This is a reprint of a recipe I posted last February. I lost it in my blog migration, but I didn't realize it was missing until last week. Whoops. Here it is again, to get it back on the blog.
A commenter was giving me a hard time…and I deserved it. In my pressure cooker french lentil recipe, I talk about “vegetarian once a week”4 - and then recommend using chicken stock in the soup. As he said: “I love the recipe, but that’s not vegetarian.”5
So, I set out to make a truly vegetarian bean soup. It was hard. I had to fight the urge to throw a ham hock in there to add some smoky flavor. I went with chili powder instead.6
What makes me think “vegetarian soup”? Multi bean soup, of course. If I’m cooking vegetarian, I want all the beans. Now, I wanted to call this “15 bean soup®”, but I can’t. That name is a registered trademark of the Hurst Beans company, and I don’t want to face the lawyers.
Now, why would they register a trademark for bean soup? Because it’s such a good idea. Take a bunch of different sizes of leftover beans, mix them together, and there it is - soup. Tiny beans, like peas and lentils, dissolve and thicken the broth; large beans are creamy and tender, giving the soup some chew. The result is a hearty soup, perfect for the depths of February.
There are so many bean mixes out there. 13, 14, 15 beans; whatever it takes. I usually get lucky 13 - Bob’s Red Mill 13 bean soup mix is stocked at my local Acme grocery store. You can even make your own mix; it’s a great way to use up any leftover beans. (Or you can do it in the bulk section of your grocery store, if you have the patience to bag small amounts of lots of beans. I’d get at least seven beans in a range of sizes.)
Recipe: Pressure Cooker Bean Mix Soup
Equipment
- 6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I love my Instant Pot Electric PC)
Pressure Cooker Bean Mix Soup
- Total Time: 8 hours 50 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 1x
Description
Pressure cooker bean mix soup recipe. 13, 14, 15 beans...whatever it takes.
Ingredients
Soaked beans
- 20 ounces dried bean mix, sorted and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 quarts water
Soup ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, cut into small dice
- 1 carrot, peeled and diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 6 cups water
- 1 (15 ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- Salt to taste (2 teaspoons more kosher salt?)
Instructions
- Soak the beans: Soak the beans overnight: Sort the bean mix, removing broken beans, stones, or dirt clods. Rinse the beans and put them in a large container with the salt. Cover with 2 quarts water. Let the beans soak for at least 8 hours, or overnight.
- Saute the aromatics: Heat the oil in the pressure cooker pot over medium-high heat until shimmering, about 3 minutes. Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and ½ teaspoon salt. Saute until the onions are softened and browning around the edges, about 8 minutes. Stir in the chili powder and the coriander, and saute for one minute to toast the spices.
- Pressure cook the beans: Drain and rinse the beans. Pour the beans into the pressure cooker. Stir in the water, tomatoes, and bay leaves. Lock the lid on the pressure cooker, and cook at high pressure for 18 minutes in an electric PC, or 15 minutes in a stovetop PC. Turn off the heat and let the pressure release naturally, about 20 minutes. Remove the lid carefully, opening away from you - even when it’s not under pressure, the steam in the cooker is very hot.
- Thicken, season, and serve Fish out the bay leaves and discard. Puree 2 cups of beans and liquid - I use a 4 cup measure and my stick blender - and stir back into the pot. Taste the soup and add salt until the soup tastes sweet and full bodied, and you can just feel the taste of salt on the tip of your tongue. (I added 2 teaspoons of kosher salt to get the taste I wanted.) Serve.
- Prep Time: 8 hours
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Vegetarian
Notes
- Sorting the bean mix is a pain - with all the different types of beans, it’s tough to find dirt clods and stones. That doesn’t mean you should skip it, though.
- Want to go full carnivore? Replace half the water with homemade chicken stock, and add a ham hock to the beans for added smoky goodness. Take it out after cooking, let it cool, and shred it. Discard the bones, gristle, and fat, and stir the meat back into the pot.
