This Instant Pot Lentil Soup with Sweet Potato is not only delicious and satisfying, but also happens to be vegan and gluten free! 188 calories and 4 Weight Watchers Freestyle SP
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?"
"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.
Instant Pot Lentil Soup with Sweet Potato
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- ½ yellow onion chopped
- 1 large celery stalk diced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 cup [url]green lentils∞http://amzn.to/2mLNHKh
- ¾ pound sweet potato peeled & cut into ½-inch dice
- 3 ½ cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 cup water
- 1 14 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
- 4 ounces spinach leaves about 4 cups packed
- salt & pepper to taste*
Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to Sauté 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.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Andrea
Could I use canned lentils instead of green lentils? Would I add them in lster?
Dara
To be honest, I've never used canned lentils, but I don't see why they wouldn't work in this recipe. And yes, I would stir them in after the rest of the soup cooks.
Grace
This is by far one of my favorite soups ever and I’ve had a lot of soups. I adjusted the servings to 8 and I’m wondering if I’m able to can it instead of freezing portions.
Dara
I'm so happy you love it, Grace! I'm not a canner, so I don't have any recommendations on that. That sounds like it would be a great option for long-term storage.
Sammy
Simple to make and Oh So Good
Laura Paquet
My husband and I are doing the intermittent fasting diet (500 to 600 calories two days of the week), and this was a great new addition to our recipe roster. My husband and daughter were both initially skeptical of it (we're not a big lentil household), but they both loved it. Quick, easy, full of flavour and filling.
Heather
Made this tonight. Omitted the red pepper for my son. My husband, toddler, and I loved it! Such a great, easy meal!
Dara
Thank you for letting me know, Heather! So glad your whole family enjoyed it.
A-Jin
Ah-mazing! Have tried so many different lentil stew recipes but this one’s a keeper. Didn’t have celery on hand so added a vegetable bouillon cube in for extra flavour. I also used half the liquid because I prefer a thicker stew. Turned out great! Thanks so much.
Danette Mulrine
Made this for lunch today. It was perfect with a garden salad and bread sticks. The flavors melded well and using sweet potatoes instead of carrots was perfect! Seasonings blended well.
Sarah V
Really amazing recipe! So easy for a comforting and healthy weeknight meal. We follow a vegan diet in our house and often make soups in the winter. This recipe will be heavy in the rotation. I doubled the recipe easily in my 6qt instant pot, used all vegetable stock rather than stock and water, and added one can of light coconut milk in with the broth for a bit of creamy goodness. After I mixed in the fresh spinach at the end of cooking, I partially blended the soup with my immersion blender. We enjoyed crusty bread for dipping as suggested. Oh, yes! Thanks for the great recipe!
Laura Benzel
This soup is SO yummy. Definitely a keeper. Thank you!
Dara
That's great to hear! Thank you, Laura.
Danielle
This soup was amazing. We accidentally bought diced tomatoes with jalapeno and cilantro, but it was absolutely delicious. I think I will make the same "mistake" every time I make this! Thank you for including the WW points in the recipe. This one will definitely be in the rotation in our house. Loved it!
Dara
I'll have to try that variation next time. I'm glad you enjoyed it, Danielle!
Debbie
Absolutely delicious! Used kale instead of spinach. Left out carrots (too sweet for me). Adjusted salt and my 10 year old granddaughter devoured it!!
Dara
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Debbie, and that you were able to made substitutions to fit your tastebuds.
Ondrea
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
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.
Stephanie
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.
Caroline Wood
This is delicious. I ate mine with some rice, rice-and-beans style. Really flavorful and hearty - will make again!
Dara
Great idea to serve it with rice, Caroline! So glad you enjoyed it.
Florence
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.
Karen
Made this today and it's great - thanks for the recipe!!
Dara
I'm so glad to hear that, Karen!
HH
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!
Dawn
Can I double this in a 6 quart Duo?
Dara
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.
Linda Govekar
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
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.
Jackie
Do you use dried lentils or canned?
Dara
Hi Jackie, I used dried lentils.