Skip to Content

Instant Pot Vegetable Soup with Pesto

Hearty Instant Pot Vegetable Soup made with pesto, white beans, and delicious spring vegetables.

This veggie-filled soup is ready in less than 30 minutes and is made with a vegetable broth base and lightly seasoned with salt and pepper.

I tried this garden vegetable soup at a local restaurant and fell in love. I made this homemade version of the vegetable soup with pesto in my Instant Pot within a week of trying it at the restaurant - it's that good!

Two bowls of garden vegetable soup with pesto on black charger plates.

Ingredients in Instant Pot Vegetable Soup

This soup is full of delicious spring vegetables and a tablespoon or two of pesto is stirred into it right before serving. For the directions and ingredient amounts refer to the recipe card at the bottom of the post!

  • Canned white beans - I use small white beans but you can use Great Northern or Cannellini beans
  • Carrots
  • Red Bell Pepper
  • Onion
  • Yellow squash
  • Zucchini
  • Celery
  • Tomato
  • Tomato Paste
  • Vegetable broth - I use fat-free low sodium
  • Pesto
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Bay leaf - for seasoning
  • Grated parmesan - for garnish
  • Olive oil - to saute the vegetables before pressure cooking

RELATED: Instant Pot Cheeseburger Soup

A bowl of Instant Pot Vegetable Soup topped with pesto and Parmesan.

How to Make Instant Pot Vegetable Soup

It is incredibly easy to make Instant Pot soups and the first step is to prepare the ingredients as the process is rather fast when pressure cooking.

Prep the vegetables: Wash and dice the onion, carrots, red bell pepper, yellow squash, zucchini, and celery. Chop the tomato and set it aside.

Saute the vegetables: Saute the vegetables by adding 1 tablespoon of oil into the Instant Pot and setting it to SAUTE. Add the onions, carrots, red pepper, squash, zucchini, and celery. Saute until the onions are translucent and fragrant.

Press cancel on the pressure cooker. Drain and rinse the white beans.

Add ingredients to the pressure cooker: Add the prepared white beans to the pot and add the tomato paste, salt and pepper. Pour in the vegetable broth and top it off with the bay leaf.

Pressure cook the vegetable soup: Close the lid and pressure cook the soup for 10 minutes on HIGH PRESSURE/MANUAL. Once the timer is up, carefully perform a quick controlled release to release pressure.

Please refer to your pressure cooker's manual for how to safely release pressure.

Serve the Instant Pot Vegetable Soup with Pesto: Serve the soup with a tablespoon or two of pesto and garnish with parmesan.

RELATED: Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup

Bowl of pressure cooked vegetable soup with a spoonful of pesto and garnished with parmesan.

Can you Freeze Vegetable Soup?

Yes, you can! Freeze the soup the same day you make it for maximum freshness. Make sure to use freezer-safe containers or bags when storing the vegetable soup. This soup is great to freeze because there are no starchy vegetables or pasta so you won't have to worry about your soup turning to mush.

Skip the pesto when freezing this soup and add it upon serving.

How do you reheat vegetable soup? You can reheat this soup in the microwave or on the stove. When reheating the stoup in the microwave, transfer the frozen soup to a microwave-safe container and heat for 30 seconds at a time. Stir the soup and heat again in 30-second increments.

When reheating on the stove, transfer the frozen soup to a soup pot. Add a little bit of water to the pot so that the bottom of the pot doesn't burn. Heat over medium-high heat and stir until heated through. When serving, add pesto and garnish with parmesan.

How long does frozen soup last? Soup can be frozen for up to three months in the freezer. Of course, this depends on whether proper storage containers have been used.

If you are unsure where your frozen soup is still good or not, heat the soup and give it a smell. If it is foul-smelling or the the soup is discolored, toss it. When in doubt, toss it out!

📖 Recipe

Yield: 6 servings

Instant Pot Vegetable Soup with Pesto

A bowl of Instant Pot Vegetable Soup topped with pesto and Parmesan.

Hearty Instant Pot Vegetable Soup made with pesto, white beans, and delicious vegetables.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 cup carrots, diced
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 small yellow squash, diced
  • 1 small zucchini, diced
  • 1 cup celery, chopped
  • 1 tomato, diced
  • 15 oz white beans, drained and rinsed
  • 3 cups vegetable broth, fat free
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 bay leaf 
  • ¾ cup pesto
  • Parmesan, for garnish

Instructions

  1. Set the Instant Pot to sauté and add one tablespoon of olive oil.
  2. Add the diced onion, celery, and carrots.
  3. Add the diced red pepper, yellow squash, and zucchini.
  4. Press Cancel.
  5. Add the tomato paste, diced tomato, and the rinsed small white beans.
  6. Pour the vegetable broth into the pot and top with the bay leaf.
  7. Close the lid and set the timer to 10 minutes on HIGH PRESSURE/MANUAL.
  8. Once the time is up, perform a controlled quick release.*
  9. Remove the lid, discard the bay leaf, and serve.
  10. Serve with 1-2 tablespoon of pesto per bowl and garnish with Parmesan.

Notes

*Refer to your pressure cooker’s manual for how to safely perform it’s features. A quick controlled release is manually and slowly releasing pressure. Keep away from face and watch hands to prevent burning.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 233Total Fat: 16.5gSaturated Fat: 3.5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 11mgSodium: 537mgCarbohydrates: 15.7gFiber: 4.2gSugar: 6.5gProtein: 7.1g

Nutrition calculation is a rough estimate and can vary depending on the cooking technique and the exact ingredients used. For informational purposes only.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Facebook

Skip to Recipe