Lentil & Yam Soup in an Instant Pot

The Instant Pot positively shines when making soups and stews. Of course, it’s much more versatile than that, but it makes it so easy to make quick, tasty, nutritious soups and stews.

No More “Rescued” Soups

Before getting our first Instant Pot (yes, we have more than one), any of my attempts at making soups had to be “rescued” by Geoff, who has always made great soups.

Once I began using the Instant Pot, we found that “rescuing” my soups was no longer necessary.

There were a few false starts, of course, until I learned to be a little more generous with spices and to get the right timing, etc.

However, now I approach a new recipe with anticipation and confidence.

Lentil & Yam Soup

Lentil & Yam soup is one that we make often, in both our 6-quart and 8-quart Instant Pots.

So, at the end of this post, I’ll give the Total Instant Pot time for both sizes.

But, let’s get started on this one.

Gather the Ingredients

As with all of our recipes, let’s start by getting all the ingredients together.

There is a complete, printable recipe below, so I’m not going list all of the ingredients here.

It’s always a good idea to check the recipe and prepare all of the ingredients so we don’t forget anything.

Trust me, I’ve learned this from experience. It’s just so easy to miss something if you don’t lay it all out before you get started.

When I’ve been disappointed at the outcome of a recipe, going back and checking it over often shows me that I missed one or more critical ingredients.

It’s taken me a while to learn my lesson, but I have.

Add the Ingredients to the Inner Liner

Another lesson I’ve learned is to remove the inner liner from the Instant Pot base before adding all the ingredients.

This solves a couple of problems:

• accidentally getting ingredients in the lid channel of the Instant Pot base
• accidentally adding ingredients to the Instant Pot base when the liner is not in place (this can get REALLY messy!)

So, now we’re going to add all of the ingredients, with the exception of the baby spinach, into the inner liner.

Give the ingredients a good stir and then return the inner Liner to the Instant Pot base.

Set the Mode and Cooking Time

With liner back in place, close and lock the lid, ensuring that the Pressure Valve is in the sealing position.

Select the Soup/Broth button and set the cooking time for 12 minutes.

Multitasking

I was particularly ambitious the day I made this soup and had both the 6-quart and 8-quart on the go.

The 6-quart was busy making Mung Bean Soup. That recipe is also available on this site.

10-minute Natural Pressure Release (NPR)

Once the cooking time is complete, allow a 10-minute NPR.

All this means is letting the Instant Pot sit for 10 minutes to allow the soup to “settle down” a bit before releasing the rest of the pressure.

Carefully Release the Rest of the Pressure

After the 10-minute NPR, carefully release the rest of the pressure by turning the Pressure Valve from Sealing to Venting.

You do need to be careful as a lot of hot steam is going to come out of the Pressure Valve.

I also like to make sure the Instant Pot is turned so that the steam will release into the room and not under the cabinets.

Time to Add the Spinach

When all of the pressure has been released, and the float valve has dropped, carefully remove the lid.

Then, transfer the inner liner to heatproof surface. I like to use oven mitts and also make sure that I don’t have to move the liner very far from the base.

Be sure to be take great care moving it as the liner is very hot.

Add the baby spinach and give the soup a good stir.

The spinach will wilt pretty quickly in the hot soup.

Serve, Refrigerate or Freeze

The soup is now ready.

You can serve immediately. Or, refrigerate or freezer for later use.

Total Instant Pot Time

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve made this recipe in both a 6-quart and an 8-quart Instant Pot.

Here’s the timing for each:

Total Instant Pot Time in an 8-quart

• Time to come to pressure: approx. 30 minutes
• Cooking time: 12 minutes
• NPR: 10 minutes
• QR (Quick Release) to release the rest of the pressure: approx. 3 minutes
• Total Instant Pot time in an 8-quart: approx. 55 minutes

Total Instant Pot time in a 6-quart

• Time to come to pressure: approx. 25 minutes (note: when we used the 6-quart, we used semi-frozen vegetable broth, so your time may vary)
• Cooking time: 12 minutes
• NPR: 10 minutes
• QR (Quick Release) to release the rest of the pressure: approx. 3 minutes
• Total Instant Pot time in a 6-quart: approx. 50 minutes

The complete, printable recipe is below: