This easy Instant Pot Pinto Bean Soup is made with dried pinto beans that you don't have to soak overnight. An hour of pressure cooking transforms dried beans into a delicious soup that's ready to serve the same day!
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- So Many Ways to Enjoy and Repurpose for Meals. Served immediately after it's ready, this pressure-cooked Pinto Bean recipe makes a lovely soup. One that you can easily doctor up with a few choice garnishes like crumbly cheese and tortilla strips. If you refrigerate the leftovers you'll find that the beans finish soaking up the rest of the liquid, just a few mashes shy of refried beans. The leftovers can also be transformed into one epic bean dip.
- No Soaking Required. Yep, that's right, you can skip the soaking of your pintos, because the Instant Pot cooks them up perfectly - sans soaking.
- Hands-Off Cooking. Other than a few minutes in the beginning to throw everything into the Instant Pot and at the end to finish the soup, this recipe is mostly hands-off. This leaves you plenty of time to do other things, like making an accompanying side dish, like this Top Ramen Salad or this Cucumber Pico de Gallo.
- Adaptable. I like to shred the meat from the pork hock and add it back into the soup, but that's up to you. Usually, the leftovers are destined to become bean dip, so I'll sometimes portion out some of the beans before adding the meat back in. Also, feel free to bulk this soup up with fresh onions, carrots, celery, and fresh herbs.
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If you have an Instant Pot you'll never have to soak dried pinto beans overnight again! I love cooking with dried beans and this revelation has me floored because I don't always have the foresight to presoak.
I'm calling this recipe Instant Pot Pinto Bean Soup, but the leftover possibilities make this so much more. This is an EXCELLENT meal prep recipe. If I'm busting out my Instant Pot, I'm making a whole pound of dried beans, which means I'll have leftovers for days.
This is THE multi-purpose meal prepping recipe you need in your life if you like to get creative with leftovers.
If you love bean soups, you should also check out this black bean soup recipe. It uses canned black beans and comes together quickly and easily!
Ingredients
- Pinto beans - Grab a pound of dried pinto beans for this recipe.
- Chicken stock - You could also use beef stock instead, or swap in vegetable stock in you're wanting to keep this bean soup vegetarian.
- Olive oil - I find a drizzle helps reduce the amount of foam produced during cooking, preventing the pressure valve from clogging.
- Seasonings, including garlic powder, onion powder, and salt (to taste) - I kept the seasonings simple here to let the beans shine. That and the smoked pork hock adds a lot of flavor too (if using).
- Smoked pork hock - A smoked pork hock is literally the perfect thing for this soup! It adds smokiness and much-welcome savoriness. Plus, you can shred the cooked hock and add shredded pork to the soup if you want a heartier bowl.
Note: The resulting flavor of the soup will depend a lot on the flavor of the smoked pork hock used. I get mine from a local farmer who has the pork processed at a butcher shop - including smoking - so it arrives prepared. It infuses a robust smokiness that greatly flavors the pinto beans while they cook.
If you prepare this soup without a smoked pork hock, the resulting soup may need more seasonings. My suggestion is to consider adding smoked paprika to lend some smokiness.
Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for the full list of ingredients and the quantities you need.
If you love pinto beans, you've got to try making my refried bean dip and these easy refried beans!
How to Make Pinto Bean Soup in the Instant Pot
To get started, rinse the beans under cool running water and sort out any undesirable pieces. You will also want to grab your Instant Pot and an immersion blender.
- Step 1: Prep for cooking. Add the rinsed pinto beans, chicken stock, seasonings, and olive oil to your Instant Pot and stir together. Add the smoked pork hock.
- Step 2: Cook under pressure. Cook on High Pressure for 1 hour with the warming function on. Once the hour is up, let it sit another 45 minutes to an hour on warm so the pressure releases. You don't have to do this, but it helps prevent the beans from splitting (if you're hoping to have them intact).
- Step 3: Remove the ham hock. Open the Instant Pot once the pressure has subsided, and remove the pork hock. If you plan to add it back into the soup, let it cool down and then remove the skin, fat, and bones, and shred the meat. Or save it for another use.
- Step 4: Blend for a creamier soup. Use a stick blender to blend some of the beans. I do this for around 30 seconds or so, as I like the combination of blended and intact beans in my soup. Taste and feel free to adjust the seasonings to suit your tastes and add the shredded pork back into the soup. Serve immediately.
Tips for the BEST Pinto Bean Soup in the Instant Pot
As a general rule, you will want to use 8 cups of liquid per 1 pound of dried beans.
Because I used chicken stock with sodium in it plus a smoked pork hock, I found that additional salt was not necessary - wait until after cooking to add more salt (trust me on this!).
The inclusion of olive oil helps prevent the beans from frothing up while they cook, which can gunk up the pressure release valve.
The resulting flavor of this pinto bean soup depends on the flavor of the smoked pork hock used. I get mine from a local farmer who has the pork processed at a butcher shop - including smoking - so it arrives prepared.
If you prepare this soup without a smoked pork hock, the resulting soup may need more seasonings. My suggestion is to consider adding smoked paprika to lend some smokiness. I have not tried this recipe without using a smoked pork hock.
Serving Suggestions
This easy Pinto Bean Soup is the perfect canvas for a variety of garnishes.
- Cheese! Any kind really, but I love feta or cotija or a smoky gouda.
- Fresh herbs. Like parsley or cilantro.
