Delicious winter vegetables and hearty white Canary Beans come together for this satisfying Instapot Plant-Based Winter Vegetable Bean Soup. A quick oil-free sauté with dried spices creates the base for a flavorful vegetable broth. The Instapot Pressure Cooker makes easy work to finish the cooking, but you can also make this healthy vegan recipe on the stovetop or in a Slow Cooker.
What is an Instapot?
The name Instapot refers to an electric pressure cooker. Pressure cooking speeds up the cooking process so that things that used to take a long time to cook (like dried beans, rice, braises, stews), now cook “instantly”. Most modern-day Instapots are multi-functional: they’ll include various settings for Steam, Broth, Slow Cooking, and more.
How can I use an Instapot for Plant-Based Cooking?
Instapots are incredibly helpful for plant-based recipes. You can use it for cooking everything from steel cut oats to Chipotle black beans. It also works great for steaming rice or making a quick low-sodium vegetable broth. You can even use it like a Slow Cooker for a delicious Cabbage Bean Soup. The user manual that comes with your Instapot has tons of other ideas for how to use this handy kitchen gadget.
Chef Katie’s Cooking Tips:
No Instapot? If you don’t have an Instapot, you can cook this in a regular pot, right on the stove. Follow the same steps, sautéing the vegetables first, then adding in the canned tomatoes and beans later. Simmer until the beans are tender, anywhere from 45-90 minutes, depending on the freshness of the beans.
Short on Time? Don’t have time to cook raw beans? Use canned! Simply substitute the raw beans for 1 can of Cannellini, Navy, or Red Kidney beans. You can even use a hearty whole grain like farro or barley instead.
Canary Bean Substitutions: If you can’t find dried Canary Beans, you can substitute with another dried white bean. Cannellini, Navy, or Great Northern would be my first choices.
Adapt to Your Taste: Use the vegetables to adjust the flavor to your taste. Adding more carrot will highlight the sweetness, while the turnip adds a spicy kick. You can use other greens besides chard — spinach, collards, and cabbage all add different levels of sweetness and different textures.
Instapot Hearty Winter Vegetable Bean Soup
- Easy
- Servings: 4
- Ready In: 50 minutes (plus soaking beans)
- Yield: 10 cups soup
Instapot Hearty Winter Vegetable Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry Canary Beans soaked overnight*
- 1 Carrot
- 1 Turnip
- 3 stalks Celery
- 1 teaspoon dried Basil
- 1 teaspoon dried Thyme
- 1 bunch Red or Green Chard
- 1 15-ounce can Diced Tomatoes
- 1 bay leaf
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
To Soak the Beans
- Cover the beans with 2-3 inches of water. Soak overnight, or at least 6 hours, in the refrigerator. You can skip this step if you’re using canned or pre-cooked beans.
- Alternatively, you can "quick soak" the beans. Place the beans in a medium pot and cover with 1 inch of water. Put the lid on and bring to a boil. Let simmer 1 minute. Turn off the heat and let soak for 10 more minutes, in the hot water. Drain, rinse, and use in the recipe as directed.
To make the Winter Vegetable Soup:
- Select the Sauté setting on your Instapot. While the Instapot heats up, peel and dice the carrot and turnip. Trim and chop the celery into bite-sized pieces. Add the diced vegetables to the Instapot. Stir immediately to prevent sticking. Sauté for 5 minutes, until golden brown, stirring off to ensure even cooking.
- While the vegetables sauté, use your hands to strip the Red Chard leaves off of the stalks. Set the leaves aside for later. Trim the stalks and chop into bite-sized pieces, like you did with the celery. Once the vegetables have sautéed, add the dried basil, thyme, and chopped chard stalks. Sauté another 1-2 minutes, just until the spices become aromatic.
- To finish cooking the soup: Drain and rinse the soaked Canary Beans. If using canned beans, drain and rinse. Add the beans, the canned tomatoes (and their juices), the bay leaf, and 6 cups of water to the Instapot. Secure the lid on the Instapot. Change the setting from Saute to “Bean/Chili – Normal”. The timer should automatically set for 30 minutes but follow your model’s guide for cooking beans.
- To finish the soup: Roughly chop the reserved Chard leaves. Once the timer is finished, carefully vent the steam from the Instapot. If you’re not around, the Instapot will automatically do this and change to a “Keep Warm” setting. A few minutes before you’re ready to eat, remove the lid. Stir in the chopped chard leaves, along with the salt and pepper.
- Serve and Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/4 of a recipe (about 2 ½ cups of soup)
Calories 229.74
Calories From Fat (3%) 7.79
% Daily Value
- Total Fat 0.93g 1%
- Saturated Fat 0.19g <1%
- Cholesterol 0mg 0%
- Sodium 428.44mg 18%
- Potassium 1552.16mg 44%
- Total Carbohydrates 44.08g 15%
- Fiber 11.84g 47%
- Sugar 8.64g
- Protein 14.86g 30%
- Calcium 29.31mg 3%
- Iron 205.25mg 1140%
- Vitamin A 5667.65IU 113%
- Vitamin C 5428.48mg 9047%
Shopping and Gear List
- Goya Canary Beans 16oz | Frijoles Canarios
- Simply Organic Bay Leaf Certified Organic
- Simply Organic Thyme Leaf Whole Certified Organic
- Edward & Sons Not-Chick’n Bouillon Cubes
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