Instant Pot Lentil Soup Recipe - Hearty, Comforting, and Filling this Instant Pot lentil soup with potatoes and bacon is perfect for cold weather. Gets ready in just 30-minutes🥰 Also try this easy peasy Red Bean Tex Mex Soup.
Traditional lentil soup recipe generally uses Brown Lentils. You can see my recipe for Traditional brown Lentil soup here. But, to make it creamy and comforting I love a combination of red and green lentils.
Red lentil soup or Green Lentil Soup on it's own are super-good and extremely delightful. But the fun increases ten folds when you mix both of them in. Therefore whenever, I am making a Lentil soup in Instant Pot, I try and mix both of them. It's always fun.
See More Recipes with lentil
- Vegan Lentil Loaf {Vegan Meatloaf}
- Instant Pot Lentil Sloppy Joes Recipe {Vegan}
- Lentil Bolognese with Spaghetti - Vegan - Plant Based Dinner
- Baked Lentil Hand Pies
- Lentil Balls Soaked in Spiced Yogurt Sauce
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💌Why You'll Love this recipe
- Cheap and Easy
- Vegan option
- Packed with Plant based protein - See 30 Plant-Based Fall Weeknight Dinners
- Hearty, Comforting and Filling
🥘Ingredients
see the recipe card for quantities
- olive oil
- onions
- garlic
- bell pepper
- russet potatoes
- carrots
- brown sugar
- thyme
- salt & pepper
- ground cumin
- smoked paprika
- red pepper flakes
- green lentils
- red lentils
- chicken broth
- coconut milk
- tomato ketchup
- bacon
- parsley
🔪Easy Lentil Soup In Instant Pot Recipe
Step 1: Sauté veggies
Heat up some olive oil in an Instant Pot. Once oil is hot add onions and garlic. Sauté for a couple of minutes until the onions become soft and the garlic becomes fragrant.
Step 2: Add in Veggies
Thrown in as many veggies as you like. Celery, bell pepper, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and etc.
Step 3: Add Herbs and Spices
Now add thyme, salt, pepper, brown sugar, ground cumin, smoked paprika, and red pepper flakes. Sauté lightly for about 30-seconds.
Step 4: Add other Ingredients
Add soaked red and green lentils along with chicken broth, coconut milk, and tomato ketchup. You can add a can of diced tomato right now, if using.
Step 5: Cook
Close the lid and cook for 10-minutes. Allow pressure to release naturally for 10-minutes and then do a quick pressure release.
Step 6: Serve
Top it off with some crispy fried bacon and grease. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and enjoy!
📖Variations
Now there are so many variations to this recipe.
Kale - You could add some fresh kale (finely chopped) to boost of the nutritional value in this soup. In fact, Kale pairs very well with sausages in a lentil soup.
Spinach - Baby Spinach pairs so well with a creamy soup. Don't Miss - Best Spinach Soup Recipe with Crispy Garlic Croutons
Sausages - Andouille sausage is popularly used in Cajun recipes like Sausage and Shrimp Jambalaya in Instant Pot, Smoked Sausage with Rice, Chicken and Shrimp Gumbo in Crockpot. But, you can always add it to your soup to make lentil soup with sausage and spinach instant pot.
Veggies - You can add veggies like celery, sweet potatoes, pumpkin or zucchini or anything else that you like. Soups like these are a good excuse to clear out the refrigerator.
Herbs - I've used thyme because I really like the flavor of it. But, you can add fresh or dried rosemary as well.
Bay Leaves - Soups like these are totally incomplete without some dried bay leaves. You must remove the bay leaves before serving.
🌱Vegan Lentil Soup
This recipe is vegan/vegetarian friendly unless you don't add bacon at the end. Also, you have to replace chicken broth with vegetable broth to make it purely vegan.
💭TOP TIPS
- Make sure you soak your lentils for at least 2 hours or 12 hours before cooking.
- Feel free to add in as many veggies you like.
- You can also add a can of diced tomatoes if you like your soup with tomatoes.
- Make sure you don't brown the base of the Instant Pot liner while sautèing veggies.
🍽Instant pot Lentil soup Curry
You can spruce up your soup and make it more like a curry. Just add more chicken broth and if you like that traditional curry-like taste you can use some curry powder as well. I would also recommend you to add some ground coriander and ground turmeric to make this Instant Pot Lentil Curry taste more amazing. See this recipe for Vegan Lentil Coconut Curry in Crockpot
🧂Mediterranean Lentil soup
Mediterranean lentil soup is quite different from this soup that we've making right here. Typically, a lebanese lentil soup recipe uses only Red Lentils (since it is softer) and once the soup is prepared it is generally turned into a paste using an immersion blender.
Make sure you add Harissa paste towards the end (just before closing the lid).
Also a good Mediterranean lentil soup uses some ground coriander along with ground cumin. Also see this recipe for - Easy Sheet Pan Harissa Chicken Recipe (step by step photo) + video
I want More Soups 💚
- Lemony Chicken Orzo Soup with Spinach
- Healthy White Bean Enchilada Soup
- Potato Leek Soup (Without Heavy Cream or Creme Fraiche)
- Thai Curried Roasted Carrot and Ginger Soup
- Cheesy Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Soup
- Vegan Black Bean Enchilada Soup
📋 Recipe
Instant Pot Lentil Soup Recipe
INGREDIENTS
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 medium green bell pepper diced
- 2-3 medium baby carrots diced
- 1-2 medium russet potatoes diced
- 1-2 teaspoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon thyme
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper as per taste
- 1 cup dried green lentils soaked, drained, and rinsed
- 1 cup dried red lentils soaked, drained, and rinsed
- ¼ cup tomato ketchup
- 4 cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 100 g sliced bacon fried
- ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS
- Soak lentils in water overnight (12 hours) or for at least 2 hours in cool tap water.
- Press "Saute" and heat some olive oil in your Instant Pot.
- Add onions and garlic. Sauté until the onions soften and the garlic gets aromatic.
- Add Bell Pepper, Potatoes, and Carrots. Sauté for another 2-3 minutes.
- Now add brown sugar, salt, pepper, thyme, cumin, smoked paprika, and red pepper flakes. Toss lightly and sauté for about 30-seconds. Make sure the bottom of the Instant Pot liner doesn't get burnt.
- Now add soaked, drained and rinsed green and red lentils. Toss well to combine.
- finally add tomato ketchup, low sodium chicken broth, and coconut milk. Toss well to combine.
- Close the lid and set the venting knob to "sealing position". Cook on Manual/Pressure for 10-minutes.
- In the meantime you can fry bacon in a skillet with some oil and keep aside.
- Allow steam to release naturally (NPR) for 10-minutes. After 10-minutes, release pressure manually. Turn the knob from Sealing Position to Venting Position.
- Top with crispy fried bacon (and also the grease). Top it with some fresh chopped parsley.
Video
Notes
- Bacon - I like to add my bacon towards the end. You can sauté bacon while sautéing onions and garlic to save time.
- Soaking Lentils is a MUST. It enhances the flavors and makes it super-flavorful.
racheal says
I am in love with this lentil soup recipe. I love how you added tomato ketchup to brighten it up. Kids in my home love ketchup. And, they simply loved this recipe. We are gonna make this again and again. 💚 Only change that I did was I added some oregano, onion powder, and garlic powder to make it even better.
Anjali says
Thank you Racheal. It means a lot to me.