This easy and healthy vegetarian Instant Pot Lentil soup is incredibly tasty and hearty! There are vegan lentil soup adaptations as well as crockpot instructions.
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Packed full of veggies and other delicious flavors, this Instant Pot lentil soup is going to knock your socks off!
You can make it in your Instant Pot, slow cooker, or on the stovetop. You can make it vegan, vegetarian, or omnivarian (<—- let’s call that a thing). It’s versatile and delicious and so easy to make!
Looking for more vegan/vegetarian soup recipes? Check out Spicy Vegan Butternut Squash Soup and Gluten-Free Tomato Soup. Check out all my Instant Pot Soup recipes for more inspiration.
How Long Do Lentils Take in the Instant Pot?
You’re going to be cooking your lentils for only 12 minutes in this recipe. This recipe uses brown lentils, but you can also use green lentils and cook for the same amount of time. If you are going to be rocking some red lentils in this recipe, reduce the cooking time to 10 minutes.
If you have leftover dried lentils, use them later to make these incredible Lentil Nachos.
Do I Have to Soak the Lentils Before Cooking?
Heck no you don’t, not when using the Instant Pot! You will want to rinse them and remove any pebbles or debris that snuck their way into your bag of lentils.
But no soaking? Your life is about to rule!
Lentil Soup Ingredients
What’s in this soup? Pure heaven and unicorn dust. And um, lentils.
- Brown or green lentils
- Veggies – carrots, celery, onion, potato
- Garlic, thyme, parsley, and Smoked paprika
- Broth – your choice of veggie or chicken (related: Instant Pot Chicken Bone Broth)
- Pesto
Make your prep even easier by learning how to freeze pesto, how to freeze celery, how to freeze carrots, how to freeze garlic, and how to freeze onions.
Want to take this soup to the next level? Top each bowl with some Fried Shallots.
Serve with a side of Cheesy Garlic Bread, Air Fryer Biscuits, or Air Fryer Texas Toast and your life will be complete.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- This soup was made in an 8-quart Instant Pot. If you have a 3 or 6-quart Instant Pot, the cooking time will be the same. Just make sure you don’t fill the inner pot more than two-thirds full.
- As written, this recipe is vegetarian. Use a dairy-free pesto to make it vegan.
- Throw in some frozen spinach, frozen swiss chard, or frozen kale at the end of the cooking time for some added greens.
- This soup freezes like a boss! Pro tip: freeze in wide-mouth pint mason jars or 1-cup Souper Cubes for easy grab-and-go meals.
- You can pump up the flavor by adding a few tablespoons of homemade tomato powder.
- If you want to add meat, I’d recommend some leftover Instant Pot Ham.
More Easy Soup RECIPES To Try
- Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings
- Creamy White Bean Soup
- Instant Pot Matzo Ball Soup
- Instant Pot French Onion Soup
- Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana
- Instant Pot Chicken Gnocchi Soup
- Instant Pot Beef Barley Soup
- Instant Pot Creamy Tortellini Soup
- Instant Pot Tortilla Soup
- Instant Pot Vegetable Soup
- Instant Pot Chicken Chili
- Whole30 Potato Soup
- Instant Pot Beef Stew
WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS
One serving has 1 WW Freestyle SmartPoints.
Instant Pot Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 8 carrots {peeled and chopped}
- 7 stalks celery {chopped}
- 1 onion {diced}
- 1 cup potato {peeled and chopped}
- 6 cloves garlic {minced}
- 1 1/3 cup dried brown or green lentils
- 6 cups broth of choice
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tbsp prepared pesto
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to the Instant Pot. Stir.8 carrots, 7 stalks celery, 1 onion, 1 cup potato, 6 cloves garlic, 1 1/3 cup dried brown or green lentils, 6 cups broth of choice, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp dried parsley, 1 tsp dried thyme, 2 tbsp prepared pesto, salt and pepper to taste
- Secure the lid and set the vent to sealing. Press manual>high pressure>12 minutes. It will take around 10 minutes to get up to pressure.
- When the cooking time is up, do a natural release for 5 minutes and then flip the vent to venting and perform a quick release.
Slow Cooker Instructions
- Place all ingredients in your slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours.
Stove Top Instructions
- In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine olive oil, carrots, celery, and onions. Cook down for 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the remaining ingredients and cook on medium until lentils are soft (about 30 minutes).
Notes
- This soup was made in an 8-quart Instant Pot. If you have another sized Instant Pot, the cooking time will be the same. Just make sure you don’t fill the inner pot more than two-thirds full.
- As written, this recipe is vegetarian. Use a dairy-free pesto to make it vegan.
- Throw in some spinach at the end of the cooking time for some added greens.
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Made this with red lentils last wee… freaking tasty enough that I’m making it again today. Perfect food for the end of a ski day. I have to admit we are adding on more ham this time (just cuz I’m a sucker for the stuff)
So glad to hear you liked it and I love when people personalize my recipes! How was it with more ham>
SO GOOD!
I was going to make this in the Instant Pot but it turns out mine wasn’t big enough so I switched to the stove – no biggie. It turned out amazing – so much flavor. Will definitely be making again.
So glad you liked it, Stephanie. Thanks so much for commenting and rating it!
Delicious. Have made this several times!
Never have made lentil soup, but worth trying out!
Would green lentils work for this? I am only finding red and green at the moment.
Thanks!
You should be totally fine! Both green and brown lentils hold their shape well in soups and stews. If you’re using the Instant Pot it won’t be an issue. If making it on the stovetop you’ll likely need to cook them a bit longer than brown lentils.
Wow, another delicious soup recipe. Thank you! I always thought I didn’t like lentils but every time I make a recipe I come across, I like them. Made this as posted and it is super good!!
For post ideas, could you do one on Instant Pot and why you like it or why I need one? I borrowed one and made this soup (amazing) and quinoa yesterday. I like it well enough but not sure I “need” it. One more thing to take up space or best thing ever?
Isn’t it fun to discover you like “new” ingredients? I can still remember when I realized I liked asparagus.
And yes on the IP post idea!
Sarah, do the lentils go in dry or do I need to soak them before loading everything into the slow cooker? Still no IP for me ?.
Santa is FIRED! You can put them in dry if you’re going to cook for 6-8 hours.
Thanks! We are making this tomorrow and I am pretty stoked. First, I have to make non-cow pesto (husband has allergies).
My Dad got an IP… Maybe I can borrow it when I visit them!
Lentils only take 30-45 minutes! They are NOT like dry beans.
Yum! I am going to have to try this soon! I love lentil soups and particularly like anything with smoked paprika added!
Smoked paprika is my everything!
I have red lentils, are they interchangeable?
I love red lentil and often use them for soup, but they are quite different from brown lentils. Red lentils fall apart when you cook them whereas brown lentils hold there shape and have a firmer texture.
Louisa is right; the red lentils will mush up quite a bit and fall apart.