Pressure Cooker White Bean-Parmesan Soup
- Total Time
- 2 hours
- Rating
- Notes
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Ingredients
Yield:6 to 8 servings
- ¼cup olive oil
- 1large onion, finely chopped
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 1fennel bulb, cored and finely chopped, fronds roughly chopped and reserved
- 3celery stalks, sliced ½-inch thick
- 6garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 1teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1teaspoon red-pepper flakes
- 2sprigs fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
- ½cup dry white wine
- 7 to 8cups chicken stock or broth
- 1pound dried cannellini beans (see Tip)
- 1cup wheat berries
- 8ounces Parmesan, rind removed and reserved
- 1small bunch flat-leaf parsley, stems discarded and leaves chopped
- 3tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 large lemon)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
554 calories; 18 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 66 grams carbohydrates; 14 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 33 grams protein; 1005 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Using the sauté setting, heat the oil in the pot of a 6- to 8-quart pressure cooker. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Season generously with salt. Add the fennel and cook, stirring often, until the fennel is softened and the onion is lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the celery, garlic, fennel seeds and red-pepper flakes and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, 2 minutes. Add the rosemary and the wine. Bring to a simmer and reduce by half, about 2 minutes.
- Step 2
Add the stock, using 7 cups if you have a 6-quart pressure cooker or 8 cups if you have an 8-quart pressure cooker. Season with ½ teaspoon salt. Stir in the beans, wheat berries and Parmesan rind. Cover and set steam valve to sealed position. Pressure cook on high for 70 minutes.
- Step 3
Allow the pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes then release the remaining pressure manually. Taste the beans to make sure they are soft. If they are not as soft as you would like, cover and set steam valve to sealed position. Pressure cook on high for 10 more minutes and then quick-release the pressure.
- Step 4
Before serving, remove and discard the rosemary sprigs. Stir in the chopped parsley, lemon juice and reserved fennel fronds. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide among bowls and top generously with grated Parmesan.
Tip
- You can use soaked or unsoaked beans for this soup, but if you use unsoaked, taste a few before serving to make sure they are tender. If they aren’t, pressure cook for another 10 minutes.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Sarsaparilla
Amazing dish. This is one of our favorite staples, but it does NOT need to cook for 70 minutes! 15 minutes in a pressure cooker is plenty for pre-soaked beans, and 20 minutes if unsoaked. Beans will only just be starting to break up and fall apart, and wheat berries will have a nice chewiness.
Olivia
So I don't have a pressure cooker or slow cooker. What substitutions would I have to make to do this on the stove? Thanks!
Phillycook
I decided to give this a try on a whim today. I left out the fennel & wine because I didn't have any, used whole farro instead of wheat berries, and added a few bay leaves and teaspoon of whole peppercorns because it seemed like the right thing to do. The one thing I totally screwed up - I misread the parm instructions and added it all in giant chunks at the beginning, not just the rind, but it melted right into the broth and it soaked into the beans & farro it is DELICIOUS.
jks
I used 8 cups of stock. Mine was not as brothy as the photo. Flavors are fantastic. Will keep this recipe.
Liz S.
Go to the slow cooker recipe. Soak the beans and wheat berries over night. Drain and cook them in the stock on the stove top (bring to a near boil and then simmmer for 30 min) Follow the recipe by adding the other ingredients to the pot of beans in the stock. Cook to desired tenderness--I like mine al dente.
Emily
Made this as written- almost. Did in a 6 quart instant pot, I only cooked for 50 minutes with a 15 minute release. Beans were creamy and wheat berries had a perfect chew!
S
Used Bob's Red Mill Farro (I guess those are pearled) and they broke down just like the recipe said. Also too much liquid got absorbed and I had a layer of poorly cooked beans sitting on top. Had to add more liquid. Next time I would cook the beans in the IP for 20 min or so, take them out, rinse out the pot and proceed with the recipe, shortening the cooking time.
turbochef
This is an Excellent recipe. Perfect. I am a soup snob.... this is excellent. The lemon.. wheat berries... somehow, we sense an adobo smokey feel. Embrace this one:)
Tiffany
I was drawn into the slow cooker recipe by its beautiful bright look and because i love firm grains like wheat berries and all the classic ingredients of a flavorful soup like fennel, celery, onions, garlic... this was tasty but it came out of my instant pot as a complete mush. all ingredients save the beans were indistinguishable and the wheat berries had completely broken down, the beans almost too! the broth was a brown mush, it was all a brown mush¡ but still, a delicious brown mush :)
lisavictorious
YUM! After reading through comments, i did add an extra cup of broth to my Instant Pot, and i am glad i did, looks exactly like the picture! I used dry, unsoaked cannelllini beans, fresh rosemary, 2 healthy parm reggiano rinds and Dolin Dry Vermouth since i was out of white wine, added 2 small diced carrots, added 1 bay leaf and used curly parsley as that's what i had on hand. THIS WAS OUTSTANDING. I followed the instructions on cook time, and did end up adding the extra 10 minutes. Perfect!
amanda
I used farro instead of wheat berries and loved how creamy and rich this turned out. I used 7 cups of stock in the IP to start, but ended up adding in some more stock at the end to thin it out just a little bit. Next time I plan to up the garlic.
