Instant Pot Vegetable Soup is the perfect recipe to make when you are trying to get back into the swing of healthy eating. It is 83 calories a cup, and full of delicious flavors.
Does anyone else find that at certain times trying to lose a little extra weight is so easy and at other times it is like the hardest thing you’ve ever done? Like when it is easy I’m pretty sure that if I just put in a smidge more effort I could probably be a model. And then at other times, it is so difficult I just want to fall into full mom frump. (I’m totally comfortable with you laughing out loud while reading that, I am too.)
I suppose the best case scenario is not really thinking about being a super model or a frumpy mom and just eating healthy because it is when my body feels best.
This Instant Pot Vegetable Soup is the epitome of eating foods that make my body feel great. It has the most delicious flavor combination. Rarely I finish a recipe and not one thing about it needs to be tweaked, but that was this soup. I am full on in love with this recipe, and I think you will be too.
How to Make Instant Pot Vegetable Soup
This will give you an overview of the recipe steps. For the full steps and list of ingredients and amounts, make sure you scroll to the bottom of the post and check out the recipe card.
- Turn on your Instant Pot: Set your Instant Pot to “Sauté.” It will take sometime to heat up.
- Chop the Vegetables: Use the time it takes your Instant Pot to heat up to cut up the vegetables.
- Sauté the Onions: Once the Instant Pot is hot, add in the onion and sauté until tender. Turn off the Instant Pot
- Make the base: Add the vegetable stock, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, herbs, salt, and pepper to the Instant Pot.
- Add the vegetables. Please note that your instant pot will be very full and the vegetables will come out of the liquid. They will soften and will add the liquid of the soup as it cooks.
- Set the Instant Pot: Seal the instant pot, set the pressure release valve to sealing, and program it to manual, high pressure, and 5 minutes.
- Open the Instant Pot: Once it is done cooking, turn the pressure release valve to venting. Once the float valve has dropped, you can open up the instant pot.
- Taste and Adjust Seasoning: At the end of the cook time, taste the recipe. This is when I add honey and lemon juice. You can also add a little more salt and pepper if you like.
Choosing Vegetables for your Vegetable Soup
I chose the vegetables I did in this soup because I thought the flavors would work so well together. But truly, the sky is the limit. If there is a vegetable listed here that you don’t like, replace it with more of something else.
Sautéing the Onion
Truth be told, sautéing vegetables in my Instant Pot is not my favorite thing. It gets really hot, so you need to be careful not to let it burn. That being said, I think it is a good step to take in this recipe because it makes the onion flavor more gentle.
You will notice that most recipes like this would include sautéing the garlic. We are skipping that in this recipe because it is just too easy to burn the garlic.
How Long to Cook Vegetable Soup in Instant Pot
You will notice in the recipe instructions that we are only setting our Instant Pot to cook for 5 minutes. However, the cook time in the recipe card is listed as 50 minutes.
This can be really confusing. You are setting the time on the Instant Pot to five minutes (that’s not a type-o). But it takes time to sauté the onions, for the Instant Pot to come to pressure, for it count down the 5 minutes, and then for the pressure to release. All of that time added together comes to 50 minutes.
It’s important to me that I give you a realistic picture of how long a recipe will take.
Storing Leftover Vegetable Soup
This vegetable soup makes for great leftovers. Once they have cooled, store them in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Make sure to only reheat the portion that you intend to eat. Left overs should not be cooled and reheated more than once.
Freezing Instant Pot Vegetable Soup
Instant Pot Vegetable Soup freezes perfectly. I suggest freezing it in individual portions so you can pull it out and take it for lunch!
Freeze in an airtight container that will allow for the soup to expand as it freezes. Store in the freezer for up to three months.
Calories in Vegetable Soup
This vegetable soup recipe makes a whopping 12 cups. I have listed the nutritional information in the recipe card below by the 1 cup serving. I typically eat 3 cups for lunch.
These are the highlights:
- This soup has 83 calories a cup.
- It has 13 grams of carbohydrates.
- This recipe only has 3 grams of fat.
FAQ
Can I leave out a vegetable I don’t like?
Yes! I recommend that you replace it by increasing the amount of a different vegetable you do like. You can also experiment and try other vegetables that aren’t listed here.
What size Instant Pot do you have?
I have this 6 quart Instant Pot. I would not recommend making the full recipe in a smaller pressure cooker.
Can this be made on the stove top?
Yes, but I recommend sautéing the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic to start the recipe and adding in 6 cups of vegetable stock instead of 4.
Other Low Calorie Dinners
If this is just the start of you wanting to eat healthy, here are a few suggestions to help you along the way.
- Baked Salmon: This recipe is less than 30 minutes, and delicious. Fish is such a great way to get in protein while eating light.
- Turkey Bolognese: Made in the slow cooker and packed with vegetables, this sauce is delicious. Make it low carb by serving it over zucchini noodles!
- Crustless Vegetable Quiche: This great breakfast recipe is only 120 calories a slice, and it is great reheated!
If you make this great soup recipe or any of my other dinner recipes leave me a comment and let me know what you think.
Instant Pot Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 15 ounces tomato sauce
- 15 ounces diced tomatoes
- 1/2 tablespoon dried basil
- 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 carrots peeled and diced
- 2 celery stalks trimed diced
- 1/2 head cauliflower cut into florets (about 2 1/2 cups)
- 1 head broccoli cut into florets (about 2 cups)
- 1 zucchini sliced, and quartered (skin on)
- 1 yellow squash sliced, and quartered (skin on)
- 1 red pepper diced
- 2 cups cabbage diced (about 1/4 of a head of cabbage)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons honey
Instructions
- Before you begin cutting up your vegetables, turn your Instant Pot on and set it to "Saute." It will take some time before it registers as "Hot." Chop up the vegetables while you are waiting for it to heat up.
- Add the olive oil to the bottom of the Instant Pot. Add in the onion and stir constantly until it is soft, about 3 minutes. Turn the Instant Pot off.
- In the base of the Instant Pot add the vegetable stock, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, dried herbs, salt, and pepper.
- Stir in the vegetables. The Instant Pot will be very full and the vegetalbles will be above the liquid. They will cook down.
- Put the top on and seal. Set it to manual, high pressure, 5 minutes. Set the pressure release valve to sealing. After a moment the Instant Pot will beep and say "On." At that point it will start building pressure and eventually the pressure valve will raise and then it will start counting down the 5 minutes. (The total time it takes to come to pressure varies from Instant Pot to Instant Pot. My total cooking time from closing the Instant Pot to opening it was 44 minutes.)
- Once the Instant Pot has counted down the 5 minutes, use a manual pressure release, turning it to venting. Once the valve has fallen you can remove the top.
- Stir in the lemon juice and honey. Taste and add more salt and pepper as desired.
susan says
Super good. It was so tasty after cooking that I skipped the honey/lemon step. It will include next time. Thanks
So glad to hear that you liked it, Susan!
Rick says
I made this exactly as per the recipe except I did a “thick”cut on my veggies (gave them a little bit of a crunch )and it was excellent !
I will definitely be making this again YUMMO !
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!