Instant Pot Vegetable Soup 

I only discovered the Instant Pot a few months ago. My fellow Universal Moms, Pia and Helena both have one, and insisted that if I would buy one I would not regret it. Instant Pots are a brand of electric pressure cookers or multicookers. Pressure cookers work by creating heat under a tight seal, so the temperature is much higher than the boiling point of water and the steam can't escape. The steam cooks food much more quickly than traditional stovetop or oven cooking, and this one can do everything from steam to sauté to slow cooking.

Once I discovered that you can basically do anything with the Instant Pot, I decided to splurge and it has been SO worth it. My favorite recipe right now is this vegetable soup. It took a few tries to get the right timing but this soup is done in a few minutes and so delicious, not to mention healthy.

This is the Instant Pot:

Recipe

Slice and dice all the veggies:

• 1 sweet potato
• 1 leek
• spinach
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 can of chick peas
• 2 carrots
• celery
• 750 ml Vegetable Broth

Start by setting the Instant Pot to the saute function. Drizzle in a little olive oil, then add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Leaving off the lid, stir and cook until translucent (about 5 minutes).

Cook, stirring, for another minute. Then, add the leek, celery, chickpeas, sweet potato and vegetable broth. Cover your Instant Pot, seal the valve, and set to the “soup” setting to pressure cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. This doesn’t mean your soup will be ready in 5 minutes, just FYI – it takes the Instant Pot about 10 minutes usually to get up to pressure before starting the 5 minutes. It will just say “on” while it’s heating up, then when you see the 5 minutes appear that means it’s high pressure and actually cooking. So be sure to plan for that extra time!

Once it’s done, carefully release the steam (quick release) by turning the pressure release valve.Once all the steam is released, remove the lid and stir in your spinach while the soup is still super hot. Let rest for a few minutes, until the spinach is wilted. Lastly season with salt and pepper.

You can use any vegetables you like in the soup, any questions - just let me know in the comments.

You can also set the timer and then go for a long walk - the Instant Pot instantly goes to a "warm" mode when its done! That way you can prepare your soup, go for a walk, come back and enjoy it!

love, Caroline