Easy Instant Pot Minestrone Soup

This easy Instant Pot minestrone soup recipe is full of flavor! Healthy and vegetarian too, my kids raved that this was their favorite pressure cooker vegetable soup made in our Ninja Foodi with noodles and canned beans.

Ninja Foodi Minestrone Soup

Ok so we are a little obsessed with our new 7 in 1 device. It just makes my life so much easier! Once I got my IP we started having more family dinners together. Then I added a Crockpot Express and Ninja Foodi so I had 3 pressure cooker pots to use to make all the things!

Believe it or not my girls actually prefer vegetables over a plate of meat any day, so they were all ready to try this vegetable soup I made.

How long to pressure cook Minestrone soup?

Just 3 minutes is all you need if you use canned beans, diced tomatoes and your favorite small or medium noodles. All shapes and sizes work for this but elbow macaroni or shells is what we like. Red kidney beans and slices of fresh vegetables all get tender in this short time!

I bet you have had this at your favorite Italian restaurant and wished you could have it a lot more often than when you went out to eat right?? I remember eating a big bowl of this at our favorite pizza joint growing up. It was a choice every single time vs. salad and you just had to get it.

Packed with kidney beans and white with zucchini and small shell pasta noodles I even loved it as a kid. Fast forward um 40ish years and now with my own kids soup is an acceptable dinner. In fact it isn’t just acceptable but desired if I asked them what they would want on a cold evening.

Heck, even when we lived in Ca. and it was summertime I would make this. Why? Because it’s healthy, and if you don’t make it on the stovetop it won’t heat up your kitchen at all. That is the wonderment of this “magic pot” of mine.

Instant Pot Vegetable Soup with Pasta

If you’re looking to eat healthier and/or a vegetarian pressure cooker recipe this is a good one! Made with fresh vegetables, canned beans, and some noodles, it is on our list of cheap Instant Pot recipes we love. That always helps when you have a big family!

What is the difference between vegetable soup and minestrone?

It’s kinda’ obvious by looking at them but basically one has pasta and beans where the other one doesn’t. It’s essentially just a hearty version but you can decide for yourself which you like better. Of course if you need a gluten free version you can either find gluten free pasta, or eliminate them all together.

Weight Watchers Minestrone Soup Pressure Cooker

Let’s talk about watching your weight and still eating tasty meals that are full of flavor. It is totally possible! Portion control is always a big part of losing weight and staying in shape (which is sometimes hard). There are simple devices out there though, like this EatSmart Precision Digital Kitchen Scale that help you with that!

It’s an ultra accurate, precise, and perfect for calorie or carbohydrate counting. It allows you to stop guessing about portion sizes and start living healthier. You can use a container and it will calculate automatically, subtracting the weight of the bowl or place food directly on the scale.

Super easy to use and very well priced. It fits right in my drawer and I can pull it out when I need it. I’m all about easy!

How do you make minestrone soup from scratch?

All you need are veggies, you can make Homemade Chicken Broth in Instant Pot if you want to go all out and then noodles I wouldn’t even venture a guess on how to make those fresh, that isn’t in my wheelhouse.

Choose what is in season I say. Squashes usually you can find year round. If you like them all then throw ’em on in. If you prefer to leave out the zucchini…no problem. Make it to your liking!

• I used a can of petite diced tomatoes because that is what I had on hand but dicing your own fresh tomatoes (use the juice that comes out of them too) is wonderful.
• Using fresh vegetables are always best if they are in season for sure.

If you’re making it vegetarian soup just swap out the chicken broth for vegetable broth! I typically use what is in my cupboard but we do eat meat so I am not too picky as far as that one goes. I have made it with all 3 different types I think they all turn out wonderful.

Easy Instant Pot Minestrone Soup Ingredients

This is what you’re going to need in order to get our pressure cooker soup recipe started. Of course if carrots let’s say aren’t to your liking then cut them out entirely if you want. It is very forgiving and versatile as far as that goes. I like some parmesan cheese on top when it’s served.

• Kidney beans are a great choice
• Garbanzo beans
• Chicken broth, vegetable broth or water if that is all you have
• Onion
• Carrots and celery
• Zucchini
• Diced tomatoes
  • I like petite variety
  • don’t use crushed tomatoes as they’ll turn to mush, not a great texture
• Noodles
  • medium shell pasta is great
• Salt and pepper to taste
  • some like adding a bay leaves might be good
  • feel free to add any other seasonings you like

When you’ve tried this give these other Instant Pot recipes a go! We also have a list of easy Instant Pot pasta recipes and soup recipes to choose from. They all make for wonderful meals in about 30 minutes or less so you can’t go wrong with any one of them. Work your way thru and have something new every day for the whole year!

Does Olive Garden Minestrone soup have meat?

Nope. It’s like ours.  They now make it vegan at all locations now actually. So if you want the previous version you’ll have to make it yourself, adding cooked ground beef into the mix. You can do this first using the saute function to brown, drain the grease and then continue with directions below in recipe card below.

Can you make minestrone soup on the stove?

You could make this on the stove top on low to medium heat. You would all all of your ingredients and then just boil until noodles are tender. Season and taste along the way with salt and pepper but you shouldn’t need much since broth has sodium in it already.

I personally love to pressure cook ALL THE THINGS on a winter day because it makes the cook time so short using high pressure! You can certainly use any brand of pot you have, they all work basically the same. I have a few myself.

• TIP: If you’re new to this type of cooking, know it takes VERY little time for pasta to get tender.
  • Use my recipe notes and the exact timing I provide you or noodles will turn to mush with even 2 minutes longer.
  • Pay attention to the timer and quick release right when it’s done. Sitting in the liquid much longer will make them too soft too.

How to Make Instant Pot Minestrone Soup with Sausage

Now if you want to make this with meat I would use the ground spicy variety. Use the same instructions as above, sauteeing the meat at the beginning until it is no longer pink. Then proceed with the other ingredients. I like the Jimmy Dean brand personally. Or with ground beef I’d follow our Instant Pot vegetable beef soup directions.

Can you cook soup in an Instant Pot without pressure cooking it?

Yes you can certainly just use the saute function which is essentially the same as if you had a pot on the stove over medium high heat. Just “boil” until all ingredients are tender to your liking and not have to put the lid on at all. We have done this with our Instant Pot chicken noodle soup in about 8 minutes.

If you too are huddled up at home with snow outside, or just want a bowl of warm comfort food in your belly we have more! Start with a delish bowl of Pressure cooker french onion soup with warm melted cheese on the top. Here are a few other quick soup recipes we think you’ll like as well.

• Creamy Pressure cooker broccoli cheese soup is the easiest way to make this favorite dish
• Our fave Instant Pot potato corn chowder is widely popular. I suggest adding lots of bacon to it so it’s over the top delicious!

Best way to save leftover soup – Always make sure it is cooled completely at room temperature before transferring it to a container. Then set into the fridge and reheat within 3 days. Transfer to a microwave safe bowl and heat for 1 minute, stir and then 45 seconds beyond that or so until it is as hot as you’d like it to be. Then enjoy away.