Instant Pot lentil soup
Instant Pot lentil soup is a really hearty, flavorful soup that is prepped and cooked entirely in the Instant Pot. Perfect for an easy dinner on a chilly night.
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced small
- 3 medium carrots, diced small
- 2 celery stalks, diced small
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (OR black pepper for less heat)
- 1 ½ cups green or brown lentils
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 15 oz. can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 15 oz. can crushed tomatoes
- 5 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 6 oz. bag fresh baby spinach
Optional toppings:
- Fresh Parmesan cheese, fresh chopped parsley, cracked black pepper, oyster crackers, hot sauce
Instructions
- Set your Instant Pot to sauté. Add the oil and wait 10-15 seconds until it’s heated up. Then add the onion, carrots and celery and sauté for 5 minutes, until tender.
- Add the thyme, lentils and garlic to the Instant Pot and stir well.
- Next add the tomatoes and broth and stir again.
- Cover the Instant Pot and set for high pressure for 15 minutes. (It will take about 5-10 minutes to come to pressure.)
- Use the natural release method, which will take about 10-15 minutes.
- Once the pressure is released, open the Instant Pot and add the spinach. (Add additional broth at this point if desired for consistency.) Stir the spinach into the soup then cover the Instant Pot again. Let sit for 2-3 minutes to let the spinach wilt down.
- Serve hot with desired toppings and enjoy!
Notes
You can use green or brown lentils for this recipe.
Fire-roasted diced tomatoes add some extra flavor but you could use a regular diced can of tomatoes if that’s all you have on hand.
It can be hard to find a small (15 oz.) can of crushed tomatoes. They often are only sold in the 28 oz. size cans. If that’s all you can find, just use half of that can and reserve the other half for another use.
I have and love this 6-quart Instant Pot. If yours is much smaller, you may want to halve the recipe - or pay close attention to your max fill lines.
I’ve listed “additional time” as 20 minutes to account for the amount of time it will take for the pot to come to pressure and then time for natural release at the end. The exact amount of time for these will vary, but that’s at least a rough estimate to help with planning/timing of the meal.
Video
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 250kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 30mg | Sodium: 1307mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 10g
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