A perfect soup that is a complete meal in itself – beans, loads of veggies and pasta, topped with cheese and a side of bread. This tastes just like the Olive Garden minestrone soup. Vegetarian-friendly and can easily be made gluten-free and vegan.
Fall is in full swing, although not so much in California yet. But I am still craving soup! So here is a hearty and healthy vegetarian Minestrone soup made in the Instant Pot. It is a perfect combination of tasty and nutritious.
Beans, loads of veggies and pasta, all cooked in a yummy broth….so flavorful. This is a complete meal with protein, carbs, and loads of nutrients from the veggies. It is also the easiest thing to make. It is most a throw all in and let the magic pot do it’s work kind of soup.
This is a perfect Vegetarian Instant Pot Soup!
Vegan? Skip the cheese at the end!
Gluten-free? Skip the pasta or use a rice or quinoa pasta to make this gluten free.
Check out this collection of 20+ Instant Pot Vegetarian Soup recipes for more delicious soups!
Table of Contents
Watch How to Make Instant Pot Minestrone Soup
Ingredients for Minestrone Soup
Look for all the veggies in your refrigerator…okay, not all but most veggies work great in this soup.
It is easy to customize this soup and use other veggies. I have used:
- Carrots
- Celery
- Zucchini
- Baby Spinach
I always keep some canned cannellini beans in the pantry. You can also add kidney beans if you like.
You can also cook the beans in the instant pot, which is great. Here is my recipe to make instant pot cannellini beans.
Many recipes add beans at the end after pressure cooking, but I like the canned beans cooked with the broth and veggies so they soak in the flavor.
I have tried making this soup with fresh tomatoes and with canned diced tomatoes. It works great both ways, so feel free to use any.
I used small elbow macaroni pasta in this soup. Any dry pasta works well in this recipe. I like to use dry pasta and cook it directly in the instant pot with the veggies.
If you have pre-cooked pasta ready, you can add that to this soup after pressure cooking along with the spinach and simmer for a few minutes.
How to make Minestrone Soup in the Instant Pot?
This is a very easy soup to make in the instant pot. You don’t have to simmer the pot on the stovetop for hours to get a flavorful delicious soup!
- Start with heating oil in the instant pot and sautéing onions and garlic.
- Then add diced tomatoes and chopped celery, carrots and zucchini. Also add all the seasonings at this time.
- Add in the pasta, vegetable broth and white kidney beans. Stir it all up. Make sure the pasta is under the broth.
- Now cook on SOUP mode in the instant pot.
- When the instant pot beeps, manually release the pressure after 5 minutes.
- Stir in the chopped spinach and let it sit for 5 minutes. Season with more slat and pepper if you like.
- Garnish with parmesan cheese (optional) and minestrone soup is ready to serve.
Love the colors in this easy, healthy minestrone soup!
This is a bowl of goodness, so satisfying. Top with some grated parmesan (skip for vegan).
You won’t miss going to Olive Garden for a hearty bowl of minestrone any more. You can enjoy it in the comfort of your home!
If you want to freeze this soup, leave out the pasta when pressure cooking. Cook the pasta separately and add in when reheating.
If you like this recipe, do let us know by leaving a comment. You might like other soups made in a pressure cooker –
Instant Pot Minestrone Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 cup Onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon Garlic, minced
- 1 can Diced Tomatoes, or 4 fresh tomatoes diced, 15oz
- 2 Celery Stalks , chopped, 3/4 cup
- 2 Carrot, chopped, 3/4 cup
- 1 Zucchini , chopped, 3/4 cup
- 1/2 cup Pasta , I used elbow macaroni
- 32 ounces Vegetable Broth
- 1 can White Kidney Beans, 15oz, drained (cannellini)
- 2 cups Spinach (Palak), chopped
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (optional, skip for vegan)
- Parsley, chopped, to garnish
Seasoning
- 2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Salt, adjust to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper, crushed, adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon Paprika , adjust to taste
Instructions
- Start the instant pot in SAUTE mode and heat olive oil in it.
- Add diced onions and minced garlic. Stir and Saute for 2 minutes.
- Add diced tomatoes and chopped celery, carrots and zucchini. Add in the italian seasoning, salt, pepper and paprika.
- Add in the pasta, vegetable broth and white kidney beans. Stir it all up. Make sure the pasta is under the broth.
- Press Cancel and close lid with vent in sealing position. Set to SOUP setting (high pressure) for 5 minutes.
- When the instant pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes. Then manually release the pressure.
- Stir in the chopped spinach and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- Garnish with parmesan cheese (optional) and minestrone soup is ready to serve.
I absolutely loved this! Followed exact recipe however the only tomatoes I had were fire roasted from Aldi and it was fantastic!!
Hi Becky – So glad you enjoyed the soup!
I just made this recipe and it was easy breezy to make and absolutely delicious! I snuck in ¾ cup of fresh green beans along with a little extra garlic and swapped cannellini beans for garbanzo since I had them already in my pantry. Thank you for a terrific new go-to recipe for me!!
Hi Valerie – You’re very welcome! I’m thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the recipe and made it your own with those delicious additions. It’s always great to have a new go-to recipe. Happy cooking! 🍽️
Love all your recipes that I’ve tried – they’re simple, tasty, nutritious, & always come out perfect. With the instant pot recipes, sometimes you mention the recipe can be doubled, but when you don’t indicate this how do I know if I can do this? I have a standard 6 quart instant pot. 🙏🏼
I am making this tomorrow morning for my Garden Club for the first time. I am confused on the cook time. Is it 5 or 20 minutes that I set the timer to and also, can I make this the night before then reheat it the next morning, or would that ake the pasta and spinach too wilty?
Hi Kimberly – Sorry I didn’t respond in time. The pressure cooking time is 5 minutes, however it will take about 20 minutes to cook the soup. This is a pretty easy soup, so I would suggest to cook in the morning. You can prep the ingredients the night before and just cook them in the morning. Hope you enjoy the soup!
So flipping good, making my second batch this week !
Thanks for the great and easy recipe.
Hi – You’re welcome! Enjoy your second batch and happy cooking!
I made this for lunch today, and it was delicious; thank you! I do have a question as I am pretty new to the Instant Pot. When the Instant Pot beeps, do you press “Cancel” to turn the appliance off before letting the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, or do you keep it turned on and proceed with the recipe? Thanks again.
You keep it turned on. You will hit cancel to release the pressure after the five minutes of natural release is up.
Really delicious. I used arborio rice in place of pasta to make GF, plus added two thinly sliced chicken sausages, mild Italian flavor, and used home made stock. Also used chick peas because that is what I had in the pantry. I could eat this every day!
Love this recipe!! So easy to make, and delicious. I’m going to be making it regularly.
Hi Jen – So happy to hear that 🙂
This was delicious and so easy to make. I added trader Joes Soffrito seasoning
Hi Sara – Glad you enjoyed it! Trader Joe’s Soffrito seasoning sounds like a tasty addition.
I have been making this a while now. I call it crack soup. My whole family loves it, including my pickiest child 💕
Hi Casey – That’s wonderful to hear!
Making it now … in the ingredients it says parsley but in the recipe it says paprika ?
Hi Nancy – I have both included in the ingredients list. All the seasonings added are mentioned in a header under the ingredients list. Hope you enjoy the soup!