Instant Pot Vegetable Soup is one of my favorite Whole30-friendly vegetable side dishes because it’s hands-off, delicious, and healthy. Plus, I clean out the fridge when I make this comforting Asian-inspired soup!

A side view of Instant Pot Vegetable Soup in a white bowl.

Instant Pot vegetable soup = easy veggie side dish

At least once a week, I make this Asian-inspired vegetable-packed soup to accompany whatever entree I’m cooking. Why? Because I’m lazy, thrifty, and want to feed my family healthy and umami-packed food. This Instant Pot vegetable soup recipe is so simple and  comforting—plus, I routinely cook up the not-so-fresh vegetables languishing in my crisper.

A step-by-step collage of how to make simple Instant Pot Vegetable soup, a healthy family favorite.

An Instant Pot makes it fast and easy!

As I said before, I’m always looking for shortcuts to deliciousness and the Instant Pot totally delivers on that front. Using an electric pressure cooker doesn’t necessarily make this soup faster than on the stovetop, but I don’t need to babysit it all. In fact, after I’ve dumped the ingredients inside, I just set it and wait for it to finish cooking!

While the soup is cooking the Instant Pot, you can concentrate on cooking the main course (e.g. Umami Roast Chicken, Cracklin’ Chicken, Wonton Meatballs, etc.) and the soup will be piping hot and waiting for you to serve when it’s convenient for you. Or you can just sit on the couch and watch Bravo—you do you, boo.

Can you make this soup on the stovetop?

Of course! Just plop the ingredients in a pot and simmer until tender. It’s just way less of a hassle to use an Instant Pot or electric pressure cooker because you don’t have to babysit the soup on the stove-top!

Essential umami boosters for big flavor

In my cookbooks and on this blog, I’m always reminding you about the importance of adding ingredients that impart umami—the fifth taste (a.k.a. savoriness or meatiness). In this Instant Pot vegetable soup, I always use an amazing bone broth (e.g. either homemade or store-bought), a splash of fish sauce, and a few dried shiitake mushrooms. All three of these ingredients are high in umami and they magically transform this humble vegetable soup into a comforting showstopper.

What vegetables work best in this soup?

In this recipe, I suggest my favorite vegetable combination of baby bok choy, carrots, and russet potatoes—but that’s because I normally have these veggies in my fridge or pantry. You can definitely leave out the potato if you don’t eat them or use a different leafy green. Some great veggies to use in this soup include cabbage, kale, watercress, zucchini, diced tomatoes, or green beans. If you’re using quick cooking veggies like baby spinach, peas, or baby kale, simply drop them in after the soup is done pressure-cooking and just stir them until wilted or cooked through.

Slicing baby bok choy for healthy Instant Pot Vegetable Soup

There’s really no wrong combination—just cook like your frugal and smart granny would and dump in vegetables that need to be eaten. Soup vegetables are meant to be soft so don’t get bent out of shape if the vegetables are mushy.

How do you make this soup a complete meal?

Dump in some leftover cooked meatballs! My favorite ones to add in are Asian Meatballs, Wonton Meatballs, chicken meatballs, and Weeknight Meatballs (from Ready or Not! cookbook). I normally plop them in with the veggies and cook everything together.

No meatballs? You can also sauté some ground beef or ground turkey in some olive oil with some minced onion and seasoning and combine the cooked meat with the soup ingredients.

A bowl filled with Instant Pot Vegetable soup and meatballs.

Alternatively, you can stir in some leftover cooked protein at the end like leftover Weeknight Roast Chicken or Instant Pot Kalua Pig.

Ingredients

  • Instant Pot Bone Broth, chicken stock, or vegetable broth
  • Carrots
  • Russet potato
  • Shallot or yellow onion
  • Garlic
  • Dried shiitake mushrooms
  • Red Boat fish sauce
  • Baby bok choy (or other veggies mentioned above)
  • Diamond Crystal kosher salt
  • Black pepper
  • Scallions or green onions

How to make Instant Pot Vegetable Soup

Pour the broth into the metal insert of the Instant Pot. You can use chicken, beef, pork, mixed meat broth…whatever!

