Soup weather is still upon us, so to warm you guys up, I’m sharing my recipe for a classic Instant Pot Hamburger Soup. This is a pressure cooker ground beef soup that uses basic, but tasty, ingredients. It has a pretty fast cook time, so you can have it on your table in about an hour.
Instant Pot Hamburger Soup
I hope you are surviving the snow and freezing temperatures, my friends. Here in the Pacific Northwest it is the rainy season. Haha, isn’t it always?
Here, April Showers is a real thing, and my family eats a lot of soup this time of year. Especially soup with loads of veggies in it. Something about Spring makes us crave vegetables.
This Instant Pot Hamburger Soup is really a version of Vegetable Beef Soup, only it calls for hamburger instead of stew meat. It cooks faster because the ground beef takes less time.
Instant Pot Hamburger Soup is pretty easy to throw together, and here I’ve shown you the steps (for all you visual learners, like me) to make it:
I love those chunky vegetables with the pieces of ground beef! The broth is rich and comforting. Mmmmmmmm.
And here you have it! It is the perfect thickness, from the tomato paste, and the potatoes. The flavors are classic and simple. I hope you are staying warm, and whipping up a batch of Instant Pot Hamburger Soup!
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Instant Pot Hamburger Soup is a comforting classic ground beef stew made with simple, tasty ingredients. This pressure cooker hamburger soup is a family favorite!
- 1 lb Lean Ground Beef (I like using 90% lean for this recipe)
- 1 Onion, diced
- 3 lrg Carrots, chopped large (or a small bag of baby carrots)
- 4 med Potatoes, chopped large
- 3 cups Beef Broth
- 1 packet Onion Soup Mix
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 2 tsp Garlic Powder (or 3 cloves garlic, minced)
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Pepper
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- (1) 14 oz can Diced Tomatoes (with juice)
- (1) 6 oz can Tomato Paste
- 3 cups Frozen Mixed Vegetables (with corn, green beans, etc.)
Turn the pot on to the Sauté setting. Add the ground beef and the onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is cooked. Don't break up the meat completely, as some bigger chunks are nice in the soup.
Add the chopped carrots and potatoes, beef broth, onion soup mix, bay leaf, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir.
Dump the can of diced tomatoes and tomato paste on top and do not stir.
Close the lid and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
Cancel the Sauté setting. Press the Pressure Cook/Manual button or dial and then the + or - button or dial to select 7 minutes. Make sure it is set to High pressure. It will take several minutes to come to pressure.
When the cooking cycle is finished, let the pot sit undisturbed for 15 minutes (15 minute natural release). Then carefully, in short bursts at first, release the remaining steam manually, by turning the steam release knob to the Venting position.
Stir the soup well to incorporate the tomato paste.
Then stir in the frozen vegetables and let sit for a few minutes before serving. The veggies will cook in the heat of the hot soup.
Serve hot with some nice crusty bread!
Resources to Make This Recipe and More
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I love this recipe. It is so delicious and easy to make. So filling and hearty too.
I am in South Louisiana in the heat and am still making this at the end of June lol
LOVE It! Thanks!!
That’s great, Juliana! I’m so glad you like this soup! Thank goodness for the IP so you don’t have to turn the stove on! Stay cool! Thank you for the review!
Do you drain the hamburger after sauté?
Only if there is a lot of grease. I tend to use lean ground beef, 90%-93%, so I rarely have much. If it looks like you do, spoon out most of the excess, but remember that the onions have water in them and if you cooked them with the beef, a lot of that is water.
I used ground turkey breast and chicken broth and it was delicious!
Hi Alexis! We like to use ground turkey, too! I’m glad you liked it!
I just got an instapot recently and as a fellow PNW am looking forward to all the comfort food in it. Made chicken soup yesterday actually. Could this be done with frozen ground beef? I am not always the best a preplanning meals so love when I can cook from frozen proteins.
Hi Neighbor! If your beef is a frozen chunk, it would be good to pre cook it first, to get rid of the excess grease. What you do is put a cup of water in the pot, then the trivet/rack, and set the frozen block of ground beef on the trivet. Cook at high pressure for 20 minutes, with a 10 minute natural release. Then open the pot and drain the grease, and go from there!
Thanks for this recipe… I took yours as a “base” as I didn’t have exactly the same ingredients and did it similar to what I’d make from scratch on the stove. I used some bouillon soup mix and a cube to replace the beef broth with 3 cups of water; and did not add the onion soup mix. It tasted almost exactly as my stove-top version as if I’d been slaving over the stove for hours. Soooo glad I bought one!
Sounds great, Rose! Thank you for letting me know!