- Tortilla chips, crushed. Or tortilla strips.
- Pico de gallo, hot sauce, or salsa.
- Sour cream.
Recipe FAQs
I have found that you will want to use 8 cups of liquid per 1 pound of dried beans in this soup recipe.
Yes, you can use water instead, but I advise against it because it's just so boring in this recipe. Broth helps infuse flavor into the beans as they cook and water doesn't really bring much to the party. If you're going to use water, at least toss in some Better Than Bullion to bring the umami.
Veggies like carrots, celery, and onion would make wonderful additions here and lend more flavor. I recommend adding 2 stalks of celery, 2 large carrots, and ½ a large yellow or white onion if you'd like to bulk this soup up with veggies. Or add in 1-2 large diced tomatoes or a 14.5-ounce can of diced tomatoes.
Store leftovers in a lidded container in the refrigerator for up to five days, or in the freezer for up to three months.
Note: This recipe used to include white pepper. After receiving several comments saying the white pepper was too much and threw off the balance of the soup, I chose to remove it. But if you'd like to include white pepper, start with 1 teaspoon and adjust from there.
More Instant Pot Recipes to Try
If you tried this Instant Pot Pinto Bean Soup recipe (or any other recipe on Midwexican), please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it turned out in the 📝 comments below!
Instant Pot Pinto Bean Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried pinto beans
- 8 cups chicken stock (or two 32 ounce boxes)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 smoked pork hock (2-3 pounds)
- salt (to taste)
Instructions
- Rinse beans under cool running water and sort out any undesirable pieces. Add rinsed beans to Instant Pot.1 pound dried pinto beans
- Add chicken stock, seasonings, and olive oil. Stir. Add smoked pork hock.8 cups chicken stock, 1 tablespoon olive oil , 1 tablespoon garlic powder, 1 tablespoon onion powder, 1 smoked pork hock
- Set the Instant Pot to cook on High Pressure for 1 hour and opt to keep the warming function on. The Instant Pot will take 15-20 minutes to get up to pressure.
- Once the hour is up, let sit another 45 minutes to an hour so you can do a natural release. You don't have to do this, but it helps prevent the beans from splitting (if you're hoping to have them intact).
- Open the Instant Pot once the pressure has subsided and remove the pork hock. If you plan to add it back into the soup, let cool, then remove the skin/fat/bones and shred the meat. Or save it for another use.
- For a creamier soup, use an immersion blender to blend some of the beans. I do this for around 30 seconds or so, as I like the combination of blended and intact beans in my soup. Taste and feel free to adjust the seasonings to suit your tastes.salt
- Add the shredded pork back into the soup (optional, but recommended).
- Serve immediately with garnishes of your choice.
Dani says
I loooove this recipe so much!! I followed Christina’s directions and it came out beautifully! Perhaps the person who struggled didn’t fully follow the recipe. Men, am I right?
Rich Schell says
This recipie, that does not include rinsing the cooked beans, but using the cooking water (broth), produces a bitter/burnt flavor from the skins.
Also, there was about a 1/3 too much liquid to make a creamy bean soup... even after mashing/blending the beans, it was way too watery.
Christina Koncker says
I have actually never heard of rinsing beans AFTER cooking; would love a source for your rationale here, as even Bon Appetit advocates for saving the bean broth: https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/primers/article/how-to-cook-with-beans?srsltid=AfmBOopOTSo2cn58iPLL8zjFHEb1mKqqo5VaLV2MNQ7zY2tOWUuNaSnw
I can't even fathom rinsing off all that good broth, especially after simmering in chicken stock with a smoked pork hock... all that flavor down the drain!? I'd need more information on where you deviated from the recipe to understand why there was too much liquid/ you got a bitter/burnt tasting result: did you include the smoked pork hock? did you use plain water instead of chicken broth? did you rinse the beans AFTER cooking, then add back 8 cups of a different liquid?
Laurie Martin says
Thanks for the tip about the oil!
Tino Marie says
Glad you found the oil tip useful 🙂
Diane Donato says
This is a nice fast way to make bean soup. I added and sautéed onions first in the Instapot and then followed the recipe. Next time I will add carrots and celery to the onions.
Tino Marie says
I LOVE these ideas! I'm going to try adding carrots and celery next time I make it.
K says
Hello,
I'm SO-O-O grateful for the little bits of EXTRA information you included - like the fact that the Instant Pot will take 15 - 20 minutes to warm up, PLUS the suggestion to let it sit about 45 minutes after it's done ... not to mention the fact that this is such a FABULOUS Soup!
THANK YOU !!
Michelle says
Hi there, thanks for the recipe. Unfortunately, I didn't notice until too late that you have an 8quart, not a 6 quart model. I believe most recipes online are for the standard 6-quart - do you have a suggestion on how to modify? I'm a little concerned at how full it is.
Tino Marie says
Hi, are you over the fill line? If so, I'd remove some of the liquid. You can always add more liquid to the soup after the beans have finished cooking. If you do proceed with it overfull, make sure you naturally release the pressure.
Stephanie Holiman says
I would like to try making this right now, but I don’t have a ham hock. What do you think about putting slices of bacon in there for the flavor?
Christina Koncker says
I think using bacon slices to achieve a smoky flavor would be a great idea! I cannot speak to the resulting texture, but I would assume the pieces will be chewy due to the high fat content in bacon. Chewy, but still edible :).