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Simple Instant Pot Black Bean Soup

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Simple Instant Pot Black Bean Soup

I had a craving for black bean soup but didn’t feel like cooking. I wanted to keep the chopping and measuring to a minimum, so I tried to narrow down black bean soup to its most essential flavors. I came up with a soup that took just a few minutes to throw together and then I could let the Instant Pot do its thing while I took care of other pressing matters. Like walking our new dog…

Our New Pomeranian Dog Bandit

This is Bandit and he’s a total sweetheart. We adopted him after Herman died suddenly of pneumonia at the end of January. Herman’s death hit me hard, and I’m still not really ready to write about it. It came suddenly and without a chance to say goodbye, and for a couple of weeks, I ran myself ragged working in the house and yard to avoid thinking about how empty the house felt without him.

But one morning, I just decided to look for a new dog, not one to replace him (Herman was a sunbeam–no one could replace him) but to create a new chance to love. I found a Pomeranian rescue organization in Dallas, and after some correspondence, my husband and I drove there to meet some dogs. Three-year old Bandit, who was suffering his own kind of grief since his owner died, seemed like a perfect fit for our cat-filled home, and he became a family member right away. I’m sorry I took so long to introduce him to you!

The Blog’s New Look

I spent all of March working on FatFree Vegan Kitchen’s new look, and I hope you like it. It’s less cluttered, I think, and the Recipe Index is more visual and less list-y. A new feature that is rolling out slowly is the ability for readers to give a star rating to recipes when they leave a comment. I have to add this to each recipe manually, so if you see one that you would like to rate, please leave a comment with the number of stars you’d like to give it (scale of 1 to 5), and I will update that recipe and put the stars in for you. It’s a tedious process that will take a while, and I want to be sure to start with the recipes my readers like the most.

Simple Instant Pot Black Bean Soup

Get Out Your Instant Pots…or Not

As you can see by the title, I used the Instant Pot to make this soup, but it’s definitely not required. You’d follow the same instructions to cook it in a stovetop pressure cooker in about the same amount of time. But if you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can certainly make it on the stove. I added some very general instructions in the notes on the recipe.

I can’t believe how good this soup is for having so few ingredients. Of the optional ingredients, the one I really recommend is the lime juice—it adds a vibrant zing.

I served the soup with tortilla chips that I made in the air fryer. They’re so simple—just preheat the air fryer to 360F, cut up corn tortillas, and toss them in. I set a timer for 2 minutes, shake them and separate any that are sticking together, and then shake them again after another minute. They cook quickly and go from yellow to brown in seconds, so just keep checking and shaking. It usually takes mine 4 minutes.

A Word About Pressure Cooking Beans

It’s almost impossible to give a pressure cooking time that works for everyone because there are so many variables that affect beans: your altitude, the hardness of your water, and the age of the beans themselves (you never know how long they’ve been sitting on the grocer’s shelf). The times below are what worked for me with freshly bought beans, neutral city water, at 328 feet elevation. My beans came out perfectly, but if you are at a higher altitude, you may need to add extra time. Consult this chart for more info.

Simple Instant Pot Black Bean Soup
4.95 from 17 votes
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Simple Instant Pot Black Bean Soup

The beauty of the Instant Pot and other electric pressure cookers is that you can cook dried beans without soaking them first and you don't have to hover over the pot making sure that they don't dry out. In this 6-ingredient recipe, I use boiling water to decrease the amount of time it takes the Instant Pot to come to pressure.

Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine Gluten-free, Oil-Free, Pressure Cooker, Vegan
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 6
Calories 329 kcal
Author Susan Voisin

Ingredients

  • 1 pound dried black beans
  • 1 large onion diced
  • 6 cups boiling water
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
  • 12 ounces frozen corn kernels
  • 1 cup salsa
  • additional seasonings to taste

Optional Garnishes

  • avocado, soy yogurt, salsa, squeeze of lime
  • baked tortilla chips

Instructions

  1. Check over the beans for small stones, misshapen beans, or other debris. Rinse well. Start boiling 6 cups of water while you chop the onion.

  2. Turn your Instant Pot on Sauté (other electric pressure cookers may call this "Brown"), add the onion, and cook until it's softened and beginning to brown, stirring often.

  3. Add the beans, boiling water, cumin, salt, and chipotle chili powder to the pot. Turn off the Sauté function and lock the lid in place, making sure the pressure release valve is set to Pressure. Press Manual to select high pressure. Adjust the time to 30 minutes. Pot will begin coming to pressure and will count down to zero once pressure is reached.

