This Instant Pot minestrone soup is made easy with canned beans and tomatoes. It’s totally plant-based and rich in flavor. This soup will remind you of the fabulous Olive Garden Minestrone!
I love making plant-based soups in my Instant Pot. It doesn’t take a lot of planning ahead except for a little shopping and chopping. Most of the ingredients you’ll need for this delicious Instant Pot soup, you probably already have!
For all of my delicious vegan soups, stews, and chowders – click here! You’ll find comforting, warm, and heartwarming vegan soup served with bread, sandwiches, or salads for a complete hearty meal.
Why you’ll love this delicious minestrone soup
- quick and easy using many canned goods
- set it and forget it in a pressure cooker
- rich and hearty flavor
- will remind you of a very famous restaurant soup (did I say Olive Garden?)
Navigate this post
- Why you’ll love this delicious minestrone soup
- Pin now to save for later
- What is minestrone soup?
- Ingredients needed to make Instant Pot Minestrone Soup
- How to make minestrone soup in the Instant Pot
- Some questions and some answers about this minestrone soup recipe
- Try these other great plant-based soups made in the Instant Pot from Veggie Fun Kitchen:
- The printable recipe card for Instant Pot Minestrone Soup
Pin now to save for later
What is minestrone soup?
Minestrone soup: A nutritious delicious soup with humble beginnings:
Minestrone soup is, at its most basic, a soup with lots of vegetables and possibly pasta or rice or both. It’s an ancient soup of the Roman Empire from when meat might not have been as plentiful for all and people recognized the health benefits of a simpler plant-forward diet.
From Wikipedia (which knows all): “The ancient Romans recognized the health benefits of a simple or “frugal” diet (from the Latin fruges, the common name given to cereals, vegetables and legumes) and thick vegetable soups and vegetables remained a staple.”
You won’t be disappointed with this flavorful easy-to-make healthy plant-based soup!
Ingredients needed to make Instant Pot Minestrone Soup
- olive oil
- diced onion
- carrots, peeled and sliced
- zucchini halved and sliced
- minced garlic
- diced tomatoes canned with juice
- vegetable broth
- tomato paste
- Italian seasoning
- canned white beans, kidney beans, and green beans
- small shell pasta
- baby spinach
- chopped parsley
- and of course my favorite pressure cooker: the Instant Pot!
How to make minestrone soup in the Instant Pot
Step 1: Prep the ingredients
Wash and peel the carrots. Wash the zucchini and the baby spinach if it didin’t come prewashed. Mince the garlic and chop the onion. Set all aside.
Open cans. Don’t drain the tomatoes as you will be using the liquid from the can. Drain and rinse the beans. You can save that beautiful bean juice or “aquafaba” and use it for a multitude of vegan recipes as seen in this post with 70+ vegan aquafaba recipes by Cooking on Caffeine.
Measure out the seasonings and pasta and have them ready to go.
Step 2: Saute the vegetables
Heat the Instant Pot using the saute function. Add in the oil and heat for a mintue. First, satue the “harder” vegetables such as the onions and carrots for about three minutes. You just want to start the cooking process – not cook them to perfection. Your pressure cooker will do that!
After the other vegetables have begun to soften, add the zuchhini, garlic, and seasonings, and suate for another couple of minutes.
Step 3: Pressure cook that lovely soup!
Add the beans, vegetable broth, and tomatoes. Close the lid and the vent and set the Instant Pot on high pressure for three minutes. It will take up to ten minutes to come to pressure.
After the Instant Pot comes to pressure and counts down the three minutes, carefully do a quick release and open the lid once the pin drops.
I do a quick release by using a long-handled wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Remember that the steam from a pressure cooker is hot and will burn!
Step 4: Cooking the pasta and adding the spinach
It’s super important to NOT turn off the Instant Pot at this point – leave it set on “warm”. This will enable the pasta to cook.
Add the pasta and baby spinach and give it a good stir. Then close the lid and venting while leaving the Instant Pot on “warm” for about 5 minutes.
