How to Make Incredible Black Bean Soup in an Instant Pot
If you’re craving rich, slow-simmered flavor without spending all day at the stove, this Instant Pot Bolognese Sauce recipe is for you. I’ve taken the soul of the classic Italian meat sauce—built on layers of sautéed vegetables, browned meat, tomato, wine, and milk—and adapted it for the pressure cooker.
The result?
Deep, savory flavor in a fraction of the time. This sauce clings beautifully to pasta, fills a lasagna with boldness, and makes your kitchen smell like an Italian grandmother just moved in.
I’ve grown to love how the Instant Pot transforms everyday ingredients into something truly comforting. If you’ve already tried my Instant Pot Black Bean Soup, you know I’m all about flavor-forward, time-saving meals that don’t cut corners. This Bolognese is no different—it’s hearty, satisfying, and weeknight-friendly.
In this post, I’ll walk you through each step of the recipe, share tips on choosing the right meat, and offer some ideas for how to serve and store the sauce. Whether you’re feeding a crowd or stocking your freezer, this Instant Pot Bolognese will quickly become a staple in your kitchen—just like it has in mine. Let’s get that sauce simmering (under pressure, of course).
My First Instant Pot
For Christmas, I received my very first Instant Pot, the most popular holiday cooking gadget, as reported by Amazon. This amazing multi-cooker is part sauté pan, slow cooker, ricer, steamer, yogurt maker, and most importantly, a pressure cooker
The first thing I prepared after receiving it was hard-boiled eggs. I was a little skeptical that I could prepare six perfectly cooked and easy-to-peel eggs in six minutes, but it was true.
Now it does take a little longer than 6 minutes. You have to let the pressure cooker get up to steam, which can take a few minutes, and then you have to let the steam out at the end, which also takes a couple of minutes, but the results are worth it.
Black Bean Soup
In the past, I made my black bean soup using canned beans and was very happy with the results. Rarely did I start with dried beans, which some say needed to be soaked overnight and then cooked.
Some say you just need to give them a quick soak before cooking, and others say you don’t have to soak them at all but just cook the beans 15 minutes longer.
I’m not sure who is right, but for these Instant Pot Black Beans, I soaked them overnight before pressure cooking them for 7 minutes. That’s right, just 7 minutes of pressure cooking.
Healthier Black Beans
Control over the ingredients is more important to me than how long it takes to prepare this soup. Using dried beans instead of canned beans let me control how much salt went into the soup.
After having bypass surgery last year, I’m much more attentive to salt levels and other health factors in my cooking, so it’s nice to know exactly what I’m putting into a dish.
A Simple Black Bean Soup Recipe
I’m guessing there are scads of black bean soup recipes out there depending on country of origin and nationality, and I hope to try many of them with my new 7-minute soup maker. This one is about as basic as you can find.
Although I used a recipe from the book that came with the Instant Pot, I made a couple of changes to fit my personal tastes. Also, from what I’ve been reading about InstaPots, most recipes, especially soup recipes, can be adapted to work with this machine.
One of the ingredients I added to my black bean soup is Sazón from Goya. Sazón is a seasoning popular in Mexican and Spanish cooking that typically contains cilantro, achiote, garlic, and salt.
Goya does have a no-salt variety called Sazón Natural & Complete or you can make your own.
Homemade Sazón Seasoning
- 1 tablespoon powdered garlic
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander seed
- 1 tablespoon toasted cumin seed, ground
- 1 tablespoon toasted whole black peppercorns, ground
- 1 tablespoon oregano, crumbled
- 1 tablespoon achiote (annatto) seeds
- 1 tablespoon salt
Combine all the ingredients and store them in an airtight container. You only need about 1 1/2 teaspoons of this Sazón mixture to equal one of those little packets from Goya.
Now that I’m reading about Sazón from Goya and its ingredients after the fact, I may not have made the healthiest heart choice but I don’t think 1 1/2 teaspoons is going to make that much difference, and it does add some nice flavor.
Instant Pot Black Bean Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups dry black beans
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion yellow, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 1 packet Sazón or 1 1/2 teaspoons of homemade
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth
- sour cream or plain yogurt for topping at the end
Instructions
- Soak the beans overnight if you prepare them in the morning, or let them sit all day until you are ready to prepare the soup. You can also soak them overnight, drain them, and store them in the refrigerator until you cook them the same day.
- Using the sauté function on the Instant Pot, heat the oil until hot. Add the chopped onion and sauté for a couple of minutes and then add the garlic. Be sure to keep stirring, so the garlic doesn't burn. If you need a little more oil, add some.I have read that some people like to do the sauté part of their Instant Pot meals in a pan over the stove and then add it to the Instant Pot. Of course, it defeats the purpose of getting this machine, but I can see where they are coming from. I think you have more control of the heat in a pan over the stove than in the Instant Pot, especially if you are cooking with gas.
- Add the drained beans, broth, bay leaves, and Sazón. Stir to combine.
- With the Instant Pot plugged in and ready to go, put the cover on the machine, lock it into place and select the Soup/Broth button. Set the cooking time for 7 minutes.
- You will see the machine say ON, but it will take 5 to 8 minutes for the pressure to build up and the pressure valve to seat itself in the closed position. So once the pressure value is set, the timer will show 7 minutes and start counting down.
- When the 7 minutes are up, you'll hear a beep letting you know the soup is down. First thing you do is hit the CANCEL button to turn off the Instant Pot.
- It's then time to release the pressure from the Instant Pot, and you have three choices, but we're only going to discuss the one they call "natural" release. After that, there is nothing to do. The food continues to cook using the "residual heat and steam," but without the heating element on, the steam subsides, the pressure reduces, and the pressure release valve drops and opens.
- Once the pressure release valve drops, the lid will unlock, and you can remove the cover from the pot. It's essential when removing the cover from the Instant Pot, you do so by tilting the cover away from you to prevent getting burned from any steam left in the pot.
- Carefully remove the bay leaves with a pair of tongs.
- Using an immersion blender, ricer, or potato masher, mash the beans to your desired consistency. You could also transfer the soup to a standard blender and puree the soup that way too.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Add a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt for an extra layer of flavor; it looks terrific when serving.
One Response
Stephen, this is a super fast recipe. Loved it! Going to try it this weekend. Thanks for sharing it.