Instant Pot Mexican Vegetable Soup
This quick and easy Mexican vegetable soup is made exclusively with kitchen staples, and it’s jam packed with flavor! Best of all, this Instant Pot vegetable soup recipe is 100% vegan and dairy-free!
Mexican Vegetable Soup
Soup is a budget friendly meal, especially when you can use leftovers. Recipes like this help to stretch your meals a little longer, plus the entire meal is served in a bowl, which makes clean up much easier.
This plant-based veggie soup is ultra hearty, yet not too heavy, so it’s perfect to serve for a light dinner. A large pot of soup is so simple to make too. With canned and frozen ingredients, the Mexican soup comes together in an Instant Pot.
It’s delicious with store-bought or homemade tortilla chips.
This soup has a rich, tomato-y broth, plenty of hearty vegetables, and just the right amount of heat, without actually being spicy.
Keep in mind, this is not an authentic recipe, it’s only inspired by flavors of Mexican cuisine. I want to direct you to a more authentic version, if that’s what you’re looking for!
Why You’ll Enjoy This Instant Pot Vegetable Soup
- Pressure cooking means more flavor with less cook time. Cooking soup in an Instant Pot at high pressure amplifies the flavors, and it shortens the cooking time, too!
- Perfect for a quick and easy weeknight dinner. Everything comes together in a snap, and because it’s cooked in one pot, clean up is a breeze!
- Budget-friendly. If you’re looking for a way to use up leftover veggies from your fridge, this is a great way to do it!
Ingredients and Substitutions
These simple ingredients make an incredibly comforting soup.
- Vegetable Stock: Use either homemade or store-bought broth or stock. If you aren’t following a vegetarian/vegan diet, chicken broth is a good substitute.
- Black Beans: One can of canned black beans is perfect, or you can substitute with another legume that you like.
- Corn: I use frozen yellow corn, but canned corn or fresh corn works wonderfully too!
- Canned Tomatoes. I used a can of Fire Roasted Tomatoes from Aldi, but any flavor/variety of diced tomatoes will work well.
- Potatoes: Use one large or two medium russet potatoes. You can substitute with Yukon Gold or red potatoes if that’s what you have on hand.
- Onion and Garlic
- Bell Pepper: When I make Mexican vegetable soup, I prefer to use red bell pepper, but color will work.
- Spices: You’ll use a bit of dried cumin, oregano, chili powder, salt, and black pepper. To speed things up, feel free to use store-bought or homemade taco seasoning instead
- Serve with, all optional: Cilantro, lime, dairy-free sour cream, and/or tortilla chips.
Recipe Variations
Use different vegetables. This veggie soup recipe can have tons of different vegetables added to it. Zucchini, kidney beans, green beans, carrots, pinto beans, or any other canned or fresh veggies you want.
Add some meat. As written, this recipe makes a meatless meal, but you can add chicken breast or ground beef if you want. Ground turkey or ground chicken are great options, too!
Make a spicy vegetable soup! Add spicy flavor to this dish by including chopped or minced jalapenos or diced green or fire roasted chiles. seasonings like crushed red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper will also kick up the Mexican flavors of this Instant Pot soup.
How to Make Mexican Vegetable Soup in the Instant Pot
The great thing about this recipe is how little hands-on work there is to do. The only actual prep work you need to do is a bit of chopping!
Truthfully, this entire recipe is unbelievably easy to make. That’s the beauty of the Instant Pot! I promise that even novice cooks can pull this off with ease! Here’s how to make it, step by step:
- Prep the vegetables. Peel and dice the potato, then dice the pepper and onion. Mince the garlic, then slice the lime in half too. Then open the cans of beans and corn, and rinse them well.
That is the bulk of the prep work you need to do!
If you want to do the prep work ahead of time, go for it! Just store the chopped veggies in a covered container in the fridge until you're ready to actually make the soup.
- Sauté the onion and garlic.
Set the Instant Pot to Sauté mode. Heat the oil, then add the onions. Sauté the onions, stirring occasionally, until they are translucent. This should take about 4 minutes.
- Add remaining ingredients, cover the pot, and cook the soup. Manually set your pressure cooker to cook at High Pressure for 12 minutes.
Remember to close the pressure valve before you start pressure cooking.
