Instant Pot Minestrone Soup

Instant Pot Minestrone soup is a hearty vegetarian soup recipe you can make in a fraction of the time in your pressure cooker. Full of wholesome ingredients and fresh vegetables, you can feel good about enjoying this minestrone anytime.

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I’m at the point in winter where I feel like it’s been winter for 3000 years. I just want to be warm and eat all the warm things. Because I’m cold on the inside. But I’m getting tired of the standard winter fare. I want to switch it up a bit and keep it cozy but lighter and brighter. That’s exactly what this minestrone soup is- comfort food you can feel good about that is fresh, bursting with veggies, and has a little brightness from a squeeze of lemon. Plus, you can make it in your Instant Pot in a fraction of the time it takes to make it on the stove top.

Minestrone Soup vs Vegetable Soup

Minestrone soup is an Italian version of vegetable soup normally with some form of beans and pasta. Whereas in my vegetable soup recipes I use mainly frozen vegetables, this Instant Pot minestrone soup relies more on fresh veggies. For this reason, I love minestrone soup as a transitional soup from winter to spring because it feels fresher. Part of the beauty about minestrone is you can use whatever fresh veggies you have on hand or that are in season. Because it’s rustic Italian food, you can make it with whatever you have or whatever you like and still be making classic minestrone soup.

Vegetables for Instant Pot Minestrone

For this Instant Pot Minestrone Soup, I’m using:

• onions
• carrots
• celery
• potatoes
• white beans
• kale
• zucchini

All of the vegetable ingredients I’m using in this soup are fresh, minus the white beans. Those are canned. Really though, because Italians developed minestrone soup as a way to use up whatever vegetables they had on hand, you could use any veggie. Other good options would be:

• turnips or parsnips
• spinach
• butternut squash
• sweet potatoes

Whatever you’ve got on hand.

Aside from vegetables, this soup recipe uses a few other ingredients to create it’s delicious flavors. You’ll also need:

• fresh garlic, pressed
• bay leaves
• juice from half a lemon
• tomato paste- I use tomato paste instead of actual tomatoes because I prefer the texture
• vegetable broth
• small pasta- Ditalani, alphabet noodles, or elbow macaroni all work
• Italian seasoning
• olive oil

How to Make Instant Pot Minestrone Soup

Like my Instant Pot vegetable soup with rice, this isn’t quite dump and go. Instead you use saute mode first to cook the ingredients down and to concentrate the flavors. You’ll also turn the Pot back on saute mode after you pressure cook it to cook it down a bit more and also wilt the kale and stir in the lemon. Using saute mode helps you prevent a watery, flavorless soup and gives you the flavors you’d get if you cooked it on the stovetop.

So let’s break it down:

1. Saute the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic in some olive oil in the Instant Pot on saute mode. Season everything pretty liberally with salt and pepper and Italian seasoning blend. If you notice anything sticking, pour in a little of the veggie broth. Keep sauteing the vegetables until the onions are translucent.

   

2.  Pour in the rest of the veggie stock. Stir in the tomato paste. Let the stock come up to a simmer.

   

3. Add the pasta, potatoes, and zucchini.
4. Pressure cook on manual for 4 minutes.
5. Quick release the pressure. Remove the lid.
6. Add the drained white beans, kale, and lemon juice. Turn the Pot back on saute mode and bring to a simmer.

   

Tips and Tricks

My best piece of advice when making most soups in the Instant Pot, don’t skip cooking down the broth on Saute mode before and after pressure cooking. This helps the flavors concentrate and give you a similar result to cooking on a stovetop or slow cooker. I wrote about why this works so well here.

Other pointers to make the best Instant Pot minestrone soup ever:

• Use enough olive oil to prevent sticking. If you notice the vegetables sticking, add a bit of broth in right away.
• Over season. Use more salt and pepper than you think you need. Same thing for fresh garlic and the Italian seasoning. It’s not a typo to include a full tablespoon of seasoning.
• Switch up the veggies to use what you like.
• Add the lemon right before you turn the heat off to keep the lemon nice and bright.
• This soup is fantastic with some Parmesan cheese and crusty bread. Omit the cheese if you’re vegan.

Other Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes You Might Like

This minestrone soup is hands down my new favorite soup to make in my Instant Pot. I particularly like it as the weather starts to warm a bit since it’s a bit lighter and fresher feeling, making it perfect for spring and fall.

Looking for other vegetarian Instant Pot recipes? Try these:

• Instant Pot Vegetable Soup with Rice
• Instant Pot Buffalo Cauliflower
• Easy Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
• Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
• Easy Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

Instant Pot Minestrone Soup

Instant Pot Minestrone soup is a hearty vegetarian soup recipe you can make in a fraction of the time in your pressure cooker. Full of wholesome ingredients and fresh vegetables, you can feel good about enjoying this minestrone anytime.

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Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Course: Soup, vegetarian

Cuisine: American, Italian

Keyword: Instant Pot minestrone soup, Instant Pot vegetable soup recipe, minestrone soup recipe

Servings: 4 -6 servings

Author: jfletcher

Ingredients

• 3 tbs olive oil
• 1 large onion or 2 small onions diced
• 2 carrots peeled and diced
• 2 celery stalks diced
• 6-8 cloves of garlic pressed
• 2 bay leaves
• 2-3 white potatoes peeled and cubed
• 1 zucchini cubed
• 6 tbs of tomato paste
• 6 cups of vegetable broth
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbs Italian seasoning blend
• 1 cup of Ditalini or other small pasta
• 4 cups of kale with thick stems removed
• 15 ounces of canned white beans drained and rinsed
• juice of half a lemon

Instructions

• Put the inner liner in the Instant Pot and turn on Saute mode. Pour in 3 tbs of olive oil and let it heat. When the oil is hot, add the diced onion, carrots, and celery. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Cook the vegetable until they start to sweat, 2-3 minutes, and the onions start to turn translucent. If needed, add a little bit of the broth to prevent sticking.
• Once the onions are translucent, add the potatoes and season with salt and pepper, bay leaves and Italian seasoning. Cook for about a minute, stirring constantly.
• Add the broth and the tomato paste, stirring well to combine. Bring the sauce to a simmer
• Now add the diced zucchini and pasta.
• Hit cancel to turn off Saute mode. Secure the lid on the Pot with the vent set to sealing. Pressure cook on high for 4 minutes. When the Pot beeps, do a quick release to vent the steam.
• Remove the lid and hit cancel. Turn the Pot back on saute mode.
• Stir in the kale and white beans. Cook on saute mode until the kale wilts, about 2-3 minutes. Turn saute mode off.
• Finish by squeezing in the juice of half a lemon.
• Serve hot. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley if desired.

Video

Notes

If you are planning on making this ahead of time, omit the pasta and add it separately just prior to serving. The pasta will soak up a lot of the broth.

If you have leftovers, store them in a sealed container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Before reheating, you may need to add extra vegetable broth. If you add extra broth prior to reheating, you may want to add a pinch of extra salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.

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