You’ll love this easy instant pot black bean soup recipe! This creamy flavorful recipe is made with onions, bacon, and a touch of sugar. You just need about an hour to get this delicious soup on the table for an easy weeknight dinner.
Why you'll love it
It's so easy to make. Using the Instant Pot takes the guesswork out of making bean soups. Just follow a few steps and you'll have a delicious and satisfying black bean soup ready in less than an hour.
Made with easy to find pantry staples. You can easily find ingredients like dried black beans, chicken broth, bacon and simple spices at your local grocery store. Chipotle in adobo is usually found in the Mexican, International, or Global food aisle.
No soaking required! There's no need to soak the black beans, that way you lock in the flavor, instead of throwing it out with the soaking liquid. And there's no need to plan hours in advance.
Ingredients
How to make black bean soup
Sort black beans by spreading them on a large cookie sheet. Discard any beans that are broken, split or shriveled, along with any stones or debris you might find. Put them in a colander and rinse under cold running water. Set aside.
Set Instant Pot to the Sauté setting on medium heat for 8 minutes. Be sure the "keep warm" setting is On (mine does this by default). When IP is heated, add oil, bacon, onions, and garlic. Cook until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Add chili powder to bacon mixture. Stir and cook for one to two minutes more.
Press Cancel on the IP if it's still on. Add chicken broth, water, and black beans. Stir to combine. Close and lock lid. Select Pressure Cook and set to Manual or High Pressure for 30 minutes. Turn "keep warm" to Off.
At the end of the cooking cycle and Instant Pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally for 20 minutes. Release remaining pressure by pressing the steam release valve with the handle end of a wooden spoon. Beware that hot steam will be released from the valve.
When the metal indicator valve drops and all steam has been released, it's safe to open the lid. Add chipotle puree, brown sugar, cider vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine.
Use an immersion blender to blend soup to desired texture.
Set Instant Pot to Sauté on medium for 10 minutes. Let soup simmer and allow to thicken to desired consistency. Stir occasionally to keep the soup from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Recipe notes and tips
Be sure you are familiar with your brand of pressure cooker before making this recipe. Read the safeguards and instructions to understand the controls and features. I made this recipe with the Instant Pot Ultra 60.
How do I use chipotle peppers in adobo sauce? I like to use just the tomato sauce that comes with the peppers to keep the black bean soup mild in taste. However, feel free to puree or finely chop one pepper (stem removed) for more spice.
If you don't have an immersion blender, you can use a potato masher instead. Or use a blender, just be sure not to fill it more than halfway full with hot liquids.
Storage: cover tightly and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
More instant pot recipes to try
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Instant Pot Black Bean Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb dried black beans sorted and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon canola oil or other mild flavored oil
- 4 slices thick cut bacon chopped into ½ inch pieces
- 1 small onion, chopped about one cup
- 2 teaspoon garlic chopped
- 1 teaspoon chili powder any variety
- 3 cups chicken broth low sodium if desired
- 3 cups water
- 2 teaspoon chipotle peppers in adobo sauce pureed or just the tomato sauce
- 1-2 tablespoon brown sugar or to taste
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar or to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste
Toppings
- Hot cooked rice
- Squeeze of fresh lime juice
- Avocado
- Green onions
- White or red onions
- Pico de gallo or cilantro
- Shredded monterrey jack cheese
- Crumbled mexican cheese like queso fresco
- Sour cream
Instructions
- Sort black beans by spreading them on a large cookie sheet. Discard any beans that are broken, split or shriveled, along with any stones or debris you might find. Put them in a colander and rinse under cold running water. Set aside.
- Set Instant Pot to the Sauté setting on medium heat for 8 minutes. Be sure the "keep warm" setting is On (mine does this by default). When IP is heated, add oil, bacon, and onions. Cook until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Add chili powder to bacon mixture. Stir and cook for one to two minutes more.
- Press Cancel on the IP if it's still on. Add chicken broth, water, and black beans. Stir to combine. Secure lid. Select Pressure Cook and set to Manual or High Pressure for 30 minutes. Turn "keep warm" to Off.
- At the end of the cooking cycle and Instant Pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally for 20 minutes. Release remaining pressure by pressing the steam release valve with the handle end of a wooden spoon. Steer clear of the hot steam that will com out of the release valve.
- When the metal safety valve drops and all steam has been released, it's safe to open the lid. Add chipotle puree, brown sugar, cider vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.
- Use an immersion blender to puree soup to desired texture.
- Set Instant Pot to Sauté on medium for 10 minutes. Allow soup to simmer until thickened. Stir occasionally to keep soup from sticking to bottom of pan. Add more time if desired.
Brandy
I was rather disappointed with this recipe. It came out very bland and just seemed to be missing something or a few things. I added some cumin, oregano, and a bunch of lime juice and that definitely helped. Good base recipe but does need some tweaking.
Denise
This is so good and perfectly hit the spot during a cold dreary day. I topped with lime and jalapeño and hubby used sour cream and jalapeño...this will go into out recipe rotation for sure!
Nikole
Yay Denise! So glad y'all loved it! Thanks!!