Instant Pot Tomato Soup - Instant Pot Mini Recipes (2024)

Published: Jan 28, 2021 by Christina Lane · This post may contain affiliate links · 17 Comments

Instant pot tomato soup is my cozy comforting lunch nearly any day of the week. With just 5 minutes of cook time and 10 minutes of prep work, it's such an easy meal! Plus, my tomato soup has a twist you won't see anywhere else (also: no sugar added!).

Instant pot mini tomato soup

I came to tomato soup later in life, mainly because my childhood was consumed by chicken noodle, but once I had a smooth, creamy bowl of tangy tomato soup, I was hooked. I had it at a small chain French restaurant called La Madeleine, and it was well known for containing so much cream that any antioxidants provided by the tomatoes were surely cancelled out by the cream, heh.

One of the best parts of being an adult is taking your childhood favorites and making them again, but making them easier and faster, of course. My instant pot chicken noodle soup is a near identical dupe for my Mom's version, and this creamy instant pot soup is the latest and greatest dupe to come out of my kitchen. If you grew up on taco soup, I know you'll like my instant pot taco soup, too!

It's easy to make, but it does have a twist: I add a small splash of vinegar to amplify the acidity of the tomatoes. So often, sugar is added to tomato soup, which is so strange to me because it makes it taste like pasta sauce. True tomato soup should be punchy, tangy, and bursting with fresh tomato flavor (even though we're using canned tomatoes).

Instant Pot tomato soup ingredients:

• butter: Unsalted butter is the best base for soup, trust me.
• onion: ½ of a medium onion, finely diced
• garlic: 2 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
• tomato paste: 2 tablespoons of tomato paste adds incredible depth of flavor
• crushed tomatoes:I like the big 28-ounce cans of crushed San Marzano tomatoes from Italy because they're slightly more tart than sweet.
• vegetable broth: 1 cup of vegetable broth to thin things out.
• dried basil: I make this soup year round, so there's no way I would call for fresh basil. You can garnish with fresh basil in the summer, though!
• dried oregano: Oregano is citrusy and peppery at the same time; it's great here
• salt and pepper: Of course. Add more to taste, if you like.
• apple cider vinegar: I add 2 teaspoons of vinegar to this soup to increase the acidity and bring out the flavors of the tomatoes. I like a tangy tomato soup, not a sweet one!
• heavy cream: We'll add ½ cup of heavy cream after the soup is done cooking, not before.

How to make tomato soup in the pressure cooker:

1. Press SAUTE on the instant pot (I'm using the instant pot mini 3-quart model, but you can double the recipe and make it in your regular 6 quart model).
   
2. Add the butter and diced onions, and cook for about 5-6 minutes, stirring often to prevent any burning of the onions. When the onions are translucent, stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
   
3. Add the tomato paste, stir, and cook it with the onions and garlic for about 2 minutes. This helps break up the tomato paste and release all of the flavors.
   
4. Next, add the vegetable broth, crushed tomatoes, and dried basil, dried oregano and apple cider vinegar. Press OFF to end Saute mode on the instant pot. Place the lid on the instant pot, and turn the valve to SEAL. Press PRESSURE COOK and toggle to high pressure. Use the arrows to toggle to 5 minutes. The instant pot will beep to acknowledge your selection, and then slowly begin to build pressure. The 5 minute timer doesn’t start until pressure it reached.
   
5. When the timer goes off, use a long-handled wooden spoon to carefully open the sealing valve—BE CAREFUL the steam is very hot. This is a forced pressure release.When the pressure valve drops to indicate it’s safe to open the pot, remove the lid and give the soup a stir. Add the heavy cream, and stir again. Ladle into two big bowls, and enjoy!

If you want to bulk up this recipe, you can stir in 2 cups of cheese tortellini after the lid comes off, but before the cream goes in. Hit SAUTE on the instant pot and cook for 4-5 minutes, or until the tortellini are soft and cooked throughout. Use any leftover tortellini for my pesto tortellini pasta salad the next day!

Personally, I like to keep this classic, and so Iserve this tomato soup with grilled cheese, especially my grilled pimento cheese with fried pickles. If you've never had pimento cheese grilled between two slices of bread, you're about to be in heaven.