Instant Pot Navy Bean Soup is made with dried navy beans, smoked ham hock, a blend of savory spices, and a final sprinkle of pancetta. It’s the ultimate comfort soup!
Add navy beans to a colander. Rinse with cold water and drain. Hand remove any foreign debris. Set aside.
Set instant pot to the “sauté” setting. Add olive oil and heat until warm. Add in onion, carrots, and celery. Cook for 5 minutes, or until onions start to become translucent.
Add in garlic. Cook another 1 minute. Press “cancel” to turn off the sauté setting.
Add the beans to the instant pot. Place the ham hock on top. Pour in the broth and water. Season with thyme, cumin, paprika, black pepper, and bay leaves.
Cover instant pot with the lid. Set the valve to the “sealing" position and pressure cook on high pressure for 40 minutes.
When the timer is up, let the pressure naturally release for 15 minutes before switching the valve to “venting” and manually releasing any remaining pressure.
Remove the lid and discard the bay leaves. Remove the ham hock to a cutting board or plate. If there is meat remaining, cut it off the bone and set it aside. Discard the rest of the ham hock.
Using an immersion blender, lightly blend the soup just to thicken it. You’ll want to keep most of the beans still intact. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can also ladle 1 to 2 cups of soup into a blender. Blend until smooth and add it back to the soup remaining in the instant pot. Stir to combine.
Stir in meat from the ham bone and fresh chopped parsley.
Serve soup warm topped with crispy pancetta. Season with salt to taste.
Notes
*To crisp up the pancetta, heat a skillet over medium heat. Drizzle a touch of olive oil in the bottom. Add pancetta and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until crisp, stirring occasionally so it does not burn. Move pancetta to a paper towel lined plate to soak up remaining grease.
You should be able to find ham hock in the pork section of your grocery store. I found my smoked ham hock in my local grocery store near the ham and other cooked pork products.