This Instant Pot Lentil Soup with Sweet Potato is not only delicious and satisfying, but also happens to be vegan and gluten free!
I told a lie at the dinner table when I served up this soup, following steadfastly in my mum’s footsteps. My eldest son, somewhat suspiciously, asked, “What are the orange pieces?”
“Oh, you mean the carrots?” I replied innocently. My boys are not proponents of the sweet potato and squash families, which I get. At their ages, I turned up my nose at that whole category of veggies, not realizing that my favorite soup was chockful of cooked and mashed butternut squash and parsnips. My mum was the master of disguise!
Just as they polished off their last bites, rather enthusiastically I might add, I said, “So, you liked the sweet potato, huh?”
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“Wait, what? Sweet potato?! Well, it’s okay in a soup, I guess.”
Uh huh.
I’m starting to rack up the Instant Pot recipes on Cookin’ Canuck, including a vegetarian chili, a chicken and potato curry and a vegetable soup, now joined by this hearty vegan Instant Pot lentil soup. And this is a stick-to-your-ribs kind of meal, perfect for dunking bread into and even better as leftovers.
There’s nothing difficult about this meal. A little chopping, followed by hands-off cooking time. The entire cooking time listed in the recipe below includes the time for the Instant Pot to reach high pressure and to naturally depressurize for a few minutes.
Serve this up with a side salad and some dunking bread, if you like.
Watch how easy it is to make this Instant Pot Lentil Soup:
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see it on Instagram! Just use the hashtag #COOKINCANUCK and I’ll be sure to find it.
Instant Pot Lentil Soup with Sweet Potato
This Instant Pot Lentil Soup with Sweet Potatoes is not only delicious and satisfying, but also happen to be vegan! 188 calories and 4 Weight Watchers Freestyle SP
Ingredients
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 large celery stalk, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 cup green lentils
- 3/4 lb. sweet potato, peeled & cut into 1/2-inch dice
- 3 1/2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 cup water
- 1 (14 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes
- 4 oz. spinach leaves (about 4 cups packed)
- Salt & pepper, to taste*
Directions
- Set Instant Pot to Saute setting. Add the olive oil and allow to heat for 30 seconds. Add the onion and celery, and cook, stirring, until softened about 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic, cumin, paprika, salt and red pepper flakes.
- Add the lentil, sweet potato, vegetable broth, water and diced tomatoes, and stir to combine.
- Pu the lid on the Instant Pot, close the steam vent and set to HIGH pressure using the manual setting. Decrease the time to 12 minutes. It will take about 15 minutes for the Instant Pot to reach pressure.
- Once the time is expired, wait for 10 minutes, then carefully use the quick release valve (it may sputter a bit) to release the steam.
- Stir in the spinach until wilted. Season to taste. Serve.
Recipe Notes
Weight Watchers Points: 4 (Freestyle SmartPoints), 4 (SmartPoints), 5 (Points+)
*Extra salt and pepper not included in nutritional information.
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Sandyg265 says
Xcould you make this on the stove top?
Elaine says
I made this last night and I did it on the stove top it came out Delicious. I will make this every other week from now on.
Dara says
That’s great to hear! Thanks for letting me know, Elaine.
DMack says
I was also,wondering if these soups can be done stove top,or,in a crockpot thank you. Sounds delicious
Kyris says
Does it make 4 cups – 2 servings – or 4 servings – 8 cups? Seems like it should be more than 4 cups worth with all of that goodness!
Can’t wait to try it!
Erren says
I love sweet potatoes, this sounds absolutely gorgeous! Such a tasty soup 🙂
Stephanie says
Well my family loves sweet potatoes, so I know this would be a hit!
Des @ Life's Ambrosia says
This is exactly what I need right now to get me through these cold rainy days!
Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious says
I love that you added the sweet potato! This looks tasty!
Erin @ The Speckled Palate says
Sometimes, you gotta be sneaky to get those veggies in! And this soup just sounds perfect. What a comforting, delicious meal!
Katerina @ Diethood says
This sounds so, so gooood!! And it’s just what my lent diet needs!!
RK says
This soup looks amazing but I do not have an Instant Pot….do you have stove top or slow cooker instructions?
Frances says
Just made this tonight and we loved it. My husband who is luke warm on soups jumped right in and had two bowls of it and declared how good it is. Love using my instant pot and it is like magic how quickly it comes together. Love all the healthy ingredients.
Bonnie Rimmington says
This is delicious. Making it for the 2nd time!,
Donna Kroeger says
What makes the sodium count so high?
