Instant Pot Tomato Basil Soup

This instant pot tomato basil soup is one of those recipes I come back to over and over again. It’s rich, creamy, and tastes like it simmered on the stove for hours.

But it didn’t. The Instant Pot does all the heavy lifting, and the whole thing comes together in about 30 minutes from start to finish.

The flavor comes from a combination of whole peeled tomatoes, fresh basil, and just a touch of cream to make it smooth and velvety.

It’s the kind of soup that pairs perfectly with a grilled cheese sandwich. Simple, comforting, and exactly what you want on a cold day.

If you’ve been looking for a solid tomato soup recipe that’s easy and actually delicious, this is the one.

What Makes This Recipe So Good

Ready in Under 30 Minutes – Between the quick saute, just 10 minutes of pressure cooking, and a short natural release, you go from raw onions to a completely silky, restaurant-quality soup faster than most delivery orders arrive.

Pantry Staples Do the Heavy Lifting – The base of this soup is built on canned tomatoes, broth, and tomato paste, which means you can make it on a random weeknight without needing to plan ahead or run to the store for specialty ingredients.

Deep, Layered Tomato Flavor – Using whole peeled tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste together gives you three levels of tomato richness that you just can’t get from using only one type, and the pressure cooker concentrates all of that into something that tastes like it simmered for hours.

Ingredients

• 28 oz Canned Whole Peeled Tomatoes
• 14 oz Canned Diced Tomatoes
• 1 cup Vegetable Broth
• 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
• 1 medium Yellow Onion, diced
• 4 cloves Garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp Tomato Paste
• 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1/2 cup Fresh Basil Leaves, packed
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
• Grilled Cheese, for serving (optional)

Directions

Step 1

Set the Instant Pot to saute mode and add the olive oil and butter. Once the butter melts, add the diced onion and cook for 4 to 5 minutes until soft and translucent.

Step 2

Add the garlic and tomato paste. Stir for 1 minute until the paste darkens slightly and becomes fragrant. Pour in the vegetable broth and stir, scraping up any bits from the bottom.

Step 3

Add the whole peeled tomatoes with their juices, diced tomatoes with their juices, sugar, salt, and black pepper. Stir to combine. Press cancel.

Step 4

Lock the lid, set the valve to sealing, and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. When the cook time is done, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then carefully turn the valve to venting.

Step 5

Add the fresh basil leaves to the pot. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup directly in the pot until completely smooth and silky. Alternatively, carefully transfer the soup in batches to a countertop blender and blend until smooth.

Step 6

Stir in the heavy cream until fully incorporated. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Ladle into bowls and garnish with extra basil leaves. Serve with grilled cheese on the side.

Pro Tips

Deglaze the Pot Thoroughly

After you cook the tomato paste and garlic, the bottom of the pot will have a sticky brown layer. When you pour in the vegetable broth, use a wooden spoon to scrape every bit of that off the bottom.

If you skip this step, you’ll likely get the dreaded “burn” notice on your Instant Pot during pressure cooking. That warning means the bottom is scorching and the pot won’t build pressure properly.

Take an extra 30 seconds to really make sure the bottom is completely clean before you add the tomatoes. Run your spoon across the entire surface to check.

Crush the Whole Tomatoes Before Cooking

Before you dump the whole peeled tomatoes into the pot, crush them by hand right in the can or in a bowl. Just squeeze each one until it breaks apart into rough chunks.

This makes the blending step at the end way easier and faster. If you leave them whole, your immersion blender has to work a lot harder to break them down, and you might end up with little chunks hiding in the soup.

Add the Basil After Pressure Cooking

The recipe already tells you to add basil after cooking, and there’s a good reason for that. If you throw the basil in before pressure cooking, the heat destroys the flavor and turns it bitter and dull.

Adding it right before you blend means the residual heat is just enough to soften the leaves and release that fresh basil flavor without cooking it to death. You’ll notice a huge difference in taste.

Related Recipes

• Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup
• Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
• Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Instant Pot Chili
• Instant Pot White Chicken Chili

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use canned crushed tomatoes instead of whole peeled and diced?

You can, but whole peeled tomatoes tend to have a sweeter, more robust flavor because they go through less processing. They also blend up really nicely and give you more control over the final texture.

If crushed tomatoes are all you have on hand, go ahead and use them – just use about 42 oz total to match the volume. You might need a tiny bit less blending time since they’re already broken down.