Easy Ham and Bean Soup that’s so full of flavor, you can’t stop at just one bowl. This soup is made in an Instant Pot with leftover ham, navy beans, and a simple combination of veggies and spices. The best part about this soup is how ham infuses the whole soup with its delicious flavors.
HAM AND BEAN SOUP
It’s amazing that such a simple soup can have such amazing flavors. Most of the flavors here comes from the best part, the ham. Using leftover ham in this bean soup actually infuses the soup with the flavors of the ham.
So if you glazed a ham for a holiday dinner, make this ham and bean soup with the leftovers. Whatever flavors you baked on the ham will transfer into the soup beautifully.
The main reason for the ham infusing so much flavor into the soup, is because it was cooked in an Instant Pot. Pressure cooking is a great method for infusing a lot of flavor into the dishes.
Besides infusing a lot of flavor into the soup, making it in the Instant Pot will speed up the process. The whole soup will take you less than an hour to make. I’m still amazed that you can get tender, soft beans by pressure cooking it for just about 30 minutes.
If you cooked ham on bone for the holidays, you can throw in the bone as well. Cut the meat off the bone and add the bone into the pot while sauteing the veggies. Then, simply die the meat that has been cut off the bone and add it to the soup as well. This bean soup will be amazing with or without the bone. This will just be a good way to utilize the bone instead of just tossing it away.
HOW TO MAKE HAM AND BEAN SOUP IN INSTANT POT
Start by preparing all your veggies and ham. Dice onions, celery, carrots, and ham. Peel garlic and set it all aside. Rinse the beans to get rid of any debris that might be in the bag and set aside to let it strain.
Set Instant Pot to saute and let it heat up. Add oil, onions, celery, and carrots and saute until veggies soften and start to golden. (If using ham bone, add ham bone to the pot.)
Press garlic and add it to the pot. Saute until fragrant.
Add diced ham, stir, and saute for a few minutes. Pour in beans, chicken broth, thyme, bay leaf, crushed red peppers, and salt. Don’t forget to taste to make sure you have enough salt.
Stir, close the lid and make sure it’s latched. Turn the valve to “SEAL” and set the Instant Pot to pressure cook on high pressure cook mode for 30 minutes.
Let it do a natural release for about 10 minutes and then do a quick release. Be careful opening the lid.
HOW TO MAKE HAM AND BEAN SOUP IN A SLOW COOKER
You can easily convert this recipe to a slow cooker by sauteing vegetables and ham on stovetop first and then transferring it into a slow cooker.
Preheat a medium pot over medium heat and add oil, onions, celery, and carrots and saute until veggies soften and start to golden. Press in garlic and saute until fragrant. Add diced ham, stir, and saute for a couple of minutes.
Transfer it all into a slow cooker. (Add ham bone if using.)
Add beans, chicken broth, thyme, bay leaf, crushed red peppers, and salt. Don’t forget to taste to make sure you have enough salt. Close the lid and set it to cook on LOW for 8-10 hours (until beans are tender).
HOW TO FREEZE HAM AND BEAN SOUP
When freezing any food, it’s important to cool it to room temperature as quickly as possible before freezing. Cooling it quickly and freezing it will extend its shelf life by giving less time for bacteria to grow.
To cool the soup, place the pot with soup into a larger container filled with ice and let it cool, stirring occasionally.
Once soup is cooled to room temperature, portion it into freezer zip-lock bags. Get the air out and seal. Label and date each bag and lay them flat on a cutting board. Place it in the freezer.
It’s easier to freeze soup in freezer bags because flat bags of frozen soup can be stacked easily. This will save you a lot of room.
Defrost ham and bean soup overnight, in the refrigerator.
SOME MORE SOUP RECIPES YOU WILL LOVE
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Ham and Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 2 long celery ribs
- 2 medium carrots
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 1/2 cups diced ham use leftover holiday ham is available
- 1 lb dried navy beans
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 1 large bay leaf
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- salt
- ham bone from leftover whole cooked ham OPTIONAL
Instructions
- Dice onions, celery, carrots, and ham. Peel garlic and set it all aside. Rinse the beans to get rid of any debris that might be in the bag and set aside to let it strain.
- Set Instant Pot to SAUTE and let it heat up. Add oil, onions, celery, and carrots and saute until veggies soften and start to golden. (If using ham bone, add ham bone to the pot.)
- Press garlic and add it to the pot. Saute until fragrant.
- Add diced ham, stir, and saute for a few minutes. Pour in beans, chicken broth, thyme, bay leaf, crushed red peppers, and salt. Don’t forget to taste to make sure you have enough salt.
- Stir, close the lid and make sure it’s latched. Turn the valve to “SEAL” and set the Instant Pot to pressure cook on high pressure cook mode for 30 minutes.
- Let it do a natural release for about 10 minutes and then do a quick release. Be careful opening the lid.
- NOTE: don't forget to discard the bay leaf and ham bone if using.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
JimmyB says
I made this tonite and it was beyond delicious! My house guest said it was even better than his Mother’s ham and bean soup. I followed the recipe fairly closely with just minor exceptions. I used Great Northern beans and instead of red pepper flakes I used some red bell pepper. I am unable to do spicy. Because the beans I used are larger than navy beans I soaked them for about 5 hours. I cooked this for 45 minutes and did a 15 minute natural release before opening the Instant Pot. I did include the ham bone and all the meat on it fell off into the soup. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful and tasty recipe.
P.S. Readers should be aware that because the Pot will be so full that it will take longer than usual to come up to pressure. Mine took 30 minutes instead of the customary 15 minutes or so.
LyubaB says
So glad you liked it, Jimmy!
Lisa E says
Just made this and it’s marvelous! I did go the 45 mins and the beans were perfect. This recipe is a keeper.
FreyaFL says
This was delicious! I did cook it longer (50 minutes + 10 natural release) and the beans were almost perfect (I like them pretty soft in soup). I think I’ll do 1 hour next time then immediately release. As good as this was last night, it was even better today! I’m so making this again. Thank you!
LyubaB says
I am glad you liked it!
Jenny Gibbs says
I really messed up this recipe. I doubled the beans accidentally. I also mixed navy beans and great northern beans. The result: an almost-solid block of beans that didn’t cook through. Ugh. I added water and put my Instant Pot on slow cook overnight, and now it’s edible. The flavor is delicious, and I’ll definitely make this again.
LyubaB says
I am glad you were able to save it and it taste good!
Joyce says
Can I use pinto beans? Soak or not?
LyubaB says
Sure, I don’t soak them but you can if you like.
Jerri White-Haskins says
After reading other people’s response about adding more time for cooking I soaked the dried beans over night then cooked the soup for 90 minutes and did natural release for 10 minutes. It turned out perfect and delicious. I didn’t add salt because the ham was already salty.
LyubaB says
GLad it worked out for you!