Pumpkin Lentil Soup

a healthy, yummy vegan soup chock full of veggies, protein and fiber
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Prep Time 20 mins
Cook Time 40 mins
Pressurizing and De-pressurizing 40 mins
Total Time 1 hr 40 mins
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine American
Servings 10

Equipment

Ingredients
  

  • 1 large onion
  • 2 cups lentils
  • 1 15 oz can 100% pumpkin
  • 2 14.5 oz can unsalted diced tomatoes
  • 3 large carrots
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 large stalk of celery
  • 1 10 oz bag frozen chopped spinach
  • 6 cups filtered water
  • ½ tsp avocado or coconut oil
  • 1 TB Spike Gourmet Natural Seasoning Mix

Instructions
 

  • Dice onion into small pieces (or skip this step and use a 10-oz package of frozen diced onion)
  • Use ½ tsp avocado or coconut oil to grease bottom of Instant Pot.
  • Set Instant Pot to "saute" setting, and dump in the onions. Let the onion saute while you prepare the rest of the veggies. You may need to stir occasionally to keep it from burning.
  • Wash celery and carrots. Peel the carrots. Dice the carrots and celery.* (Or see note below and just blend them in the blender.)
  • Open the cans of diced tomatoes and add them to the sauteing onions in the Instant Pot.
  • Add the diced carrots and celery to the Instant Pot.
  • Use a garlic press to crush the garlic and add it to the Instant Pot.*
  • Add the 6 cups of filtered water to the Instant Pot.
  • Dump in the frozen chopped spinach.
  • Open the can of pumpkin and dump that in, also.
  • Rinse the lentils and dump them into the Instant Pot.
  • Stir everything. Then, seal Instant Pot and set to 40 minutes on high pressure.
  • After it has finished cooking, allow to de-pressurize naturally for 20 minutes. Then vent manually.
  • Add about 1 TB Spike spice mix and stir. Then serve, or divvy up into jars for later meals.

Notes

*There's a lot of chopping of vegetables involved in this recipe. Who has the time for that? Feel free to skip all that if you don't have the time. I don't think I've chopped any of the vegetables for this in years. Instead, I use a bag of frozen diced onions, and I toss all the rest of the veggies (celery, carrots, garlic and sometimes even the frozen chopped spinach) in my blender with some of the water and I blend it. It saves a ton of time and work. Sometimes, when I'm feeling particularly lazy or pressed for time, I even use a cup of peeled baby carrots in place of the 3 large carrots and save myself the time of washing and peeling them. It is what it is. The end result is not as pretty as if you had chopped everything, but it tastes the same and saves you at least 10-15 minutes.
Also, make sure you don't add the spice mix (I love Spike Gourmet Natural Seasoning brand) until everything has finished cooking. The high heat and high pressure of the Instant Pot break down the spices, so you get more bang for your buck if you add them at the end.
Keyword easy healthy meal, high fiber, high protein, lentils, lots of veggies, pumpkin, soup, vegan