Instant Pot Lentil Soup
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Instant Pot Lentil Soup features garden vegetables and lentils in a flavorful broth. Make this healthy soup recipe in just 25 minutes!
Soup makes a wonderfully filling meal either on its own or with a loaf of bread and a salad. If you enjoy making homemade soup, you might want to try a few more of my recipes.
Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana (Olive Garden copycat recipe) is a favorite pressure cooker soup recipe.
Or, you might want to try my Baked Potato Soup recipe. It comes fully loaded with cheese, bacon, and sour cream! This dinner is utterly life-changing.
If you are looking for a freezer soup, my Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup is a wonderful way to use up what’s left in the freezer.
Made in just 25 minutes, this easy recipe is bursting with fabulous flavor, tender chunks of chicken and veggies.
Making Instant Pot Lentil Soup
This vegan lentil soup can be on the table in less than thirty minutes. It’s a perfectly healthy dinner for your busiest days.
While I’ve used fresh vegetables when making this soup, you can easily use frozen, canned, or leftover.
Just add them toward the end of the cooking time so they don’t get too soft.
Protein options
Lentils are high in protein on their own. So, there is no need to add any other type of protein to this soup.
But, I know that there are some people who don’t consider it to be dinner unless there is meat in the soup.
You can easily add beef, pork, or chicken to your soup if you want to. Or, if you want to keep this as a freezer meal, you can add whatever leftover meat you have stored in the freezer.
Just add the cooked meat at the same time you add the other ingredients and it will cook perfectly.
If you want to keep this as vegan lentil soup, look for frozen protein crumbles at the grocery store. There are several different vegan options that would work well in this soup.
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Frequently asked questions
Crockpot and Instant Pot cooking instructions for Lentil soup:
When using an instant pot:
- Cooking frozen:
- Place frozen contents into the Instant Pot.
- Pour in water and bouillon cubes or chicken broth.
- Set instant pot to pressure cook and cook for 25 minutes with quick release.
- Cooking fresh:
- If cooking fresh, place ingredients into the instant pot.
- Pour in water and bouillon cubes or chicken broth.
- Set instant pot to pressure cook and cook for 20 minutes with quick release.
When using a Crockpot:
- Cooking frozen:
- Add frozen contents to crockpot and pour in water and bouillon cubes or chicken broth.
- Cook on LOW for 10 hours or on HIGH for 7-8 hours.
- Cooking fresh:
- Add frozen contents to crockpot and pour in water and bouillon cubes or chicken broth.
- Cook on LOW for 7-8 hours or on HIGH for 5-6 hours.
What type of lentils to use
This recipe is made with brown lentils, but you can use red, black, or green lentils for this as well. Black lentils are one of the healthiest types of lentils.
They contain 26 grams of protein and 18 grams of fiber. That makes this Instant Pot Lentil Soup one of the healthiest soups I’ve tried.
What to serve with vegan lentil soup
Lentil soup tastes great when topped with parmesan cheese alongside a garlic bread or naan.
Because it’s a dense, yet healthy soup, you may want to consider a lighter side such as a side salad or fresh vegetables.
How to make the soup vegan
This Instant Pot Lentil Soup is already vegan provided you use vegetable broth instead of a chicken broth. If you follow my recipe exactly, you won’t need to make any other substitutions.
How to store freezer soup
You can store lentil soup for 3-4 days in the refrigerator. Make sure to store the soup in an airtight container.
This soup also freezes well after it’s been cooked. You can freeze it for up to 6 months for best quality.
To reheat it, let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Then, place it in a pot on the stove and heat it over low heat until it’s warm.
Enjoy!
With love from our simple kitchen to yours.
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Instant Pot Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 8 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 2 large carrots, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1 large green bell pepper, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1 1/2 cups lentils, rinsed
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1 sprig fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 29 ounces fire-roasted diced tomatoes
Instructions
- Add all ingredients into the Instant Pot.
- Cover and seal. Set release valve to sealing.
- Set Instant Pot on MANUAL and cook on HIGH for 15 minutes.
- When it is done cooking. Allow the steam to naturally release for 10 minutes. Then carefully turn to Quick Release to allow any remaining steam to escape.
- Stir to combine, add salt if necessary. Enjoy!
Donna’s Notes
Place frozen contents into the Instant Pot.
Pour in water and bouillon cubes or chicken broth.
Set instant pot to pressure cook and cook for 25 minutes with quick release. Cooking fresh:
If cooking fresh, place ingredients into the instant pot.
Pour in water and bouillon cubes or chicken broth.
Set instant pot to pressure cook and cook for 20 minutes with quick release. When using a Crockpot:
Cooking frozen:
Add frozen contents to crockpot and pour in water and bouillon cubes or chicken broth.
Cook on LOW for 10 hours or on HIGH for 7-8 hours. Cooking fresh:
Add frozen contents to crockpot and pour in water and bouillon cubes or chicken broth.
Cook on LOW for 7-8 hours or on HIGH for 5-6 hours.
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.
Originally published August 2020
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How come both ways to cook say add frozen vegetables?
I made your instant pot lentil soup for a vegetarian friend who has Covid.. I used hatch chilies instead of green bell pepper. It is phenomenally delicious! I know my friend is going to love it. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Pat, that is such a sweet thing to do for your friend! I love your substitute of Hatch chiles (YUM!) Thank you for your comment and for rating the recipe.
TSRI Team member,
Becca
I’m questioning the nutrition info. over 1000mg of sodium and 500 calories per serving? Given the ingredients, I can’t see it. Could it be for the entire pot?
Hi LeAnn,
There was a mistake in the recipe card, thank you for letting us know! Have a wonderful day!
TSRI Team Member,
Holli