Instant Pot Garden Vegetable Soup is the perfect way to use whatever fresh herbs and vegetables you have hanging out in your fridge or garden!
I don't know about you but I'm a soup eater all year round. To me, there is no "soup season". There are so many delicious, seasonal soups I like to eat them all twelve months a year.
Give me Instant Pot Butternut Squash Bisque in the fall, minestrone soup or hearty chili in the wintertime.
Vegetable soup is by far one of my favorite soups to make because you can stretch a soup for miles by bulking up the veggies you add to it. You can also use whatever veggies you have on hand.
I guess you could say it's a great way to clean out your produce drawer!
While the Instant Pot vegetable soup recipe calls for carrots, celery, potatoes, tomatoes and argulua, you can adapt this recipe in countless ways.
Think about using other ingredients you have like:
- zucchini or summer summer squash
- cabbage
- different varieties of potatoes
- green beans
Should I keep going?
I think you get the idea.
How to Make Instant Pot Vegetable Soup
Making this vegetable soup in your Instant Pot means you can have cooked all day flavor in a fraction of the time.
It also means you won't be heating up your kitchen while this cooks!
Here's how we'll make veggie soup in the Instant Pot:
Add olive oil to Instant Pot and select the “Saute' button.
Add the garlic, celery, carrots, red onion, and crushed red pepper flakes. I like to use the jarred, refrigerated garlic because it's easy, but if you have fresh garlic, have at it! Season it with a little salt and black pepper.
Sauté, stirring occasionally, until it starts to give off garlic aroma and the veggies start to develop a little color.
It won't take long, just about four minutes or so.
Add your broth and stir to combine, scrapping any brown bits off the bottom of the pot in the process. Turn the unit off.
Add potatoes, bay leaves, and chopped tomatoes to the pot. Add the lid and lock it into place.
Switch the vent to “Seal” and set the “Manual or Pressure Cook” setting to 3 minutes.
Instant Pot Tip:
Friendly reminder: Keep in mind your Instant Pot/programmable pressure cooker will take time to come to pressure. Be sure to account for that in your timing. It will likely take up to ten minutes to come to pressure and then it will count down your three minutes.
When cook time is complete, allow pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then manually release any remaining pressure by switching the steam valve to vent.
Take off the lid lid and discard the bay leaves.
Stir in fresh arugula and lime juice, and season with additional salt and black pepper until it's juuuuuust how you like it. Stir to combine.
Serve immediately topped with freshly shaved or grated Parmesan cheese.
Tips for making vegetable soup
If you have kiddos or picky eaters, you may want to leave the arugula out. If that's the case, add the arugula to the soup bowl of yourself or fellow arugula lovers and ladle the hot soup over the top to wilt it.
That's just my experience with picky eaters, but you do what's best for your family!
You can freeze cooked soup in large portions or in individual servings in containers. These are my favorites!
Other Soup Recipes to Try:
- Hearty Beef & Vegetable Soup
- Instant Pot Chicken Fajita Soup
- Instant Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Healthy Buffalo Chicken Soup
Instant Pot Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 4 large stalks celery chopped
- 4 large carrots sliced
- 1 medium red onion chopped
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- salt & black pepper
- 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 lb. red potatoes quartered
- 2 whole bay leaves
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes chopped
- 2 cups fresh arugula
- 2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- Parmesan cheese freshly shaved or grated
Instructions
- Add olive oil to Instant Pot® and select “Sauté”. Add garlic, celery, carrots, red onion, and crushed red pepper flakes. Season with salt and black pepper and stir to combine.
- Sauté, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and the vegetables start to develop some color, approximately 4-5 minutes. Add broth and stir to combine, scrapping any brown bits off the bottom of the pot in the process. Turn the unit off.
- Add potatoes, bay leaves, and chopped tomatoes to the pot. Add lid and lock into place. Switch the vent to “Seal” and set the “Manual or Pressure Cook” setting to 3 minutes.
- When cook time is complete, allow pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then manually release any remaining pressure.
- Remove lid and discard the bay leaves. Stir in fresh arugula and lime juice, and season with additional salt and black pepper, if desired. Stir to combine.
- Serve immediately topped with freshly shaved or grated Parmesan cheese.
Notes
- Tougher herbs, such as rosemary and thyme, can be added prior to cooking, while more tender options, such as basil and parsley, should be stirred in when the arugula is added. (Discard the woody stems for the tougher herbs before serving).
- Keep in mind your Instant Pot/programmable pressure cooker will take time to come to pressure. Be sure to account for that in your timing.
Nutrition
This Farm Girl Cooks is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
