Instant Pot Vegetable Soup (Whole30, Keto)

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 soup!

My favorite vegetable side dish

At least once a week, I make this 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 soup is so simple and  comforting—plus, I routinely cook up the not-so-fresh vegetables languishing in my crisper.

An Instant Pot makes it 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!

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 potato—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 greens to use in this soup include cabbage, kale, and watercress. If you’re using quick cooking greens like baby spinach or baby kale, simply drop them in after the soup is done pressure-cooking and just stir them until wilted.

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, and Weeknight Meatballs (from Ready or Not! cookbook). I normally plop them in with the veggies and cook everything together.

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

How do you store and reheat leftovers?

You can keep the soup in the fridge in a sealed container for up to four days or freeze it for up to 6 months. You can reheat it in the Instant Pot for zero minutes under high pressure and manual release (the soup will reach high pressure and stop cooking).

Time to get your vegetable soup on!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 6 cups Instant Pot Bone Broth or chicken stock
• 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, cleaned and cut in half or quartered
• Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced

Equipment:

• Instant Pot (6-quart or larger)
• Cutting board
• Chef’s knife
• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Garlic press
• Ladle
• Get all of my equipment recommendations by clicking here!

Method:

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

Carefully drop in the carrots, potatoes, and shallots.

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.)

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

Lock the lid on the Instant Pot and program it to 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 before the two minute countdown starts!)

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

Stir the soup and taste it for seasoning. Add salt and additional fish sauce if needed.

Ladle into soup bowls and top with scallions.

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

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Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my iPhone and iPad app, and 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 2021).

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