Instant Pot No-Soak Black Bean Soup (With Alllll of The Toppings) Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Instant Pot

by: Ella Quittner

November11,2018

3.7

20 Ratings

Instant Pot No-Soak Black Bean Soup (With Alllll of The Toppings) Recipe on Food52 (1)

Prep time 5 minutes
Cook time 50 minutes
Serves 6 to 8

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Author Notes

Before I got a pressure cooker, I'd buy dried beans with the best of intentions, but ultimately, they'd sit on my countertop gathering dust as I continued to never, ever remember to soak them a day in advance. But when I got an Instant Pot—which is able to turn dried legumes, completely sans soak, into tender, creamy bites quickly—everything changed. Now, when I come home with a bag of dried black beans, the only thing I need to remember to do is press a button, and get my toppings line-up in A+ shape. —Ella Quittner

Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients

For the soup
2 tablespoonsolive oil
1 large red onion, diced, divided into about 2/3 for the soup, and 1/3 for the quick-pickled onions
4 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
1 teaspoonHungarian hot paprika
3 tablespoonstomato paste
3 tablespoonsred wine vinegar
2 cupscanned pureed tomato
4 cupsbroth (chicken or vegetable)
3 cupswater, room temp
1 pounddried black beans, not soaked
2 teaspoons(heaping) kosher salt, plus more to taste
¹/₂ teaspoonfreshly cracked pepper, plus more to taste

For the quick pickled onions and other garnishes
¹/₃ red onion, diced (from above)
¹/₂ cupred wine vinegar
¹/₄ cuphot (but not boiling) water, made by bringing water to boil, then taking it off heat for a few minutes
1 tablespoondark brown sugar
1 pinchsalt
Garnishes of your choice, like thinly sliced avocado, hot sauce, pepitas, chopped scallions, sour cream, and/or crumbled feta

Directions

Set your multi-cooker to sauté mode. Add the olive oil and, once it’s shimmering, add the onion and garlic. Sauté until the onion is translucent and fragrant, and just starting to get browned edges.
Move the vegetables to the sides of the pot, and add the paprika to the center. Let it cook in the oil for 30 seconds, then stir to mix with everything. Add the tomato paste, and stir to mix. Add the red wine vinegar, and use it to deglaze the pot (aka, scrape up any browned bits clinging to the bottom). Add the pureed tomato, vegetable broth, water, and beans. Stir. Set the multi-cooker to pressure cook mode on high for 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the quick pickled onions. In a medium bowl, combine the red wine vinegar, hot water, brown sugar, and salt. Stir to dissolve the sugar and salt. Add the onion, stir, and let sit until the soup is ready. Drain and use as a garnish. (These can be made up to two weeks in advance—just keep the onions covered in the vinegar mixture, in the refrigerator, until you’re ready to use.)
When the pressure cooking is complete, let the pressure release naturally for at least five minutes before utilizing the instant release function. Once the pressure is released, uncover and add the salt and pepper. Taste, and adjust seasoning accordingly.
Ladle the beans and broth into soup bowls, and garnish with pickled onions, and your other toppings (I like sliced avocado, pepitas, scallions, sour cream, crumbled feta, and hot sauce).

Tags:

Soup
Stew
American
Avocado
Feta
Garlic
Green Onion/Scallion
Onion
Sour Cream
Tomato
Olive Oil
Bean

See what other Food52ers are saying.

Anna
Lisa Margaret
Ella Quittner
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Alison

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17 Reviews

Alison January 12, 2022

While I love that I now know how to cook dried beans in my Instant Pot without needing to soak, this recipe was just ok. I LOADED it with toppings (sour cream, pickled red onion and jalapeno, pepitas, cilantro, green onion, and baguette) but it was still just lacked DEPTH of flavor.

Jay1 November 4, 2020

Yum! We love this! When I try a new recipe I usually follow it as written and tweak it later if desired. I am so glad I did that this time! I was tempted to not make the pickled onion, but it really creates a nice tangy balance. In addition to the onion, I used avocado, feta, Greek yogurt, sriracha, and fresh cilantro as toppings. We will definitely be eating this again ... soon!

EvaKatalin February 17, 2019

Delicious! I served it with sliced avocado, the yummy picked onions and a dollop of Greek yoghurt. I will probably add a handful of freshly chopped Italian parsley over the same today to use up leftovers. The beans were just the perfect texture.. not mushy, not underdone..just right:) and so fast!

Ella Q. February 17, 2019

So glad you enjoyed the recipe!

Dianne C. January 20, 2019

I really wanted to like this recipe. It was the first recipe I made in my new InstaPot. I just didn't like the heavy tomato flavor, but maybe someone else would love it.

Coblond January 11, 2019

I love almost every recipe from Food52, but my husband and I felt like we were eating a can of black beans. The kids, however, enjoyed it, and I do appreciate knowing how to cook beans quickly in the Instapot.