Description
Make a flavorful and hearty tomato lentil soup quickly using your Instant Pot. This recipe uses simple pantry staples and cooks lentils perfectly under pressure.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 cup red lentils, rinsed
- 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (for finishing)
Instructions
- Set your Instant Pot to the Sauté function. Add olive oil. When hot, add onion, carrots, and celery. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic, oregano, thyme, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Press ‘Cancel’ to stop sautéing.
- Add the rinsed red lentils, crushed tomatoes, vegetable broth, and bay leaf to the pot. Stir gently to combine.
- Secure the lid and set the vent to Sealing. Select Manual or Pressure Cook on High for 10 minutes.
- When the cooking time finishes, allow a Natural Pressure Release (NPR) for 10 minutes, then carefully switch the valve to Venting to release any remaining pressure.
- Remove and discard the bay leaf. Stir in salt, pepper, and lemon juice. If you prefer a creamier texture, use an immersion blender to partially blend the soup.
- Serve hot.
Notes
- Rinsing the red lentils removes excess starch, which helps prevent foaming during pressure cooking.
- For a thicker soup, reduce the vegetable broth to 5 cups.
- This soup thickens considerably upon standing; add a splash of water or broth when reheating if needed.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Category: Soup
- Method: Pressure Cooking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1.5 cups
- Calories: 280
- Sugar: 8
- Sodium: 450
- Fat: 4
- Saturated Fat: 0.5
- Unsaturated Fat: 3.5
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 48
- Fiber: 15
- Protein: 18
- Cholesterol: 0