This Instant Pot black bean soup is a delicious plant-based meal that even the meat-eaters will love!
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No Instant Pot? No problem! You can totally make this version: slow cooker black bean soup. And here is my full Instant Pot review if you are curious about my current obsession. I love mine!
I make my Instant Pot black bean soup with un-soaked, dry black beans.
This is where the Instant Pot excels, in my humble opinion. Gone are the days where I need to remember to soak my beans overnight. I just give them a rinse, and I’m good to go. It is kind of life-changing!
I use the same method in several more of my recipes: red beans and rice, black-eyed peas and ham and 15 bean soup. And it works great!
But back to this particular Instant Pot black bean soup recipe.
It is a dump-it-all-in-and-press-the button easy. And it is so good that even my son and husband went back for seconds! It is rare that I find a meatless meal that makes them happy, but this black bean soup hit the spot.
The black bean soup will thicken as it sits. It will thicken even more in the refrigerator if you have leftovers. If you want, you can add a little water or vegetable stock to leftovers to thin is out a little.
Also, if you know me, I am all about the toppings on soup! I kept mine plant-based for the photos, with some simple cilantro and diced avocado. Tortilla chips are also good with this. Even a scoop of cooked rice would be good! Lots of possibilities to choose from. 🙂 And omnivores, feel free to add cheese or sour cream!
Recipes to Serve with Black Bean Soup
- Southern skillet corn bread (vegetarian)
- Tortilla chips and homemade guacamole
- Tortilla chips and homemade salsa
- Cilantro lime rice (substitute vegan butter, if desired)
More Vegan Recipes You May Enjoy
- Instant Pot pinto beans
- Instant Pot black beans
- Instant Pot jasmine rice
- Corn salad with avocado, tomato and lime
- Quinoa black bean salad
- Classic hummus
- Instant Pot classic hummus
- Air fryer French fries
- DIY microwave popcorn (no waste)
- Instant Pot sweet potatoes
- Italian pasta salad
- Instant Pot wild rice pilaf
- Greek potato salad (Zoe’s copycat)
- Roasted thyme carrots
- Rainbow roasted vegetables
- Vegan burrito bowls
- Lemon garlic roasted Brussels sprouts
Tools Used to Make Instant Pot Black Bean Soup
This post may contain affiliate links, which pay a referral fee to me at no additional cost to you. My full affiliate disclosure can be seen here.
- Instant Pot – I have both the Duo60 and the Lux60.
- Good quality chef’s knife and cutting board
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
Instant Pot Black Bean Soup Recipe
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Instant Pot black bean soup (vegan)
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 can diced tomatoes, undrained (14.5 ounce)
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 1 pound dry black beans, rinsed
- 1 teaspoon salt (more or less, to taste, depending on the saltiness of your broth)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper (more or less, to taste)
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1 Tablespoon paprika
- 2 Tablespoons chili powder
- 2 Tablespoons cumin
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 cups vegetable stock or broth (omnivores may substitute chicken broth, if you wish)
Instructions
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Add all ingredients (except toppings) to the Instant Pot, and place the lid on top, with the vent set to "sealing."
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Cook the soup on manual high pressure for 40 minutes, and let the pressure naturally release (Note: this soup took a while to come to pressure and to naturally release: plan on the whole cooking time being over an hour, FYI).
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After the pot is depressurized, remove the lid, and carefully remove the bay leaves. (I used tongs). Note: soup will thicken as it sits.
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Serve with desired toppings: squeeze of lime, cilantro, diced avocado, green onions, tortilla chips, etc.
Recipe Notes
Note: this soup took a while to come to pressure and to naturally release: plan on the whole cooking time being well over an hour (about an hour and 20 minutes).
Carolyn says
Could I double this and have it still fit in the pot?
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
Hi Carolyn! I probably would not recommend doubling this particular recipe. You miiight could pull it off in an 8 quart, but definitely not in a 6 quart. It would be very full and exceed recommendations for how much to cook in your Instant Pot.
Sabrina Anderson says
I made this last night and it was so good! Thanks for the recipe.
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
Hi Sabrina! I am so glad you enjoyed it.💖
tzippy says
I love the flavor, but the beans were never cooked properly! I cooked them for an additional 30 minutes. Now I have a pot of half-cooked beans and don’t quite know what to do with them. I am wondering if perhaps the salt should be added at the end? I hope to change the rating when I get the recipe right.
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
Yikes! I have never had this issue, so I’m not quite sure what could be wrong.🤔 30 extra minutes and still not done??? Hmmm…That is a complete head-scratcher to me. Guessing: Any idea how old the beans were that you were using? Some other readers have reported this being an issue. And you were cooking at high pressure, right? As for salt, despite many swearing to never add salt until after cooking dry beans, I have never had problems with this.🤷🏼♀️
mk says
The beans were probably OLD. You can’t really tell unless they start to shrivel. I take any no-soak recipe and do an instant pot “quick soak,” Then cook the recipe for the amount of time I would cook the soaked beans on their own. I’m going to try that with this recipe. If they aren’t cooked, I do it again for another couple minutes.
Sorry about the no upper case – for some reason, this website isn’t registering my shift key. It’s fine elsewhere. Very odd!
John says
i made this today and my wife and i really enjoyed it! i used the rotel canned tomatoes with green chilies added, and since i didn’t have peppers on hand and didn’t want to drive to the store, i used jarred smoked red peppers. i also used a bit of smoked paprika with the regular. i served it with added brown rice. very flavoful.
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
I am so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback.
John says
I made this today and my wife and I really enjoyed it! I used the rotel canned tomatoes with green chilies added, and since I didn’t have peppers on hand and didn’t want to drive to the store, I used jarred smoked red peppers. I also used a bit of smoked paprika with the regular. I served it with added brown rice. VERY flavoful.
Janis Daniels says
I used can beans and then followed the recipe after that. This is the best tasting vegan beans. Oh I used smoked paprika.
Abbi says
We really enjoyed this soup!! The kids liked it and said they’d eat it again. Ran out of canned tomatoes so I used an equal amount of salsa and it turned out great! Thank you for the recipe!
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
So glad y’all enjoyed it, Abbi!🙌🏻 Thanks for taking the time to let me know.💖
Sarah says
LOVVeeee this recipe. I make it when I’m too lazy to cook a whole meal and need to meal prep.
Im wondering if I’m able to freeze this though.
I just made a batch, so I’m hoping I get an answer soon so I can freeze the extra!
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
SO happy you are enjoying it, Sarah!💖 Yep, I freeze this one all the time, and it does great. Just pulled some out of the freezer myself recently, in fact.
Amanda says
Great recipe! made this today and will have for lunch for the next week. i like the mix and addition of the veggies…sometimes black bean soup recipes seem like it is basically just black beans. but this has great flavor. thanks!
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
Yay! This is one of our favorites too.💖 Thank you for taking the time to let me know you enjoyed it.
Linda says
What are the directions for a slow cooker? I have SOME DRY BLACK BEANS AND WOULD LIKE TO TRY THIS RECIPE ESPECIALLY since i do not have to soak the beans first.
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
Hi Linda! Here is the slow cooker version: https://www.apinchofhealthy.com/slow-cooker-black-bean-soup/
Enjoy!