Ham and White Bean Soup
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Soups and Instant Pots (affiliate link) – two Flavor Bible faves. This Ham and White Bean Soup is a very simple recipe that takes a short time to prep and, with the Instant Pot (or other pressure cooker), offers the flexibility to become a weeknight meal.
Gone are the days of soaking beans overnight and then the tedious task of simmering in a stock pot. These steps are still available to the willing but we like our flavor sped up without that kind of time commitment. This soup also provides a great opportunity to use up fresh veggies, herbs, and that leftover holiday ham (how many ham sandwiches do you really want to eat, anyway?) So, grab a cutting board and let’s do some quick prep!
Dice up a medium sweet onion, a couple ribs of celery, a couple carrots, and three cloves of garlic. Grab that package of beans you’ve been staring at in the pantry for the last several month and rinse/pick over the beans. While you are in the pantry let’s snag that chicken broth as well. We used two different kinds because we like to buy chicken broth when it’s on sale at the store and these were on the front on the shelf. Get about a pound to a pound and a half of that leftover holiday ham (or those ham hocks you saw on sale on your last grocery run). The recipe card at the bottom seems like an exact science but precision isn’t completely necessary here so feel free to ballpark if you’re comfortable enough in the kitchen to do so. After all we aren’t baking here!
Place the Instant Pot in saute mode, add the oil and allow it to come to temperature over the next one to two minutes. Add in the onion, celery, and carrots. Allow these to saute for several minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in the garlic and saute for another couple of minutes.
Add the broth, water, ham, beans, black pepper, and fresh herbs. Turn Instant Pot to bean/chili mode, lock the lid, and let this little miracle worker do its magic.
Entertain yourself for the next hour with a glass of wine or other beverage of your choice. The Instant Pot will build pressure and cook. When it is finished allow it to depressurize naturally. If after 25 minutes or so the pot is still under pressure, very carefully release manually. Because this is a brothy soup use some caution as hot liquid can make its way through the pressure valve.
When depressurized, unlock the lid and it should look something like the below photograph. At this time you can pull the whole herbs and bay leaf out of the soup if you so choose. We left ours in but it is purely a preference thing.
If desired, sprinkle in some fresh cilantro for color and a little added flavor. Ladle into your favorite soup bowls, grab some soup spoons, and enjoy this simple yet wonderful soup.
Note: Being showered with compliments is completely normal at this stage. That warm feeling is either the soup or the swelling of pride, we’ll let you decide.
Find more great soups here!
Equipment: Ham and White Bean Soup
You can certainly read about our affinity for the Instant Pot here. It really is a time saver for all kinds of meals. We definitely love it for soups, especially on a weeknight. The one we use is below. There are certainly many other models to choose from but this is a good place to start. Well worth it in our opinion (affiliate link below)!
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Ham and White Bean Soup
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Medium Sweet Onion, diced
- 2 ribs Celery, Diced
- 2 Carrots, chopped
- 3 cloves Garlic, minced
- 6 cups Chicken Broth
- 4 cups Water
- 1 lb Dry Great Northern Beans Pre-soaking not needed if using instant pot
- 1.5 lbs Ham, chunked to desired size Can use 2 – 3 ham hocks or other salty pork item
- 0.5 oz. Fresh Herbs Thyme, Rosemary, Sage. Should be able to find in herb area of produce section, otherwise buy separately. Approximately equal parts.
- 1 Bay Leaf
- Salt, to taste If desired or if using low sodium broth as base.
- 1 tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper Or to taste
- Cayenne Pepper If desired, to taste. 1/2 – 1 tsp for a little kick.
- 1 cup Kale Or sub other similar green
- Fresh Cilantro For garnish. Pull enough leaves for desired garnish.
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute function. Add olive oil to pot. Allow oil to heat 1 – 2 minutes. Add onion, carrots, and celery to pot and saute for 3 – 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add garlic to pot and saute another 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Careful not to burn garlic.
- Add broth, water, ham, herbs, beans, and pepper (also salt and/or cayenne, if desired).
- Turn Instant Pot to bean/chili function. Close instant pot and allow to pressurize and cook. When timer expires, let Instant Pot depressurize naturally (20 – 25 minutes). If still under pressure, carefully release remaining pressure manually. Caution: with soup liquid can come through pressure valve so release slowly and carefully or just allow Instant Pot to fully depressurize on its own.
- Once depressurized and safe to open lid, stir in kale until it wilts.
- Optional: Remove whole herbs and bay leaf.
- Ladle into bowls. Sprinkle in cilantro garnish and serve.
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