Red Lentil Soup in the Instant Pot

My daughter-in-law told me about this soup …she found the recipe, made it & really liked it! I tasted the one she made & knew I had to make it myself. She made it in the Instant Pot… a great idea!

The recipe is from  A CEDAR spoon, acedarsppon.com…MOROCCAN RED LENTIL SOUP

I made this soup in the Instant Pot, but the original recipe is to make it on the stove top, so if you want to make it in a pot on the stove, click on the link above for the recipe & directions from A CEDAR spoon

I made this soup the way my daughter-in-law did, replacing the can of crushed tomatoes with a can of fire-roasted tomatoes… & using vegetable bouillon cubes instead of broth. I found it needed a bit more salt, so salt to taste…& I used vegetable oil to sauté the vegetables instead of olive oil.

After the soup was cook I briefly pureed it but you can leave it as if you want a chunkier soup, the red lentils were pretty much mushy when this soup was done, but I didn’t want chunky vegetables in it, so I pureed it. 

The soup turned out really delicious! This soup is vegan if made as I did with vegetable bouillon cubes…

Here is the recipe, adapted slightly from the original, link to the original recipe is above! 

Ingredients

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 large onion

1 stalk of celery

1 carrot

2 cloves of garlic

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

pepper, just a dash or more if desired

1  can of fire-roasted tomatoes

8 cups of water or alternately you can use vegetable broth

4 vegetable bouillon cubes, if using water 

2 cups red lentils, prepare the lentils if need be… check the package, you can rinse them until the water is clear & go through them… I wasted them & they stuck together!!

These ingredients are added after the soup is finished cooking

1 lemon , juice this lemon

red pepper flakes, just a [inch or more if you want your soup spicy

2 tsp dried parsley

optional ingredients that I did not use could be… spinach … fresh or frozen to add to the soup when you add the lemon… & cilantro to garnish

Method …Using the Instant Pot…make sure you read the manufactures instructions on how to use the Instant Pot  If you want to make this soup in a pot, you make it the same way, just cook it on the stove until done, about 25 minutes or so….

1. Prepare your vegetables… chop the onion, celery, carrot… Mince the garlic, though I just minced it right into the pot
2. Get your Instant Pot ready, remove the lid & turn it on to saute
3. Put the 2 tbsp vegetable oil into the Instant Pot
4. When the oil is hot, …add the chopped onion, celery & carrot. Saute these vegetable until they soften, stirring often so they do not stick to the bottom of the pot or burn, cook for about 4-5 minutes… I did not time it…oops!
5. Add the garlic, if you have not already minced the garlic, mince it right into the vegetables
6. Add the spices, the coriander, cumin, turmeric, paprika, cinnamon, salt & pepper
7. Stir the spices into the vegetables, making sure it is well mixed, cook for a couple minutes
8. Now, add the fire-roasted tomatoes
9. Add the water & bouillon cubes or vegetable broth
10. Next, add the lentils
11. Give everything a good stir
12. Put the lid of the Instant Pot on according to instructions, make sure it is locked in place and that the valve is put to SEALING NOT VENTING
13. Cook the soup 15 minutes, high pressure… I let this release pressure naturally & the lentils were pretty much mushy…. so if you want your soup to be a bit more chunky, you can do a Quick Release, but be careful when you do this…wear an oven glove & keep you face & hands away from the steam!!
14. When the pressure has been released… you know because the valve button is down… then you can safely remove the lid
15. Using a hand blender, puree the soup briefly … puree it to how you & your family like your soup!!!
16. Add the juice of the 1 lemon, red pepper flakes & the parsley, stir
17. Put the Instant Pot on to saute & cook the soup for another 5 minutes or so…. but stir this often as it started to stick to the bottom of the pot!!!

You can garnish this soup with more dried parsley as I did, or chopped cilantro leaves… you can add spinach to the soup when you add the lemon, it cooks fast…even some frozen spinach if you do not have fresh…I did not add any spinach but I think it would be great to do so!

Enjoy!!!