Easy & comforting Sweet Corn Soup made in the Instant Pot. This lightly spiced Indo-chinese soup is perfect for the cold weather. This is a vegan & gluten free soup!
This is one soup that takes me back to the delicious street food of Mumbai. We used to have Sweet Corn Soup every time we visited our favorite Chinese (rather Indo-chinese) joint, Uncles Kitchen. We would always start with sweet corn soup along with chicken lollipop (similar to wings), crispy chicken and spring rolls. So this soup is very similar to the restaurant style sweet corn soup we enjoyed and I hope you enjoy it too!
I love making soups in the Instant Pot. You might have guessed that by the number of instant pot soups I have shared. You can also make this sweet corn soup on the stovetop, and it takes about the same time, just a little extra monitoring.
If you are looking for an Instant Pot Vegetarian Soup recipes, then this Sweet Corn Soup should be on the must try list. Pair this soup along with Chili Garlic Potatoes & Garlic Noodles for a wonderful meal!
Check out this collection of 17 Instant Pot Vegetarian Soup recipes for more delicious soups!
What is Sweet Corn Soup?
Sweet Corn Soup is made in many regions of the world in many different ways. Corn is the main ingredient which gives a slightly sweet taste to the soup. Usually a lightly spiced soup made with sweet corns and veggies like carrots, green peas, cabbage & spring onions. You can also find the chicken sweet corn soup variation. In this recipe, I will share the Indo-chinese version of vegetarian sweet corn soup. It is vegan & gluten-free.
You might ask what is Indo-Chinese cuisine? I am picking this from wikipedia – The adaptation of Chinese seasoning and cooking techniques to Indian tastes through a larger offering to also include vegetarian dishes.
Check out `10+ Best Indian Soup Recipes.
How to make Sweet Corn Soup in Instant Pot?
Let's start with gathering the ingredients for sweet corn soup. I used frozen corn for this soup. You can use fresh or canned too. I blended ¾ cup of the corn with some water to make creamed corn which we will add to this soup. You can use canned creamed corn too, however I find it so easy to just blend from corn at home.
I just used carrots and spring onions (scallions) while making this soup, as that is what I had on hand. Other veggies that you can add are green peas, green beans, mushroom, cabbage (add at the end after pressure cooking).
Separate the white and green portion of the spring onions while chopping as we will add them at different times. Mince some garlic and ginger.
Saute the ingredients
1 - Now heat the instant pot in sauté mode. Add oil, ginger, garlic and sauté them until fragrant and slightly golden.
2 - Add the carrots, white portion of the spring onions, corn kernels and the creamed corn.
3- Add the broth, black pepper, salt, sugar, vinegar and stir well.
Pressure Cook the soup
4 - Now we pressure cook for just 2 minutes and then let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes.
Simmer & Garnish
5 - Next step is to make the soup thicker by adding corn starch. Dissolve the corn starch in ¼ cup water such that there are no lumps. Start the instant pot in sauté mode and add the corn starch to the soup while stirring continuously. Bring to a quick boil.
6 - The soup is ready. Garnish with green part of spring onions and add chili sauce to taste. Serve hot!
I like to add lots of sauces before enjoying this soup. Soy sauce, some chili sauce or schezwan sauce are all great additions. I use Sambar Oelek Chili paste if you are looking for a new one to try. Or the indo-chinese Ching's Secret Schezwan Chutney is so good!
You will love this Chinese Sweet Corn Soup. It is -
- Easy to make & so satisfying
- You can add lots of veggies
- Easy to adjust to your spice level and change up the veggies you add
- Vegan and gluten free
- Perfect for cold days
Hope you enjoy this easy Sweet Corn Soup!
Instant Pot Sweet Corn Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cup Sweet Corn divided
- ½ cup Water
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- ½ tablespoon Ginger minced
- ½ tablespoon Garlic minced
- ¾ cup Carrots diced
- 4 stalks Spring Onions chopped, separate white and green part
- 2 ½ cup Vegetable Broth
- ½ teaspoon Salt adjust to taste
- Black Pepper to taste
- ½ teaspoon Sugar adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon Vinegar I used rice vinegar
- 3 teaspoon Cornstarch mixed with ¼ cup water
- Red chili paste add to taste
Instructions
- In a blender, blend ¾ cup sweet corn and ½ cup water, to a smooth paste.
- Start the instant pot on sauté mode and let it heat. Add oil and then add ginger, garlic. Sauté for about 30 seconds.
- Add carrots, spring onion whites and the remaining corn. Add the sweet corn paste from step 1.
- Add the broth, black pepper, salt, sugar and vinegar. Stir well making sure nothing is stuck at the bottom of the pot. Press Cancel and close lid with vent in sealing position.
- Set the instant pot in pressure cook (manual) mode for 2 minutes at high pressure.
- When the instant pot beeps, do a 10 minute NPR. This means let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then release the pressure manually.
- Add the cornstarch dissolved in water to the pot and stir well. Set the instant pot on saute mode and let it come to a quick boil.
- Garnish with green part of spring onions and add chili sauce to taste. Serve hot!
Stovetop Method
- In place of the pressure cooking step, cover with a lid and let the veggies cook for about 15 minutes. Stir in between couple of times. Then follow the steps to thicken and garnish.
Video
Notes
Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.
DJ ROWLAND says
what kind of vinegar did you use?
Meeta Arora says
Hello - I used rice vinegar in this sweet corn soup. Hope you enjoy it!
Cecilia Fernandez says
Can you provide instructions without using an instapot, please? I’m finding most recipes now a days are all using an instapot, which I don’t have at this time. Thank you kindly.
Meeta Arora says
Hi Cecilia - I just added the stovetop variation to the instructions. Hope you enjoy the soup!
Ripa Chakravorty says
Can I use the corn from cob as it is or do I need to steam the corn on the cob first?
Meeta Arora says
Hi Ripa - You can use fresh corn kernels for this recipe too. Just increase pressure cooking time to 5 minutes. Hope you enjoy the soup!
Naga sunitha says
Can I use celery in place of spring onions. Will it taste good
Meeta Arora says
Hi Naga - I have not tried with celery, but I would say give it a try. Celery works great in soups, so I think will work well for this one too.