Name: Instant Pot Carrot Lentil Ginger Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons coconut oil (or olive oil); ½ small yellow onion, diced; 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed; 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated; 3-4 carrots, diced; 1 teaspoon ground cumin; ½ teaspoon ground turmeric; ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg; ½ teaspoon ground sweet paprika; ½ teaspoon salt; 1 cup red lentils, rinsed and drained; 3 cups vegetable broth

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This vegan instant pot carrot lentil ginger soup is easy to make and packed with flavor. It’s also protein-packed, with the addition of lentils, to turn a simple carrot soup into a hearty meal.

Vegan | Instant Pot Recipe

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Why Make A Carrot And Lentil Soup

I love creamy carrot soups. Carrot soup is one of the first soups I learned to make. But, with all of my vegetable soups, I love adding either beans or lentils to the soup. This makes the soup packed with protein and makes the soup more filling. It turns a simple soup into a hearty and filling meal.

Why Use Red Lentils In A Creamy Soup

They are a ton of different types of lentils to use when cooking. Green and brown lentils tend to hold their shape better, even after cooking for a lengthy period of time. Red lentils, though, cook quicker and tend to soften a lot quicker. They are perfect for adding into vegetable soups because, in the end, you can’t see the lentils. This means it’s a great way to sneak the protein into a soup without anyone knowing.

The red lentils should be rinsed in cold water and drained, but they don’t need to be soaked. This is particularly true when cooking them in an Instant Pot.

Check out some of our other red lentil recipes:

Zucchini And Lentil Fritters

Vegan Instant Pot Red Lentil Soup Recipe

Moroccan Red Lentil Soup

Ingredients For Carrot And Ginger Lentil Soup

I start many of my Indian recipes with coconut oil rather than olive oil or canola oil. I find it adds a creaminess to every dish right from the start. But, if you don’t have coconut oil for this recipe, olive oil works perfectly well.

The base of the dish includes diced yellow onion, garlic, and grated ginger. Lots of it. The more the merrier. I generally grate fresh ginger rather than dicing it because it tends to blend better into the final soup.

The carrot soup is seasoned with ground cumin, turmeric, nutmeg, and sweet paprika. If you are missing any of these ground spices, just skip it. They blend well together, but there is not one spice that is key, other than the fresh ginger.

All of these ingredients, along with the red lentils, are cooked in vegetable broth in an electric pressure cooker.

How To Make Instant Pot Carrot Soup With Lentils

Using the saute function to cook the vegetables

Adding the spices to the carrot soup

Cooking carrots in an electric pressure cooker

All of the vegetables and spices in the Instant Pot

Place the coconut or olive oil, onion, garlic, ginger, and carrot in the electric pressure cooker. Press the saute button. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the vegetables start to sweat. Add the cumin, turmeric, nutmeg, paprika, and salt and coat in the oil and vegetables. By adding the spices to the vegetables and oil, the oil soaks in all of the spices, including the flavors and aromas.

Cooking Red Lentils In The Instant Pot

Add the lentils to the Instant Pot and coat the lentils in the vegetables and seasoning. Allow the lentils to cook and sweat for 1-2 minutes. Turn the Instant Pot off by pressing the Cancel button.

Add a cup of vegetable broth to deglaze the bottom of the pot using a wooden soup to scrape any vegetables or seasoning from the bottom. Add the remaining broth.

Seal the Instant Pot and set to pressure cook for 15 minutes. When the time is up, allow it to naturally release for about 5 minutes. Then, release the rest of the pressure using an oven mitt or kitchen towel.

When the pressure has released, unlock the Instant Pot and open the lid away from the face.

Finishing The Carrot And Lentil Soup

Once the Instant Pot is opened, you can serve the carrot and lentil soup as is. Or, remove the inner pot of the electric pressure cooker using oven mitts and place on the counter (on a heating pad or trivet).

Use an immersion or hand blender to blend the soup until smooth. Be sure to keep the head of the blender below the soup to avoid making a big, soup mess.

If you want to add a bit more creaminess, add a 1/2 cup of coconut milk to the soup before removing it from the Instant Pot.

Yield: 4 Servings