Instant Pot Potato Soup
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For a budget-friendly cold weather meal, make a pot of comforting Instant Pot potato soup. This cheesy potato soup recipe comes together in about 35 minutes and is perfect for lunch or dinner.
On chilly evenings, there are two things that make dinner more cozy: soup and baked potatoes.
But why not have both? This easy cheesy soup recipe makes a family-friendly meal that tastes just like a baked potato. You can even pile it high with your tater toppings, like bacon, sour cream, and chives.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This is going to be your new favorite reason to cook dinner in your Instant Pot!
With bite-sized pieces of tender potatoes in every bite, this soup is substantial and satisfying. This proves that meatless meals can be filling and hearty, too!
My recipe uses budget friendly ingredients, and it’s easy to adapt for a dairy-free diet. If you have a busy family like I do, you’ll appreciate that using the Instant Pot to make potato soup shortens the cook time to just over 30 minutes.
Not only is this a delicious comfort food meal, it’s also convenient dinner option for busy weeknights, lazy weekends and chilly weather.
Happy Kitchen Secrets
Here are my most important mom tested cooking tips for making tilapia in your air fryer! We’ve made this countless times to save you from a failed attempt.
- Aim to dice the potatoes into uniform, 1-inch pieces. This ensures that they cook evenly, preventing some pieces from being undercooked while others are mushy.
- Take your time sautéing the onions and garlic at the beginning of the recipe. This step allows the onions to caramelize, enhancing their sweetness, and develops the garlic’s aroma, which contributes to the overall flavor profile of the soup.
- An immersion blender works better than a regular blender, which can quickly turn the consistency of potato soup into glue paste. However, a blender will work to lightly puree the cooked potato mixture after pressure cooking. Depending on the size of your blender, you may have to work in batches.
Instant Pot Potato Soup Ingredients
This is a cheesy potato soup recipe, but keep in mind that this recipe is easy to adapt. There are some substitutions listed below to use if you need to make the soup dairy free.
Ingredient Substitutions and Variations
Healthier swaps: For a leaner soup, use low-fat sour cream or plain Greek yogurt. You can also use a lighter oil like avocado oil, and use a low-fat cheese. Stick to toppings like chives and green onion.
Dairy free creamy potato soup: Use cashew cream or coconut cream instead of sour cream. For the cheese, use a plant-based cheese, or use nutritional yeast.
If you’re looking for another delicious meatless soup, definitely make my carrot soup recipe!
How to Make Instant Pot Potato Soup
Scroll down to the recipe card for the full step by step instructions! ⬇️
- Prep the ingredients. Peel and dice the onion and garlic, and scrub the potatoes. You don’t have to peel them, but be aware that there may be a few pieces of peel in the soup.
- Sauté the onions and garlic. Set your IP to Sauté mode and let it get hot before you add the oil. Then, let the oil get hot before adding the onions. Add the garlic in the final minute, so it doesn’t burn.
- Deglaze the pot with broth. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up any bits that might be stuck in the bottom of the inner pot.
- Stir in the seasonings and potatoes, then manually set the Instant Pot to cook the potato soup on High pressure for 10 minutes.
- Perform a quick release of pressure by carefully opening the steam vent. Then, use an immersion blender to puree the soup right in the pot.
- Turn off the IP and stir in the cheese and sour cream until it melts.
Topping Ideas
This soup is even more delicious with lots of toppings. We like to set up a baked potato bar, of sorts, complete with bowls of everyone’s favorite toppings. Here are some ideas:
- Fresh herbs: snipped chives, chopped parsley, and/or green onions
- Cooked bacon
- Crispy fried onions
- Shredded cheese: cheddar is a classic that most kids seem to love. For a tasty twist, use grated parmesan, a Mexican cheese blend, or blue cheese crumbles.
- Sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- Spicy ingredients: jalapenos, chopped green chiles, and/or a drizzle of hot sauce
- Crumbled tortilla chips or potato chips
Instant Pot Potato Soup Recipe FAQ
Absolutely! As long as it’s cooked beforehand, you can stir in some meat before serving. Some good protein options include diced ham, bacon, and bite-sized pieces of steak.
While you can freeze this soup, the texture does change slightly upon thawing, becoming slightly grainy. However, the flavor is still delicious. Freeze in an freezer-safe container for up to 3 months, and thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating in a saucepan over medium heat.
Instant Pot Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion peeled and diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 4 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth
- 2½ pounds Yukon gold potatoes about 8 medium potatoes, washed and diced into 1-inch pieces
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme or 2 teaspoon fresh
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano or 1 teaspoon fresh
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 tablespoon chopped chives
Optional Garnishes
- 2 sliced green onions
- 3 strips bacon cooked and crumbled
- ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese
Video
Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to Sauté. Add oil to the insert. Once hot, add onion and cook, stirring occasionally. Cook until softened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in garlic, cooking for another minute or so, until fragrant.
- Pour in chicken broth. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up any bits that might be stuck to the bottom of the insert.
- Stir in diced potatoes, salt, thyme, oregano, and black pepper. Turn off Sauté mode.
- Cook on High pressure for 10 minutes. Quick release (or manually release) pressure at the end of cooking.
- Remove the lid. Use an immersion blender to blend until smooth.
- Stir in sour cream and cheddar cheese, stirring until melted. Stir in chives.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper, as desired.
- Serve in bowls. Garnish as desired with sliced green onion, chopped crispy bacon, and/or shredded cheddar cheese.
