Instant Pot Vegetarian Soup with Beans

This healthy vegetable packed Instant Pot vegetarian soup with pasta is delicious. Packed with kidney and/or Northern beans, corn, tomatoes and bell peppers it’s easy to make fast in any brand of pressure cooker you have. Crockpot Express and Ninja Foodi work well too.

Ninja Foodi Vegetarian Soup

Yes you can use any pressure cooker you might have at home to make this. A Crockpot Express is just fine or Ninja Foodi pot works too. You just dice all the veggies you want, use canned beans to make things easier and some pasta is a great add in as well.

Vegetable soup in pressure cooker isn’t just for those who don’t eat meat, we love it too. It’s pretty darn versatile too if you did want to throw in some diced leftover meat. Here’s how it’s done.

I have made several different types of pressure cooker vegetarian soup recipes before. They are all slightly different. Some use dry beans and take quite a bit longer. This one I wanted to be a 15 minute meal so canned red beans and diced tomatoes were just dumped right in.

Vegetable Pasta Soup in Pressure Cooker

Small shells were thrown in at the end too. You could omit the noodles but they add texture and make the dish heartier. If you do choose to add them you use high pressure at the beginning and then saute at the end while you let them get tender. Just test as you go until they’re as al dente or soft as you’d like.

Now let’s talk all about vegetables and pressure cooking. Key is you need to use those that are firmer in nature. Reason being is that they will be well….under pressure. Meaning, they cook FAST.

Any and all onions will work great. A cheap way to add flavor and texture if you ask me. Pressure cooker carrots can be in there for quite a while, the larger they are the longer they can sit without breaking down.

Best vegetables for soup

I use celery pretty often too because it holds up well, and then there’s corn kernels. Just buy a bag of frozen kernels and throw those in. If you cubed butternut squash that would work pretty well too. Depending on how much dicing you’re doing (vs. using bagged and already prepped) you may need 30 minutes total to get this ready to serve.

What kind of potatoes are best to make soup?

Let’s talk about Instant Pot potatoes: Red are firmer, then I’d choose russet. Same goes for these, the larger the pieces the better they will hold up. Then comes legumes. You can really use your favorite canned beans but kidney were used on this go around. Great Northern beans or white would be great too. Mix and match if you like or use just one type.

Should you use canned or fresh tomatoes in soup?

When it comes to tomatoes I have tried both. One year we grew some in our garden and I used those, not so great. Canned diced tomatoes seems to work better since they are skinned and I like the Italian version that already has some seasonings in it.

Are canned or frozen vegetables better to make soup?

I prefer frozen all the way for texture reasons. In a can is already sitting in water, sometimes for a really long time so they are already really soft. Frozen are precooked but take longer to soften so when served it will still have a bit of “bite” to it.

Instant Pot Vegetable Soup with Canned Vegetables

Cook time for this sort of minestrone soup is fast y’all! I mean it is meat free so you don’t have to worry about that issue and none of the ingredients take very long to get tender. Five minutes is all it needs. Ok so it does need to naturally release the steam so schedule 20 minutes from start to finish.

How do you make soup creamy?

If you wanted to add a creamy element like our Instant Pot celery soup, you could pour a cup of coconut milk in it at the end. I like to season with salt and pepper at the end more than adding a bunch in at the beginning.

Reason being is the other ingredients do contain sodium and I don’t want to ruin the whole thing by making it too salty, you can’t fix that. There is a printable recipe card at the bottom of this post to make pressure cooker vegetable soup but here is a quick rundown of how it’s done.

Want to make this with chicken too? Give our Instant Pot chicken vegetable soup a whirl some night too. You could do this both ways too if you have a vegetarian in your house. Take a quick peek before getting started, or heading to the store.

How to Make Vegetable Soup with Pasta in a Pressure Cooker

• * If adding meat set to saute with olive oil and add diced pieces, brown and turn off *
• You’re going to prep and then add all ingredients into your pot and stir. Seal lid and set to high pressure for just 5 minutes.
• When done allow the steam to naturally release for 10 minutes. You can garnish with fresh cilantro, shredded pepper jack cheese, parmesan, and/or a squeeze of fresh lime.
• ** If you wanted to add small shell noodles change the natural release time to just 4 minutes. Release rest of steam and lift lid.
  • Pour in 1 cup of small uncooked noodles and set pot to saute.
  • Allow to bubble and cook noodles for about 5 minutes or until they are as tender as you’d like them to be.
  • Gluten free pasta will not take this long, keep an eye on them as they cook quite fast.

If you want to add ground beef you can follow our Instant Pot vegetable beef soup you see here. Our old fashioned cabbage soup can be made with or without meat in your pressure cooker too.

with Beans

Follow these instructions, then serve them. Add diced precooked meat, stir and serve the other family members who want some meat inside. Works great! Or you can make our Instant Pot Lentil Soup that can be kept without protein or with.

Best way to save leftover soup

wait until it cools completely to room temperature first. I like using small one serving containers with lids to store in the refrigerator. That way the next day, or two, you can transfer to a microwave safe bowl and reheat for about 1-2 minutes.

Stir halfway thru and the last 30 seconds sprinkle some shredded parmesan on the top, unless you want it to be dairy free. That way it can melt and you can enjoy it with some rolls on the side for lunch or dinnertime.