This is the Best Instant Pot Lentil Soup on the web! It’s a hearty vegetarian dish with a flavourful coconut curry broth and red lentils.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Coconut oil – use another neutral cooking oil like avocado or canola oil.
- Yellow onions – white onions or shallots would also work.
- Garlic – freshly minced garlic has the best flavor, but jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
- Fresh ginger – if you don’t have any fresh ginger, use a bit of ground ginger powder.
- Celery – swap out for more carrots if you don’t have any celery on hand.
- Carrots – use more celery instead or leave this out altogether.
- Curry powder – make your own using a blend of cumin, coriander, chili, turmeric and pepper.
- Ground turmeric – add in some extra curry powder if you don’t have any turmeric.
- Cumin – ground coriander is the best substitute for ground cumin.
- Salt & black pepper – to taste.
- Red lentils – feel free to swap out for another variety of lentils of your choice like yellow, black or brown lentils.
- Green lentils – see substitution notes above.
- Coconut milk – heavy cream or sour cream will also work if you don’t need this soup to be dairy-free. You can leave this out altogether for a less creamy soup.
- Can diced tomatoes – fresh diced tomatoes would also work here.
- Vegetable broth – chicken broth would also work but then the soup won’t be vegetarian/vegan.
- Baby spinach – use another dark leafy green of your choice like kale.
How to make lentil soup in the Instant Pot
Step 1: Prep your ingredients.
Step 2: Add everything to the Instant Pot.
Add everything but the spinach to the pot in the order listed.
Step 3: Cook on high pressure.
Cook on manual high pressure for 5 minutes, then do a quick release of the pressure.
Step 4: Blend the soup.
Remove some of the soup, let it cool, then blend it. Add it back to the Instant Pot.
Step 5: Stir in the spinach.
Step 6: Serve with fresh bread and enjoy!
What to serve with lentil soup
This Instant Pot lentil soup is delicious on its own, but if you’re looking for side dish ideas, here are some options:
Frequently Asked Questions
For this Instant Pot lentil soup, I actually used two different colour lentils – green and red. Both have their own benefits and flavours! The red lentils break down easier which give you more of a stew-like texture, whereas the green lentils are heartier.
You can make this lentil soup in the Instant Pot, on the stovetop or in the slow cooker! Just bring everything to a boil in a large pot on the stovetop and simmer for about 30 minutes or cook for 6 hours on low power in the slow cooker. Make sure that you add all ingredients in the same order that you would add them to your Instant Pot, with olive oil on the bottom to prevent the other ingredients from sticking.
You can try adding more veggies to this soup like zucchini, bell peppers and kale. Depending on the kind of veggies you’re using, you can either cook them with the rest of the soup or just stir them in at the end and place the lid back on so they soften in the soup.
If you’re making lentils on the stovetop, you’ll need to soak them first, but since you’re making them in the pressure cooker, you can skip this step. The dry lentils will soak up all the juices from the soup to make them nice and tender.
Storing and reheating
Store any leftovers of this Instant Pot lentil soup recipe in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Reheat it in the a pot on the stovetop, in the microwave, or even in your Instant Pot! If your pressure cooker has a simmer or sauté function, use it to reheat the soup. You don’t want to pressure cook the soup again – you just need to warm it up.
Freezing this recipe
You can freeze this lentil soup for up to 3 months. Just be sure that the soup is completely cool before placing it into freezer-safe glass containers or Ziploc bags.
You can reheat individual servings of the soup from frozen for 6-7 minutes in your microwave, stirring once halfway through. Or let the soup thaw in the fridge overnight then reheat as normal.
More Instant Pot soup recipes
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Use mason jars to store the leftovers of this recipe – they will store the exact perfect serving size.
- These colourful mason jar lids are so fun and perfect if you lose your lids.
- Freeze this recipe in glass microwave-safe bowls up to 3 months.
The Best Instant Pot Lentil Soup {Vegetarian}
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 yellow onions, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
- 4 stalks celery, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp turmeric
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 cup red lentils
- 1 cup green lentils
- 1 (496mL) can coconut milk
- 1 (796mL) can diced tomatoes
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups spinach, chopped
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to Instant Pot in order that they are listed with the exception of spinach. Place lid on Instant Pot and make sure valve is set to seal.
- Press the pressure cook button and set to high, then cook for 5 minutes. Instant Pot will take about 10-15 minutes to come to pressure then pressure cook the 5 minutes.
- Do a quick release of the pressure on the Instant Pot by flicking the switch at the top with a spoon. Open the lid when pressure gauge has dropped and the lid opens easily.
- Remove 1 cup of the soup and blend in a blender once cooled, then add back to pot of soup (this is an optional step that makes the dish more creamy and delicious). Stir in spinach, then serve with fresh bread and enjoy!
