Instant Pot Vegetarian Minestrone Soup
Instant Pot Vegetarian Minestrone Soup is an easy instant pot minestrone soup that’s hearty, healthy and cooks up in about 10 minutes!
Our weather has been allllll over the place the past month. Mostly it’s been raining with the occasional burst of hail, followed by a bone chilling day or two that produces a thick layer of ice in the morning.
In between all of that, we’ll get a day or two of spring-like weather where the scent of pollen is thick in the air, and the sun is shining away. That is quickly followed up by more rain.
Such a tease!
At least we’re 100% of normal water-wise here in CA, which is completely abnormal. It’s been feeling more like Seattle as wet as it’s been.
I’m not complaining — I’m just cold and in need of all the soup. 🙂
This Instant Pot Vegetarian Minestrone Soup is something that I made primarily for my husband. He loves minestrone, and normally I make it untraditionally with quinoa instead of pasta or sweet potato or butternut squash instead of potato.
He likes minestrone to be as classic as possible with russet potato and pasta, so this soup is dedicated to him. This is a vegetarian minestrone soup, so it’s not totally classic, but my husband was on board with that. 🙂
I truly don’t remember what life was like before I had my Instant Pot. Do you have one? It’s the one kitchen appliance that I recommend to everyone. It’s a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, etc. all in one.
There’s nothing that the Instant Pot can’t do, and it cooked this easy instant pot minestrone soup up in about 10 minutes flat.
That’s nothing short of a miracle!
The glory of the pressure cooker is that it cooks everything so much more quickly, but that’s only half of it. Pressure cooking results in food that tastes richer and more developed because the moisture is locked inside.
That means 3 mere minutes of pressure cooking time results in soup that tastes as good (and even better!), than soup that’s simmered for 30 minutes or more.
How to make this recipe
Prepping the veggies for this instant pot vegetarian minestrone soup recipe is the the most time consuming part, but we’re only talking about 10-15 minutes. The majority of the vegetable prep may be done in advance to save you time during the week, too.
Sauté the onion, celery, carrot and parsnip for 4 minutes in the Instant Pot, then add the garlic, potato and zucchini. Sauté 1 minute more, then add the tomatoes, homemade or store bought vegetable stock, pasta, green beans, kidney beans, bay leaf and herbs.
Secure the lid, seal the venting valve, and set to High Pressure for 3 minutes. Quick release the pressure when done, and stir in the spinach, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.
Top with parmesan if desired and enjoy!
Recipe Tips/Substitutions
- If you prefer not to make your instant pot minestrone soup with pasta, omit it altogether, along with 1/2 cup liquid or so. I don’t recommend substituting it with rice or quinoa as I haven’t tried either one in this recipe.
- The veggies may be prepped in advance to make things much more quickly during the week, or make a big batch on Sunday and enjoy all week long!
- This soup is freezer friendly!
- Omit the parmesan cheese for a vegan meal.
More plant-based Instant Pot meals that you’ll love!
Instant Pot Pumpkin Black Bean Chili Mac
Instant Pot Vegetarian Taco Lentil Chili
Instant Pot Spicy White Bean and Chard Stew
Instant Pot Vegetarian Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 large carrot chopped into 1/2 thick pieces
- 1 large parsnip peeled and chopped into 1/2 thick pieces
- 1 stalk celery chopped into 1/2 thick pieces
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 zucchini chopped into 1/2 thick pieces
- 1 russet potato peeled and chopped into 1″ chunks
- 30 ounces low sodium diced tomatoes
- 8 cups Easy Homemade Vegetable Stock or store bought low sodium vegetable stock
- 1/2 cup uncooked whole wheat pasta shells
- 8 ounces green beans trimmed and cut into 1″ pieces
- 15 ounce can low sodium kidney beans rinsed and drained
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 large sprig fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
- 1 tablespoon freshly chopped rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried
- 3 cups fresh baby spinach
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Freshly grated parmesan for serving (optional)
Equipment
Instructions
- Press the Sauté button on the Instant Pot and heat the olive oil. Add the onion, carrot, parsnip and celery and sauté 4 minutes. Add the garlic, zucchini and potato and sauté 1 minute longer.
- Add the tomatoes, stock, pasta, green beans, kidney beans, bay leaf and herbs and stir. Secure the lid and close the venting valve, and set to High Pressure for 3 minutes. When done, quick release the pressure and stir in the spinach, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
- If you prefer not to make your instant pot minestrone soup with pasta, omit it altogether, along with 1/2 cup liquid or so. I don’t recommend substituting it with rice or quinoa as I haven’t tried either one in this recipe.
- The veggies may be prepped in advance to make things much more quickly during the week, or make a big batch on Sunday and enjoy all week long!
- This soup is freezer friendly!
- Omit the parmesan cheese for a vegan meal.
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
9 Comments on “Instant Pot Vegetarian Minestrone Soup”
Our weather has been all over the place too, but this past week has been extremely cold. Today, high winds and snow are in the forecast. So let’s just say I want to go for a swim in this delicious looking minestrone soup! And yay for a quick instant pot dinner!!
It definitely sounds colder where you are so I hope you have some soup in your forecast too. 🙂
I’m also starting to not remember what life was like before my Instant Pot, and its only been a few months! We’re definitely a minestrone soup loving family, so I’ll be putting this on the menu soon. It’s been freezing here too, so all of the soup is in order!
I’m glad that you’re loving your IP too Katherine!
Yes, I have one, Marcie and it’s a great time saver.
I love a hearty warm minestrone soup! This looks like a fabulous recipe. So perfect for the kind of weather we are having here.
Minestrone is one of my all-time favorite soups! It’s just so hearty and comforting to me. I’ve also been eating lots of soup!
Isn’t is such a satisfying soup? Perfect for our crazy rainy weather!
I don’t have an instant pot, so I’ll try this on the stovetop or slow cooker. Good combo of ingredients, and we like minestrone soup. Soup every day at our house, no matter the weather.
This will work quite well on the stove top. And I love soup in any weather as well. It’s such a great meal!