Instant Pot Minestrone Soup

If you own an Instant Pot and haven’t made minestrone soup in it yet, you’re missing out. It’s honestly one of the best uses for a pressure cooker.

Everything cooks together in one pot, the flavors blend perfectly, and you get a thick and hearty soup in a fraction of the time it would take on the stove.

This instant pot minestrone soup is packed with vegetables, kidney beans, and small pasta. It’s the kind of meal that fills you up and makes you feel good about what you’re eating.

I love making a big batch of this on busy weekdays. It comes together quickly and the leftovers taste even better the next day.

Plus, it’s really simple to make. No fancy techniques or hard-to-find ingredients needed.

What Makes This Recipe So Good

Ready in Under 30 Minutes – Between the quick sauté, a 4-minute pressure cook, and a natural wilt of the spinach, you go from raw veggies to a rich, deeply flavored soup faster than most pasta dishes come together on the stove.

Packed with Vegetables – With carrots, celery, zucchini, tomatoes, and spinach all in one pot, every single spoonful is loaded with color and nutrition, making it an easy way to get a serious serving of veggies into your day.

Uses Everyday Pantry Staples – Canned tomatoes, canned kidney beans, dried pasta, and basic spices are things most people already have sitting in their kitchen, so you can make this soup on a whim without a grocery run.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Small Pasta (ditalini or elbow)
• 14 oz Canned Diced Tomatoes
• 14 oz Canned Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed
• 4 cups Vegetable Broth
• 1 medium Yellow Onion, diced
• 2 medium Carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 stalks Celery, diced
• 1 medium Zucchini, diced
• 3 cloves Garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
• 2 cups Fresh Baby Spinach
• Grated Parmesan Cheese, for serving

Directions

Step 1

Set the Instant Pot to saute mode and add the olive oil. Once hot, add the diced onion, carrots, and celery. Cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to soften.

Step 2

Add the garlic and italian seasoning. Stir for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the diced zucchini and stir for another minute.

Step 3

Pour in the vegetable broth and diced tomatoes with their juices. Add the kidney beans, pasta, salt, and black pepper. Stir everything together to combine, making sure the pasta is submerged in liquid. Press cancel.

Step 4

Lock the lid, set the valve to sealing, and cook on high pressure for 4 minutes. When the cook time is done, do a quick release by carefully turning the valve to venting.

Step 5

Open the lid and stir in the baby spinach. Let it sit for about 2 minutes until the spinach wilts completely. The soup will thicken as it sits.

Step 6

Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Ladle into bowls and top generously with grated parmesan cheese.

Pro Tips

Use Small Pasta Shapes Only

Stick with small pasta like ditalini, small elbow, or small shells. Bigger pasta shapes don’t cook evenly under pressure and some pieces will be mushy while others are still firm.

Small pasta also absorbs the broth at a more predictable rate, so you won’t end up with a soup that’s way too thick or too thin after cooking.

Make Sure the Pasta Is Fully Submerged

Before you lock the lid, take an extra few seconds to push any pasta pieces down into the liquid with a spoon. Any pasta sitting above the broth line won’t cook properly under pressure.

Don’t stir too aggressively though. You just want everything below the surface. If you stir a lot, the starch from the pasta can settle on the bottom and trigger a burn notice on your Instant Pot.

Add the Spinach After Cooking

The spinach goes in after you open the lid, not before pressure cooking. If you add it before, it will completely disintegrate into the soup and you won’t even know it’s there.

Stirring it into the hot soup and letting it sit for 2 minutes gives you wilted spinach that still has some body to it. It adds a nice color and texture to the final bowl.

Related Recipes

• Instant Pot Beef Stew
• Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup
• Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
• Instant Pot Chili
• Instant Pot White Chicken Chili

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use a different type of pasta for this minestrone?

Yes, you can use pretty much any small pasta shape like shells, orzo, or even broken-up spaghetti. Just stick with small cuts so they cook evenly under pressure in the same amount of time.

Keep in mind that some pasta shapes absorb more liquid than others, so your soup might end up a bit thicker or thinner depending on what you use. If it looks too thick after cooking, just stir in a splash of broth to loosen it up.