Instant Pot Tomato Soup

Step 1: Gather the Tomato Soup ingredients

This creamy tomato soup uses a few simple ingredients. Sweet onions sautéed in butter, diced tomatoes, and chicken stock are infused with a sprig of fresh basil. Heavy cream is added after cooking and then the soup is lightly sweetened with honey.

• Butter: I prefer sautéing the sweet onion in butter because it adds a sweet, creaminess to the soup.
• Sweet Onion: The sautéd sweet onion adds lots of flavor and a mild sweetness.
• Canned Diced Tomatoes: The star of the show. I always try to pick up an organic variety for this soup.
• Chicken Stock: I use Kitchen Basics unsalted chicken stock because it has the robust flavor of homemade chicken stock without the sodium that most other store-bought chicken stocks have.
• Tomato Paste: I add just a bit of organic tomato paste to thicken the soup slightly.
• Fresh Basil: The fragrance and flavor that the fresh basil adds to this soup are just amazing.
• Heavy Cream: Adding the heavy cream after cooking gives this tomato soup a smooth and creamy consistency.
• Honey: A bit of honey adds a touch of sweetness that really brings out the flavor of the tomatoes.

Step 2: Set the Instant Pot

Select the ‘Sauté’ function on the Instant Pot and then using the ‘Adjust’ button, adjust the heat level to ‘Normal’ and then allow the pot to warm up until the front panel reads ‘Hot’.

Step 3: Melt the butter

Add the butter to the Instant Pot and using a spoon or spatula, continually move it around the pot so that it melts quickly and does not begin to brown.

Step 4: Sauté the onion

Add the chopped sweet onion to the Instant Pot and sauté it stirring periodically. Continue sautéing until the onion begins to turn soft and translucent. This usually takes anywhere from four to five minutes. Sometimes I get impatient and just let them sauté for a few minutes and call it a day.

Step 5: Cancel the ‘Sauté’

Once the onions have completed cooking, turn off the ‘Sauté’ feature.

Step 6: Add the diced tomatoes

Next, add the two large 28-ounce cans of diced tomatoes. I always get organic diced tomatoes and use the entire can including the juices. For this recipe I used Simple Truth Organic Diced Tomatoes from Kroger.

Step 7: Add the chicken stock, salt and stir

Pour the chicken stock over the tomatoes and onions in the pot and then add the salt. Give everything a good stir using a spoon.

Step 8: Add the tomato paste

Place the tomato paste into the pot. There is no need to mix it in because it will naturally mix in as the soup is cooking. Just like the diced tomatoes, I always use organic tomato paste. Again, I used a tomato paste from Simple Truth Organic for this recipe.

Step 9: Add the basil

Before closing the pot, I add a fresh sprig of basil and just place it on top of the soup. Once the soup starts cooking, the wonderful aroma of basil will fill your home. It really adds some great flavor to the soup.

Step 10: Close and set the cook time

Close the Instant Pot, set it to ‘Sealing’ and select the ‘Soup’ function. Set it to cook at ‘High Pressure’ for 10 minutes. Once the cooking time has completed, allow for a 5-minute natural pressure release and then release any remaining pressure before opening the pot.

Step 11: Puree the soup

Using a pair of tongs, remove the basil from the pot and then use an immersion blender to puree the soup until it is smooth.

Step 12: Add the cream and honey

Add both the heavy cream and honey to the soup and then continue to puree using the immersion blender until the cream and honey are fully mixed in.