Thanks to 4 secrets, this Instant Pot Minestrone is the BEST recipe for Minestrone Soup. This simple soup is healthy, hearty, plant based, and ready in 30 minutes. It is the perfect dish to make for cold evenings!
Looking for more Instant Pot Soup Recipes? Check out Instant Pot Lentil Soup, Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup, Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup, Instant Pot Lasagna Soup, and Instant Pot French Onion Soup.
Instant Pot Minestrone Soup
Do you know how much you love Olive Garden or Carrabba’s Minestrone Soup?
Well, this Instant Pot Minestrone Soup will trump them both! In fact, I am willing to bet it is better than any minestrone you have ever had!
I know that is a bold statement, but I am sharing with you 4 tips that will turn good minestrone into outstanding minestrone.
And the best part?
Thanks to the Instant Pot, this recipe for Minestrone comes together in just 30 minutes! While I love my Slow Cooker Minestrone recipe, this busy mom REALLY loves this fast version! And truthfully, I think the flavor of this Instant Pot version is better! I believe it has to do do with how the pressure cooker seals in all the incredible flavors on the soup!
4 Secrets to the Best Minestrone Soup
1. Toasted Spices
I use dried oregano in my Minestrone soup. But in order to enhance the flavor of the oregano, it is best to lightly toast it. To do this, just add the oregano to the sauteed carrots, celery, and onion and let toast up for 1 minute. Trust me, that extra step really brings out the flavor of dried herbs.
2. Red Wine
I love adding wine to so many recipes. A good quality wine just adds incredible flavor and depth to savory dishes and is especially delicious in soup recipes. For this minestrone recipe, use a dry red wine, like Cabernet or Merlot. And be sure it is worthy of drinking–I NEVER recommend using a wine labeled as cooking wine. They are often sweetened and weak in flavor.
If you are not a wine drinker, just use additional vegetable or chicken stock. You will miss out on some of the flavor the wine adds to this soup, but I promise your minestrone will still be delicious.
3. Marinara Sauce
I am telling you that using prepared marinara or homemade tomato sauce, makes a world of difference in flavor. The flavored sauce adds more depth to the soup than canned diced tomatoes and I prefer the texture of the sauce over the chunks of diced tomatoes–as do my picky kids!
4. Red Wine Vinegar
A trick I learned years ago, is to finish soup with acid of some sort. I use lemon juice for Chicken Noodle Soup and balsamic vinegar for Lentil Soup. But for this Minestrone, red wine vinegar is best. The splash of vinegar brightens and heightens all the flavors in this soup and makes it truly memorable. Trust me, you don’t want to skip this step!
How to Make Minestrone in the Instant Pot
Making Minestrone Soup in the Instant Pot is an incredibly easy and fast process.
The first step is to saute the carrots, celery, onions, garlic, and oregano using the saute function on your pressure cooker. If your family does not like celery or garlic, just omit from the soup. Personally, I find that this soup benefits greatly from this combination of vegetables, but it is best to adjust the recipe to suit your preferences.
Once the vegetables are sauteed, add in the wine, stock, zucchini, beans and noodles. I use kidney beans and Great Northern beans, but you can use all kidney beans, all white beans, or even garbanzo beans/chickpeas work great in Minestrone. For the noodles, elbow noodles are traditional, but orecchiette or small shells are a great substitute. Whole wheat or regular noodles work perfectly. For gluten free noodles, I recommend Barilla Gluten Free–those are the only noodles that cook up well in soup without releasing too much starch.
It only takes one minute to cook minestrone! This is much less time than I typically suggest for cooking pasta in the Instant Pot, but for this recipe, we need to let pressure release for 10 minutes. In that time, the noodles will cook up to al dente perfection and the soup will develop incredible flavor. I seriously can not get over how fast making Minestrone Soup is in the Instant Pot!
Once pressure has release for 10 minutes, do a quick release of any remaining pressure. Because our instant pot is full of thin liquid, be extra cautious when doing a quick release. Knock the vent knob from sealing to venting using the handle of a wooden spoon and stand away from the vent knob in case any liquid escapes from the knob. Remember to never release pressure directly under kitchen cabinets either. It is best to always use your pressure cooker in an open space.
Once pressure is released, open the pressure cooker and stir in spinach and red wine vinegar. Place the lid on the pressure cooker and let sit for a couple minutes, or until the spinach is wilted.
Then dish up this hearty, healthy soup! I love to serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and homemade Italian bread.
More Plant Based Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Lentil Soup
- Instant Pot Coconut Milk Yogurt
- Instant Pot Rice and Beans
- Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash
- Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili
Instant Pot Minestrone
Ingredients
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 onion minced
- 2 large carrots peeled and diced
- 2 stalks of celery diced
- 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 4 cups low sodium vegetable stock
- 1 cup marinara sauce
- 1 zucchini diced into 1/2 inch moons
- 1/2 cup dry elbow macaroni
- 2 cups cooked kidney beans or 15 ounce can, rinsed and drained
- 2 cups cooked white beans or 15 ounce can, rinsed and drained
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute and let warm up for a couple minutes. Add in the olive oil, onions, carrots, and celery to the Instant pot. Let saute for 2-3 minutes, or until the onions begin to soften.
- Add in the garlic and oregano. Saute that for 1 minute.
- Add in dry red wine and let cook off for 1-2 minutes. Turn Instant Pot off.
- Add in vegetable stock, marinara, zucchini ,beans, elbow noodles, bay leaf, salt and stir well.
- Place lid on Instant Pot and set cook time for 1 minute. Hit Manual and adjust time to read 1 minute.
- Once cook time has released, let pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. Then do a quick pressure release. Use a wooden spoon to hit vent knob from sealing to venting. (Be sure to stand away from vent knob to protect yourself.)
- Stir in the spinach and red wine vinegar. Place lid back on pressure cooker and let spinach wilt for just a couple minutes.
Notes
- The dry red wine is optional, but adds incredible flavor. Use a dry wine such as merlot or cabernet and be sure it is suitable to drinking. Don't use a wine labeled cooking wine, as the flavor is not very good!
- Don't overlook the step of toasting the oregano--it adds so much depth of flavor.
- Feel free to use chopped, stemmed kale in place of the spinach.
- This soup can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days and frozen for up 3 months.
Kristen Chidsey
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