Once done, manually release the pressure by carefully turning the steam release valve (Quick Pressure Release/QPR). After the steam has released, open the Instant Pot and give it a stir.
Slow Cooker / Crockpot Cooking Option
If you'd like to make this easy Mexican vegetable soup recipe in your slow cooker, simply follow the instructions above, but skip the step that has you sauté the onions. Just add all the soup recipe ingredients to your slow cooker, turn it to high, then cover and cook for 2-3 hours. Garnish and serve!
Tips for Success
Check out these few simple tips to have the perfect Mexican Instant Pot vegetable soup:
- To make the individual servings go further, serve the soup with a bit of rice or some cooked quinoa. However, don't store the rice or quinoa with the soup.
- If you add lots of extra vegetables, you may need mix in more vegetable stock to make the broth go further.
- You can make this soup on the stove top in a big soup pot if you don't have a pressure cooker or slow cooker.
Serving Suggestion
Use a ladle to serve the soup in bowls. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Top each bowl with a dollop of vegan friendly sour cream, fresh cilantro leaves, creamy avocado, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
For a little crunch, make a batch of air fryer tortilla chips to crush over the top of each bowl.
Seve your Mexican vegetable soup on its own, or pair it with some sides. To keep the Mexican theme, I like to serve it with fresh tortillas, but a big slice of cheesy garlic bread is always a delicious option.
There are tons of toppings you can serve with the soup too. Pico de gallo, guacamole and salsa are favorites at my house!
Cornbread, dinner rolls and breadsticks are all great sides for soup as well.
Storing and Reheating Leftover Soup
To store: Transfer to an airtight container. Set in the refrigerator and store for 4-5 days.
To reheat: Add the mixture to a sauce pan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, then serve. Alternately, microwave on High for 2-3 minutes in a microwave safe bowl.
Mexican Vegetable Soup Recipe FAQ
Adding lime juice or lemon juice, and some olive oil, to a veggie soup helps to make a more rich and flavorful broth. It is also important to have a variety of different veggies and to add plenty of seasonings and spices.
I prefer the flavor of sautéed onions in soup, but there is no problem in putting raw onions in a soup. For the slow cooker method of this recipe, raw onions can be added in. For the Instant Pot version, though you can use raw onions, using the sauté setting to cook the onions first adds a ton of flavor to the dis!
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Mexican Vegetable Soup in Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
Equipment
Ingredients
- 32 ounces vegetable stock
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil
- 1 large russet potato or 2 medium potatoes, about 1.5 cups diced
- 1/2 medium onion about 1/2 cup diced
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 15 ounces fire roasted tomatoes or diced tomatoes
- 1.5 cups black beans rinsed, about 1 can
- 1.5 cups corn frozen or canned
- 1 bell pepper
- 1 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoons cumin
- 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
- salt and pepper to taste
Toppings, all optional
- 3 Tablespoon cilantro
- 1 lime sliced
- 1/8 cup plant based sour cream optional
- 1 avocado optional
- tortilla chips optional
Video
Instructions
- First, do the prep work. You’ll want to peel and dice the potato, then dice the pepper and onion. Mince the garlic. Open the can of beans and rinse it well.
- Set the Instant Pot to Sauté mode. Heat the oil, then add the onions. Saute, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent, about 4 minutes.
- Next, all in the rest of the soup ingredients: Corn (it’s fine if they’re still frozen!), beans, garlic, tomatoes, spices, and broth! Cover and set to High Pressure for 12 minutes.
- Manually release the pressure by carefully turning the steam release valve (Quick Pressure Release/QPR). Once the steam has released, open the Instant Pot and give it a stir.
- Use a ladle to serve the soup in bowls. Top each bowl with a dollop of sour cream, cilantro leaves, diced avocado, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. For a little crunch, serve it with tortilla chips or enjoy it all on its own!
Notes
- Slow Cooker Adaptation: Follow the instructions above, but skip the step that has you sauté the onions. Simply add all the soup recipe ingredients to your slow cooker, turn it to High, then cover and cook for 2-3 hours. Garnish and serve!
- To store: Transfer to an airtight container. Set in the refrigerator and store for 4-5 days.
- To reheat: Add the mixture to a sauce pan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, then serve. Alternately, microwave on High for 2-3 minutes in a microwave safe bowl.
