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Instant Pot Minestrone Soup is a classic Italian soup loaded with vegetables, beans, pasta, and lots of flavor! When you make this pressure cooker minestrone soup, clean out that vegetable drawer in the fridge! This is a versatile and tasty Instant Pot soup recipe!
Instant Pot Minestrone Soup
Soup season is upon us, and today I’m bringing you a classic. Minestrone! This Italian soup usually has broth, mirepoix, tomatoes, beans, pasta or rice. I use what I have in the pantry and fridge, as do most people who make this soup. I have never seen two Minestrone soup recipes that are identical!
Instant Pot Minestrone Soup is a vegetarian soup, however, I choose to use chicken broth in mine as I prefer it. Feel free to use your favorite broth. Also, there is no harm in adding some meat to this soup. Little meatballs, ground sausage, or beef tips would all be really delicious.
There is a lot of prep work involved in making Minestrone soup, due to it being a vegetable heavy soup. The upside to all of that work is that once it reaches pressure it has a fast cook time. Still, this is not the fastest soup recipe you can make in your Instant Pot®.
It will go faster if you cut the recipe in half, as there isn’t as much volume in the pot to get up to pressure. That takes 10-15 minutes or so for a full recipe.
After you do the prep work, Instant Pot Minestrone Soup is easy to make. Here are the steps to make it:
This Instant Pot Minestrone recipe makes a lot! We can get up to 12 servings, depending on how full we fill our bowls. The leftovers are wonderful, since all of the flavors had time to meld together.
This soup freezes really well, too. I like to freeze it in quart size freezer bags for easier reheating.
Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana (Sausage Potato Soup)
Instant Pot Taco Soup
Instant Pot Black Bean Soup
Instant Pot Easy Lasagna Soup
Instant Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup
Instant Pot Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Yellow Onion, chopped
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 7 cloves Garlic, pressed or minced
- 2 large Carrots, chopped
- 2 ribs Celery, chopped
- 2 tsp Oregano, droed
- 1 tsp Basil, dried
- 1 sprig Fresh Rosemary
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- ½ tsp Pepper
- 7 cups Chicken Broth (or vegetable broth)
- 1 Parmesan Rind (optional)
- 1 - 2 (15 oz) cans Red Kidney Beans, drained & rinsed
- 1 (15 oz) can Garbanzo Beans, drained & rinsed
- 2 (15 oz) cans Diced Tomatoes, with juice
- 1 (14 oz) can Crushed Tomatoes in Puree
- 1 (6 oz) can Tomato Paste
After Pressure Cooking
- 1 small Zucchini, sliced into half circles, not too thick
- 1 cup Pasta, dry (med. shells, small macaroni)
- 1 (14 oz) can Cut Green Beans, drained
- ½ cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
- ¼ cup Fresh Basil Leaves, chopped
Instructions
- Before you begin the cooking process, have all of your ingredients ready to go. Chop your veggies, open the cans, rinse the beans, measure the spices, etc. This will make the process go smoother since there is a lot of prep.
- Turn on the pot's Sauté setting. When the pot is hot, add the olive oil. Then add in the onion and the bay leaves and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions start to turn translucent.
- Add the garlic and cook for about 20 seconds, stirring constantly, or until it is fragrant.
- Add the carrots, celery, oregano, basil, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Stir.
- Pour in the chicken broth, parmesan rind, if using, kidney beans, and garbanzo beans. Stir.
- Pour in diced tomatoes and crushed tomatoes. Do not stir.
- Spoon the tomato paste on top. Gently press to submerge it, but do not stir (tomatoes burn easily, so this method helps prevent that).
- Place the lid on the pot and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
- Cancel the Sauté setting.
- Press the Pressure Cook/Manual button or dial, then the +/- button or dial to select 5 minutes. High Pressure. The pot will take about 10-15 minutes to come to pressure as this is a very full pot.
- When the cook cycle has finished. Let the pot sit undisturbed for 15 minutes (15 minute Natural Release). Then do a controlled Quick Release of the pressure. *A controlled quick release means you release the steam in short bursts, then longer bursts, until you can be sure none of the sauce spews out of the vent with the steam from the intense pressure. Then fully open the vent and let it go.
- When the pin in the lid drops down, open the lid and carefully stir the soup.
- Turn the Sauté setting back on and add in the zucchini and pasta. Put a glass lid on, or a silicone lid to keep the heat in so it comes to a simmer faster. Take off the lid when it starts to simmer (there is a chance that it won't simmer, but the pasta will still cook as it is very hot). The zucchini and pasta will cook in 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the type of pasta, and how thinly you cut the zucchini.
- Add the drained can of green beans and let them heat through.
- Stir in the parmesan.
- Garnish with some fresh basil leaves, more parmesan, and serve hot with nice crusty bread.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
RESOURCES TO MAKE Instant Pot Minestrone Soup recipe and more
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This soup was delicious. I thought the instructions for using the Instant pot were very well written. My only complaint is I could not find information about what size instant pot to use. I had to only use one can of red kidney beans and one can of the diced tomatoes as I was already at the maximum fill for my 6 quart instant pot. What size pot did you use?
I used a 6-quqrt as that is the standard size. I specify if I use otherwise.
If I want to cut the recipe in half, what would be the pressure-cooking time. There are only two of us at the house and I feel that the recipe would make too much soup and would like to cut it in half.
You can cut the natural release time down to 5 minutes. Be careful when releasing the pressure as it will still be very hot and broth can possibly come out of the vent. Close it and release in bursts if that happens.
Family loved it, thank you!
Do you know about how’s much protein per serving?
You can plug the ingredients into an online nutrition calculator.
This recipe has become an absolute staple in my home. The soup turns out perfectly every time, and I’ve been making it frequently over the last 2 years. It fills my 6 qt instant pot to the max, but it fits.
I make 2 very minor substitutions – I skip the pasta and trade out one of the two kidney bean cans for a can of butter beans.
It’s SO GOOD. So comforting, well seasoned, just absolutely delicious. Thank you for sharing this soup recipe
I made this today and it was a hit! Do you use a 6q or 8q pressure cooker for this recipe? I had to hold back half of the diced tomatoes as the other ingredients filled the liner to the max line. Of course that had me thinking that I now need a fourth pressure cooker, an 8q!
I use a 6 qt. I don’t know why you had so much extra, could be that the sizes of the veggies vary! I’m so glad you liked it!
This was great! My husband wanted minestrone soup but with ground meat in it. I used this recipe added an extra can of chicken broth to make up for meat( I browned it and then rinsed it hot water to eliminate most grease) and it was delicious. Even better the next day! Thank you for sharing this!!!
Fantastic! This was just what I’ve been looking for. My tweaks:
– I used a jar of homemade salsa instead of the diced/crushed tomatoes (I had run out of both)
– I used one can of white beans (but would use two next time) instead of kidney or garbanzo beans
– I used fresh green beans, and added them at the same time as the zucchini
I have tried other minestrone recipes in the past, but they always ended up tasting bland and one-dimensional. This is now my go-to recipe, Thank you!
If I wanted to use frozen green beans when would I put them in?
I would add them in at the end if you want them firm, and in the beginning if you like them soft.
Carrots…Celery…HOW MANY???
2 of each.