This Instant Pot Minestrone Soup recipe is the best way to pack healthy vegetables into your diet while staying warm and cozy. It's an Italian classic made with flavorful pancetta, hearty pasta, and a delicious tomato-based broth. Have this easy soup recipe on the table in just 25 minutes.
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🌟Why You'll Love this Recipe
- Great for busy weeknights - Most stovetop minestrone soups need to simmer for several minutes. By using the pressure cooker, we're cutting the cook time in half. Realistic for busy weeknights or when you simply need a fast, easy meal at home.
- Meal prep friendly - This soup will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge. Make this soup on Sunday night and enjoy it all week long for a hearty, nourishing lunch.
- Easy to customize - If you're looking for a way to use up leftover vegetables or seasonal vegetables, making homemade minestrone soup is an excellent choice!
🥘Ingredients and Substitutions
- Fresh veggies - I stuck to the classics here and used onion, carrots, celery, zucchini and fresh garlic cloves. Feel free to use what you have. Sweet potatoes, butternut squash, green beans, and bell peppers are great options.
- Pancetta - Adding pancetta to your homemade minestrone soup instantly boosts the flavor and elevates the flavor. If you can't find pancetta, equal-weight of bacon strips will make a good substitute.
- Broth - I used a full sodium vegetable broth but a chicken broth would work well, too! If you are sensitive to sodium, you can use a low-sodium broth as well.
- Small pasta - Any small pasta will work well. I recommend ditalini or orzo pasta, but small elbow pasta or a small shell pasta can be used. Note that ditalini and orzo are smaller in volume and will fit more pasta into a ¾ cup measuring cup. If using a small shell pasta, you may want to use 1 cup of pasta.
- Italian seasoning - In order to keep the seasonings quick and easy, I used a pre-mixed Italian seasoning blend. If you do not have one in your kitchen pantry, make your own homemade Italian seasoning with key ingredients such as dried basil, oregano, rosemary, parsley, and thyme.
See the recipe card below for the remaining ingredients and quantities.
🔪Instructions
- Brown the pancetta. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the inner pot using the sauté function. Once hot, add the pancetta and cook until browned, about 3 minutes. Remove the pancetta from the pot and place it on a paper towel lined plate to absorb the excess grease.
- Cook the vegetables. Drain the grease from the Instant Pot, then add the onion, carrots, celery, zucchini and garlic and cook for 4 minutes, or until softened and fragrant. If it appears to be sticking or burning to the bottom of the pot, add additional oil as necessary.
- Add remaining ingredients except pancetta and spinach. Add in the salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, bay leaf, orzo, diced tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and vegetable broth.
- Pressure cook. Stir well to combine, scraping any bits up from the bottom and pressure cook on manual high pressure for 5 minutes.
- Stir in pancetta and spinach. Once the pressure cooker has finished cooking, quick release the pressure then stir in the pancetta and baby spinach. Allow to sit for a few minutes until the spinach is bright green and lightly wilted.
- Serve. Ladle hot minestrone soup into individual serving bowls and serve immediately with grated parmesan cheese, fresh parsley and a side of crusty bread.
💭Recipe FAQs
Minestrone soup is essentially vegetable soup with the addition of pasta and sometimes canned beans such as cannellini beans, garbanzo beans, black beans or red kidney beans. Many think of it as a heartier vegetable soup that can be served as a complete meal.
I do not recommend freezing minestrone soup. Soups with pasta in general do not freeze well because the cooked pasta will absorb a majority of the liquid and become overly soft and grainy once defrosted.
If you are looking for freezer-friendly soups, you may enjoy my Slow Cooker Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup, Dairy-Free White Chicken Chili, or No Bean Turkey Chili.
Leftover soup will keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator. For best results, allow the minestrone soup to cool completely at room temperature, then store in an airtight container. Leftovers will thicken considerably so add additional vegetable broth as needed when reheating to thin the soup back out to your desired consistency.
This minestrone soup can be made vegetarian if you omit the pancetta, but if you are not vegetarian I highly recommend it as it adds a savory depth of flavor this soup will be missing without!
👩🏻🍳Chef Tips
- Double-check that the lid is set to the sealing position. Most Instant Pot and similar pressure cooker models have a valve on the lid that will release built-up pressure and steam. In order for your electric pressure cooker to come to pressure, it is essential that this valve is set to "sealing" instead of "venting." Always check before the pot builds pressure.
- Don't allow a natural pressure release! Although some pressure cooker recipes are more forgiving than others, this pasta soup will overcook and disintegrate if you allow the pressure to naturally release. Always do a quick pressure release immediately once the timer goes off.
🥗Serving
This delicious soup recipe can be served as a stand-alone meal but is also delicious served with a side of bread, or simple side dishes such as Air Fryer Frozen Green Beans, Roasted Maple Bacon Brussels Sprouts, or Air Fryer Frozen Brussels Sprouts.
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🍳Recipe
Instant Pot Minestrone Soup
Equipment
- Cutting board
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 4 ounce package pancetta
- 1 yellow or white onion, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1 zucchini, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes
- 3-4 cups vegetable broth
- ¾ cup of small pasta, such as orzo or ditalini
- 1 (5 ounce package) spinach
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in the Instant Pot on sauté. Once hot, add the pancetta and cook until browned, about 3 minutes. Remove it from the pot onto a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb the excess grease.
- Drain the grease from the Instant Pot. Next, add the onion, carrots, celery, zucchini and garlic to the pot and cook for about 4 minutes. Add more oil if necessary. Turn off the pot.
- Add in the salt, black pepper, Italian seasoning, bay leaf, orzo, can of diced tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and veggie broth.
- Stir to combine, seal and pressure cook on high for 5 minutes.
- Quick release the pressure, stir in the pancetta and spinach and let it sit for a few minutes until the spinach is wilted.
- Top with grated Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley. Serve with crunchy bread.
Video
Notes
- Double-check that the lid is set to the sealing position. Most Instant Pot and similar pressure cooker models have a valve on the lid that will release built-up pressure and steam. In order for your electric pressure cooker to come to pressure, it is essential that this valve is set to "sealing" instead of "venting." Always check before the pot builds pressure.
- Don't allow a natural pressure release! Although some pressure cooker recipes are more forgiving than others, this pasta soup will overcook and disintegrate if you allow the pressure to naturally release. Always do a quick pressure release immediately once the timer goes off.
- I do not recommend freezing minestrone soup. Soups with pasta in general do not freeze well because the cooked pasta will absorb a majority of the liquid and become overly soft and grainy once defrosted.
- Leftover soup will keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator. For best results, allow the minestrone soup to cool completely at room temperature, then store in an airtight container. Leftovers will thicken considerably so add additional vegetable broth as needed when reheating to thin the soup back out to your desired consistency.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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