Instant Pot black bean soup is a hearty, flavorful and economical soup. Dried black beans, peppers and onion are cooked with chili powder, cumin and paprika in this easy to make meal. We have this soup on our meal plan often through the winter, and we always have some on hand in the freezer for convenient meals.

This black bean soup starts with dried beans so even in a pressure cooker it still has a bit of cook time, but this is as close to dump and start possible so while it is cooking you are completely free to do other things and just wait for your soup to be cooked. Perfect for busy nights, or weekends when you don't want to spend to much time with hands on cooking.
There is no need to soak your beans! This is one of the reasons I love the Instant Pot so much. I find dried beans have a much better flavour than those in cans, and the Instant Pot makes it so much easier to eat them!
How To Make Instant Pot Black Bean Soup
Prepare your peppers and onions by dicing them into bite-sized pieces. I like mine fairly small so that they kind of melt into the soup, but if you prefer chunkier vegetables go ahead and chop them how you like.
Add the stock, beans, spices and vegetables into the Instant Pot, give everything a quick stir, and set it to cook on high pressure! That's it!
What to serve with black bean soup
This soup truly is hearty enough for use to consider a full meal, especially with toppings, but great sides would be crusty bread or a nice light salad.
I love toppings on my black bean soup! You can do what we have here and add pico de gallo, avocado and sour cream - kind of like a low carb black bean taco in a bowl! Other great toppings are cheese or tortilla chips if you are into that.
Additional information
- This soup will keep for at least 5 days in the fridge, so it is a great meal prep recipe
- It freezes really well! We portion it out into single or double servings and always have some on hand in the freezer for quick meals.
- Do NOT double this recipe! It will put your Instant Pot over the fill line. If you want to make a double batch, you will need to cook it twice.
Dietary Considerations
This recipe for easy bean salad is suitable for the following diets:
- vegan and vegetarian
- clean eating
- gluten free, dairy free, and allergy friendly
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Instant Pot Black Bean Soup
Ingredients:
- 1 lb dry black beans
- 1 red pepper - diced
- 1 green pepper - diced
- 3 celery ribs - diced
- 1 onion - diced
- 8 cups vegetable stock
- 2 Tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoon cumin
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoon paprika
- 2 teaspoon oregano
- 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to your Instant Pot.
- Cook on high pressure for 40 minutes and allow for natural release.
Nutrition
* nutritional information is calculated by online tools and may not be 100% accurate.
Toni says
I loved it! So comforting and really easy to make!
Courtney says
Thank you, I am so happy you enjoyed it!
Steph says
Are beans soaked before adding to instant pot?
Courtney says
No, I do not soak the beans before cooking them in this recipe.
Sandhya Hariharan says
We love love Blackbeans Soup and this looks incredible with all the toppings.
Sonila says
This black bean soup looks so easy to make. We love black beans in my house so adding this to my list!!!
Courtney says
Its so easy - especially in a pressure cooker. Hope you get a chance to try it!
Terry says
What about a regular old fashioned crock pot? Don’t own the Instant Pot.
Noelle says
Great ideas for toppings! I love to throw some avocado on top of my soups!
Courtney says
me too! Toppings are one of my favourite parts of this soup 🙂
Jennifer says
I love this Instant Pot Black Bean Soup....one of our favorites!!!
Courtney says
Thank you! I am so happy to hear that 🙂
Mark Soiseth says
I made it following your directions to the letter.
It had literally no flavour. It seemed promising but was just a huge pot of "meh."
In retrospect, I think the problem was that the spices weren't enough or that they canceled each other out.
I was so disappointed, I threw it all out.
Courtney says
Hi Mark,
I'm sorry to hear you did not enjoy the soup.
A couple of things to note:
Flavor in this soup will depend greatly on the quality of vegetable stock that you use. If you use a low sodium stock, or a stock that just isn't very flavorful to begin with you will want to add salt to the recipe. Otherwise, yes, the soup could taste bland. Also, in regards to the spices, this soup isn't a knock you off your chair kind of spicy soup - if you are looking for that I would suggest that you add in some spicy chili peppers to bring up the heat. Quality of your chili powder is also important. I start with a high quality chili powder blend that I absolutely love from my local organic market. Did you know that spices also lose their potency and flavour if they have been sitting in your cupboard for too long?
