We’ve been living “Soup Sunday” ever since Nashville temps dipped to the 60s (so… you know, like late October). This soup has definitely been in regular rotation. I hate that I haven’t shared this sooner, but I’ve been working killer hours, and just not home when there’s light outside to snap a pic. I love this recipe because meat isn’t the main component of this. It uses an inexpensive cut of meat, and doesn’t have a huge amount of prep or steps. My dad gives us ham hocks every now & then, and we also have a meat supplier we love at the Nashville Farmer’s Market (shout out KLD Farms!) that we’ve bought ham hocks from. Admittedly when I first made this soup Nathan was doubtful it would be hearty enough to fill him up. He prefers a very “meat-centric” meal. He was surprised at how much he liked this soup, and how just the meat from the ham hocks was enough to satisfy him.

I love this soup because there’s minimal prep. Just a little bit of chopping (& peeling of the carrots). When I went in search of a bean soup to make with my electric pressure cooker I was a little flabbergasted at all the recipes that called for canned beans. Y THO? Seriously, I thought the whole thing with the Instant Pot was how fast it cooks dried beans! I found this recipe, and it called for soaking the beans overnight, but I was all “Nah”. I’ve always just added a few minutes to the cooking time, and they turn out just fine. To make up for using dried beans I add extra broth or water. The other modifications I do different from the original is only use half an onion and add an extra carrot. My kids like carrots in soup. Also I like to sauté the veggies before cooking. We love to eat our soup with crusty bread. The recipe below is with all my personal modifications.

This recipe was made in my 6qt Instant Pot. Don’t have an electric pressure cooker? Hang tight, I’ve already modified this for the slow cooker! My FIL’s significant other loved the recipe so much when I made it for them, she wanted to make it on Christmas Day, but only had a slow cooker. I’ll be posting that recipe soon!

Print

Instant Pot Ham Hock & Bean Soup

Yield: 6-8

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45-50 minutes*

Total Time: approximately 2 hours, only .5 is active time

**The actual "cook time" on the pressure cooker is 45-50 minutes, but you must also account for the amount of time it takes for it to come to full pressure, as well as the release time. It's best to do a natural release on this, but if in a pinch after 10-12 minutes you can do a quick release. In reality, not including chopping time, the cook time in the Instant Pot is about 1.5 hours

Ingredients:

1/2 Large Yellow Onion, chopped
3 Ribs Celery, chopped
4-5 Carrots, chopped (chop larger pieces if you want firmer veggies, as they will be soft)
1 Tbps olive oil
4 Cloves Garlic, finely minced
1 1/2 lbs Ham Hock (single, or a combination)
1 lb dry Navy Beans
7 cups Broth (low sodium) chicken or veggie broth (or water)
2 Bay Leaves
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper

Directions:

Turn instant pot to Sauté function and add oil. Once warmed add onion, carrot, celery and sauté until softened. Turn off and add garlic. Stir, season with salt & pepper.

Add remaining ingredients to the inner liner of the Instant Pot. Stir, making sure the beans are fully submerged. Put the lid on, and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.

Press the Pressure Cook or Manual button or dial, then the +/- button or dial to choose 48 minutes.

When the cooking cycle ends, turn off the pot and let it naturally release pressure for 20 minutes. (If you're in a hurry, do the quick release after 10.) Carefully release the remaining steam manually, using short bursts at first to make sure the soup won't spew out of the steam release knob. When all steam is out of the pot, and the pin in the lid drops, open the lid facing it away from you.

Serve hot with warm crusty bread.

Adapted from Simply Happy Foodie