Easy Instant Pot Navy Bean Soup with Ham: A Hearty & Quick Comfort Food Recipe

There’s nothing quite like a warm bowl of hearty soup to chase away the chill, and this Instant Pot Navy Bean Soup with Ham is the epitome of comfort food. It’s a wonderfully affordable and incredibly satisfying meal, perfect for those cooler days or any time you crave a wholesome, flavorful dish. This recipe puts the humble navy bean in the spotlight, combining it with an array of fresh vegetables, aromatic herbs, and savory ham to create a rich, deeply satisfying broth.

What makes this particular recipe stand out is its clever use of ingredients and efficient cooking method. Forget the need for a ham shank or leftover ham bone; we’re using readily available ham steaks, which cut down on prep time significantly. Even better, this recipe starts with canned navy beans, eliminating the lengthy soaking process usually associated with dried beans. This means you can whip up a delicious, homemade bean soup in a fraction of the time, making it ideal for busy weeknights. While designed for the Instant Pot to maximize speed and convenience, we’ve also included stovetop directions for those who prefer traditional cooking methods.

This robust bean soup is crafted with ingredients that are easy to keep stocked in your pantry, ensuring a delicious meal is always within reach. When you’re at the grocery store, you might notice that economical navy beans are sometimes labeled as “small white beans.” They are indeed the same versatile legume. But have you ever wondered about their distinctive name, as my husband once did?

The answer lies in American history: the U.S. Navy has served this small, tender bean as a dietary staple since the mid-1800s. Its affordability, high nutritional value, and ability to be stored for long periods made it an ideal food for sailors. This rich history also explains why navy bean soup is commonly known as Senate Bean Soup, a beloved fixture in the Senate cafeteria since the early 1900s. This soup isn’t just a meal; it’s a taste of tradition, brought to your table with modern convenience.

Beyond its historical significance, this soup offers a perfect blend of flavor, nutrition, and ease. It’s a fantastic way to enjoy a wholesome meal without spending hours in the kitchen, making it a go-to for busy families and meal prep enthusiasts alike. The combination of tender beans, savory ham, and fresh vegetables simmered in a rich broth creates a deeply satisfying experience that feels both comforting and surprisingly gourmet.

Why You’ll Love This Instant Pot Navy Bean Soup

This Instant Pot Navy Bean Soup with Ham isn’t just another recipe; it’s a culinary solution for delicious, effortless meals. Here’s why it’s sure to become a new favorite in your kitchen:

• It’s a Hearty Classic Soup: This soup delivers rich, deep flavors that truly satisfy. It’s packed with protein from the beans and ham, and fiber from the vegetables, making it a complete and nourishing meal. The robust taste is both familiar and comforting, reminiscent of traditional homemade soups that warm you from the inside out.
• It’s Freezable for Future Meals or Leftovers: Planning ahead is easy with this soup. It freezes beautifully, allowing you to prepare a large batch and store individual portions for quick lunches or dinners on busy days. This makes it an excellent choice for meal prepping, ensuring you always have a healthy, homemade option readily available.
• Simple, Accessible Ingredients: You won’t need to hunt down exotic items for this recipe. All the ingredients – canned navy beans, ham steak, common vegetables, and basic herbs – are easily found at any local grocery store. Many are likely already in your pantry, simplifying your shopping list and making this an economical choice.
• Versatile Cooking: Instant Pot or Stovetop Options: Whether you prefer the speed and hands-off convenience of an Instant Pot or the traditional simmering of a stovetop method, this recipe caters to both. The Instant Pot drastically reduces cooking time, making it perfect for last-minute meals, while the stovetop method offers a classic, gentle simmer that develops flavors beautifully.

If you enjoy the wholesome goodness of bean soups, be sure to also try this delightful creamy black bean pumpkin soup. It’s another super easy and utterly delicious option for your soup rotation.

