This Instant Pot Great Northern Bean Soup is an easy bean soup recipe that doesn’t require soaking the beans. It's a creamy white bean soup that is made with simple ingredients: dried Great Northern Beans, broth, onions, garlic, and rosemary spring.
If you are on the hunt for Instant Pot Soup recipes, check out this Instant Pot Great Northern Bean Soup. It's the perfect hearty winter meal to help you stay warm and cozy. It's also extremely nutritious, as it’s high in fiber and protein. This soup will keep you feeling full all day long!
Instant Pot Great Northern Bean Soup without Flour:
This creamy white bean soup is made without flour or heavy cream. To make it creamy, I just used a hand blender to puree the beans. You can keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days because it's a dairy-free soup.
Instant Pot Great Northen Bean Soup Ingredients:
To make the most of this Instant Pot Great Northern Bean Soup, I served it with crispy bacon, used chicken broth, and some fresh chopped parsley.
For those of you that are vegetarians, you can easily change up the ingredients to turn this soup into a vegan creamy white beans soup by simply using 100% vegetable broth, then finishing the cooked white beans with parsley or any topping of your choice.
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Instant Pot Great Northern Bean Soup Health Benefits:
This pressure cooker great northern bean soup offers great health benefits!
Great northern beans are a low-calorie and low-fat and are also a cholesterol-free source of iron, dietary fiber, protein, and potassium.
They are an excellent source of low-fat and plant-based protein for vegetarians (and everyone else), and if eaten regularly can help lower cholesterol and regulate blood sugar levels.

Soaking Beans or No Soaking Before Cooking:
Even though Great Northern Beans (like most other white beans) offer a ton of health benefits, the beans can also cause abdominal discomfort or bloating in some people.
Soaking the beans can break down the complex sugars that can cause gas. This will also make them cook faster.
For this Instant Pot Great Northern Bean Soup, I just washed the dried beans and then started cooking them without soaking them beforehand.
If you decide to soak the beans before cooking follow these steps:
- First, wash the beans thoroughly.
- After that, put the beans into a large bowl and cover them with 2-3 inches of cold clean water.
- Set it aside at room temperature for 8 hours, or overnight.
How Long Does It Take to Cook Un-soaked Beans in Instant Pot:
Cooking un-soaked beans in an instant pot only require 35 minutes, and for soaked beans takes approximately 25 minutes.
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How to Store and Freeze Bean Soup:
Bean soups freeze well. The soup will last up to 3 days in the fridge or up to 1 month in the freezer. Just be sure to thaw it overnight in the fridge and cook over low heat to reheat the soup before using it.
Check out more Instant Pot Recipes: Instant Pot Congee with Chicken Instant Pot Barley Soup Instant Pot Lamb Stew Instant Pot Queso Dip
Instant Pot Great Northern Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Dried Great Northern Bean
- 32 oz broth
- 1 rosemary spring
- 1 medium onion, (chopped)
- 4 garlic cloves, (minced)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- black pepper
- 1 tsp salt, (add more according to your liking)
Optional Toppings:
- Crispy Bacon, (cook according to product packaging)
- Fresh Parsley , (chopped)
Instructions
- Turn the instant pot to "saute" and add olive oil. Cook chopped onion until translucent, then add garlic. Give it a quick stir for about 15 seconds. Press "keep warm or off".
- Add dried Great Northern Beans (soaked or un-soaked), rosemary spring and broth, then and set it to "manual" and adjust to "35 minutes" for un-soaked beans or "25 minutes" for soaked beans. Seal the instant pot and set the vent to sealing.
- Once it's done, allow the instant pot to naturally release until pressure subsides, or wait at least 20 minutes before doing a quick release.
- Open the lid and use a hand blender or high-speed blender to puree the beans.
- Season with salt and pepper as desired.
- Serve with crispy bacon and parsley (optional).
Candy
Received one of these pots as a gift. We like northern beans. Going Try this out
Laura Dove
Ooh what a gorgeous dish! It looks so warm and wholesome and definitely something I woudl enjoy at this time of year. I must try it!
Pam Wattenbarger
That looks so delicious! I am a fan of northern beans but hate all the soaking time. I can't wait to try this recipe.
Sarah Bailey
Now that looks like some good soup! I think this time of year is the perfect time of year for soup, it is really warming.
Amber Myers
Yum, this looks so good! I love soup when it is cold out. I must try this soon.
Brandy
I am glad that to have happened upon this, I need to start eating things like this to help with my diet changes. Now to buy an instant pot!
Dennis Littley
This soup looks wonderful and would be perfect for warming up on a cold winter day! The Instant Pot looks pretty handy.
Kathy
This soup looks delicious. I'm always on the look out for some new recipes for soup. This is the perfect time of year for soup since it's cooler out.
kita
I gave away my instant pot and that was the wrong move. Now I want it back lol. This looks so good I may try it in my crockpot
Gervin Khan
From the looks of it's creamy texture I can say that this is very delicious and tasty. Great recipe and ingredients you've put into this with a nice twist and very unique. Will definitely try this at home.
Tim B
I'm normally not much of a bean guy when it comes to what I eat. This recipe looks so good though in your pictures I really want to give it a taste! I'm going to absolutely make up a pot of Great Northern Bean Soup
Karen
Yes, I know beans are incredible for our health and high protein... but until this recipe you shared, I never was too excited to consume them! I will LOVE this soup with some crusty bread on a cold night this winter!
