Hearty Brown Lentil & Vegetable Soup in the Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker. Make this warm soup on a cold & rainy (or snowy) day. Get cozy with this nutritious and easy to make vegan soup.
This is a great soup for detox as well….You know we all will need that right after the Thanksgiving meal, which is right around the corner! So prep yourself to detox and heal your body with this hearty and healthy lentil soup.
Brown lentils are called Sabut Masoor Dal in Hindi. In Indian cuisine, we love lentils. Growing up, there was always a lentil along with some veggie stir fry for dinner. However I am now more and more wanting veggies along with the lentils. Well, mainly to make my life easier by cooking one dish rather than two…. So voila, we get lentil soups with lots of veggies. Get the proteins along with loads of other nutrients from the veggies. And we can skip the flatbread (roti, mostly carbs) and just enjoy the soup.
Why make this soup in the Instant Pot?
- because you want the soup quickly and don’t have the patience to wait 6 hours to make this in a crockpot.
- because you did not plan before and want to whip up a meal in no time (for some before the kids start to get crazy…read hungry)
- because you want to use the Instant Pot SOUP function. I am tired of all recipes using the MANUAL mode (Okay…I get it, not a real reason!)
How to make Brown Lentil Soup in the Pressure Cooker?
The pressure cooker is changing our lives. I would not say faster, but much less monitored cooking, which is what I really need. Add all ingredients, press some buttons and forget. Just remember to come back to perfectly cooked dishes 🙂
We start with a base of onions, garlic…then add in some veggies. Of course, of your choice. I used carrots & celery. Other options are butternut squash, zucchini or potatoes. Then adding in the spices, lentils and broth…any whole lentils. I used brown lentils. Green Moong lentils work great too. If you want to use split lentils, then reduce the cooking time accordingly.
Once it is cooked, top the soup with some spinach. Oh…and a dash of lemon juice and a pinch of sugar. The easiest and the best soup is ready for you!
Enjoy it with a side of toast, crackers, naan or rice. If you like, top it with some parmesan cheese. This soup is a perfect pack ahead lunch and trust me, tastes even better the next day..or the day after!
Check out this collection of 17 Instant Pot Vegetarian Soup recipes for more delicious soups!
Recipe Video
Hearty Brown Lentil Soup - Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 cup Brown lentils (Whole Masoor Dal) rinsed
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Onion small, diced (about 1 cup)
- 1 tbsp Garlic minced
- 2 Carrot cut into small pieces
- 2 stalks Celery cut into small pieces
- 3 cups Vegetable Broth or Water
- 2 cups Baby Spinach packed
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp Sugar (optional)
- 1/2 tsp Red Chili flakes (optional)
Spices
- 1 tsp Ground Cumin (Jeera powder)
- 1 tsp Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
- 1/2 tsp Sumac (optional)
- 1/2 tsp Ground Turmeric (Haldi powder)
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Thyme dried (optiona;)
Instructions
- Start the instant pot in SAUTE mode and heat oil in it.
- Add onions and garlic. Mix and saute for 1 minute.
- Add carrots, celery and all spices along with thyme.
- Add the lentils and broth. Stir it all up. Press Cancel and close the lid with vent in sealing position.
- Set the instant pot to SOUP mode for 20 minutes. When the instant pot beeps, release the pressure naturally. Press Cancel.
- Add in spinach, lemon juice and sugar. Add some red chili flakes if you like. Stir it all up. Brown Lentil Soup is ready to enjoy!
Notes
- You can also use kale or collard greens. You can use a hand blender if you like. We like it chunky.
- If you don't have Sumac, skip it. It will still taste delicious.
Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.
Nutrition
Check out other Instant Pot Soups you might enjoy – Broccoli Cheddar Soup, Minestrone Soup or Creamy Tomato Soup. Want another lentil soup, stop by the Yellow Lentil with Spinach soup.
Delicious recipe Meeta !! Perfect for the super cold weather we have in Chicago these days. I added toasted peanuts for some crunch.
Hey Nimisha – So happy to hear that you enjoyed the lentil soup. Stay warm!
This was fantastic soup! I’ve never been able to make good soups until the Instant Pot. My granddaughter loves lentil soup but I was tired of paying over $4 for a can of organic lentil soup. So when I got the IP I decided to try and replicate the recipe but thank you so much for doing it for me. Absolutely wonderful meal with cheese and homemade bread. Lovely!
Hey Yvonne – So glad you enjoyed the lentil soup. It is so much cheaper to make soups and lentils from dry beans, and the fresh taste is even better. Thank you for sharing back your experience!
Just made it tonight and it was a hit! I took out the spinach and added bell peppers as that’s what I had. Even my picky daughter loved it.
Hey Valerie – Glad you and your daughter enjoyed the soup. It is great to hear when kids enjoy the recipes. Thank you for sharing back your review!
What a great recipe! It’s perfect for cool fall weather!
Thank you Vasavi. Glad you enjoyed the lentil soup 🙂
I just made this today as my first Instant Pot meal and it was delicious and easy! My husband said it was really good, especially for vegetables! Lol
Hey Gillian – So glad to hear you chose to make this as your first Instant Pot recipe, and even better that you and your husband enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing back your review!
Hey Meeta,
How long would I have to cook the Masoor dal with water and at what pressure if I was using the manual mode?
Thanks,
Hey Kiara – It might depend on what you are cooking the dal for. If you are cooking for a lentil soup, do 10-12 mins at high pressure with NPR for whole brown masoor dal.
More or less like soup. Just wanted to get the dal consistency 🙂
This recipe is so easy and so very tasty! My husband’s response was ” who knew lentils could be this good?”
The second time I made it, I doubled the recipe-and I’m cooking for just the two of us.
I’m glad I stumbled across your page and look forward to trying your other recipes!
Hey Gayle – So glad to hear you and your husband enjoyed the lentil soup. Thank you for sharing your review and I would love to hear if you try any other recipes on the blog 🙂
Very easy and delicious.
Thank you, Raj. Glad you liked it!
This was so delicious! I never post comments, but I had to. Creamy and wonderful. My boys, who are such picky eaters and don’t like vegetables LOVED this soup. They gobbled it all up. Thank you so much for this recipe. We will be making it regularly!
Hey Robin – So happy your boys loved the soup & thank you so much for sharing back 🙂
WHAT if I have a stove top pressure cooker? What is the equivalent to soup mode with that?
Hey Anna – I am not sure the type of pressure cooker you have. But I would say 2 whistles, then keep it on low flame for 5 minutes and this lentil should be cooked.