Check to make sure that the pasta is as tender as you’d like and that the spinach has wilted. Taste and add salt and pepper if desired.
Now you’ve got a beautifully healthy, nutricious, plant-based minestrone soup!
Some questions and some answers about this minestrone soup recipe
You can use any pressure cooker you’d like. I only know about the Instant Pot and so you will need to know and understand the manufacturer’s directions of your pressure cooker. Also, not all pressure cookers have a saute function. If yours doesn’t then you will need to saute the vegetables on the stovetop first.
Yes you can. Follow the same directions. But bring to a boil after adding the ingrediens, turn it down and simmer covered for about 30 mintues. Add the pasta the last 10 mintues of simmering. Add the spinach the last five minutes.
If you prefer to use dried beans then cook them ahead of time and use just like the canned beans. A can of drained and rinse beans will yeild about one-and-one-half cups.
Yes, just wash, prep (cut off woody ends), and halve. Saute along with the onions and carrots to get the cooking process going. Be aware that they might still be a little crunchier than expected.
Yes you can. No need to saute the carrots if you are using canned.
This recipe was developed using small (not meduim) shells. The pasta cooks after the Instant has finished cooking and is still on warm with the lid closed. I cannot garauntee that a different size or shape of pasta will cook well enough.
Yes, just saute the vegetables in about one cup of vegetable broth. Watch the pan so that it doesn’t dry out and burn. Add more broth as necessary.
Serving suggestions for this healthy minestrone soup
While this soup can certainly be served as a stand-alone dish, it would also be delcious with my Sheet Pan Meal with Vegetables and chickpeas, or Veggie Salad with Tahini Dressing.
I would also serve with a nice crusty bead like my Bread Machine Wheat Bread or Herbed Garlic Beer Bread
Try these other great plant-based soups made in the Instant Pot from Veggie Fun Kitchen:
The printable recipe card for Instant Pot Minestrone Soup
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Minestrone Soup Made Easy in the Instant Pot, Plant-Based
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- ¾ cup onion diced
- ½ cup carrots peeled and sliced
- 1 zucchini halved and sliced
- 2 Tablespoons garlic minced
- 14 ounces diced tomatoes canned with juice
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 15 ounces white beans canned, drained, and rinsed
- 15 ounces kidney beans canned, drained, and rinsed
- 14 ounces green beans canned, drained
- ½ cup pasta small shell
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
Instructions
- Cut onions, carrots and mince the garlic, set aside. Slice the zucchini and set aside separately. Drain and rinse beans, set aside.
- Turn the Instant Pot to the sauté mode. Add the oil and allow to heat up.
- Add in the onions and carrots. Sauté them for about three minutes until beginning so soften.
- Add in the zucchini, garlic, and Italian seasoning and continue sauting for 2 more minutes.
- Add the broth, tomatoes, tomato paste, and beans.
- Close the lid and the vent. Set to high pressure for 3 minutes. It will take up to 10 minutes to come to pressure.
- Once the Instant Pot has come to pressure and counted down the three minutes, carefully do a quick release and open the lid according to manufacturer's directions. LEAVE THE INSTANT POT SETTING ON WARM!
- Add in the pasta and give it a good stir. Put the lid back on and allow the pasta to sit for about five minutes.
- Check to make sure that your pasta is as tender as you'd like. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the baby spinach and parsley.
This soup is so good – I made it for next week’s lunches. It may not make it that far because we keep getting seconds!
I love an comforting instant pot soup! This one is so good!
Easy, delicious, and so flavorful! Love this soup. Will be adding this to our regular rotation of meals.
I love making this soup in my IP! It’s so easy and always turns out great!
You can’t beat minestrone soup on a cold day – delicious!
This soup is so delicious and easy to make, I’ll be eating it for lunch all week.
I love a good Instant Pot Vegan Soup!!
A hearty soup of a cold fall day. This soup was delicious!!