Essential Recipe Ingredients

Crafting a delicious navy bean soup begins with selecting quality ingredients. This recipe focuses on fresh, readily available items that contribute to a complex and satisfying flavor profile. Here’s a closer look at what you’ll need and why each component is vital:

• Canned Navy Beans: Using canned beans is the secret to making this soup incredibly quick and easy, as it eliminates the need for presoaking and long simmering times associated with dried beans. These small white beans are tender and creamy, absorbing flavors beautifully. Always remember to rinse and drain them thoroughly before use to remove excess sodium and improve their texture. At the market, they might also be labeled as small white beans.
• Onions: A fundamental building block of flavor in countless savory dishes, onions add an important depth and subtle sweetness to the soup. Yellow, brown, or sweet onions are all excellent choices, each contributing a slightly different nuance. Avoid red onions, however, as their color can tint the broth undesirably. They form a crucial part of the aromatic base known as mirepoix.
• Carrots: These vibrant root vegetables bring natural sweetness, a pleasant color, and a satisfying texture to the soup. Carrots are rich in vitamins and essential for creating a balanced flavor base. It’s truly hard to imagine cooking many savory dishes without them.
• Celery: Offering a distinct, refreshing flavor and a tender crunch, celery is another key component of the classic aromatic trio (mirepoix in French, soffritto in Italian). It contributes a savory depth that is essential for a well-rounded soup.
• Fennel Bulb: This is a slightly unexpected but delightful addition that elevates the soup’s flavor profile. Fennel boasts a delicate, lightly licorice-like taste that pairs wonderfully with ham and complements the other vegetables. If you’re new to preparing fennel, don’t be intimidated; it’s quite simple to cut. This post offers guidance on how to prepare a fennel bulb, but generally, you’ll trim the stalks, halve it, remove the core, and then slice or dice.
• Ham Steak: For convenience and rich flavor, ham steak is an ideal choice, bypassing the need for a ham shank or a leftover ham bone. You can typically find ham steak near the packaged bacon in the refrigerated deli section of your market, or simply ask your butcher. Look for pieces that are about ½” thick for best results. Dicing it into small pieces ensures flavor in every spoonful.
• Chicken Broth: The foundation of our soup’s liquid base. Opt for low-sodium chicken broth, or better yet, use homemade broth to control the overall salt content. Since ham steak can be quite salty, monitoring your broth’s sodium level is crucial for a perfectly seasoned soup.
• Thyme: Fresh thyme sprigs impart an earthy, herbaceous aroma and flavor that marries beautifully with the beans and ham. If fresh thyme isn’t available, you can substitute with dried thyme or even a dried Italian seasoning blend, using a smaller quantity as dried herbs are more concentrated.
• Bay Leaf: Often overlooked, a bay leaf provides a subtle yet essential background depth of flavor. It contributes to the overall richness and complexity of the soup, making it a must-have for all sorts of soups, stews, and broths. Remember to remove it before serving.

See the full recipe card below for precise measurements and a complete list of ingredients. Choosing fresh, quality ingredients will make all the difference in the final taste of your Instant Pot Navy Bean Soup.

Substitutions and Creative Variations

This Instant Pot Navy Bean Soup is wonderfully adaptable, allowing you to customize it based on what you have on hand or your dietary preferences. Feel free to experiment with these suggestions:

• Ham Substitutes: If a ham steak isn’t available, you have several delicious alternatives. Diced pancetta (Italian un-smoked bacon) offers a rich, salty flavor and a slightly chewy texture. Thick-cut bacon, chopped into pieces and rendered, can also provide a similar smoky, savory base. For a healthier option or if avoiding pork, smoked turkey sausage or even smoked chicken can be diced and added.
• Alternative Beans: While navy beans are classic, you can easily swap them for other white beans. Great Northern beans are slightly larger and have a similar creamy texture, while cannellini beans (white kidney beans) are even larger and provide a firmer bite. Both will work beautifully in this recipe, offering a slightly different mouthfeel while maintaining the soup’s comforting quality.
• Vegan or Vegetarian Adaptation: To transform this into a delicious vegan or vegetarian navy bean soup, simply omit the ham entirely and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. For added depth of flavor, consider incorporating smoked paprika or liquid smoke to mimic the savory notes of ham. Nutritional yeast can also add a cheesy, umami richness without dairy.
• Add a Touch of Spice: For those who enjoy a little heat, a pinch or two of red pepper flakes can be stirred in with the garlic and herbs. Start with a small amount and add more to taste, creating a subtle warmth that enhances the other flavors without overwhelming them.
• Creamier Consistency: If you prefer a thicker, creamier navy bean soup, try pureeing one or two cans of the rinsed beans with a cup or two of the broth *before* adding them to the Instant Pot. This will create a velvety texture while still leaving plenty of whole beans for satisfying bites.
• Enhance with Red Peppers: For a burst of color and a sweet, slightly tangy flavor, chop one red bell pepper and add it along with the carrots. Red peppers are not only visually appealing but also contribute vitamins and a lovely complexity to the broth.

If you’re a fan of pancetta and classic Italian flavors, you might also enjoy this hearty Ribollita soup from Tuscany, a robust vegetable and bread soup that’s both economical and flavorful. Customizing your soup allows for endless culinary creativity!