KG
70 minutes of pressure cooking was too long for my beans, which were soaked overnight. I might try 60 min instead. I’d also reduce the Parmesan rinds to 4-5 oz. The flavor was very good, just a little strong on the cheese.
marin
Delicious recipe. I made this as written, did not soak the beans, used 8 cups of broth based on other comments, fresh rosemary and cooked for 70 minutes. The beans were perfect and buttery and the wheat berries added a good texture with their chewiness. This makes a lot of hearty soup, great with toasts rubbed with garlic and a green salad.
Elise
I have made this several times as written and it is delicious. This time I used red beans because that was what I had and it is not nearly as good. Stick with white beans!
mimi
Made this last night and had for light supper, and eating leftover for lunch at the moment. This is a very fragrant soup with lots of flavors, which hubby calls “hippie” and not particularly fond of (nothing against hippies, just the fragrant-ness). But it definitely mellowed a bit the next day. I like the chewy wheat berries. It’s not bad but maybe it was just a bit too much rosemary for our taste? Used a teaspoon of dried as recipe. Not sure if I’ll make again.
shannon
Amazing!! I followed the recipe to a T, but halved it. We used Camellia brand dried cannellini beans, not pre soaked, and it took 1:45 to cook. Amazing and worth it, but just an FYI. Think a drizzle of cream, light drizzle, would be nice in winter months. Might try next time.
sammy
This recipe is just IT. I make this in place of chicken noodle soup when I want that cozy good soup but a bit elevated. It’s easy. It’s scrumptious. I appreciate the original recipe calls for the proper amount of garlic. Lately I’ve been adding a fire roasted poblano pepper finely diced as well as mild Italian sausage. Literally no notes in this recipe. Just here to sing my praises!
Rachel
A delicious recipe, I double the fennel bulb and seeds to make it more flavorful, since I love fennel
Great parm soup
Cooked for 60 minutes in the instant pot, very good and hearty, don’t add too much lemon but add a ton of Parmesan Hard red wheat berries from Natural Grocers were great! March 2024
John
so overcooked it was uneatable. threw it out. 70 minutes is ridiculous.
Lauren Beaman
Good Soup for a Cold Spring Day. I agree that maybe 70 minutes was a bit long for the beans to cook. Because of my dietary restrictions, we used whole oat groats instead of farro and a tbsp of white miso instead of the parma rind in the broth. For the topping, I also used a Moroccan salt cured lemon chopped up with the herbs and added toasted pine nuts and olive oil, in substitution of the additional parma. So, not exactly the same but still very good and hardy feeling. Lot of complex flavors.
Betsy W
Very simple and yummy. I made this in a 3qt Instant Pot and followed the recipe except with only 1/2lb of cannellini beans. It turned out great!
Matt
Made with farro, didn’t say pearled on the package. 70 minutes pulverized it. Next time would either use wheat berries if I can find them or cook grains separately. Really great flavor though.
Olivia
Unfortunately, this turned out pretty poorly for me. I used Rancho Gordo beans in the recipe, which was a mistake because I ruined them with this preparation! I did not soak the beans and after 70 minutes in the instant pot, everything but the beans was mush, and the beans were 1/2 cooked, 1/2 crunchy. I'm sad! Lol
David
Terrific soup. If you soak the beans, 15 minutes is better than 70. I subbed garlic confit, farro.
McKay
This worked well for me in an Instant Pot - family loved it, including our one year old! Didn’t soak the beans so first cooked dried beans in instant pot (with S+P, bay leaves, onion, garlic) with 8 cups water. Strained out onion, bay leaves, etc. Sauteed veggies and wine in instant pot. Added beans back in with stock + 2 additional cups of water. Used brown rice instead of wheat berries. Cooked another 35 min in instant pot. Added kale and parsley at the end.
JDR
70 minutes in a pressure cooker = brown mush. I wanted to like this soup, but mediocre (at best) results do not justify the number of ingredients.
Steve
I had a similar experience. In an effort to avoid overcooking, I checked after 45 minutes and the beans needed 15 minutes more (beans were unsoaked). There was nothing “brothy” about the result — it bore no resemblance to the photo. It is tasty, yet also brown in appearance and the aromatics are completely dissolved into the soup. If I were to make it again, i would season the beans and wheat berries and cook them fully, then sauté the veggies and add to complete.
Pat Johnson
Though I love to cook and bake, I've never needed/wanted a pressure cooker, but, at 67 years young I bought my first simple 6 qt. pressure cooker. This is the first recipe I tried and using navy beans which I soaked for 24hr, I took Sarsaparilla's advice and cooked under pressure for 15 minutes. Totally delicious, and 15 minutes to cook navy beans! Next up, bone broth, so happy!
Sheila L.
Wow, this was delicious! Made it almost exactly as directed with two deviations: 1) I had a 4-ounce package of diced pancetta so threw that in with the onions; 2) I wanted to use the bag of Trader Joe’s farro I had on hand, but wasn’t sure of its pearled status, so I cooked it separately for the first five minutes, then tossed it in with the soup (post pressure release) and brought it up to a boil for another five. This did lean it more stew-y than brothy, which was my preference. A keeper!!
CS
For those without a pressure cooker, and interested in shortening cooking time, this recipe works beautifully in a Dutch oven on a cooktop. I used 4 cans of drained and rinsed cannellini beans, instead of dried. Also I couldn't find wheat berries, so substituted Eden organic whole grain buckwheat (also makes this recipe gluten free for those who prefer it). In step 2, simply cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Fantastic recipe.
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