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A big bowl of Instant Pot Bean Soup is a simple, delicious, and affordable “whole meal” kind of dish. This vegetarian bean soup has an amazing and flavorful creamy broth paired with tons of veggies. You’ll find both Instant Pot and slow cooker instructions in the post.

a spoon in a bowl of vegetarian soup
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If you’re looking for a super-affordable and incredible vegetarian white bean soup, look no further. This is a pantry and fridge clean out meal that will be a hit with the whole family. As written, it is vegetarian and easily adaptable to be dairy-free.

Serve alongside Cheesy Garlic Bread, Homemade Pretzel Rolls, No-Knead Dutch Oven Bread, or Air Fryer Cornbread and you will be the most popular person in your house.

This comforting recipe, like our Creamy Instant Pot Tortellini Soup, Instant Pot Gnocchi Soup, Instant Pot Matzo Ball Soup, and Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings, is sure to become a family favorite.

What Kind of Beans To Use

I used canned cannellini beans (say that 3x fast), but white or Great Northern beans will work as well. Even though dried beans are bonkers affordable, canned beans won’t exactly break the bank. And you can’t beat the convenience factor!

If you’re using dried beans, you’ll need to cook them separately before cooking the soup. In the Instant Pot: 1.5 cups dried beans and 6 cups of water. Cook on manual>high pressure>20 minutes>15 minutes natural release.

Do not cook cannellini beans in the slow cooker as they are similar to kidney beans and need to be cooked under a hard boil for at least 10 minutes to render them safe.

2 photos showing how to make creamy bean soup in an Instant Pot

How Do You Thicken Instant Pot Bean Soup?

If you prefer the soup to be thicker, you have a few options. One, use an immersion blender to puree part of the soup while it is still in the pot. Easy!

The other option would be to combine 1 tbsp of cornstarch or arrowroot powder with 2 tbsp of cool water in a small bowl. Whisk well and stir into the soup. Cook until thickened, about 5 minutes.

Pro Tips/Recipe Notes

  • If you want to double the soup, the cook time remains the same. Make sure the ingredients don’t go above the max fill line and allow for a full natural release.
  • Make your meal prep for this soup even easier by learning how to freeze carrotshow to freeze celery, how to freeze potatoes, how to freeze garlic and how to freeze onions. Having them on hand in the freezer will cut 15+ minutes of prep time. If using frozen veggies, reduce the cooking time in the Instant Pot to 3 minutes.
  • This soup gets better after 24 hours and will thicken up. You can keep it in the fridge for up to four days or freeze for up to three months.
  • To make it dairy-free, sub in canned coconut milk, or cashew cream. You can find instructions on making cashew cream in this Chocolate Vegan Ice Cream recipe. Don’t worry, you won’t make chocolate soup. 🙂
  • Variations: add 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, a pinch of dried red pepper flakes, stir in some spinach or chopped kale at the end, add stewed tomatoes, shredded zucchini, or finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon.
  • Throw in some frozen spinachfrozen swiss chard, or frozen kale at the end of the cooking time for some added greens.
a black bowl with creamy white bean soup topped with parsley
a spoon lifting a bite of instant pot bean stew
5 from 2 ratings

Instant Pot Bean Soup {Vegetarian + Vegan options}

Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes
Pressurizing/Depressurizing: 25 minutes
Total: 45 minutes
a spoon in a bowl of vegetarian soup
A big bowl of Creamy White Bean Soup is a simple, delicious, and affordable "whole meal" kind of dish.

Ingredients 

  • 2 cans cannellini beans {drained} {15 oz each}
  • 2 ¼ cup vegetable stock
  • 4 cloves garlic {minced}
  • 1/2 cup white onion {diced}
  • 2 cups potatoes {cubed}
  • 2 cups carrots {peeled and chopped}
  • 1 cup celery {chopped}
  • 1/4 tsp dried thyme {or 1 tsp fresh}
  • 1 tsp dried parsley {or 1 tbsp fresh, chopped}
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions 

Instant Pot Instructions

  • Combineall ingredients in the Instant Pot except heavy cream
  • Lock the lid into place and set the steam release handle (valve on top) to “Sealing”. Press Manual>High Pressure>5 minutes. 
  • When the Instant Pot has finished cooking, it will beep and switch to ”keep warm". Allow it to sit with the lid on for 10 minutes and then do a manual release with the nozzle set to venting.
  • Stir in heavy cream. Salt and pepper to taste.

Slow Cooker Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker except for heavy cream
  • Cook on low for 5 hours, or high for 3.
  • When it has finished cooking, stir in heavy cream. Salt and pepper to taste.

Notes

Do not cook cannellini beans in the slow cooker as they are similar to kidney beans and need to be cooked under a hard boil for at least 10 minutes to render them safe.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cupCalories: 181kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 7gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 225mgPotassium: 173mgFiber: 7gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 5871IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 101mgIron: 3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Main Course, Soup
Cuisine: Fusion
Tried this recipe?Mention @sustainablecooks or tag #sustainablecooks!

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Helping you serve up budget-friendly sustainable recipes with a side of balanced living.
Come for the food. Stay for the snark.

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6 Comments

  1. This was such an easy and delicious recipe. Even my kids liked it and I have some picky eaters! It makes a lot more than I expected it too and I can’t wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow. I served it with warm buttered sourdough and it was perfect for sopping up any broth in the bottom of the bowl. I highly recommend giving this one a try. 5 stars

  2. Simple Creamy White Bean Soup is now a keep forever recipe in our household!
    Easy, affordable and delicious! I did add the smoked paprika, spinach and some red pepper flakes ( I made this in the IP twice, once without the additions and once with) and it was great!5 stars

  3. I have followed your blog for a number of years and admire your resourcefulness (I consider myself a Resource Queen). That, and I love your chickens. 

    My comment next is neither here nor there, and possibly more worthy of your Confessions posts. But here I go…I hate (mostly all) soups. I eat only Borscht (hot or cold) and my own Curry Chicken Noodle Soup. Every other soup to me is “flavored water” and not worth my effort. Even when I was a working mom with two over-scheduled children I *never* made soup; it was just as effortless to roast vegetables, toast bread, and put the whole mess on the table with various salts and hot sauces and occasionally a grated hard cheese. 

    This is not a criticism at all, just curiosity. How did you and your family come to love “flavored water?”  ????

    1. The chickens say hi. 🙂

      I grew up with two disabled parents who had zero desire to feed my sister and me lunch during weekends or school breaks. And thus, an EPIC amount of canned soup and chili was purchased and stored in our garage. From the time I was (probably) 6 or 7, I could simply heat up my own can of soup for lunch.

      So, it was a constant meal in my life, and probably the first time I felt like I was making something in the kitchen. Perhaps my soup love started as nostalgia?

      But, as an adult, I LOVE that I can get an epic amount of veggies into a meal without “just” serving veggies. I love that it tastes better the next day, and I love that it makes delicious leftovers. Troy doesn’t think soup is an entire meal, but will happily eat anything I cook. The boys are more selective about which soups they enjoy, but I refuse to make multiple meals, so they eat what they are served.

      If you’re against watery soups, try something that has a creamy broth (like this bean soup) or a gnocchi soup. It feels more filling and more like a stew.