Dara says
Hi Donna, I apologize for the confusion. I recently made the switch to a new recipe card, which threw some of the nutritional info out of whack. It’s all fixed now and the sodium level is much lower than what was originally listed. Enjoy the soup! –Dara
Alison says
Dara this looks SO good. Pressure Cookers are the best! Although I do have sweet potatoes I think I’m going to try this with some butternut this week!
Tammy Sue says
Made this tonight to eat some for lunch and freeze the rest for later. It was very tasty! I added some red wine vinegar at the end for a little acidity. And I was out of regular tomatoes so I used diced tomatoes with green chili’s. I love spicy stuff, so it worked for me.
Dara says
I love spicy food as well, so will have to try the addition of green chiles the next time I make it. I’m glad you enjoyed the soup, Tammy Sue!
Sharon says
My first meal in my new Insta pot. A thing of beauty! I couldn’t believe how quick it was compared to cooking on the stove or a slow cooker and the results are amazing. I prepped everything before beginning which make the process go so quick and smooth. I need more instant pot recipes ha ha! Thanks for this delicious easy recipe.
SusanM says
Ok sure there were some favorable comments but I didn’t expect it to be THIs good, WOW! Used the kale I had on hand instead of spinach and it was so tasty. Even better the next day though. Warmed it up & added some leftover holiday ham and a couple frozen broth cubes cuz it thickened up overnight. Totally making this again. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe! It will only let me select 4 stars but this is a 5-Star recipe!
SusanM
Anchorage, Alaska
Amanda says
First instant pot experience and everything went and tastes amazingly good!
Added a few more chili flakes for some kick.
Can’t wait to try out some more recipes!
Tee says
This was good. I added an entire bag of baby kale spinach mix
Maria says
Can you use red lentils?
Dara says
I think they would work (though I haven’t actually tried this recipe with red lentils myself). However, red lentils tend to become quite mushy when cooked, so be aware that the texture would be different than if you use the brown lentils.
Jackie says
Do you use dried lentils or canned?
Dara says
Hi Jackie, I used dried lentils.
Linda Govekar says
I am curious about the number of Freestyle points per serving. I put the exact amounts you had in the recipe into my Freestyle calculator and came up with 6 points per 2 cup serving. Can you please advise; the recipe looks delish!!!!
Dara says
Hi Linda, it should actually be 4 Freestyle SP (I apologize for the typo – I originally stated 3 points). I also added it to the WW recipe builder and came up with 4. It should be searchable in the WW database at this point as “Instant Pot Lentil Soup with Sweet Potato – Cookin’ Canuck”. If you can’t find it, please feel free to email me at dara@cookincanuck.com and I’d be happy to send you screenshots of the entry in my recipe builder.
Dawn says
Can I double this in a 6 quart Duo?
Dara says
Dawn, I honestly don’t know because I haven’t tried that. I would imagine it would be okay. Just be aware that it will take longer to come to pressure because of the additional liquid.
HH says
I made this in my power pressure cooker XL and it was fantastic. It really is one of those stick to your ribs -better the next day (or defrosted) soups.
I added a carrot, and I may have had more than 4 cloves of garlic. Mine was also not vegetarian bc I didn’t have any veg broth in the house, but I did have fat free Chick broth so I used that. It calls for 3.5 cups of broth and 1 cup of water. I cheated because I didn’t want leftover broth once I opened the cans, so I just used enough water to bring it the amount of liquid up to 4.5 cups.
The lentils still had a bit of a bite, but I liked that. I have heard that putting salt in with legumes during the cooking process will keep them harder – so you may want to leave out the salt until it is cooked.
Will do again and again!
Karen says
Made this today and it’s great – thanks for the recipe!!
Dara says
I’m so glad to hear that, Karen!
Florence says
I made the soup two weeks ago. Its looked just like the picture. It was so delicious that I am making it again today. Great recipe. It is now a favorite. By the way, I served it for company and everyone loved it. There was nothing left after many of my guests had seconds.
Caroline Wood says
This is delicious. I ate mine with some rice, rice-and-beans style. Really flavorful and hearty – will make again!
Dara says
Great idea to serve it with rice, Caroline! So glad you enjoyed it.
Stephanie says
I’m new to Instant Pot so still finding my way around.
This recipe was outstanding! It looked just like the picture and tasted great! I’m not the biggest lentil fan but everybody loves it. Sweet and savory perfect thus goes on my list of favs and will probably make often. Didn’t change anything made it just as was written. I recommend even for your meat lovers.
Ondrea says
Can I use red lentils or will it change the consistency of the soup? I know they tend to cook faster as they no longer have the outer “skin” on them.
Dara says
Ondrea, I haven’t tried this recipe with red lentils, but would be worried that they would become far too mushy by the time the sweet potato was cooked through. As you mentioned, they cook significantly faster than other lentils.