This is the best Instant Pot Lentil Soup full of tender lentils and veggies that hold well during pressure cooking! With only 5 minutes of prep, no sautéing, or pre-soaking, this is the easiest soup recipe perfect for busy weeknights!
Reader’s Review
My go-to lentil soup recipe! Never fails to soothe and warm the soul. Thanks for this amazing recipe!
Tasha
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Delicious: This Instant Pot lentil soup is a cross between my stovetop lentil spinach soup and slow cooker lentil soup.
- Healthy: Naturally gluten-free and loaded with vegetables to the brim.
- Lots of leftovers: This recipe for Lentil soup in Instant Pot makes a lot, especially if you’re making it in the 8 quart Instant Pot.
- Budget-friendly: No fussy ingredients. Most of them you probably already have in your kitchen and if not, none of them will break the bank.
- Easy to make: There is no sautéing beforehand and no pre-soaking the lentils. With just 5 minutes of prep, the Instant Pot does the work.
Ingredients for Instant Pot Lentil Soup Recipe
- Lentils: Use french green lentils or brown lentils, whichever you have. Both will hold their shape under pressure and don’t become mushy. Make sure to rinse and drain them.
- Vegetables: Carrots, celery, spinach or kale, low sodium diced or crushed tomatoes. You can play around with the amount and type of vegetables you use, depending on your preferences.
- Aromatics: Onion, garlic cloves, bay leaves all work together to give this soup amazing flavor.
- Seasonings: Cumin, oregano, salt and pepper are all this recipe calls for in terms of herbs and spices.
- Broth: You can use bouillon cubes and 10 cups of water or 10 cups of low sodium vegetable broth or stock. You can also do half broth and half water to cut back on cost.
Variations
- Red lentils: Reduce pressure cooking time to 12 minutes because red lentils do not hold their shape as well as green or brown lentils.
- Diced ham or sausage: Just add it along with other ingredients. No other changes are necessary.
- Fresh or frozen chicken: Throw in a few chicken breasts, thighs or drumsticks with other ingredients to make Instant Pot version of chicken lentil soup. No other changes.
- Spice it up: Toss in some red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper, or just serve with a drizzle of hot sauce.
- Fire roasted diced tomatoes: If you can find them, fire roasted tomatoes would add a great smoky taste to your Instant Pot lentil soup.
- Chicken broth: If you’re not concerned about keeping this a vegetarian soup and you’d rather use chicken broth or Instant Pot chicken broth, do that instead.
- More flavor: Chopped fresh parsley or a squeeze of lemon would be delicious.
How to Make Lentil Soup in Instant Pot
- Add vegetables: To the Instant Pot, add carrots, celery and onion.
- Add everything else: Then add green lentils, diced tomatoes, cumin, oregano, bay leaves, salt, pepper and vegetable broth.
- Pressure cook: Close the lid, set pressure valve to Sealing and press Pressure Cook on High pressure or Manual button for 18 minutes.
- Release the pressure: Do a Natural Release which takes just under 1 hour. Or you can do a Quick Release by turning the valve to Venting and releasing the pressure in about 3-4 minutes. Just know there will be some splatters on a counter, so maybe just wait 15 minutes for soup to stop boiling vigorously.
- Add the greens: Remove the lid and now is the time to add spinach or kale.
- Grate fresh garlic: Nothing brightens up a soup like fresh garlic, says Ukrainian me. There is a huge difference between cooked and fresh garlic flavor. Huge! You have to trust me on this one.
- Parmesan cheese: Stir and serve soup hot garnished with Parmesan cheese. If you are strict vegan, you’ll probably skip Parmesan cheese.
Tips for Best Results
- If you have not low sodium cans: Add less salt.
- For 3 quart Instant Pot: Cut 6 quart recipe ingredients in half and keep the same cooking time.
- Make sure pot isn’t more than 2/3 full: If your inner pot doesn’t have 2/3 full marking, it is very important to fill the pot only 2/3 full when pressure cooking. Ignore the cups, L and near the edge Max markers (read more).
