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.
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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 green lentils
- 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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Maria
Can you use red lentils?
Dara
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.
Tee
This was good. I added an entire bag of baby kale spinach mix
Amanda
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!
SusanM
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
Sharon
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.
Tammy Sue
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
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!
Alison
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!
Donna Kroeger
What makes the sodium count so high?
Dara
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
Bonnie Rimmington
This is delicious. Making it for the 2nd time!,
Frances
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.