16 Bean Soup

16_bean_soup

I am in love with my Instant Pot and its a love that keeps growing. Indians use pressure cooker a lot in their daily cooking, so imagine a cooker where your work is done the minute the lid is closed. No waiting for the whistle or counting it. You can just walk away the minute you close the lid. I don’t find that Instant Pot saves a lot of cooking time than the Indian cookers, but the luxury of not babysitting is amazing.

One of the major attractions for me is the yogurt feature. I have never had consistent success in making yogurt at home once I came to US. With Instant Pot, that’s one thing I make regularly (though I haven’t started a batch yet after coming from India).

Cooking beans is another feature that I love. I can prepare a beans based curry even if I forget to soak the beans ahead. When I have unexpected guests and no veggies in the fridge, I cook some or the other kind of beans for 30 minutes and that’s all it takes! I do prefer to soak beans if I know in advance that I will be cooking it. So for this post, its soaked beans that I have used. I have used 16 bean soup packet here, so its not just one variety. I tried adding whatever vegetables I had at that time to make it a wholesome meal. I always serve bean soups with a fried egg on top and bread on the side.

Read on  for the recipe.

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Serves 4-5 people

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 of a 12oz 16 bean soup packet
  • 1 large onion
  • 3 cloves of garlic crushed
  • 1 can (14oz) chopped tomatoes (or 5-6 tomatoes pureed)
  • 2 large carrots, sliced into rounds
  • 10-12 mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder/paprika
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt, pepper and lemon juice as needed

Method:

  1. Wash and soak half the contents of a 12 oz beans soup packet overnight. Full contents would be too much for my family, so that’s why half the packet.
  2. In Instant pot, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in Saute mode. Add the crushed garlic and once its brown, add one big chopped onion. Saute till its cooked.
  3. Add the chopped mushrooms and sliced carrots. Sprinkle chili powder, oregano and salt and pepper. Add one can chopped tomatoes and mix well.
  4. Drain the beans and add it to the vegetable mix. Add enough water so that the beans is immersed completely and there is an inch of water above it, about 5-6 cups.
  5. Change the Instant pot from Saute mode to Bean/Chilli. Cover and make sure the whistle is in Sealed position. Cook for 15 minutes and let the pressure release naturally.
  6. Once the pressure is released, bring it to a boil in Saute mode. Mash the soup a little if preferred to get the consistency you want. Taste test and adjust the seasonings, add lemon juice if preferred. Turn off the heat and serve with toasted bread.

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12 thoughts on “16 Bean Soup”

  3. No babysitting is needed for instapot thats a valuable point, though am not a great fan of Instapot after seeing Vidya’s posts and yours now am tempted to get one.

    Wat a filling and satisfying soup, hearty and healthy definitely.

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  4. Rajani after reading your posts on Instapot I have been after my SIL to buy it. I wish it does make an appearance in indian markets.(It is too expensive on amazon.) I love the thought that I can walk away the girls will be most delighted.
    As for the soup I love it.,We get some kinds of mixture here last time Imade cutlets out of it, When I now buy this Soup it is!

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  5. Instant pot is such a boon and saves time.As you said no need to count the whistles and baby sit.
    BTW the soup looks so healthy and filling.This soup was in my list for the legumes theme.But due to last minute cooking,changed my entire list..

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  6. Looking at yours and Vidhya’s posts on Instant pot, I am really tempted to give it a try. But I think it is still too expensive here in India. The combination of 16 beans is indeed so much nutritious. Love the idea of serving it with a fried egg on top.

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  8. You make a very compelling case for IP and like Valli, I do wish it comes to India soon. Remembering how many whistles have gone off the pressure cooker seems to be a task these days. And no soak beans sounds amazing. Love this bean soup. With an egg and slice of bread I would happily have this for dinner. And again, your pics are top notch!

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  10. I love the IP’s yogurt feature. Finally I stopped buying store bought yogurt. :-) This is hearty and filling soup. Coming to valli’s point, when I tried soups in my slow cooker without soaking, few bloggers from slow cooking group mentioned that soaking is needed for beans like kidney beans and few others as they release some toxins. But there are groups saying soaking is not necessary. I am not sure which one to follow. I try to soak atleast for half an hour these days. At times ignorance is bliss. :-)

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  12. I wish this instant pot will make an appearance in India soon..I hate that task of baby sitting our pressure cookers..its mostly shouting across the house to get yourself heard for somebody to either simmer it or to switch off!..what a pain that is…all the dishes you girls are making in this, sounds fantastic..I also will love the fact that I don’t have to soak the beans, however, it is scientifically proved that for all beans it’s fine? Because for beans like thattai piyuru, the brown variety which is smaller, I mostly dry roast it to smoking hot and then pressure cook, its done..don’t do it for Kabuli chana..so wondering..:)

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