Cozy up to a big bowl of pressure cooker lentil soup when it’s chilly outside. It’s so easy to make and ready in no time! Filled with lots of healthy veggies like carrots and celery, lentils and bacon (or ham!), this is the ultimate comfort food recipe for fall and winter. Get out your Instant Pot and make this filling soup. You can even easily freeze it for super easy meal prep!
Preparation:
Cook:
Level: Easy
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Olive oil
- 2 Yellow onions, chopped
- 3 cloves Garlic, sliced
- 5 ounces, weight Thick Bacon Or Diced Ham
- 5 Medium carrots, diced
- ½ Small celery root, diced (or use extra potatoes)
- 4 rods Celery, sliced
- 4 Medium potatoes, diced
- 2 tablespoons Tomato Paste
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Ground paprika
- ½ teaspoon Cumin powder
- ¼ teaspoons Ground black pepper
- 2 cups Brown lentils
- 10 cups Chicken broth or water with 1-2 teaspoons of salt
- Optional herbs (I used 4 sprigs of thyme, 1 sprig of rosemary, 2 bay leaves, 3 juniper berries)
Preparation
Heat the oil in a pressure cooker on the stove over medium-high heat (or in an electric pressure cooker in sauté mode). Cook onion, garlic and bacon (or ham) for 2 minutes, stirring often. Add the rest of the vegetables and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste, Italian seasoning, paprika, cumin and black pepper and cook for 1 minute.
Add the remaining ingredients to the pressure cooker. Close the lid and let the pressure cooker come up to high pressure. Cook the soup for 10 minutes (12 minutes in an electric pressure cooker).
Quickly release the pressure and allow the soup to cool for 5 minutes. Remove about 1 cup of liquid and 1 cup of lentils and vegetables and blend until smooth. Stir in the soup.
Check the seasoning of the soup and add a little salt and/or a squeeze of lemon juice if you feel it needs a kick.
