Instant Pot Chicken and White Bean Soup, made with white beans and fresh herbs – a hearty, and incredibly delicious soup that is fast, convenient and affordable! This can also be made on the stove-top!
This delicious and hearty “Make Life Simple” recipe, Instant Pot Chicken and White Bean Soup has become one of my husband’s all-time favorites.
I love it because it can be made very quickly ( 30 minutes) in an Instant Pot (pressure cooker) with 10 minutes of hands-on time, and makes good use of all the dried beans in our pantry. You can also use canned beans, (see recipe notes).
Fast and affordable with a short list of ingredients yet really delicious! It’s packable and can be made ahead for the workweek, or packed up in a thermos for outdoor winter adventures.
Chicken and White Bean Soup | 30-Second Video
This week we’ve partnered with Sheep Thrills, to create a cozy winter picnic. Sheep Thrills is located on the beautiful hillsides of Abruzzo, Italy where sheepherders and grape growers have lived and worked side-by-side for hundreds of years. They are all about outdoor adventure, no matter what the season.
Pack up the soup in a thermos, along with a bottle of Sheep Thrills wine and take it with you on your next cross-country ski, snowshoe adventure, snowy hike or festive winter picnic. No matter what the adventure… this hearty soup will warm you to your bones!
Highly adaptable, this recipe can be used as a template for your own creations. Today I’ve used white beans, but really any other dry bean would work. Use what you have.
Chicken breast keeps the stew clean and lean, while savory herbs like rosemary, sage and thyme give it flavor.
Sometimes the simplest of ingredients can be incredibly nurturing.
Instant Pot Chicken and White Bean Soup, a hearty, delicious stew that is fast, convenient and affordable.
Lean and clean, it’s low in fat and calories while keeping you energized and satisfied all day long!
Pack it up it for a delicious winter picnic!
You may like:
- Brothy Beans on Garlic Toast
- 25 Mouthwatering Instant Pot Recipes!
- Tuscan Cannellini Bean Soup
- Creamy White Bean Soup with Gremolata
- Ribollita! | White Bean Soup
- Instant Pot Lentil Soup
- Instant Pot Chili with dry beans!
***If you are looking for a good source for heirloom beans, I love Rancho Gordo, take a peek.
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Instant Pot Chicken and White Bean Soup
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 35
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 ( 8 cups)
- Category: Main
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
Description
Instant Pot Chicken and White Bean Soup with dried beans (or use canned) and fresh herbs – a hearty, delicious soup that is fast, convenient and affordable! This can also be made on the stovetop- see notes!
Ingredients
- 1–2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 4–6 garlic cloves, rough chopped ( or sub 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated garlic)
- 1–2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped (or 1 tablespoon dried) or try fresh sage or thyme, or a combo (or even Herbs de Provence)
- 1 bay leaf (optional)
- 1 cup dried beans (white, cannellini beans, pinto, kidney, heirloom beans) If using canned see notes
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken, breast or thighs( leave whole)
- 4 cups flavorful chicken stock ( sometimes I’ll add an additional bouillon cube)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- crack pepper to taste
- squeeze of lemon
- Additional garnishes- fresh Italian parsley, avocado, sour cream, chili flakes,
Instructions
- Turn the Instant Pot on, to the saute function and add the oil, onion, celery, and fresh garlic, and sauté 5 minutes until fragrant and tender.
- Add the remaining ingredients (except the lemon) – herbs, bay, beans, chicken breasts or thighs (leave whole), chicken stock or broth, salt and pepper. Give a good stir and set the pressure cooker to 30 minutes on high pressure. (***If using larger beans like cannellini, lima, corona, or fava, increase time by 10-15 minutes.)
- Let the pressure release (either naturally, or let it out manually) and pull the chicken meat apart using two forks, shredding. Give a good stir, taste, adjusting salt and pepper, and add a squeeze of lemon.
- Serve with fresh chopped Italian parsley, and for added richness sour cream or avocado.
Notes
To cook on the stove top, cook the same way, but in a Dutch oven, cover, then simmer gently until beans are tender.
If using canned beans, use 2 cans, drained, ( 3 cups cooked) and pressure cook on high, for only 9 minutes. If using very thick chicken breasts, or frozen, perhaps add another minute or two.
I don’t usually presoak my dry white beans here, but if you would prefer to, pre-soak them in a bowl of water for 8-12 hours, lower pressure cooking time here by 10 minutes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 317
- Sugar: 5.3 g
- Sodium: 851.9 mg
- Fat: 7.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 33 g
- Fiber: 6.9 g
- Protein: 29.8 g
- Cholesterol: 60 mg
Great recipe! I used chicken thighs, a cup of dried soup bean mix from Bob’s Red Mill and added Swiss chard and both roasted onion & chicken Better Than Bullion to the stock. Delis house on a snowy afternoon.
Perfect Trish- glad you enjoyed!
I made this tonight for some guests we had over and it was a big hit.
–I doubled the recipe and it just barely fit in my instant pot.
