Instant Pot Bean Soup Vegetarian/Vegan

This Easy Vegetarian Instant Pot Bean Soup recipe is perfect for the whole family. It is a great option for any night of the week and is fantastic for meal prep. It is vegan and gluten-free and can be served within 1 hour.

Great with this Instant Pot Bread.

Thanks to the Instant Pot, this delicious soup is ready in a fraction of the time compared to the stove top. It is a hearty vegetarian bean soup that needs minimal prep.

If you soak the dry beans overnight, you can make this soup in around 45-50 minutes! It really is that simple and you can wander away from the kitchen whilst the Instant Pot pressure cooker works its magic.

Despite the cold weather, I love Autumn and Winter simply because its soup season! I love all kinds of vegetarian soup recipes, whether a black bean soup, a simple vegetable soup or pea soup.

I also like experimenting with flavour combinations and some of my best soup recipes are Carrot, Ginger and Coconut Soup with a Saffron Vinaigrette, Vegan Mulligatawny Soup and this African Peanut Soup.

All the ingredients are in this recipe are inexpensive, just like my spicy carrot soup recipe.

The 15 Bean Mix:

This recipe uses a bean soup mix that is made with 15 different types of beans. The most popular bean soup mix consisting of dried beans is the Hurst Bean Soup Mix.

The Hurst 15 Bean Soup Mix is made with: great northern beans, pinto beans, large lima, yelloweye, garbanzo, baby lima, green split, kidney, cranberry, small white, pink, small red, yellow split peas, lentil, navy beans, white beans, black beans

This mix contains a seasoning packet is ham flavoured which you can discard. (The Hurst website states this flavour is artificial and does not contain animal products)

You do not have to strictly make a Vegetarian 15 Bean Soup but play around with whatever is in your pantry.

You can use a different bean mix or make your own with whichever dried beans you have to hand such as black-eyed peas, red beans or cannellini beans.

Whichever bean mix you use, the idea is to make it up to the same quantity.

You do not need to worry that the beans are different sizes - the idea is that the pressure cooking time is set to cook the largest and toughest beans.

This means some of the beans and lentils may go quite soft - all adding to the wonderful texture and flavour of the soup.

Tinned Beans

You can also make this soup in the Instant Pot with tinned mixed beans.

You will only need to pressure cook for 2 minutes as the tinned beans are already cooked. The veggies should all be soft within 2 minutes of High Pressure.

Ingredients:

Full ingredients with measurements are available in the recipe card below at the end of this post

Dried beans mix - soaked then drained.

Onion and garlic - slice or dice the onion and mince the garlic. Use fresh garlic and onion where possible for the best flavour but onion and garlic powder are quick substitutes.

Celery - you can add a chopped-up stick of celery along with the carrots, but it is entirely optional.

Carrots - either cut into cubes or rounds.

Tomatoes - I like to use tinned chopped tomatoes for ease. If you do not have tinned, use a large squeeze of tomato paste

Vegetable broth - use vegetable stock cubes that have been dissolved in warm water

Italian seasoning - Italian seasoning typically is made of oregano, thyme, basil, parsley, sage, and bay Leaves

Bay leaf

Lemon juice / lime juice

Olive oil - alternatively, use sunflower, vegetable or avocado oil

Salt and black pepper to taste

Optional:

Red pepper - add chopped red pepper for flavour and texture

Sweet potato - add chucks of sweet potatoes for extra flavour. With 20 minutes of high-pressure cooking, there's a chance that the sweet potatoes will be very tender or mashed.

To save on prep time, you can buy ready prepared onion, garlic and carrots from the supermarket.

Why soak beans first?

I highly recommend soaking your dried beans before making this soup.

For best results, soak your beans in cold water as this reduces the pressure cooking time required. I like to soak my beans at least 8 hours.

Soaking beans also makes them more digestible for the gut.

How to make Vegetarian Instant Pot Bean Soup

I have used the Instant Pot Pro Crisp Multi Pressure Cooker and Air Fryer but you can use any electric pressure cooker.

Select Saute Mode and pour in your oil of choice.

Add in the onions, garlic and bay leaf and cook for about 2-3 minutes. This step is important as sauteing onion and garlic draws out so much deep flavour.

Add the drained bean mix and the remaining ingredients except for the lemon juice. After adding the veggie stock, see if you require any further cups of water. Season according to taste.

Give everything a good stir and ensure no food is stuck to the bottom of the pot. Deglazing prevents the Burn Sign coming on, although this is unlikely there is plenty of liquid in this recipe.

Close the Instant Pot Lid and keep the valve on Seal position.

Select Pressure Cook on High Pressure.

For pre-soaked beans, cook for 30 minutes.

For unsoaked beans, cook for 45 minutes.

Allow for natural pressure release for 10 minutes, then turn the pressure valve on quick release to release any remaining pressure.

If you want the soup thicker, you can use an immersion blender to blend a few of the beans.

Serving Suggestions

I love this warming vegetarian bean soup with crusty bread such as Pioneer Woman cornbread, tiger bread rolls or focaccia.

Crunchy tortilla chips served with sour cream make a great side

You may want to top your soup with fresh parsley and shavings/grating of vegetarian hard cheese.

Serve with fresh salad on the side and bread for a well balanced meal.

Storage

This vegan soup can be made in advance for meal prep. Ensure it has cooled to room temperature before storing.

Store the soup in an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Vegetable bean soup freezes quite well and can be frozen in portions in freezer-safe containers. Allow to thaw and reheat on the stove or microwave. Some textures may change upon defrosting.

Pro Tips:

• When reheating soup, I like to add additional water or broth. This soup thickens as it cools. Adding additional water or broth will help to thin the consistency.
• You can soak the beans in cold or hot water, but don't forget to rinse them under the water first to remove any dust or debris.
• Forgot to soak the beans? Add an extra 15 minutes on the Instant Pot panel for cook time.
• You may add fresh spinach or kale at the end of cooking to increase the nutritional value of this soup.
• For the variation, you can use other seasoning such as taco or Cajun or add red chilli powder, garlic powder and onion powder.
• Be careful when adding salt as commercial stock cubes contain salt.
• This soup is freezer friendly.
• You may add water if you don't have vegetable stock on hand.

Other Bean Recipes

White Bean Panzanella

Mango Black Bean Salad

Instant Pot Afghan Lubya

Vegan White Bean Bruschetta

Easy Mung Bean Curry

Vegetable Tagine with Chickpeas

As always if you make this recipe, be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram @jcookingodyssey or #jcookingodyssey. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!

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