Instant Pot Lentil Soup
Published 1/9/2021 • Updated 12/4/2024
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This Instant Pot Lentil Soup recipe is flavorful, packed with protein, and nutrients. This lentil soup is made in under an hour and is a great meal prep meal for the whole week.
Instant Pot Soup is the Easiest
Do you love making Instant Pot soup just as much as we do? We have a great selection of Instant Pot Soups on FFF that will make your taste buds and your kitchen jump for joy!
Clean up is a breeze when you make Instant Pot soup and you just can’t beat the flavor of Instant Pot Soup because when you pressure cook your soup, the flavors are intensified and delish! This is the best Instant Pot soup that you’ll ever eat, trust us.
Instant Pot Lentil Soup 101
How long does it take to cooke lentils in an Instant Pot?
You can use brown or green lentils in this soup and it takes about 20 minutes on high pressure for the lentils to cook just right. They hold their shape and are not mushy!
Do different color lentils have different cook times?
Yes, different color lentils cook differently. Brown and green lentils are a little more hardy and hold their shape well when cooking.
Yellow and red lentils tend to cook faster so cooking them in the Instant Pot under high pressure can cause the lentils to turn into a puree.
Do you need to soak lentils before pressure cooking?
For this recipe, you do not need to soak the lentils before pressure cooking them!
How much liquid do you put in Instant Pot for soup?
The more broth in an Instant Pot, the longer it will take the Instant Pot to build pressure. We start by adding 4 cups of broth to the Instant Pot for the cook time and then add 2 more cups of broth after the soup has been pressure cooked.
Why are my lentils still crunchy?
Your lentils may still be crunchy for a few different reasons.
- There wasn’t enough liquid in the Instant Pot.
- The vent on your Instant Pot wasn’t secure and let the pressure out of the Instant Pot.
- You didn’t cook the lentils long enough.
How to Make Instant Pot Lentil Soup
Sauté > High Pressure > 20 minutes > Quick Release > Sauté > Eat
There are only a few steps you have to take before you will be enjoying a beverage while waiting for your Instant Pot Lentil Soup to cook to perfection in the Instant Pot.
We suggest having all of your ingredients prepped (chopped + measured) before you start making this recipe. Having everything prepared for this lentil soup makes the process much more fun!
Sauté Vegetables
The first step to making this soup is creating a delicious flavor base for the soup. You want to sauté the onion and garlic together with a little bit of salt!
From there you add the sweet potatoes to the Instant Pot, but do not sauté the sweet potatoes too long or you will end up with mushy potatoes after the pressure cooking occurs.
Add Ingredients to Pressure Cook
After the sweet potatoes are coated in oil, add the lentils, coconut milk, diced tomatoes, garbanzo beans, 4 cups of vegetable broth, ginger, lemongrass, turmeric, curry powder, and salt to the pot and stir.
Why do we only add 4 cups of broth to start? We don’t want the Instant Pot to overwork to build pressure. Having less broth in the Instant Pot while pressure cooking helps to cut down the cook time. You only need enough broth for the lentils to soak up. We add the last two cups at the end.
Once all the ingredients are combined together, cover the Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 20 minutes.
Quick Release
When the timer goes off, there is no need to let the soup sit, quick release the pressure from the Instant Pot! To avoid any broth splatter, feel free to put a kitchen towel over the vent to catch any liquid. The towel will just absorb liquid.
Add Broth, Greens, Red Pepper, Lemon Juice
The last step to this soup is to turn the sauté feature back on the and add the last few remaining ingredients.
Add the last 2 cups of broth, the greens (spinach or kale), red pepper and lemon juice to the Instant Pot and bring the soup to a simmer. Simmer until the greens are melted. Then? Enjoy your lentil soup!
need to make substitutions?
Don’t have some of the ingredients that this soup calls for? No worries. You can make some easy substitutions and still end up with a delicious Instant Pot Soup!
Substitutions
- Sweet Potato—> Red Potatoes
- Garbanzo Beans—> White Beans
- Vegetable Broth—> Any Broth
- Curry or Turmeric —> Golden Milk Powder
Instant Pot Golden Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, minced
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 large sweet potato, diced
- 1 cup dry brown or green lentils
- 1 15-oz. can full-fat coconut milk
- 1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes
- 1 15-oz. can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
- 6 cups vegetable broth, separated (or any kind)
- 2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated lemongrass, we used the tube kind
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
- ½ tablespoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 cups chopped kale or spinach
- 1 large red pepper, diced
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Turn on the Instant Pot’s saute feature and add olive oil.
- When the olive oil is fragrant, add onion and garlic to the pot. Sauté for 3-4 minutes and then add the sweet potato and stir.
- Add lentils, coconut milk, diced tomatoes, garbanzo beans, 4 cups of vegetable broth, ginger, lemongrass, turmeric, curry powder, and salt to the pot and stir.
- Close the Instant Pot > and turn it to manual high pressure > and set the timer to 20 minutes (it will take 15 minutes to build up pressure).
- Once the timer goes off, quick release the pressure and take the cover off.
- Turn the saute feature back on and add the greens, red pepper, lemon juice, and remaining 2 cups of broth. Stir and bring to a boil
- Turn the Instant Pot off and serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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My families new favorite. We double the recipe and still never have leftovers. Even my picky kids like it! Thanks!
So glad you guys love it!!
This soup looks so delicious! Healthy, tasty, flavourful and easy to prepare. Thank you for sharing such a lovely recipe. Really excited to try this recipe. Thanks!
This was delicious! I added coconut milk after the initial release since I find coconut milk can do weird things in the instant pot when pressurized. I also added red chili flakes for a little more flavor. Overall good & flavorful use of lentil.