  4. When the pot is finished cooking at pressure, allow the pressure to come down naturally for 20 minutes. (You can either turn it off or leave it on warm.) Turn the pressure release knob to Steam to release the pressure.

  5. Open the lid carefully, angling it away from you so you won't get steamed. Check the beans for doneness. If they are still hard, replace the lid and give them an extra 2 minutes at high pressure. (Check the liquid level first--if it seems dry, add more water.) 

  6. Once the beans are cooked, you may blend part of the soup or leave it as-is. (I removed 3-4 cups of the beans with a slotted spoon and used a hand blender to blend the soup in the pot. Then I returned the beans to the pot.) Add the corn and salsa. Add water if it seems dry. Taste the soup. Add extra salt, cumin, and chipotle powder as needed. Set the pot on Sauté and adjust the heat to low. Cook, stirring often, scraping up from the bottom, until it's hot throughout. Serve with garnishes of your choice.

Recipe Notes

You can easily make this in a stovetop pressure cooker without many changes.

To make without a pressure cooker, I suggest starting with beans that have been soaked overnight. Cook the beans on low until soft, stirring often and adding more water as needed--about 60-90 minutes.

Nutrition Facts
Simple Instant Pot Black Bean Soup
Amount Per Serving (1 medium bowl)
Calories 329 Calories from Fat 9
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 1g 2%
Sodium 707mg 29%
Total Carbohydrates 65g 22%
Dietary Fiber 15g 60%
Sugars 7g
Protein 18g 36%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

For those of you following Weight Watchers Freestyle, this has zero Smart Points. Check out more of my zero point recipes.

Please pin and share:
You will be amazed at how delicious and easy this 6-ingredient Instant Pot Black Bean Soup is. Cumin and chipotle give it a deep, rich flavor. Vegan and gluten-free.

Thanks for reading, and remember, I have a ton of other pressure cooker recipes that also work in the IP. Enjoy!

Susan

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Comments

  1. The black bean soup looks amazing. I really need to get an instant pot – keep hearing such good things!
    Congrats on your new family member Bandit 🙂

    Reply

  2. Susan, I’m so very sorry for your loss. Almost nothing is harder. So sorry. Herman was really precious. Bandit looks like a nice guy who will help you heal.

    Reply

  3. Your new friend Bandit is adorable! Thanks for this recipe, I love all your recipes, and can’t live without my two Instant Pots and Air Fryer, so this is perfect.

    Reply

  4. The site looks amazing Susan thank you for all your work. It is pouring rain here and I am going to have tea and spend some luxurious time looking ar recipes xo

    Reply

  5. I did not care for the instant pot but do like to use my crockpot, can this be done with all ingredients at one time or do you recommend cooking beans first.

    Thanks!

    Reply

  6. Your new puppy looks adorable and I am so happy for you !!
    Thank you very much for rescuing this dog. Just the best thing to do!!

    Reply

  7. The soup looks fabulous and Bandit is adorable! So sorry to learn of Herman’s passing. It’s so hard to lose a pet!

    Reply

  8. After a frustrating afternoon of trying to organize a trip to Europe and buy tickets at good prices, I didn’t feel like cooking at all – but I knew there wasn’t anyplace healthy nearby to eat out, either. Your black bean soup saved my day! I had all the ingredients on hand – even lime juice! So I put my Instant Pot to work and we enjoyed the results.

    My husband has been avoiding nightshades to help his painful arthritic hands, and I recently learned that tomatillos, from which salsa verde is made, are not nightshades! There are, of course, some peppers in the salsa, and we’re hoping they are few enough so they won’t hurt. It made a fine substitute for the usual red salsa.

    Reply

  9. This recipe came at the perfect time! I am introducing my visiting vegan cousin to the instant pot, and we are making this recipe together tonight. It looks like a fantastic recipe to start with. Thank you!

    Herman looks like a lovely addition to your family, I’m glad you found each other!

    Reply

  10. I am so sorry for your loss of Herman , but so thrilled you decided to open up your heart and give little Bandit a chance at a happy life. He certainly is beautiful. I lost my mama chihuahua , Blondie last year and I still miss her terribly although I still had her 3 babies -who 11. They grieved terribly also and I could not pull them out of it so I recently adopted two more rescues and they have certainly helped to lift everybody’s spirits. I am so very grateful to my furbabies – one and all.

    Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. My daughter loves black beans so I am going to try this recipe next weekend. Hope you and Bandit will have a lovely week ahead.

    Reply

    • I’m sorry for your loss. It sounds like you have a house full of canine love now. I’m working on my husband to adopt a “sibling” for Bandit, but he likes the simplicity of having one dog. We’ll see. 😉

      Reply

  11. Thanks Susan! Trying this recipe. I am usually a soaker but this looks so much easier. Sometimes I notice my beans are a little overcooked after I soak all night. I only pressure cook for 6 minutes but may have something to do with the beans I buy. This looks like a great solution! So about your dog, we just lost one too and it does leave an empty hole in your heart. Bandit is a very lucky little guy!!!

    Reply

  12. Soup looks amazing! Thank you for all the recipes. Site looks GREAT!
    I am sorry to hear about Herman- such a beautiful dog-yes bright light. Hugs.

    Bandit looks like a wonderful spirit and a lucky dog to be a member of you loving family :heart:

    Reply

  13. Simple is definitely my style, and I can’t wait to try this. I love your photos, these are really inspiring to help us eat fresh wholesome food! So colorful. ) Bandit looks so friendly and with soft fur! Who’s a good boy!

    Reply

  14. Made this yesterday and it disappeared almost immediately! EXCELLENT recipe, tasty, full of flavor and EASY to fix!

    Reply

  15. So happy to have another Instant Pot recipe, Susan, and especially one where I don’t have to soak the beans first, which I rarely remember/plan to do. I’ll try this soon and will report back. My partner and I both love black beans. Thank you!

    Reply

  17. Hi! Love your recipes! I have a question… You’re a big user of the instant pot and I have one as well (which I love). I recently tried to cook lentils to use as a filling for cabbage rolls but they came out too mushy. I cooked them according to the instructions in the instant pot recipe book. I want them firm so when they’re done cooking I can rinse them and let them drain. Any suggestions?

    Reply

  18. I made this on Sunday. It’s excellent, and so easy too! It was also a good chance to use my Instant Pot for something more than cooking plain beans. Thanks, Susan.

    Reply

  19. Sorry to hear about “Herman’ (my last name is Herrmann). I just adopted a cat from down South (I live in CT). He came in in transport with 15 dogs in a van OMG. Well it didn’t seem to bother him I guess as he is one ‘laid back cat’!! When it came to finding a name for him, I decided to bring back memories of me in high school. Since my last name was Herrmann, kids in school nicknamed me “hermy’…………well so Hermy is his new name.
    Everyone is different when it comes to healing over a lost pet. Some need time and space before adopting another and some just want to fill the void and help another lonely pet find a home. I’m glad you decided to adopt again. He’s a rea cutie!! Hence the facial features aka. “Bandit”. I have 5 rescued pets in my house and love them all to pieces.
    Oh BTW nice job on ‘tweaking’ your website. It looks ‘fab!!!

    Reply

    • Hi Nancy, thank you for telling me about your Hermy. We sometimes called our Herman that. I think it’s great that you adopted a Southern cat (but not so great that our overpopulation is such that we can’t find homes for them locally.)

      I felt a little guilty about adopting so quickly, but I figured that I had a lot of love to give and there are lots of dogs that need homes. The only drawback is that every time Bandit so much as sniffles, I panic and have to stop myself from calling the vet. (I’ve already had one unnecessary vet visit and am in danger of being known as the hypochondriac dog mommy. 🙂

      Finally, I’m so glad you like the look of the site! I haven’t gotten much feedback, but what I have has been good.

      Reply

  20. I love the picture of Bandit. How is he doing? I was wondering how he is doing with your cats.

    Have a wonderful day.

    Reply

    • Thanks, Maria. He is doing great! Part of the reason we chose him was that he was being fostered in a house with several cats. When we visited, he just wanted us to throw the ball to him, and he completely ignored the cats. He’s continued that behavior here at home, for the most part. There’s one particular cat that he seems fixated on (probably because that cat has taken a few swipes at him). He’ll stare and whine at the cat, hoping the cat will run, which he rarely does. 😉 Another cat, Loki, rubs up against him and would like to play, if only they could figure out how. I have some videos on my personal Facebook page that are open to the public, if you’re interested.

