A dump-and-start recipe for Instant Pot Minestrone Soup with quinoa! This tasty and hearty Italian soup is a delicious blend of vegetables, herbs and fiber-rich beans simmered in a tomatoey broth. I add quinoa instead of pasta, to boost the protein and make it gluten-free.
Easy Recipe for a Hearty & Healthy Vegetarian Soup
Minestrone Soup is an Italian vegetable soup, traditionally made with root vegetables, like onions, celery, carrots, and vegetable stock, dried herbs, beans and tomatoes. It is mostly vegetarian and often includes a grain like rice or pasta.
This version of Instant Pot Minestrone Soup is one of easiest, tastiest and healthiest soups that you can make in a flash. It's a great one-pot comfort meal for my family that is made gluten-free and healthier by adding quinoa instead of pasta!
If you enjoy Minestrone soup, you will likely also enjoy this Pasta Fagioli soup.
30-Minute Dump-and-Start recipe
Instant Pot Minestrone Soup is part of my 'dump-and-start' instant pot pressure cooker meal series. This recipe is on rotation in my house for weeknight meals.
All you have to do is add all ingredients to the Instant Pot or any electric pressure cooker. Close the lid and set a cook time.
The pressure cooker does its magic, and in under 30 minutes you get a meal that tastes like its been simmering low and slow for hours.
Check out more 30-minute Instant Pot Soup Recipes
Step by Step Instructions for Instant Pot
Step 1: Add olive oil and chopped carrots in the cooking pot.
Step 2: Add chopped celery. Rinse and drain canned Northern beans and add them to the pot.
Step 3: Add vegetable broth to the pot. Alternatively, add water. Add salt, Italian seasoning, black pepper, garlic powder and paprika to the pot.
Step 4: Add chili garlic paste. Adjust the quantity based on personal preference. Add three tablespoons of tomato paste. You can also add canned diced tomatoes instead of tomato paste (about 1 cup).
Step 5: Rinse quinoa in a sieve under running water, shake off the water and add it to the pot.
Why rinse Quinoa before cooking?
Quinoa is coated with a natural compound called saponin, which may cause a slight bitter taste after cooking. Rinsing it with water before cooking gets rid of that coating. That being said, if you've been enjoying the taste of quinoa without rinsing, you can skip it.
Step 6: Close the lid. Set vent to Sealing mode (DUO models). Cook on Manual (high) for 3-4 minutes, depending on how you like your vegetables (I cook for 3 minutes).
Wait for 5 minutes and release the pressure manually. To do this, turn vent to 'Venting' position in DUO models, or push down the pressure valve in ULTRA. Open the lid after the pin drops.
Step 7: Stir in chopped spinach. The heat from the soup will wilt the spinach and bring everything together. Garnish with freshly grated parmesan cheese and enjoy!
Customize This Minestrone Soup Recipe
- Veggies: You can easily customize this soup to your taste- I keep switching the veggies in this soup. Sometimes, I add chopped squash or pumpkin to this, and it tastes amazing.
- Beans: I prefer to use canned beans in Minestrone Soup, simply out of convenience. The time it takes for dry beans to cook is too long for the vegetables, so, if using dry beans, one has to make this a two-step cooking process- cook the beans first and then add the remaining ingredients.
- I personally like using organic Northern beans here, but you can use the beans of your choice, Kidney, Pinto or Cannellini Beans.
- Broth: I make this soup with low-sodium vegetable broth, but you can use regular broth or even chicken/Beef broth. You can add diced tomatoes to this soup. We prefer a slightly less tomatoey flavor, so adding tomato paste just works out great for us.
- Greens: You can use any dark leafy baby-greens instead of baby spinach in this recipe. Chopped baby kale would be a great addition here too. If using regular spinach or kale, add it along with other veggies.
Gluten-Free Minestrone Soup
Typically, this soup calls for a small pasta like small shells, ditalini or elbow macaroni. I substitute pasta with Quinoa. My family likes the taste of quinoa, it's gluten-free, plus it bumps up the fiber and protein in the soup.
Alternatively, you can even add Amaranth or wild rice instead.
Optional Variation
Sometimes, I like to add an extra, totally optional, ingredient in this soup towards the end.
I add chopped, pre-cooked, chicken and jalapeño sausage from Trader Joe's. The sausage is fully cooked, so it just needs to hang out in the soup for a few minutes and it absorbs the flavors of the soup and becomes really soft.
My family loves the combination of this spicy sausage with Minestrone soup, but you can skip it and make it totally vegetarian.
Stove-top Recipe for Minestrone Soup
You can cook this soup on the stove-top too.
Add all the ingredients in a soup pot, stir well, and cook covered on medium-high heat for 20-25 minutes, or till quinoa grains have sprouted.
Follow the remaining instructions for garnish and enjoy!
Stove-top Pressure cooker (Hawkins/Prestige):
Follow all instructions and cook for 2 whistles in the pressure cooker. Wait 5 minutes and manually release pressure by carefully lifting the pressure weight.
