Instant Pot Lentil Soup (+slow cooker instructions)
Instant Pot Lentil Soup is hearty, delicious and like a hug in a bowl. This soup is easy to make and leaves you feeling so satisfied and good from the inside out. Full of veggies, your favorite broth and oh-so-good for you lentils, this dish is vegan, gluten free and your new best friend.
“Babe, this might be the best lentil dish you’ve ever made.”
Woah. Now, y’all don’t know my husband, Ken, personally, but that statement says so much about that Instant Pot Lentil Soup. You see, Ken is kind of a lentil fanboy. He loves them and even created the Curry Lentil Soup that we eat on repeat during the colder months. But with that said, he can also be a bit picky about what lentil dishes he gives his stamp of a approval.
But, apparently, this Instant Pot Lentil Soup has his approval..ten fold.
And I agree, as I am wildly in love with this recipe as well. Easy to make in your Instant Pot, packed with veggies (just how I like it) and seriously hearty and satisfying. This soup makes for an incredible lunch or dinner on its own, but is also amazing when served over rice or with a side of sourdough to dunk in it. It is naturally plant based and is a great thing to serve to a crowd or make during weekly meal prep, as lentils are always great for leftovers and often taste better the day after cooking.
Why are lentils good for you?
I feel like lentils are one of those things that I’v always heard are good for you. But why exactly?
Lentils are little plant powerhouses and pack a lot of goodness into their tin size. Like…
- Protein. One cup of cooked lentils contains 18 grams of protein…which is significantly more than other beans or legumes.
- Fiber. I think we all grew up hearing that getting enough fiber is important to our health (especially for keeping the digestive pipes flowing). One cup of lentils has 15.6 grams of fiber (almost four times as much as a cup of raw kale).
- Iron. One cup of lentils has 6.6 milligrams of iron, which is a significant amount of many people’s daily requirement. Iron is vital for blood health and keeping oxygen pumping throughout our bodies.
- Calcium. Lentils are loaded with bone-strengthening calcium. In fact, a cup of them has 38 grams of calcium.
- Magnesium. An important nutrient that so many of us are lacking. There are 71 mg oof magnesium per cup of cooked lentils.
Suggested adaptations for Instant Pot Lentil Soup
- Make it in your slow cooker. See below for how to whip up this lentil soup in your crockpot.
- Sub the spinach with kale. Cut the ribs of the kale out and stir it in to wilt in the hot soup just like the spinach.
- Finely chop spinach before adding it to the soup. This might make the spinach more inviting to people who are spinach iffy.
- Skip the greens. If you or your crew is feeling iffy about the spinach, simply leave it out all together and maybe consider upping the carrots in this soup.
- Add some sausage. If vegan or vegetarian isn’t the goal, add some pre-cooked sausage to the soup. Sausage and lentils go together beautifully and will make this soup extra hearty.
Other Instant Pot recipes you are going to love
- Instant Pot Creamy Mushroom Chicken
- Instant Pot Black Bean & Sweet Potato Chili
- Instant Pot Pinto Beans
- Instant Pot Butternut Squash Chicken Curry
Instant Pot Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- ½ large yellow onion, chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 Tablespoon avocado or olive oil
- 2 medium carrots, chopped
- 1 ½ cups dry green or brown lentils, rinsed
- 1 cup salsa, I used mild to make it family-friendly
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ Tablespoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 6 cups low sodium broth
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- black pepper to taste
Equipment
- slow cooker
- Instant Pot
Instructions
For Instant Pot
- Add oil to Instant Pot and turn on sauté function. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and onions. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Turn off sauté function. Add remaining ingredients except the baby spinach, salt and pepper to Instant Pot . Stir to combine
- Place lid on Instant Pot and lock it into place. Make sure the valve is switched to sealing.
- Set Instant Pot to Manual, High and set for 18 minutes. It will take your Instant Pot about 10 minutes to get up to pressure. Once cook time is finished, set valve to quick release.
- Once the pressure is released, remove lid from the Instant Pot.
- Remove bay leaves. Stir in baby spinach, salt and pepper. Let spinach wilt in hot soup and then taste. Adjust flavor to fit personal preference
- Serve warm on its own or with quinoa or rice.Top with cheese or freshly chopped parsley if desired.
For Slow Cooker
- Add oil to a large pan and warm over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and onions. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Place cooked garlic and onions in your slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients except the baby spinach, salt and pepper. Stir to combine
- Cover and cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 7-8 hours.
- Once soup is done cooking, remove bay leaves and stir in baby spinach, salt and pepper. Let spinach wilt in hot soup and then taste. Adjust flavor to fit personal preference
- Serve warm on its own or with quinoa or rice.Top with cheese or freshly chopped parsley if desired.
My family seriously devoured this! We didn’t have any green or brown lentils, so I substituted red which worked wonderfully. We are also a spinach loving family so I dumped an entire 5oz container of spinach in the soup! We are already planning this meal again and its going in my winter rotation!!
Total hit. My toddler and husband inhaled it!
It’s all in the crock pot now. Saving spinach for last. I did however inadvertnetly add the salt & pepper. How might that impact the soup?
It will totally be fine. I sometimes find that the salt slows down the cooking of beans, which is why I added it at the end. But lentils are less impacted in my experience.
This is delicious! Made it tonight and everyone enjoyed it. Thanks for the great recipes!
This recipe is amazing. Delicious, homey, warming, and complex. I did not have enough salsa, so subbed canned fire roasted tomatoes, and it was a perfect. Do your best to have some leftovers, because the flavor the 2nd day was even better.
Yay! I am so glad you love this soup as much as we do! And I agree…the leftovers are magic!
This was delicious and so easy! My three year old said (direct quote), “Make this again! This is the good soup ever!”
SUCH a compliment! So glad it was a success!
Have made this several times, always a hit. I add smoked sausage finely chopped, a 6 inch piece and it comes out perfect every time. I use a crockpot. Rinsing the lentils before cooking is a good idea, too, to eliminate a pretty substantial residue from building up in the crockpot.
The recipe is a keeper.
Hi! Am I missing this- this is written with dry lentils right? Not canned?
Yes, dry lentils! A good note and I’ll fix it in the recipe.
This is delicious! My one question: if I add less than the suggested 1 tap of salt, will that decrease the total sodium content? Or is it something else that makes thae salt content so high?
Broth is one of usually culprits for increased sodium in a soup recipe. An in this case, perhaps the salsa since it has salt in it too. I’d say be sure to use a low sodium broth and perhaps not add the salt until after you’ve tasted it to decided if it needs it or not!