Instant Pot Vegetable Soup

This Instant Pot vegetable soup with beans, potatoes, and plenty of veggies is a quick and hearty vegetarian recipe packed with flavor! Make it in the pressure cooker for an easy soup that tastes like it simmered all day.

Why You’ll Love This Vegetable Soup Recipe

Soup season is here. This means warming Greek tomato feta soup, lentil soup, and more cozy bowlfuls loaded with nutritious veggies for warding off the winter blues. If you’ve also been craving hearty, flavorful vegetable soups lately, this Instant Pot vegetable soup is about to become a wholesome favorite. This soup is:

• Full of flavor. This vegetable soup is rich, savory, and filled with layers of satisfying flavor. You have smoky fire-roasted tomatoes, garlic, and seasonings, cooked together with carrots, corn, and green beans, bulked up with tender potatoes and creamy cannellini beans.
• Customizable. The beauty of soup recipes is that you can customize them depending on the ingredients you have on hand. Adapt this soup with seasonal vegetables, or use the leftover veggies you have in the fridge!
• Quick. Maybe the best thing about this Instant Pot soup? It tastes as though it’s simmered on the stove all day, but after a bit of prep, this veggie soup cooks in about 30 minutes in the pressure cooker.

Soup Ingredients

Take a look at the important ingredients for this soup below. You’ll find the full ingredients list, recipe details, and instructions in the printable recipe card after the post.

• Olive Oil
• Onion and Celery – Diced yellow onion and fresh celery form the flavor base for the soup.
• Garlic 
• Seasonings – You’ll need Italian seasoning (use your preferred blend from the store), salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
• Broth – Chicken broth or chicken stock. Use vegetable broth to make this soup vegetarian.
• Bay Leaf
• Potatoes – Choose a good boiling potato. The best potatoes for soups are waxy varieties, like yellow or red potatoes, Yukon gold, or fingerling potatoes.
• Vegetables – Green beans, corn, and carrots. You can use fresh or frozen. This soup is easy to customize by adding in or changing out any veggies you’d like. Don’t forget to scroll for add-ins and variation ideas.
• Tomatoes – Canned fire-roasted tomatoes bring an extra layer of smoky flavor to the broth. Feel free to use regular canned tomatoes if that’s what you have in the pantry.
• Beans – I use cannellini beans, but another type, like white beans, Northern beans, or kidney beans, will also work. Remember to drain and rinse canned beans first.

How to Make Instant Pot Vegetable Soup

Get your Instant Pot plugged in and ready to go, and let’s make some flavor-packed vegetable soup! This soup is perfect for any night of the week, as this recipe packs tons of flavor into a short cooking time thanks to the pressure cooker.

• Sauté the celery and onions. Start by setting the Instant Pot to sauté, and lightly cook the onions and celery in oil until softened. Then, stir in the garlic and seasonings.

• Deglaze. If needed, pour some broth into the pot and use a (not metal) spatula or spoon to lift any stuck-on bits from the bottom of the pot. 
• Combine. Switch the Instant Pot off while you add the rest of the broth, along with your potatoes, veggies, and canned tomatoes. Chuck in a bay leaf, and then seal the lid.
• Cook. Set the soup to cook on high pressure for 5 minutes, followed by a 10-minute natural release. 
• Add the beans. Fish out the bay leaf, and stir in the cannellini beans. Leave the soup to rest for 5 minutes while the beans warm through, and then serve!

How Long Do You Cook Vegetable Soup in the Instant Pot?

Veggies soften quickly in the Instant Pot, so you’ll set your Instant Pot to cook for just 5 minutes. However, keep in mind that the pot takes about 15 minutes to come to pressure before the cooking time starts, and the pressure needs to be released naturally for 10 minutes afterward. So, this vegetable soup takes approximately 30 minutes to cook in the pressure cooker.

Tips for Success

I love Instant Pot recipes like this vegetable soup and my easy Instant Pot lasagna, as the pressure cooker, ironically, takes a lot of the pressure off when making a home-cooked meal! I picked up a few tips while testing this recipe, in case you find them helpful:

• Chop the potatoes into even-sized pieces. Make sure to cut the potatoes into pieces that are similar in size. This way they’ll cook evenly.
• Use frozen vegetables. For extra convenience, you can replace any fresh vegetables in this recipe with your choice of frozen veggies, or a frozen vegetable medley.
• Add a garnish. Parmesan cheese, fresh parsley, or a squeeze of lemon juice are all great ways to jazz up a bowl of vegetable soup.

Instant Pot Soup Variations

There are plenty of ways that you can customize this hearty Instant Pot vegetable soup to suit your tastes. Here are some ideas:

• Vegetable noodle soup. Replace the cannellini beans with your choice of short-cut pasta, like shells, elbow macaroni, ditalini, or fusilli.
• Add protein. Add ground beef, chicken, turkey, or pork sausage. Brown the meat in the Instant Pot alongside the celery and onions. You can also stir in cooked shredded chicken at the end.
• More veggies. Customize your vegetable soup to your liking! Try adding diced zucchini, bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, or kale. You could also swap regular potatoes for sweet potatoes or butternut squash.
• Make it creamy. For an ultra-rich and creamy vegetable soup, add a splash of heavy cream right at the end of cooking, along with the beans. For a cream-free trick, use a blender to purée 1-2 cups of the soup before returning the blended soup to the pot (or use an immersion blender).

Serving Suggestions

Cozy vegetable soup is an easy light meal, served with a sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan cheese and a side of hot water cornbread or crusty French bread for dunking. Or, enjoy a warm bowl of soup as a side dish with juicy grilled chicken tenders or slow cooker beef tips. Vegetable soup also makes a tasty pairing with homemade risotto (another easy Instant Pot recipe!) or a zesty Mediterranean couscous salad.

Storing and Reheating Leftovers

• To Store. Store any leftover vegetable soup airtight in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. 
• Reheat. Warm up this soup on the stove or in the microwave. You can also use the Sauté setting on your Instant Pot.

Can You Freeze Vegetable Soup?

Yes, this vegetable soup is soup-er freezer-friendly and can be kept frozen for up to 6 months. Make sure that the soup is completely cool and then store it in a freezer-safe container. Whenever you’re ready to enjoy a cozy dinner, thaw the soup overnight in the fridge before reheating (see above).

More Instant Pot Soup Recipes

• Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
• Instant Pot Potato Soup
• Instant Pot Beef Stew 
• Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Print