Beth
This looks so delicious! My son is a vegetarian and this looks like a great option for us. I'm going to pin this for easy reference.
Cherri Megasko
I'm a soup-a-holic, and this looks scrumptious! I haven't broken down and purchased an InstaPot yet, but I could still make this in my CrockPot.
Terri Steffes
This brought back such memories. My mother would make this bean soup for us a few times in the winter and we loved it! She made cheesy bacon cornbread with it. Oh my.
Lynndee
That looks good! I love soup and I always crave it during the cold months. Can't wait to try this.
Shannon Gurnee
I love our Instant Pot and am always on the lookout for new recipes! This one sounds fabulous! Thanks for sharing.
Stephanie Parrell
The perfect winter soup to warm you up on a cold day. The bacon is a nice touch!
Jennifer
This recipe is seriously AMAZING. I did not add bacon, but after pureeing the beans (i also added carrots to the onion in the first part of recipe) I addes torn kale leaves and diced tomatoes and green chilies. It was SO GOOD! I will be using this as my base for all creamy type soups from here on out; im thinking broccoli next. Maybe fire roasted corn and tomatoes? The possibilities are endless! Thanks again for such a great recipe!
Rika Livingston
Hi Jennifer, I am so glad that you loved this recipe! I love the idea of adding green chilies and roasted corn! Thanks so much for sharing your feedback!
Vickie
Can you use can beans for this recipe?
Rika Livingston
Hi Vickie,
I haven't tried cooking this recipe with canned beans. If you don't have any access to dried beans (white beans or great northern beans), you may use canned beans but you also need to make a few adjustments, like total cooking time, the amount of liquid, etc.
Please keep in mind that 1 pound of dried beans = 6.5 cups (about 2 pounds) of canned beans. Dried beans will absorb more water during cooking that canned beans, for that reason, you need to use less liquid. You can always add extra liquid if needed after pressure cooking. Also if you use cooked beans, there is no reason to cook this recipe for at least 30 minutes, i think 3-4 minutes would be enough. Please let me know how it goes.
Blanca
Very good recipe. Perfect and simple. Didn’t even use the bacon or parsley. Thank you.
Rika Livingston
Hi Blanca,
I am so glad that you liked this simple instant pot great northen beans soup recipe! And thanks for sharing your feedback!
Andrea V
So delicious and so simple to make! I didn't add the bacon or the parsley. I've already made it four times and I only found your recipe two weeks ago! Love it. Thank you!
Rika Livingston
I am so glad that you enjoyed this recipe! I truly appreciate your feedback. I'll be posting another instant pot recipe, creamy green peas soup soon! Stay tuned!
Mandy
Amazingly yummy! Hard to believe it only has such a small number of ingredients and is so easy!
Rika Livingston
Hi Mandy, Thanks for sharing your feedback and I am so glad that you loved this recipe!
Sharon
hello! looking to try this. How many servings does this yield?
Rika Livingston
Hi Sharon,
Thanks for pointing it out! It's about 4 servings.
LaMama
Great recipe. Made it today while sick. Wasn't in the mood for chic noodle. I had leeks and scallions and added some cumin cause I have a garlic allergy (rare but true). I made a whole bag of dried beans. Doubled the stock and cooked for 45min. Thank you so much. Very tasty!!!!
Rika Livingston
I hope you feel better soon LaMama! Thanks for sharing your feedback.
CMeltz
I just got an instant pot and wanted to experiment on dry beans. This was a super easy recipe. Loved the creaminess texture and the rosemary made it so flavorful!! I only regret not using the entire bag of beans.
Rika Livingston
I am so glad that you enjoyed this recipe! Be sure to check out more Instant pot recipes here https://poshjournal.com/?s=instant+pot and this high rated recipe https://poshjournal.com/instant-pot-beef-stroganoff
Julia
I made this tonight, and it was delicious! I didn’t have enough great northern beans, so I used pinto beans with them. I didn’t use the bacon, but I think that would be good.
Rika Livingston
Hi Julia,
Thanks for sharing your feedback! I am so glad that you liked this recipe!
Mariam
Great basic recipe! I didn’t have rosemary so I used some cumin and bay leaf instead and it tasted delicious. Some Asiago shaved on top and served with crusty rosemary olive oil bread and this is a winner!
Rika Livingston
Hi Mariam,
Thanks for sharing your feedback! I am so glad that you liked this recipe!
Daphne
Oh so good. I can’t get enough of it. Thanks for sharing.
Rika Livingston
Thanks for sharing your feedback, Daphne! I am glad that you enjoyed this Instant Pot Great Northern Bean Soup recipe!
Ruth
Great Northern Bean Soup was a winter staple for me when I was growing up. It had been years since I made it so wanted to make sure I got all the right ingredients. Came across your recipe and seen the ingredients included garlic, and my husband loves garlic...and it’s good for you. What the garlic does for this recipe is amazing! We love it!
Rika
Hi Ruth,
I agree with you, garlic always make everything tastes better and offers a ton of health benefits! I think some people may be surprised to see it as an ingredient in this, but it definitely works.
Thanks for taking a time to share your feedback on this Instant Pot Great Northern Bean Soup recipe! I am glad to hear that you liked this simple soup.
Best,
Rika