Instant Pot ham and bean soup is a great recipe for using up leftover ham or ham bones from the holidays! With carrots, celery, onions, and dried white beans this flavorful soup comes together easily and deliciously.

With a little patience and minimal effort, you can have a ham and bean soup cooked and tasting great. With meat falling off of the bone and beans so tender to chew, every bite of this flavorful Instant Pot ham bone soup is amazing.
For more delicious instant pot recipes, make sure to check out our Instant Pot Baby Back Ribs, Instant Pot Tater Tot Casserole, and Instant Pot Chicken Drumsticks.
Why This Recipe Works
- Simple ingredients. We use some basic ingredients in this recipe, and together they create a rich, deep flavor profile that truly feels comforting on a cold winter night.
- It's cheap to make. From the leftover ham bone in the fridge to the dried beans and broth, this recipe uses very frugal and affordable ingredients, making it perfect for a tight budget. It can be even cheaper if you have your own herb garden too!
- It tastes like it was slow cooked all day. While this soup takes less than 2 hours from start to finish, it's going to have that great flavor that has you thinking it cooked all day. Had you not known the truth, you may have never noticed.
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🥘 Ingredients
Olive Oil- you will need some olive oil to saute your veggies in.
Mirepoix- A mirepoix is an aromatic flavor base created using onions, celery, and carrots. By cooking the veggies together in oil or butter, we can get the most flavor out of them.
Garlic Cloves- Use some fresh garlic or jarred minced garlic.
Herbs- For added flavor, you'll want to use some Fresh Thyme, Fresh Rosemary, and a Bay leaf.
Seasonings- We like to keep our seasonings simple with some Garlic Powder, Black Pepper, Italian Seasoning, and Paprika.
Chicken Stock- This is the base of the soup. By using broth instead of water, we can get a lot more flavor. I recommend using a low-sodium chicken broth if possible.
Water- This will give us more volume to our soup.
Dried White Navy Beans- Your dry beans will be fully cooked by the end of this recipe. Dry beans are significantly cheaper than canned and white beans are perfect for pairing with ham.
Ham Bone with Meat- This recipe needs a ham bone with some meat on it. This is a great way to repurpose leftovers or use up your Frugal Easter Dinner ham.
For the exact amounts needed, please see the recipe card below.
🍽 Equipment Needed
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🔪 Instructions
Check out how to make Instant Pot ham and bean soup with these simple step-by-step instructions:
Turn your Instant Pot to Saute mode and set the timer for 5 minutes.
Add in your olive oil, onion, carrots, and celery. Stir until the time is up.
Add in garlic and stir for about 30 seconds.
Add in all of the dry seasonings and stir.
Add in the chicken stock and stir again, scraping up any bits at the bottom of the pot.
Add in your water, the dried beans, ham bone, and bay leaf.
Close the lid and seal it shut.
Set the timer for 45 minutes on HIGH pressure.
Let Naturally Pressure Release for 25 minutes before venting the rest.
Remove meat from bone, chop if needed and stir meat back into soup.
Serve warm and enjoy.
🍴 Recipe Tips
When making this Instant Pot bean and ham soup there are a few things to keep in mind.
- It's okay if you don't have a ham bone and only have ham chunks. Just use about 1 cup of cooked ham in its place.
- If you're using a leftover holiday sweet glazed ham, you may want to slice off the edge crusts where the sweet glaze is, or else you run the risk of a sweetened soup.
- Some hams are much saltier than others, so you can save the addition of salt until the soup is ready and do a taste test first and add it "to taste" instead.
Also, we want to let the Natural Pressure Release for about 20-25 minutes before releasing the remaining pressure. The soup will be hot, so we want it to settle before venting so no one gets hurt and your counter doesn't become too messy.
🥗 Side Dishes
I love serving my ham and bean soup with cornbread. Sometimes a simple green side salad is nice too, but on a cold night, warm cornbread and soup just feels right.
💭 FAQs
Yes. After the ham bean soup has completely cooled, store it in airtight freezable containers and let it freeze for up to three months before thawing and reheating.
Absolutely! When the soup has finished cooking and does its NPR, stir in 2 cans of drained and rinsed white beans and close the lid. Wait about 5 minutes and then stir and serve. The beans should be warmed up and the broth should still be tasty.
Nope, no need to! You can simply rinse the beans to free them of dirt and debris and remove any rocks. Then they're ready to go!
More tasty soup recipes to check out soon
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Ham and Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons Olive oil ($0.26)
- 1 cup Carrot, chopped ($0.28)
- 3 stalks Celery, chopped ($0.36)
- 1 small yellow onion, diced ($0.70)
- 2 cloves Garlic, minced ($0.10)
- ½ teaspoon Fresh thyme, chopped ($0.10)
- 1 teaspoon Fresh rosemary, chopped ($0.10)
- ½ teaspoon Garlic powder ($0.05)
- ½ teaspoon Black pepper ($0.05)
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning ($0.05)
- ½ teaspoon Paprika ($0.05)
- 32 ounces Chicken stock ($1.33)
- 4 cups Water ($0.00)
- 1 bag (16oz) Dried white navy beans ($1.14)
- 1 Leftover ham bone, with meat ($0.00)
- 1 Bay leaf ($0.10)
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to Saute and set the time for 5 minutes.
- Add the olive oil, onion, carrots, and celery and stir until the timer beeps.
- Stir in the minced garlic for about 30 seconds and then add in all of the dry seasonings and stir.
- Add in the chicken stock and stir again, scraping up any bits on the bottom of the pot.
- Add in water, dried beans, ham bone, and bay leaf.
- Close the lid and seal it shut.
- Turn it to pressure cook for 45 minutes on HIGH. Allow it to natural release for 25 minutes.
- Release remaining pressure (carefully).
- Remove meat from ham bone and add the ham meat back into the soup.
- Serve warm and enjoy.
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