Cut the meat off the ham bone. Eat a little while you cut it off (optional). Freeze that ham meat, you won’t need it for this dish. There should still be plenty of meat on the bone.
Dice up the onion and throw it in your pot with the rinsed dried beans and the ham bone.
Fill up your Instant Pot with water to the 5-liter line in the 8 qt., or the 3 to 3.5-Liter line in a 6qt., or Pressure Cook MAX line.
Set pressure cooker on <Pressure Cook> or <Manual> for 30 minutes.
Natural Pressure Release (NPR) for at least 10 minutes. This is an important step in making sure your beans are cooked. NPR time is cook time. If you do a Quick Release as soon as your timer goes off, your beans won’t be done!
Remove ham bone to a plate or cutting board. Pick the meat off the bone and remove the fat, gristle, etc. Return the meat to the pot.
Salt to taste after cooking. Usually our ham bone adds enough saltiness that I hesitate to add salt before we are at the table. Different ham bones are a huge variable in the salt factor. If you feel your beans need salt, add it!
Notes
One pound of beans with 6 cups of water is enough for a 6-quart pressure cooker. A two-pound bag of Great Northern beans plus 12 cups of water is what I used to make this in an 8qt.Try adding other aromatic veggies to your bean soup! Celery, garlic, bell peppers, carrots, and tomatoes all work well.Any kind of beans would be great cooked this way–pintos, navy, black beans–use whatever you have and whatever you like.