Instant Pot Black Bean Soup

Hearty yet healthy, just 5 ingredients and packed with 15g of fiber per serving — what more could you want from this easy Instant Pot black bean soup? Grab your favorite toppings and put this on the menu!

I’ve been leaning into beans hard lately. I’m trying to make sure my fiber intake is 30g or more a day and outside of gulping down psyllium husk (gag) and adding flaxseed to everything, beans are by far the easiest way to accomplish this.

Instead of being an accessory ingredient as they usually are in recipes, this black bean soup puts them front and center as the star. I’ve talked plenty about how to cook dry beans from scratch focusing on the stove-top method, but the Instant Pot is honestly my favorite way to do this.

It makes such quick work of dried beans and even though beans are an economical option no matter how you buy them, dried beans are stupidly cheap compared to canned. I’m usually team “soak”, but it’s not necessary in a soup recipe like this where you’re blending the beans anyways in the end.

Let’s Talk Ingredients

First things first, this is an overview of the main ingredients to make this recipe. For detailed measurements of each ingredient, see the printable recipe card below. If I had a nickel for every comment I get telling me there’s no measurements from people who don’t scroll down to see the recipe card, I’d be retired!

1. Black beans: Find dried black beans. The fresher, the better if you can find them. I like to use bulk bins in grocery stores vs. bagged beans on the shelf, but either will do.
2. Garlic: Fresh is best here. There are only 5 ingredients in this soup, using a fresh garlic cube is far superior in taste than jarred minced or garlic powder.
3. Onion: Combined with the garlic, this duo brings a good dose of flavor to the beans as they cook in the Instant Pot.
4. Water: You’ll need water to cook the beans in the Instant Pot and then again to make it into a soup once they’ve cooked.
5. Chicken base: This is the ultimate convenience hack to this black bean soup. Just a teaspoon brings all the flavor needed and almost all of us have some of this hanging out on our refrigerator shelf.

My Pro Tip

Use Your Favorite Chicken Base

Anything from Knorr, Better than Bouillon or Zoup! will work – use the one you like best. The ingredient quality in these bases isn’t always the best. Zoup!is the best one I’ve found and use.

Variations and Such

• Adding a chopped green pepper to the garlic and onion and creating a sofrito makes the soup even more flavorful if you have one on hand.
• For some added texture to the soup, don’t blend all the beans. Leave some whole and transfer to the pot with the blended batch when adding the chicken base.
• A bay leaf added to the Instant Pot can add some additional flavor without much extra effort.
• A lot of black bean soups use meat such as a ham hock, pork knuckle or bacon to cook with the beans. You can definitely do this for some added smoky flavor. We get a whole pig yearly and this is exactly how I use the ham hocks and pork knuckles!
• Keep it vegetarian by swapping out the chicken base/bouillon cube for a vegetarian option.
• Season generously! Dried beans cooked from scratch can handle (and need) a lot of seasoning. Since you can’t taste as you cook with Instant Pot, make sure to taste the soup after you blend it while it’s in the pot and adjust the salt and pepper as needed.
• You can swap out water as the cooking liquid for broth — chicken or vegetable. I’ll do this when I have broth in the fridge to use up.
• Toppings are what make this soup shine! I personally love tortilla strips or crushed up tortilla chips for crunch, pickled onions, a dollop of Greek yogurt and of course – cilantro, a non-negotiable in a recipe like this to brighten the flavors.

Black bean soup will never win any awards for best looking by any means, but it’s filling, cheap, healthy and a wonderful way to increase your fiber intake. Serve it as a stand alone vegetarian meal or pair a small bowl with something fitting like tacos, shredded beef or shrimp tostadas.

More Black Bean Recipes

Try these Italian black bean meatballs, brownies or cookies to enjoy other recipes where black beans shine in unusual ways.