This Instant Pot 15 bean soup recipe is nutritious, packed with Cajun flavors, filling, and easy to make. It requires a handful of simple ingredients, and the beans don’t need to be soaked. Learn how to use an Instant Pot or Ninja Foodi pressure cooker to save time compared to making bean soup in a slow cooker. Serve this main dish with air fryer cornbread to make a meal.
Why Make Cajun 15 Bean Soup:
- No soaking: This recipe doesn’t require you to soak the beans overnight before cooking them. Just dump the dried beans in the pressure cooker pot and cook.
- Quickest no-soak method: Using an instant pot to cook beans without soaking them saves time. It would take you hours to make this dish in a Crock Pot Slow Cooker.
- Cajun flavors in soup form: This cajun 15-bean soup contains juicy andouille sausage, diced vegetables, and homemade cajun seasoning. allows you to enjoy your favorite cajun flavors in soup form.
Ingredients Needed
- Smoked sausage: This gives the soup a smoky flavor so don’t skip it. I used andouille sausage and cut it into 1-inch wide pieces. You can use the pork, chicken, or turkey varieties.
- Yellow onions: Diced, I used about half a yellow onion
- Pepper: Diced, I used red bell pepper
- Celery: Diced
- Cloves garlic: Minced
- 15 bean soup mix: This is available in most grocery stores. Some stores also have 13-bean soup or 7-bean soup mixes, which work for this recipe.
- Water
- Better than Chicken bouillon: this chicken base has much more flavor than broth. So, I’m using it instead of chicken broth (or chicken stock).
- Bay leaves
- Black pepper
- Homemade cajun seasoning: this is my homemade spice blend. It includes things like garlic powder, onion powder, dried parsley, and cayenne pepper.
Be sure to head to the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the exact ingredient amounts and full step-by-step instructions.
What’s In 15 Bean Soup Mix?
You can find different kinds of beans in a 15 bean soup mix. I find that the mixture generally depends on the brand. But, some popular options included in bean mixes are:
- Navy bean
- Great Northern beans
- Chickpea
- Cannellini bean
- Small Red beans
- Pinto beans
- Pink Bean
- Kidney beans
- White Kidney Beans
- Baby Lima beans
- Large Lima Beans
- Black-eyed peas
- Yellow eye Beans
- Black-eyed Peas
- Garbanzo Beans
- Green Split Pea
- Yellow Split Peas
- Cranberry Beans
- Black Beans
- Lentil Beans
How To Make Instant Pot 15 Bean Soup
- Add the dry beans to a mesh strainer. Rinse under cold water for 1 minute. Allow to drain.
- Add avocado oil to the bottom of the instant pot on high to sear/saute. Add sausages, peppers, celery, onions and garlic. Saute for 5 minutes (the onions will be translucent, and the sausages will be browned). Turn off the sear-saute function on the Instant Pot.
- Add the rinsed beans, water, bouillon, and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Turn on high pressure for 40 minutes. At the end of the cooking time, allow the soup to stay with the lid on for 20 minutes before manually removing the remaining pressure (I find that this is the best way to ensure that all of the beans are tender).
- Stir, add seasonings, salt and pepper to taste (optional).
Recipe Tips & FAQs
- Alternatives for smoked sausage: You can also use smoked ham hocks, smoked turkey, ham steak, cubed pancetta, or bacon.
- I use Better than chicken bouillon: It has more flavor than chicken broth or chicken stock, so I use this with water instead of regular broth.
- Works with any pressure cooker: You can use an Instant Pot or the Ninja Foodi to prepare this recipe.
- Allow natural pressure release: Allowing the pressure cooker to release the pressure naturally for 20 minutes ensures that all the beans are tender. If you’re in a rush, you can manually remove the pressure, but some of the beans won’t be as tender.
This cajun 15 bean soup contains various bean types, making it rich in fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, iron, and other minerals. It’s also flavorful and keeps you full.
When this soup finishes, it might seem a bit loose. Though it might be tempting to try and thicken it with something like cornstarch, I would not recommend that. This delicious soup can appear loose initially, but definitely gets thicker as it cools and after it has been refrigerated.
Yes. Some of the beans like black, kidney, and navy beans are rich in iron.
Yes. The bean varieties and other ingredients make this soup super nutritious.
More Hearty Soup Recipes
If you enjoy this recipe, then you’ll also enjoy these other soup recipes:
Instant Pot 15 Bean Soup
Equipment
- 6-quart Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 16 oz smoked sausage I used andouille and cut it into 1-inch wide pieces
- 1 cup yellow onions diced, about half a yellow onion
- 1 cup bell pepper diced, I used red bell pepper
- 1/2 cup celery diced,
- 5 Cloves garlic minced
- 3 cups 15 bean soup mix or 13 bean soup mix depending on what’s available
- 9 cups water
- 3 tbsp better than chicken bouillon
- 4 bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp homemade cajun seasoning
Instructions
- Add the beans to a mesh strainer. Rinse under cold water for 1 minute. Allow to drain.
- Add avocado oil to the bottom of the instant pot on high sear/sauté.
- Add sausages, peppers, celery, onions and garlic. Sauté for 5 minutes (the onions will be translucent and the sausages will be browned). Turn off the sear-saute function on the instant pot.
- Add the beans, water, bouillon, and bay leaves. Stir to combine.
- Cover the instant pot with the pressure cooker lid. Set the lid to “seal”.
- Turn on high pressure for 40 minutes.
- At the end of the cooking time, allow the soup to stay with the lid on for 20 minutes before manually removing the remaining pressure (I find that this is the best way to ensure that all of the beans are tender). Remove the lid.
- Stir, add seasonings, salt and pepper to taste.
- Remove the bay leaves before serving.