–I used chicken thighs, 1 tsp each of dried thyme, sage, and rosemary, and Bob’s Red Mill 13 Bean Soup Mix (https://www.bobsredmill.com/13-bean-soup-mix.html).
–I omitted the bay leaves.
THanks for sharing Adora!
Hello Sylvia, I love the recipe, but I need to reduce the sodium level to at least 600 mg. How can I significantly reduce the sodium in this recipe and not sacrifice taste? Thank you, for your help.
Use flavorful chicken broth! Add salt to taste. 🙂
Hello,
I appreciate the stove top suggesed option, but if you dont have a dutch oven cover pot does regular work? What is the difference? Or is there one?
I only have a instant pot rice cooker And regular cookware.
Thank you greatly for the recipies.
Yes a regular pot will work fine!
I’ve made this several times now. Using cannellini beans and chicken thighs cooking at high pressure for 40 minutes works perfectly. Beans done just right and chicken is great.
Awesome Chris! Thanks!
I could not see if chicken was frozen or thawed in this recipe.
Thanks
You can use either!
If you add 15 minutes due to bigger or older beans, won’t the chicken get overcooked?
Possibly. But chicken thighs would be OK here.
This is one of the best receipes i ever tried, thank you for it!!! I added a baggie of red peper flakes in the beginning of the cooking process, while sauteing, not in the end, that was my only alteration
Made on the stovetop with canned beans and leftover rotisserie chicken. Blended sage, rosemary and thyme for the seasoning. Loved how the lemon brightened all the flavors. It was very good and was a hit with my husband!
I’d make it again but I’d quarter the rosemary. It was too strong for me at 1Tb dried.
Did you use fresh or dried?
I think this may be my new favorite winter time soup. This is the second time I made it in my 8 qt instant pot. The first time I thought it was a bit heavy on the chicken (I used two breasts but didn’t weigh them, so maybe my fault, but it was the ones you get at Costco where you buy a bunch of them and they are individually wrapped in heavy plastic, ready for the freezer. So today I used the same amount of chicken but doubled the recipe for the rest of the ingredients and it is perfect! I do add a healthy spoonful of light sour cream at the end. Oh, and I used the dried rosemary, and a bit less oil, but otherwise followed the recipe. Sooo good! And quite WW friendly also, as long as you use chicken breast and not the thigh. Thank you for this recipe!
I used chicken legs and thighs on the bones for a super tasty stock and canned cannelloni beans. Thanks for the recipe.
How long do you cook this in Dutch oven and do you cook it on high? Can you cook it in a slow cooker
Simmer, covered, on the stovetop on med-low. Slow Cook on low for 8-9 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.
How long do you cook this in Dutch oven and do you cook it on high?
Simmer gently on the stove, covered, until beans are tender on medium-low heat. Not sure of the timing here.
I’m excited to try this recipe. I have some extra carrots that I’d like to throw in. What do you think? I saw another comment that added carrots but they made some additional changes and I’ll be following the current recipe ingredients.
Rob- I think they would taste good, but would be very. soft with that much time in the pressure cooker.
I added chopped carrots and green beans at the end after pressure was released, then brought to pressure for 2 mins. Came out amazing. Thanks for the great recipe. (I also added hominy w the beans)
Absolutely delicious this soup. I don’t like celery so I subbed them for leeks and it was brill
Beans were touch
Oh shoot. Do you mind telling me what type of bean you used? Bigger beans and older beans need extra time.
Wow this was really good! I used a bunch of leeks and 3 stalks of celery with canned butter beans. At 9min cook time the chicken was tender and delicious! Thank you for taking the time to share your recipes!
Just made it- it’s delightful, and sooooo easy.
I made this today in my IP, it is delicious! I used Great Northern beans and 1lb of Chicken tenders. I added 1 heaping Tablespoon of fresh rosemary and Pacific brand chicken stock. I didn’t even garnish it and it was fabulous. An instant family favorite! I can imagine it would be great with the addition of torn Kale as one reviewer suggested. The only way it could have tasted better today was if I had eaten it from a mug that was wearing a sweater (as shown above). Thank you for a great recipe!
haha! Love it!
This is a good soup but too much rosemary. It tastes more like chicken & rosemary soup. I was able to eat it as described. My hubby did not eat it and he said too much rosemary. If I made it again, I’d use less rosemary.
Do you think kale would be a nice addition? If so when would I add in?
I do!
Delicious! One of the best chicken soups I have had. I made dry beans with some herbs and onions and froze them so I just thawed and used for this recipe as if I was using canned beans. I also used boneless skinless chicken thighs because it is all I had and it was still very flavorful and delicious!
Great to hear!
Would You recommend using regular broth , low sodium broth Or no salt added ?
Thanks , can’t wait to try!
Regular chicken broth!
Hi, I’m a little confused on the bean part. I’ll be using dried beans, do they go in the pressure cooker for 10 minutes, then add to the recipe, or add the dried beans to the mix and cook 30 minutes in the pressure cooker.
Thanks,
-gb
Add the dried beans to the mix, cook 30 minutes!