Thank you for your feedback, and again, I am sorry you were disappointed.
Cindy says
This was excellent, thank you! I didn't have quite enough regular chili powder so I used chipotle chili powder for about 1/2 Tablespoon. I also didn't have diced tomatoes, so I used a can of peeled plum tomatoes that I chopped up. After 40 minutes of natural release we couldn't wait any more and did a manual release - although by then it was pretty much done.. Topped with some avocado, sour cream, scallions and fresh squeezed lime juice. Will definitely make this again! Thanks!
Courtney says
You're welcome Cindy! I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed it 🙂
Staci Hanson says
I completely disagree with the review that this had ZERO flavor, I found it to be completely FLAVORFUL! In fact, I followed this recipe completely and I used low sodium veggie broth. This is a very inexpensive, healthy, easy, set it and forget it recipe. It made very large pot, next time I make it I will most likely cut the recipe in half as I am going to be eating it all week, would you still cook it for 40 minutes you think? THANK YOU!
Courtney says
Thank you for your feedback Staci! If I were to cut the recipe in half I would still use the cook time of 40 minutes.
Bonnie says
Hi, I'm looking forward to trying this recipe! I'm just wondering what type of onion you recommend using in the soup?
Courtney says
Hi Bonnie!
I normally use yellow onion in here, but it would be just as great with white or red too. Hope that helps!
Staci says
I love this soup but it makes way to much for my family for three, if I were to cut the recipe in 1/2, would you still cook for the same amount of time? Thank you for a delicious recipe
Staci says
Apparently I already mentioned this and
Asked this question ?♀️?♀️?♀️?♀️ Let’s call this quarantine brain!
Courtney says
Haha!! No worries! I think we are all a little mixed up lately 🙂
Laura says
Hey if I used canned black beans how long would you cook it in the instant pot?? Thanks!
Tom says
Best soup I’ve ever tasted! I like spicy so I used three jalapeño peppers instead of the bells. Delicious!!!
Courtney says
I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed it! Adding jalapenos was a great choice!
Nannelle says
Can chicken or beef stick work?
Courtney says
Yes! You can use any stock you like.
Jyoti says
I've made this several times--love it!
Connie says
Good recipe for instapot. My beans were not cooked in 40 minutes. Had to add another 10 minutes. Great on a snowy day!
Courtney says
Hi Connie! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Did you let the pot do a natural release when the cook tie was up? I've made this recipe several times and I've never had that issue.
Joanne says
I’m eager to try this. What size pot did you use? I have an Ultra Mini (3 quarts) and I suspect I will need to half the recipe.
Courtney says
I have an 8 quart pot, sorry for not noting that! It comes close to the fill line as written, so I would try a third of the recipe.
Kristen says
This was delicious! About how long did you do natural release? I did about 40 minutes, but it seemed so long!
Courtney says
Thank you! I don't think it's even been more than around 10 minutes for me, but I also haven't made this one in a while. If it is taking too long just quick release and it should be just fine - the cooking time is long enough to soften the beans.
Anne M Turner says
no salt ?
Kathy Winters says
This was amazing! The only changes I made were to use smoked paprika, and added roasted jalapeños. I am definitely making this again!
Courtney says
Roasted jalapenos are a great addition! I'm so happy you enjoyed it.
Darla says
This was absolutely delicious! I will definitely make this again. Family enjoyed it as well. Thank you for sharing.
Courtney says
You are so welcome! I am so happy you enjoyed it!
Ellen says
I only have canned black beans on hand. Can this be modified to use them instead of dry? What’s the time difference if so? Thanks!
Courtney says
Hi Ellen, the recipe is written for dried beans. Adapting to cooked beans would change a lot of things, most importantly the volume of liquid used and the flavour. I have only made this with dried beans so I would suggest if you would like to try this to pick up some black beans, or look for another recipe that works with what you have.
Mallory says
I made this last night and I only had canned black beans as well. I used half the amount of liquid (4 cups of vegetable broth) and cooked for 20 minutes. It turned out perfectly!