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📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Minestrone Soup with Quinoa (Gluten-Free)
Equipment
Ingredients
Pressure Cook the Following:
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 can Northern Beans or your favorite beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup chopped celery about 2 ribs
- 1 cup chopped carrots about 2 medium carrots
- 32 oz. low-sodium vegetable broth I use Trader Joe's brand
- 2-3 cloves garlic chopped, OR, ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- 2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning blend I use 21 Seasoning Salute from Trader Joe's
- 1-2 tablespoons Chili Garlic Paste or Sriracha (to taste)
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste or, ½ can diced tomatoes
- ¼ cup quinoa
Add after opening lid:
- 2 cups baby spinach chopped
- 2 tablespoon Grated parmesan cheese for garnish
Optional Add-on:
- 2 links pre-cooked chicken sausage chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Prep: Chop vegetables of your choice (I used carrots, celery, spinach). If using fresh garlic, finely chop garlic cloves. Rinse and drain canned beans.
- In the inner pot, add olive oil, garlic, chopped vegetables, beans, vegetable stock, spices, chili-garlic sauce, tomato paste (or diced tomatoes), quinoa (or elbow macaroni), and stir well.
- Close lid. Set vent to Sealing mode. Cook on Manual (high) for 3-4 minutes, depending on how you like your vegetables (I cook for 3 minutes).
- Wait for 5 minutes and release the pressure manually, and open the lid (which means QR after 5mins). . Stir in chopped spinach and sausage (if using). The heat from the soup will be enough to wilt the spinach and bring everything together. Garnish with freshly grated parmesan cheese and enjoy!
Kay Jean says
Loved the soup and appreciated the nutritional information. I may have overlooked the info but what quantity does this recipe make? Also what was the serving size for the calories posted?
Thank you ~
Aneesha says
Hi Kay, I'm so glad you enjoyed it. This recipe makes 4 servings and each has about 170 calories.
Collette says
This soup is DELICIOUS!! My family loves it and it is very healthy, we use quinoa instead of pasta to keep it gluten-free! We are a big family so we double it, but not much left after everyone has seconds, some of our kids thirds! So easy to throw together too!! Thank you for sharing!
Aneesha says
Hi Collette, thank you, I'm so glad your family enjoyed this soup, it's on rotation in my home 🙂
Julie says
Hi Aneesha,
It looks delicious! Please advise if I could put onion in, and would I need to fry them first? Can`t wait to try it. Thank you
Aneesha says
Hi Julie, you can certainly add onions in this soup. Saute them for about 30 seconds in oil and then add the remaining ingredients, it takes the raw edge off of the onion. Enjoy! I'd love to hear how you liked it!
Lynne says
Absolutely amazing recipe. Modified slightly with 1-8 cup quinoa and 1/4 macaroni cos trying to keep the males in the home healthy. Easy simple and very flavoursome. Def hit in our household. Thank you.
Aneesha says
Hi Lynne, I'm so glad your family enjoyed this soup! Thank you!
Terrie says
My husband loves the Olive Garden Minestrone soup so I decided to try this. I didn't use the sausage and I used oregano, basil and a little thyme instead of the Italian seasoning since mine contained rosemary and we don't care for that flavor. I also used macaroni. It was great. We both loved it. Next time I will cut back a little on the sriracha. It was a tad too much for me but fine with my husband. He can always add a little more later. I will also be making this for my soup lunch at Friendship International at my church. Many of the international attendees can't eat different meats so I will keep it vegetarian. So glad I found this recipe.
Aneesha says
Hi Terrie, I'm so glad you enjoyed this recipe. I'm making it for dinner tonight 🙂 I hope your friends at church enjoy it too. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience and rate this recipe ????.
MG says
Hello again. We loved another of your soups, so you suggested we try this one and we made it last night. It was delicious too! So everyone would eat it, we pretty much cut the spices in half, but it was still sooo flavorful and a bit spicy. Also added meatless sausage for the vegetarian. Thanks for another great dinner!
Aneesha says
Hi MG, I am so glad you enjoyed this soup too. Spices are such a personal preference, but I'm glad you were able to customize it. I suggest skipping the chili paste next time and it'll be perfect for you. Thanks for stopping by and letting me know. It always makes my day!
Collette says
Hi, this recipe looks wonderful!! I was just curious if I could double everything? Would it still fit in the
InstaPot and cook correctly? We are a family of eight, so I need more servings for this recipe. Thank you!
Aneesha | Spice Cravings says
Hi Collette, thank you, it is one of our family favorites! This recipe can be doubled and will fit in a 6qt and 8qt just fine. Few things to keep in mind, that the pot will take longer to come to pressure since we're doubling the liquid. Also, since the pot will be quite full, I would recommend to wait for a natural pressure release for 10-15 mins. That will prevent the hot soup from squirting out of the pressure valve. Hope your family loves it! Please give it a star rating when you get a chance! Thanks!
Donna says
My family loves, loves, loves this soup. We omit the salt as this soup has so much flavor it's not necessary to add it and helps keep our sodium intake down. Your website is wonderful and packed full of great recipes.
aneeshasg says
Hi Donna, what a wonderful comment to wake up to- thank you for trying my recipes and appreciating them. I am so glad you enjoy this soup- it's a favorite in our home too 🙂 I am currently working on some more dump-and-start soups- so stay tuned for more 🙂