- Forgot to soak? Increase the cooking time to 35 minutes at high pressure in a stovetop PC, 45 minutes in an electric PC. (Yes, it takes a long time to cook the larger beans.) Let the pressure come down naturally. Don’t try a quick soak; I did that once - once - and it turned the smaller peas and lentils in the mix into mush. An overnight soak is the way to go.
- Please, do not forget to season to taste at the end! Soup tastes bland and flat without added salt. Don’t worry if it seems like a lot of salt - you’re still adding a lot less salt than you’d get in canned beans.
What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts
Pressure Cooker Senate Bean Soup
Pressure Cooker Pasta and Bean Soup (Pasta Fazool)
Pressure Cooker Lentil and Hambone Soup
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Leila says
Delicious and a new favorite to all in our house. I love how easy it is to make. We’re vegans and appreciate this recipe. I make it with vegetable broth in place of the water.
★★★★★
inna kotova says
Thank you so much for the recipe. I made it with beef and it came out soooo delicious. I will try more of your recepies.
★★★★★
GINGER says
This recipe was quite easy to follow, quick, and delicious!
★★★★★
Andrea says
My kids and I really enjoyed this soup. Followed the directions exactly except added extra carrots and celery and some beef bouillon. Delicious!
Gemma Meloni says
Looks great.
RL Thomson says
I have an allergy to meat/shellfish/anything that was once able to eat anything else. So I'm vegetarian all the time. I use an onion soup mix for the base. Lots of flavor (more salt than I need). I even use it for Potato-Leek soup. It's easy and tasty.
Jill says
When do you add the cooked vegetables to the pot?
Mike V says
I'm not sure I understand the question. I think the answer is: you cook them in the pot, and leave them there - they never come out. Is that what you're asking?
Jill says
Sorry, I read through the instructions too quickly. I didn't see you cook the vegetables in the pot. (I am used to cooking them on the stove.) You can remove my question. Thanks!! 🙂
Alan says
Tasty. Added veg broth and some bread crumbs at the end and it got thicklicious.
Cindy says
Delicious! Thank you for this great pressure cooker soup recipe! I used veggie broth instead of water, and left out the salt and oil, for my plant based diet. Please keep trying "vegetarian once a week" your heart will love you and I'll love the recipes!
Rhonda Coleman says
Full. On. Carnivore! 2 medium size ham-hocks. Sautéed the aromatics in a mix of olive oil and pork lard (Epic Berkshire Pork Lard). I used water, beef, and vegetable broth. No canned tomatoes so subbed in some cherry tomatoes that needed using. No overnight soak, cooked on "soup" for 45 minutes. It's cooling down now - going to take the meat out, shred & replace. Serve with homemade corn bread. Nom. Nom. Nom.
★★★★★
carol says
Going to try this soup tonight. Love to see the comment about
using the BERKSHIRE PORK LARD. My parents use to raise purebred
berkshire pigs for a living back in the 1950's. My Father was
on the Pork Producers Board and worked hard to get less fat on the meat and improve the outcome of the meat. Now they use it in restaurants all over.
My parents would have loved seeing the use of this meat now!!!
Chris says
So good, substituted water with pressure cooker veg stock and switched in paprika instead of chilli powder.
A perfect flu recovery meal.
Will definitely make again, thanks!
★★★★
sharon says
When I make my French lentil soup at the monastery, I use low sodium vegetable broth, vegan Bac'ums and a drop or 2 of liquid smoke. I also use the vegan Bac'ums for my clam chowder on Fridays, for fish Friday. Just a thought.
Rita says
Love bean soup! Thanks for posting it again.
As a substitute for the water, there are lots of recipes out there for vegetable broth/stock that can be made in a pressure cooker; it can be found in cartons at the supermarket and Better Than Bouillon makes a good vegetable base (lots of caramelized vegetables), if you are so inclined. With a good broth base, you might not even miss the meat. I know, that's a stretch. 🙂