue cooking gently and prevents their skins from bursting. For this specific recipe, I’ve based the timing on that for white kidney beans, which behave similarly to Great Northern beans under pressure. Watching the accompanying video will provide a visual guide and further clarify these steps before you begin.

The Perfect Balance: What is the Ratio of Beans to Water in a Pressure Cooker?

Achieving perfectly cooked beans requires the right liquid-to-bean ratio. After thoroughly rinsing your dry beans, the general rule of thumb is to add approximately three times the amount of broth or water by volume to the beans. For instance, if you’re using one cup of dry beans, you’d add three cups of liquid. Beans absorb a significant amount of liquid as they cook, so erring on the side of more liquid is always better than too little. However, it’s paramount to never exceed the maximum fill line marked inside your pressure cooker pot, regardless of what you are cooking. For a standard 16-ounce bag of Great Northern beans, approximately 6 cups of liquid typically provides the ideal environment for even cooking and tender results without going over the fill line.

Enhancing Texture: How Can I Thicken Ham and Beans?

The beauty of ham and beans is its versatility, allowing you to enjoy it as a lighter soup or a thicker, heartier stew. If you prefer a more substantial consistency, there are two primary methods to thicken your ham and beans:

1. Cornstarch Slurry: For a quick and effective thickening agent, whisk together one tablespoon of cornstarch with two tablespoons of cold water or broth until a smooth slurry forms. Once your ham and beans are cooked, stir this slurry into the hot soup. Bring the soup to a gentle simmer on the sauté function of your Instant Pot (or on the stovetop) for a few minutes, stirring continuously, until it thickens to your desired consistency. This method provides a clear, glossy finish.

2. Heavy Cream for Creaminess: If you desire a richer, creamier texture, stir in a quarter to half a cup of heavy cream (or half-and-half) at the end of the cooking process. Allow it to heat through gently without boiling vigorously. This adds a luxurious mouthfeel and a velvety finish to your soup. Adjust the amount to achieve your preferred level of creaminess.

Brief step-by-step directions for the recipe are provided below, along with a comprehensive printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for your convenience. And for those who prefer a slower pace, we also offer instructions for a delicious slow cooker ham and beans recipe.

Explore More: Other Bean Recipes You’ll Love

Once you’ve mastered the art of cooking with dry beans in your Instant Pot, a world of delicious and healthy possibilities opens up. Many of our Instant Pot soup recipes can be ready in 15 minutes or less, though some, like this ham and beans recipe made from scratch, may take a bit longer due to the initial bean cooking phase. However, the depth of flavor achieved is well worth the time.

When preparing dishes like this or our comforting Black eyed peas and ham in your electric pressure cooker, remember the process typically involves two key steps. First, you cook the legumes to tender perfection. Then, after a controlled steam release and draining (if necessary), you re-add them to the pot with the remaining ingredients to simmer into a flavorful soup or stew. This two-stage approach ensures both perfectly cooked beans and a rich, integrated flavor in the final dish.

• Pressure cooker chili with dry beans utilizes a hearty 13-bean mix and pairs wonderfully with baked potatoes for a complete meal.
• Our Instant Pot split pea soup comes together in just 17 minutes and is incredibly flavorful, especially when made with a ham bone for added richness.
  • For another incredibly easy and delicious side, try our Crockpot baked beans recipe – they’re much simpler to make from scratch than you might imagine.
• Pinto bean soup offers a similar comforting experience to this recipe, with a few delightful variations that make it unique.

Frequently Asked Questions About Ham and Beans