You may have noticed an abundance of Instant Pot recipes lately! I’m working my way through updating old recipes and adapting them for my pressure cooker. My latest success is adapting one of my favorite recipes, Instant Pot Minestrone Soup! 
I have been in love with the stove top version of this delicious, plant-based soup for years. The only thing I don’t love about it is how long it takes to make it. It still takes time to cut the veggies but making it in the Instant Pot means I can walk away from it and come back when it’s done. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you’ll love my stove top version of Minestrone Soup that has been a reader favorite for years! 
Pressure Cooking with Pasta
The one thing that concerned me about making Minestrone in a pressure cooker was the noodles. Pasta and pressure cooking don’t always mix. I’ve had the best luck with whole wheat pasta like rotini or penne. I haven’t gotten gluten-free pasta to work in my pressure cooker, yet. If you are gluten-free, I recommend cooking your pasta on the stove and adding it to your soup after it is done. Even if you are not gluten-free, you may want to cook your pasta on the stove anyway. This soup creates a lovely broth, the noodles will soak it up and leave you with a casserole type dish instead of a soup. It tastes great either way but you can avoid that by adding cooked pasta right before serving. 
Building Flavor
One of the reasons I’ve always loved Minestrone Soup is the variety of ingredients. You have veggies, beans, pasta and a flavorful broth. When I cook this on the stove I’ll let it simmer and tweak the flavors as it cooks. You can’t do that in the Instant Pot. I use my dry Veggie Broth Mix to give this soup a robust flavor. If you have a favorite veggie broth, by all means, use it instead of water. I simply add 1 Tablespoon of Veggie Broth Mix for each cup of water. For this recipe, that is 1/2 cup of Veggie Broth Mix. You’ll want to add salt and pepper to taste as well. I prefer to sprinkle both on my bowl right before eating. 
Instant Pot Minestrone Soup
This soup has a long ingredient list but it’s really easy to make. If you will be pressed for time, you can precut the onion, carrots, and celery ahead of time. The rest of the ingredients are dumped into the pot.
- 1 cup diced onion
- 4 stalks chopped celery
- 2 cups chopped carrots (2-3 carrots)
- 1 15 oz can white navy beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15 oz can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15 oz can green beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
- 8 cups of water with ½ cup Veggie Broth Mix (or 8 cups of your favorite veggie broth)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 cups whole wheat noodles (or gluten-free noodles if needed)
- 2 cups spinach (optional)
- Dump onion, celery, carrots, and canned items into the pot.
- Add water and Veggie Broth Mix (or veggie broth) along with other spices.
- If using whole wheat noodles, add them to the Instant Pot. Make sure they are covered with liquid. This should be below the max fill line.
- Close the lid, press manual and decrease the minutes to 5 minutes. Adjust the pressure to low.
- It will take a while for the Instant Pot to come up to pressure. After it finishes cooking, use the quick pressure release method. Be careful, escaping steam and liquid will be hot.
- Carefully remove the lid and add the spinach. Replace the lid, sealing isn't necessary.
- Let sit for 10 minutes, then remove lid and stir.
This delicious soup is easy to adapt if you are missing an ingredient. I usually have all of these on hand but occasionally I’ll be missing green beans or spinach. I forgot to add spinach when I made the recipe for these photos! It still tastes great! You can also use frozen or fresh ingredients instead of canned. It still comes out great! Do you love Minestrone Soup? Have you tried it in the Instant Pot?