Pouring bone broth into an Instant Pot to make Instant Pot Vegetable Soup.

Carefully drop in the carrots, potatoes, and shallots.

Adding potatoes, carrots, and shallots into an Instant Pot to make paleo Instant Pot Asian soup

Stir in the garlic and shiitake mushrooms. (You don’t need to rehydrate the ’shrooms first if you are plopping them into the Instant Pot because they will soften under high pressure. If you’re cooking the soup on the stovetop, you should soak the mushrooms in water until tender.)

Adding minced garlic and dried shiitake mushrooms into the Instant Pot to make healthy Chinese soup.

Pour in the Red Boat fish sauce and stir in the baby bok choy.

Stirring in baby boy chow into an Instant Pot Vegetable Soup

Lock the lid on the Instant Pot, make sure the valve is in the sealed position, and program it to pressure cook under high pressure for 2 minutes. (Pro Tip: It takes about 10 to 15 minutes for the soup to come up to high pressure and seal shut before the two minute countdown starts! So the total cook time is more than 2 minutes!)

Locking the lid on an Instant Pot to cook Whole30 Vegetable soup for 2 minutes under high pressure.

After the soup has finished cooking, release the pressure manually.

Manually releasing pressure for Instant Pot Vegetable Soup

Stir the soup and taste it for seasoning. Add salt, additional fish sauce, and black pepper to taste.

Someone adds salt to the Instant Pot Vegetable Soup.

Ladle into soup bowls and top with scallions.

Sprinkling sliced scallions on top of Instant Pot Vegetable Soup.

Instant Pot Vegetable Soup may become a favorite in your household, too!

Storage and reheating instructions

You can keep the soup in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. If you freeze the soup, thaw it overnight in the fridge before reheating it. You can reheat the soup in the Instant Pot for zero minutes under high pressure and manual release (the soup will reach high pressure and stop cooking). Alternatively, you can heat the leftovers in the the microwave in an Anyday bowl.


Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2022).


PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD

Instant Pot Vegetable Soup

4.85 from 19 votes
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Servings 4 people
Instant Pot Vegetable Soup is a fast, healthy, and easy Whole30-friendly vegetable side dish and you can clean out the fridge, too!

Ingredients 
 

  • 6 cups Instant Pot Bone Broth or chicken broth
  • 2 medium carrots peeled and sliced into ¼-inch coins
  • 1 medium russet potato cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 1 large shallot thinly sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 3 dried shiitake mushrooms
  • 1 teaspoon Red Boat fish sauce
  • 1 pound baby bok choy ends trimmed and cut in half or quartered
  • Diamond Crystal kosher salt 
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 scallions thinly sliced
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Instructions 

  • Pour the broth into the metal insert of the Instant Pot.
  • Carefully drop in the carrots, potatoes, and shallots. Stir in the garlic, shiitake mushrooms, and Red Boat fish sauce. Mix in the baby bok choy.
  • Lock the lid on the Instant Pot and program it to cook under high pressure for 2 minutes.
  • After the soup has finished cooking, release the pressure manually. Taste the soup and add salt, fish sauce, and black pepper to taste. 
  • Ladle into soup bowls and top with scallions.

Notes

Pro Tip: It takes about 10 to 15 minutes for the soup to come up to high pressure before the two minute countdown starts!

Nutrition

Calories: 205kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 39g | Fat: 1g | Fiber: 4g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!

About Michelle Tam

Hello! My name is Michelle Tam, and I love to eat. I think about food all the time. It borders on obsession. I’ve always loved the sights and smells of the kitchen. My mother was (and is) an excellent cook, and as a kid, I was her little shadow as she prepared supper each night. From her, I gained a deep, abiding love for magically transforming pantry items into mouth-watering family meals.

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18 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I ended up with a pound of baby bok choy when my husband went out of town before I could use them as I’d originally intended. I was delighted to find this recipe when I was despairing of wasting the bok choy. My local grocery was out of dried shiitake mushrooms but had fresh which I used. I took a guess and sliced 6 fresh ones instead. I found the soup a little bland initially so added extra fish sauce and some lemon juice to brighten it. It was delicious!! I’ll happily make it again.