This delicious and hearty pressure cooker sweet potato, chickpea and red lentil soup cooks in just 10 minutes in your Instant Pot. Healthy, vegan, and gluten free, it is guaranteed to become a family favourite!
Just as the days were getting brighter and warmer, the weather did a 180° and we had snow. SNOW! Snowing in London happens so rarely as to still be a huge novelty, but this time around I am more than ready for springtime to arrive. You hear that springtime? Come back please!
The only plus to the unseasonal snowfall, has been the extra family time we have enjoyed thanks to ‘snow days’, since everything in London comes to a standstill at the first sighting of snowflakes.
Our pressure cooker has been working overtime to keep us fed and warm with a variety of stews, chilis and soup – I think I am now figuring out why some people have as many as three pressure cookers on the go at once.
Cold weather = soup weather and I have a new soup obsession – sweet potato, chickpea and red lentil soup. OMG it is so good that even my husband who thinks soup ‘is not food’ came around. Have made this baby twice in less than a week, that’s how yummy it is.
This pressure cooker sweet potato, chickpea and red lentil soup straddles the line between soup and stew – it is very thick and really satisfying. If you wanted to add a bit less stock and serve it over rice or quinoa, then I say go ahead!
You could also pack it with even more nutritious yumminess by adding some leafy greens – stir in some chopped spinach or kale right the end and sauté until wilted and soft.
I used ready cooked (canned) chickpeas here, but you could also use dried chickpeas if you wanted. If you use dry chickpeas they will need 40 minutes high pressure cooking unsoaked and 25 minutes cooking if soaked overnight (see recipe card notes). Don’t forget to reserve the chickpea brine (aquafaba) – it may come in handy if you want to make vegan macarons!
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- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 200 g (7 oz) canned chickpeas, drained
- 1 onion finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tsp ginger paste or finely grated fresh ginger
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 400 g (14 oz) canned chopped tomatoes
- 2 large sweet potatoes peeled cut into small cubes
- 200 g (1 cup) dry split red lentils, rinsed and drained
- 1.2 litre (5 cups) vegetable stock (broth)
- Lemon juice to taste
- Finely chopped coriander cilantro
- Lemon zest to garnish
- Handful mixed seeds to garnish
- Pinch dried red chilli flakes to garnish
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Heat the oil in your pressure cooker using the ‘sauté’ function. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook for 5 minutes, stirring, until softened.
- Add the spices, salt, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, lentils, chickpeas and stock and stir.
- Set vent to sealing and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes, then release the pressure manually.
- Stir in some lemon or lime juice to add some acidity – I used 1 tablespoon.
- Taste the soup and season with salt and pepper as needed.
- Transfer two ladlefuls of the soup in a blender and process until smooth, or blitz using an immersion blender. Stir this back into the soup.
Serve the soup garnished with chopped coriander (cilantro), lemon zest and a handful of crunchy seeds.
- Please note 200g (7oz) is the drained weight of chickpeas from a 400g (14oz) can.
- If you want to add some kale or chopped spinach, remove the stems and shred the leaves. Cook for up to 5 minutes on the ‘sauté’ setting after step 6.
- If you use dry chickpeas they will need 40 minutes high pressure cooking unsoaked and 25 minutes cooking if soaked overnight. The ratio is 200g (1 cup) chickpeas to 750ml (3 cups) water.
- If you want to cook the soup on your stovetop, heat the oil in a deep pot and cook as in the main method. Simmer the soup for 20-25 minutes until the sweet potatoes and red lentils are cooked.
- I used a 6L/Q Instant Pot Duo in this recipe.
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Looks fantastic! One concern. You wrote, with regard to chickpeas, “If you use dry chickpeas they will need 40 minutes high pressure cooking unsealed ” — did you mean “unsoaked?” Thanks!
Yes unsoaked chickpeas will need about 40 minutes cooking. Soaked about 20-25.
That soup looks stunning Lucy. I am sitting here at my laptop feeling rather chilly even though the heating is on. I would love to tuck into that right now. Shared!