- To avoid splatters during QPR: Wait about 10 minutes for soup to stop boiling vigorously. Also not having Keep Warm function will slow down boiling sooner.
- To make on the stovetop: Here is similar lentil spinach soup recipe.
Serving Ideas
This soup is a complete meal on its own, but there are days when I like to use it as a starter or have a little something extra on the side.
- Serving it with crusty bread like baguette or sourdough for sopping up that liquid is a given. To add more protein to your meal, serve with Greek yogurt bread or cottage cheese bread.
- As a starter to something easy like air fryer chicken wings.
- On its own: Grab a handful of Parmesan cheese, fresh parsley, or a drizzle of hot sauce and maybe a glass of wine and you’re all set!
Make It a Freezer Meal
- Instant Pot: Add all ingredients in the order listed in the recipe minus the water, spinach, and garlic. Freeze uncooked in a gallon size Ziploc bag for up to 3 months. Cook from frozen with 10 cups of water or broth if using a 6 quart Instant Pot or 14 cups if using an 8 quart Instant Pot. The instructions for cooking from frozen are to cook for 18-20 minutes with a Quick Release at the end.
- Slow cooker: Add all ingredients in the order listed in the recipe minus water, spinach and garlic and freeze uncooked in a gallon size Ziploc bag for up to 3 months. Cook from frozen with 10 cups of water or broth on Low for 10 hours or on High for 5 hours.
- After cooking: Add the spinach and garlic. Stir and serve hot garnished with Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley, if desired.
Check out my full list of 20 healthy freezer meals.
How to Store and Reheat
Store: Keep leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Freeze: Lentils freeze beautifully and there are no tender vegetables in this lentil soup either, which means nothing will turn to mush.
Freeze cooled down leftover soup in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Reheat: Thaw in the fridge overnight. Simmer on low heat covered, stirring occasionally. Or reheat in a microwave.
More Lentil Recipes to Try
More Instant Pot Recipes
Instant Pot Lentil Soup
Instant Pot Lentil Soup full of tender lentils and veggies that hold well during pressure cooking! 5 minutes prep, no sautéing, or pre-soaking.
Equipment
Video
Ingredients
6 Quart Instant Pot
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 large carrots, chopped
- 2 small celery, chopped
- 2 cups green or brown lentils, rinsed & drained (uncooked)
- 28 ounces can diced or crushed tomatoes, low sodium
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 bay leaves
- 10 cups low sodium vegetable broth, or water
- 11 ounces box of spinach or kale
- 1 large garlic clove, grated
- Parmesan cheese, for serving
8 Quart Instant Pot
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 large large carrots, chopped
- 2 small celery, chopped
- 3 cups green lentils, rinsed & drained
- 28 ounces can diced or crushed tomatoes, low sodium
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- Ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 bay leaves
- 14 cups low sodium vegetable broth, or water
- 11 ounces box of spinach
- 1 large garlic clove, grated
- Parmesan cheese, for serving
Instructions
- In Instant Pot, add onion, carrots and celery.
- Add lentils, tomatoes, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, bay leaves and vegetable broth or water enough to fill up to 2/3 full line or approximately 10 or 14 cups.
- Close the lid, set pressure vent to Sealing and press Pressure Cook on High pressure for 18 minutes. Display will say ON, Instant Pot will take about 30 minutes to come to pressure, you will see a bit of steam coming out from a valve, then float valve will rise and countdown from 18 minutes will begin.
- Lentil soup is ready but your Instant Pot needs to bring pressure down before you can open it, which will be indicated by a dropped down float valve. You can let it do it on its own which will take less than an hour – Natural Release. OR you can do Quick Release by turning pressure valve to Venting position, which takes 3-4 minutes.
- Open the lid, add spinach and stir. Grate fresh garlic over soup and stir.
- Serve hot garnished with Parmesan cheese.
🎉 Last step! If you made this recipe, please leave a review and let us know what you think!
Notes
- Make ahead: Refrigerate chopped veggies with spices in an airtight container for up to 3 days and mix with the rest when ready to cook.
- Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container or inner Instant Pot pot with a fitting glass lid for up to 5 days.
- Freeze: Freeze cooled down soup in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Instant Pot: Add all ingredients in the order listed in the recipe minus broth or water, spinach and garlic and freeze uncooked in a gallon size Ziploc bag for up to 3 months. Cook from frozen with 10 (6 quart Instant Pot) or 14 cups (8 quart Instant Pot) of water/broth for 20 minutes, after do Quick Release.
- Slow cooker: Add all ingredients in the order listed in the recipe minus broth or water, spinach and garlic and freeze uncooked in a gallon size Ziploc bag for up to 3 months. Cook from frozen with water/broth on Low for 10 hours or on High for 5 hours.
- After cooking: Add spinach and garlic. Stir and serve hot garnished with Parmesan cheese.
Nutrition
Serving: 2cups, Calories: 244kcal, Carbohydrates: 43g, Protein: 16g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 415mg, Fiber: 20g, Sugar: 6g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did you make this recipe?Mention @ifoodreal or tag #ifoodreal!
Wish it made more than 4 1/2 quarts. I ended up with the 1/2 quart – everybody else loved it. Mixed romaine cheese at the end. Loved it mixed in – although I lost a bay leaf. Need a good potato soup if you have one.
Glad you liked the Lentil Soup recipe. Here is a link to more of my soups (many of them include potatoes!).
https://ifoodreal.com/healthy-soup-recipes/
Made a half recipe for a 6 qt Instant Pot for dinner this evening. Added a few grilled chicken strips and 1/2 of a small butternut squash to tour recipe and it was fantastic. Love this and will definitely be making again.
Thanks for posting your feedback Denise!
Can I add fresh mushrooms to my lentil soup? I love your soups especially the way you allow me to use so many things that get hidden in the back of my fridge. I enjoy hearing and seeing you ep. you make food sound so enjoyable
That’s so great to hear! Yes, you can add mushrooms. If have time, saute them first a bit.
Delicious!!! Easy to make!!! Followed recipe but for bouillon I used ham base and water. Definitely a keeper recipe!!
Happy to hear this Cathy!
Made this in the 8qt. Definitely takes 30 minutes to get up to pressure. Plenty of leftovers to freeze. Very satisfying and delicious meal. Definitely a keeper!
Thanks for sharing Amber!
I followed the recipe and it is absolutely delicious. Thank you for sharing
You are very welcome Mary!
The soup was amazing. Just finished making it in my 6-quart. Used 1lb (2 cups) of green lentil beans. I used 8 cups of vegetable broth and then 2 cups of water + 1 tbsp of mushroom seasoning. Added kosher salt. Followed everything else. I didn’t add any meat or Parmesan as I am trying to cut down on meat and dairy. I will eat this every day as a meal. Trying to get my 6-year old to try it. Love it. Definitely making this during the fall.
Glad you like the soup and fingers crossed it will be a hit with your 6 year old too!
Hello Olena,
Thank you for your wonderful soup recipes! I am Romanian and truly appreciate them.
I have a question about the liquid. I dont have 10 cups of veggie stock or bullion cubes. I just have 4 cups of veggies stock. Would the soup be too bland if I just use 4 cups of the veggie broth and the rest of the 6 cups as water?
I may be able to get 10 cups of chicken broth, possibly even bone broth. If I am able to get this, should I use chicken broth/bone broth instead, or will that make this soup taste wierd? Im planning on making this today and soon, so please let me know if you get this message soon. Have a great day!
So happy to hear. Truth is, you can use any combo of water and broth. Soup will be fine and tasty. My granma used only water all the time.d
This turned out great!!! I used red lentil because that’s all I had but it worked perfect! I did 19 mins instead of 18. My 2 and 4 year old even loved it this recipe and ate it with no coaxing necessary ?z
. We will be making this again for certain!
Thrilled to hear this was a hit with your family!
This is a really good dish and easy to make. If you want to spice it up a bit I added a can of (mild) tomatoes and chilis instead of the crushed tomatoes.
Awesome!!! Happy to hear, Rose. Great idea!