This is great recipe minus the potatoes. I don’t understand why people use that in this recipe. I save potatoes for beef stew . I have tried potatoes in this and my husband and I cannot stand the taste. It seemed to override everything else so you just taste potatoes.
Hmmm, I don’t think the potatoes have that much flavor on their own. They soak up the other flavors. I’m glad you liked it otherwise.
I made this tonight, exactly as it was posted, and it was so good! Really easy too. Thanks for the great recipe.
Best and easiest soup ever.
I make it monthly, summer, spring, winter and fall, it’s no fail and the family loves it.
Thank you, Kristie! I’m so happy that this soup has become a part of your rotation!
Hi mine is in the pot right now. My first instapot attempt. I usually put barley in mine. For next time can I add barley with everything at the start?
Yes! Barley is so good!
If I want to double the recipe would the cooking time change?
No, the time will stay the same.
Thanks! I doubled this and it turned out great, though because I didn’t have enough space I didn’t double the potatoes and could only fit enough beef broth in to fill the pot, and I also ended up skipping the frozen vegetables. Best of all my 19 month old twins ate it, toddler approved! I think next time I will do half ground turkey and half ground beef. Great recilpe!
That’s great, Marissa! It’s a versatile recipe so making it the way you like is easy! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out!
Hi – Just curious why you say not to stir the tomatoes or paste? Thanks
Right. By not stirring them in, you get the benefit of them cooking without thickening up the soup and potentially causing a burn error. Tomatoes seem to cause the burn error more, as does thickened soups, etc. Just stir it in after it pressure cooks!
Hi was going to make this tonight and was curious how the frozen vegetables cook after adding them at the end?
The veggies will cook in the heat of the hot soup. Just stir them in and let it sit for a few minutes while you get the table set!
Hello, is it necessary to do the Natural Release after 15 minutes or would it be okay to leave it to do the Natural Release on its own (I need to start it & leave & would like it ready to eat when I return).
Thank you!
If you turn off the warming feature it should be fine. You will still need to add the frozen veggies when you open it.
I just made this!! So delicious!!!
Awesome! Thank you!
This was very good. Every person at the table really liked it, and we’re all looking forward to the leftovers! I didn’t have any mixed vegetables, so I cut up a couple cups of
cabbage and cooked it with the stew, then added a cup of frozen grean beans at the end. I also added extra beef bouillon so liquid would be covering the vegetables, and an extra bouillon cube for the heck of it. It tasted really delicious. My mother-in-law especially liked it. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Hi Denise, I’m so glad you all liked it! Thank you for leaving a review!
Thank you for this delicious recipe! I followed it exactly as you posted and my entire family loved it!! I’m pretty new to Instant Pot cooking and am loving that I can make such tasty, nutritious meals so quickly. Thank you!
So good. lots of flavor.
Great soup receipe. Made it with beefy onion soup mix, and used 4 cups water instead of 3. Used my own beef broth made with organic beef gel. Only added 1 1/2 c frozen mixed veg . Added macaroni at end and let set to cook in hot soup. Excellent receipe. A keeper
Thank you, Carol. I’m glad you liked this soup! Thank you for your review.
I’d like to make this but don’t have the onion soup mix. Any suggestions for a substitution? Thanks!
4 Tbsp Minced Onion Flakes
2 Tbsp Beef Bouillon Powder, low sodium
½ tsp Onion Powder
¼ tsp Parsley Flakes
1/8 tsp Ground Celery Seeds
1/8 tsp Black Pepper
1/8 tsp Sweet Paprika
1/8 tsp Salt
I didn’t see your reply before I made this without the onion soup mix. It came out great anyway and is really delicious! I’m going to get the ingredients to make the soup mix because I plan to make this soup a lot! Thanks!
P.s. I’m also live in the PNW…in the beautiful Oregon Willamette Valley!
Oh I do love Oregon! I lived in Portland for a couple of years.
Hi Sandy….I just bought an IP DUO60 V3 & was searching for easy recipes & I came across this one.
In your instructions, after you do the natural release, what do you mean by “in short bursts at first” release the remaining steam manually. How is “in short bursts” done? I wish I had confidence in using my IP…..
Please reply. Thank you.
You will open the steam release knob by turning it to the Venting position. Watch it carefully, and if any of the soup starts to spew out of the vent with the steam, turn the knob back to the Sealing position. Then try again, opening for a short burst and closing it again until you are sure none of the soup will be coming out with the steam.
Hi, I am a new IP user and I am looking so forward to making this tonight. The only problem is my son does not like tomatoes. Do you suggest tomato sauce,juice or soup in place if the diced tomatoes?
Thank you!
HI Betsy, you can add some tomato soup, but add it last and don’t stir it until after pressure cooking.