      Reply

  21. Susan I have not been online for quite some time and thought I had been linked to the wrong site when I found myself here. You have done a wonderful job of recreating your site. It has a peaceful feeling about it, drawing me in with the soothing colors of the background contrasting against the spectacular food photographs. You must have spent endless hours reworking everything and your hard work has really paid off.
    I am so very sorry to hear of your Herman passing. Only those who have lost an animal, especially suddenly, can truly comprehend what it feels like. My heart is happy that you found Bandit, one so very suited to you and your family, both two and four-legged. Rescue animals seem to know the gift you have given them and love you all the more for it. Loki must be adorable when trying to get Bandit to play.
    This soup looks and sounds fantastic. I am heading to the kitchen to put it in the Ipot in a little bit. As always, than-q for the time and effort you put into creating the wonderful recipes you post for us. As one living with a disability that makes it difficult to prep meals, I always have confidence that the time and physical effort I expend will be worth it when I sit down to enjoy a fantastic meal.
    Hope your health is great and you are feeling wonderful. With gratitude and grace xo

    Reply

  22. Wow, this really is easy! I cut the recipe in half and used thawed frozen black beans that I had previously cooked in the IP. It cooked up quickly on the stove. I served it with pickled jalapenos (which I always have on hand), steamed asparagus, and your Cornbread Stuffing (!). I don’t know what my problem is, but I’m cooking up a mess of Thanksgiving dishes lately. I must really want the holidays to get here! Thanks for such an easy recipe, this is going into my regular rotation.

    Reply

  23. Susan,
    I make this all the time, the only difference is I press Bean/Chili instead of the manual settings and after taking the 3-4 cups of beans out I add two torn up corn tortillas and then blend until smooth. I used to use salsa but found a can of Ro-tel tomatoes w/ chilis more in line with my tastes. It may have something to do with me making my salsa too hot.
    Very tasty, thanks!

    Reply

  25. Made this and it was delicious. I love my Instant Pot and it has made cooking beans so simple. Your new member of the household looks so sweet, I sure he is loving being with you.

    Reply

    • For canned beans, I wouldn’t even bother using the Instant Pot, just add all ingredients after sautéing the onion and heat for about 15 minutes (use about half the water and 2-3 cans beans). If you really have to use the IP, just use 2 minutes at high pressure in step 2 and follow the rest of the instructions.

      Reply

  29. I love black bean soup and an easier recipe is to dump a can of veggie broth, 2 can’s of black beans, drained and a half jar of salsa into a pan and heat it up. I serve it with chopped green onions and vegan sour cream but now I”m also going to try avocado also.

    Reply

  31. Couldn’t go one day without using my IP, thanks for the recipe as it’s what’s for dinner tomorrow after I make some “refried” beans in it.

    My heart aches for you as you mourn the loss of your precious Herman, it’s a most painful heartbreak (I lost 3 of my beloved Jake last November), but it sounds like you and Bandit were destiny waiting to happen! Enjoy every single second of him!

    Reply

  32. Hi Susan,
    I have been looking for more ideas on what recipes will work well in my new Instant Pot. Lots of your recipes look great, but I’ve noticed they tend to be high in sodium. Do you think omitting or limiting the fat in the recipes calls for more salt to make up for the lost fat flavor?
    Generally I cook without adding any salt to recipes and then let everyone add some at the table if desired. This method seems to result in lower sodium intake overall since when you add the salt directly to your meal, the salt crystals are right there on your tongue and you don’t need as much to get that flavor boost!
    Thanks for sharing your great plant based recipes.
    Linda

    Reply

  33. I noticed you mentioned not having to overnight soak beans cooked in the Instant Pot? Do beans cooked in the pressure cooker cause less gas?

    Reply

  35. Thank you for this delicious and easy recipe. We enjoyed this soup last night for dinner and is definitely a keeper! It’’s so hard to find simple, easy vegan Instant pot recipes-thanks a million!

    Reply

  36. This is easier than my usual blCk bean soup recipe that I developed to mimic a local restaurant’s soup. I did add an extra onion, some garlic, & sautéed in garlic olive oil before adding beans, liquid, & spicesused 1/2+water and 1/2 vegetable broth, puréed as directed in the recipe.after removing about 3-4 cups beans. Added more cumin and rinsed 3 cans of black beans to thicken it up, about 2 cups salsa, fire roasted frozen corn. Will add some plain Greek yogurt and avocado to each bowl.

    Reply

  37. Hi Susan,
    Love this recipe but have recently started buying beans in bulk and don’t have a scale. How many cups of dried black beans is a pound? And how many cups of corn is 12 oz? Thank you for your help!

    Reply

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