Instant Pot Lentil Soup

The easiest, best-tasting Instant Pot lentil soup with onions, carrots, and celery is a breeze to prep and pure comfort to eat. A good lentil soup doesn't have to take hours of simmering on the stovetop, waiting for the lentils to soften and the vegetables to cook, says food blogger and photographer Ksenia Prints of At the Immigrant's Table. You can use an Instant Pot to layer flavors and sauté the vegetables, then use pressure to cook the lentils in a rich tomato broth in a fraction of the time it normally takes on the stovetop.

Served with your favorite toppings — we recommend a drizzle of sour cream, grated Parmesan cheese, and fresh chopped parsley — and a piece of good, crusty bread, this Instant Pot lentil soup is a perfect, easy lunch. Make our Instant Pot lentil soup today, and be amazed at how quickly a great flavorful soup can be ready and waiting for you on the table.

The ingredients of our Instant Pot lentil soup are similar to any traditional lentil soup. In fact, the only thing that differs is that you'll use slightly less broth than normal, because you won't cook off as much of it as you do via the traditional stovetop cooking method.

In terms of fresh vegetables, you're going to need onions, carrots, and celery. Fresh thyme and parsley are optional, however you can also use dried oregano if that's all you have. A large can of diced tomatoes and prepared vegetable broth will provide the liquid you need.

In terms of lentils, you can use any brown or green lentils you have on hand, although we particularly love French green Puy lentils in this soup. French lentils keep their firm texture and distinct nutty flavor despite the pressure cooking, and we like that they keep their shape and don't turn to mush on your plate.

Finally, as far as seasoning is concerned, all this soup needs is salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. If you only have regular paprika, that will work as well, although its flavor won't be as deep and nuanced.

For serving, we recommend stocking up on some of your favorite crusty bread like sourdough, in addition to grated Parmesan cheese and sour cream.

Prior to starting the cooking, we recommend cutting all the veggies for the soup. That way, your onion won't burn while you're struggling to get a fine dice on the celery you need for the next stage.

Finely dice the onion. Keep in mind that you don't want large chunks in your soup. Peel the carrots, and cut them into a small dice. Dice the celery the same size. Mince the garlic finely.

Keep the onion and garlic separate, but feel free to mix the celery and carrots in one larger bowl — you'll be adding them to the pot at the same time.

Once all of your vegetables are chopped, you're ready to get cooking on your soup. Set the Instant Pot to the sauté function. Add 2 tablespoons of oil, allow it to heat for a couple of minutes, then add the diced onion and stir with a spatula or a wooden spoon.

Sauté the onion pieces, stirring often, until they are very soft and beginning to brown around the edges, which should take about eight minutes. The onion should change color from opaque white to translucent and should begin to taste sweet if you were to bite into it. Don't worry about obtaining perfect texture or caramelization, because the onion will continue cooking with the soup.

You're adding your ingredients in stages, which helps build the flavor of the soup. The Instant Pot speeds every stage considerably — if you were working in a normal pot on the stovetop, each of these stages would take upwards of ten minutes.

Once your onion has changed color to golden, it's time to add the rest of the vegetables. Add the carrots, celery, herbs, salt, pepper, and paprika to the pot. Sauté for two minutes. Then, add the lentils and garlic, and sauté for one minute, until the garlic smells fragrant.

With your vegetables properly browned and their flavors locked in, it's time to add the liquid to your soup. The liquid will help the lentils cook fully, while the rest of the veggies will soften and lend their distinct flavors and aromas to the broth. The resulting lentil soup will be rich, filling, and aromatic.

Add the diced tomatoes, along with their juice, to the pot. Add the vegetable broth as well. If instead of canned diced tomatoes, all you have on hand are canned whole tomatoes, give them a quick pulse in the blender or dice them with a knife. If you have pureed tomatoes, add them to the pot as they are.

Close and turn the Instant Pot lid to seal. Select pressure cook on the manual setting, and set pressure to high. Set time for 15 minutes.

The Instant Pot should take about ten minutes to build up the necessary pressure. Use this time to relax, pour yourself a glass of wine, and toast a few pieces of bread drizzled with olive oil and flaky sea salt in the oven. Once the pressure is attained, a countdown will begin, displaying how much cooking time remains on your preset timer.

At the end of the cooking cycle, perform a quick release on the Instant Pot according to manufacturer's instructions.

Once you've released the pressure, the Instant Pot is safe to open, and your Instant Pot lentil soup is ready to eat!

Taste the soup and add salt and pepper, as needed. The flavor should be tomatoey, rich, earthy, and balanced. There shouldn't be strong notes of spice or acid. Overall, the soup should make you feel comforted, like a favorite sweater or a hug from a friend.

Ladle the Instant Pot lentil soup into bowls. Serve soup drizzled with sour cream and sprinkled with fresh parsley, Parmesan cheese, flaky sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper. This soup calls for sopping up the flavors left at the end, so don't forget a couple of slices of crusty bread.