Instant Pot Cooking Instructions

Making this hearty navy bean soup in your Instant Pot is incredibly straightforward and efficient. The key to a delicious result is getting your prep work done efficiently. Start by chopping all your vegetables and the ham steak into approximately ¼-inch pieces. Uniform size ensures even cooking and a pleasing texture throughout the soup. Once everything is prepped, your Instant Pot (or other electric pressure cooker) will work its magic with minimal effort from you.

Note for Instant Pot Users: It typically takes about 15 minutes for the Instant Pot to build enough pressure before the actual cooking cycle begins. This “preheating” time is normal and allows the internal temperature and pressure to reach the desired level for efficient cooking. Factor this into your total meal preparation time.

Classic Stovetop Instructions

Don’t have an Instant Pot? No problem! This delicious navy bean soup can easily be made on the stovetop, allowing the flavors to meld beautifully over a gentle simmer. Here’s how to prepare it using traditional methods:

First, gather all your chopped vegetables (onion, celery, fennel, carrots) and minced garlic. In a heavy-bottomed pot, such as a Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and fennel, and sauté them gently until they begin to soften and become fragrant, usually about 8-10 minutes. Next, stir in the garlic, cooking for another minute until aromatic, being careful not to burn it.

Once your aromatic base is established, add the chopped ham, rinsed and drained navy beans, chicken broth, fresh thyme, and bay leaf to the pot. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pot with a lid, and let it simmer. Allow the soup to cook for at least 20-30 minutes, or even longer, until the flavors have thoroughly blended and the soup is piping hot throughout. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed before serving. The longer it simmers, the more the flavors will deepen and harmonize.

Chef’s Tip: Ham is inherently salty, and depending on your chosen chicken broth (even low-sodium varieties can contain significant sodium), you might find the soup has enough salt without any additional seasoning. It’s always best practice to avoid adding salt during the cooking process. Instead, taste the soup just before serving and add a small amount of salt, if needed, to achieve the perfect balance of flavors.

Serving Your Hearty Navy Bean Soup

This Instant Pot Navy Bean Soup is a meal in itself, but a few simple additions can elevate the experience and make it even more satisfying. Here are some suggestions for serving this delicious and comforting dish:

For a burst of fresh flavor and a vibrant green color, I love to add a small handful of freshly chopped parsley or delicate chives just before serving. These fresh herbs brighten the soup and add a lovely aromatic finish. If you desire, a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese makes an excellent garnish, adding a salty, umami kick that complements the ham and beans beautifully.

To truly complete the meal, serve your soup alongside a slice of crisp garlic toast or a thick piece of crusty bread. The bread is perfect for soaking up every last drop of the flavorful broth, ensuring no deliciousness goes to waste. A light, tossed green salad with a simple vinaigrette also pairs wonderfully, offering a refreshing contrast to the richness of the soup.

If you’re serving this navy bean soup as the sole main course, this recipe generously serves 4 hungry individuals. However, if you opt to serve it with a fresh green salad or other side dishes, it can comfortably extend to feed 6 people, making it a great option for family meals or entertaining.

This soup is also a fantastic candidate for meal prepping. Its flavors actually deepen and improve with time, making it ideal for packing into individual containers for easy, wholesome lunches throughout the week. Stored properly in an airtight container, this navy bean soup will keep well in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. For longer storage, you can freeze it in individual portions. To thaw, simply transfer it to the refrigerator overnight, then gently reheat on low heat on the stovetop or in the microwave until warmed through.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Navy Bean Soup

More Hearty & Delicious Soup Recipes

If you’re looking for more comforting and satisfying meals, explore these other hearty soup and stew recipes. They are perfect for warming you up on a cold day and make excellent additions to your meal rotation.

For another robust option, try this classic Instant Pot Beef Stew, featuring rich, savory flavors and an abundance of tender vegetables. It’s another fantastic pressure cooker meal that delivers maximum flavor with minimal effort.

⭐️Did You Make This Instant Pot Navy Bean Soup?

If you’ve tried your hand at this delicious Instant Pot Navy Bean Soup with Ham, we’d love to hear from you! Please take a moment to add your comment and share your feedback below. Your thoughts and experiences are incredibly valuable to us and other readers. If you loved the recipe, please consider giving it a 5-star rating – it truly helps others discover and enjoy this comforting dish. If you encountered any issues or have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out; we’re here to help you figure it out!

📖 Recipe Card