Pressure Cooker/Instant Pot Cuban Black Bean Soup Recipe (2024)

January 6, 2018 by Jeanette 43 Comments

This Pressure Cooker/Instant Pot Cuban Black Bean Soup takes just 15 minutes to cook, just an example of how pressure cooking can save you time on busy nights. I used to use canned beans all the time because of the convenience. But, once I discovered how much more flavorful and easy to make dry beans were, I’ve been using the pressure cooking method to make big batches of beans. Cooked beans freeze well, so it makes sense to make a batch of beans and just pull them out whenever I want to add them to chili to make this Cuban black bean soup. 2 Freestyle points per serving.

I’ve been playing around with pressure cooking for the past five years and have adapted many of my slow cooker recipes and regular stove-top recipes to pressure-cooked ones over the years. Not only does pressure cooking save a lot of time (it reduces cooking time by about 2/3), but I’ve found it makes incredibly flavorful stocks and tender braised meats. The pressure cooker is the opposite of a slow cooker. Both have their place in the kitchen, and there will be days where I get dinner started early and make Asian Chicken Stew in my crockpot, and other days when I’m running late, and make Turkey Bolognese Sauce in my pressure cooker.

For this Pressure Cooker/Instant Pot Cuban Black Bean Soup, I modified my Crockpot Cuban Black Bean Soup recipe, ramping up the spices a bit to even more flavor.

I love using dried beans for this Cuban black bean soup recipe because the flavor agents are cooked along with the beans (e,g., onion, garlic, red bell pepper, cumin, oregano), adding more layers of flavors that you won’t get from canned beans.

When pressure cooking beans, I like to soak the beans overnight. You can also soak them in water and keep them in the refrigerator until you’re ready to cook them. I actually left my beans soaking for a day and half because I was busy using my pressure cooker to make chicken stock the other night.

This recipe for black bean soup took just 15 minutes to cook at high pressure, before I turned off the heat and let the pressure release naturally for another 15 minutes. I was skeptical that the beans would actually be cooked. However, when I tested the beans after the they had rested 15 minutes, the beans were just tender. If you want your beans cooked until they are really soft, I would increase the cooking time.

For a creamier texture, I used an immersion blender to puree some of the soup in the pot, leaving some beans chunky for texture. The fun part about this pressure cooker/Instant PotCuban Black Bean Soup are the toppings. I used fresh chopped avocado, tomatoes, red bell peppers, onions and scallions, and a drizzle of sherry vinegar, which the boys really enjoyed.