Instant Pot Bean Soup (vegan and gluten free)

Recipe from Evergreen Kitchen 

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

Makes 6 servings

This healthy Instant Pot Bean Soup is made with navy beans, fresh veggies, Italian seasoning, and lemon. The flavors are bright and delicious. You won’t even need to soak the beans. Serve this delicious soup with some garlic toast and fresh seasonal fruit for a perfect meal.

Ingredients

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil (Use less oil or water sauté if you wish.)

1 large yellow onion, diced (2 cups)

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 carrots, diced

2 ribs celery, diced

1 medium yellow potato, diced (1½ cups)

1 cup dried navy beans* (not soaked)

⅔ cup chopped roasted red peppers (2 peppers, from a jar)

6 cups vegetable broth

4 cups fresh baby spinach

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Sauté onions: Add olive oil and onions to an Instant Pot. Turn on the sauté setting for 10 minutes, and cook, stirring only occasionally, to allow the onions to brown around the edges.

Add aromatics: Add the garlic, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, and salt. Sauté for 1 more minute, or until garlic is fragrant.

Pressure cook: Add carrots, celery, potato, beans, roasted red peppers, and vegetable stock. Stir well to mix. Pressure cook on high for 30 minutes. Allow the Instant Pot to natural release for 15 minutes, then release all pressure.

Finish seasoning: Stir in spinach and lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasonings (more salt and/or lemon juice, if needed). Ladle into bowls.

*Bean Option: Use dried, unsoaked navy beans for this recipe. You could instead substitute an equal amount of dried cannellini beans. If using dried cannellini beans, increase the cook time in step 3 to 35 minutes (high pressure), and continue with the same 15 minute natural pressure release afterwards.

A note on bean cooking time:  The original recipe stated 25 minutes with a 15 minute Natural Pressure Release, however, when I pressure cooked the soup for that length of time, the beans were still too hard.  So, I added 5 more minutes.  

Storage tips: This soup can be stored in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, or transfer cooled soup to a freezer-safe container and freeze for longer storage.

**Garlic Toast: Lay slices of whole-grain bread on a cookie sheet.  Drizzle with a bit of olive oil.  Place the cookie sheet under the broiler.  Broil the bread until it’s toasty brown. Take the cookie sheet out of the oven and rub the raw garlic over the surface of the toast. Sprinkle with kosher salt (or sea salt) and freshly ground black pepper.  Flip the toast over to the other side and repeat the process.

Nutritional Information: (1 of 6 servings) 269 calories; 37 g carbohydrates; 11 g protein; 10 g fat (1 g saturated fat; 2 g polyunsaturated fat; 7 g monounsaturated fat) 1138 mg sodium; 804 mg potassium; 13 g fiber; 5 g sugars; 5409 IU vitamin A; 23 mg vitamin C; 126 mg calcium; 4 mg iron