Instant Pot Summer Soup
This instant pot summer soup recipe takes advantage of fresh vegetables, hearty grain, and flavorful broth. It will also give you another reason to love your pressure cooker. It makes for a fresh-tasting, delicious, and satisfying meal.
Some people don’t eat soup during the summer months. I am NOT one of those people. I enjoy and eat soup year round. My grandmother used to say that soup in the summer helps you cool off. I’m not sure of the reasoning behind it, but I have never felt overheated when I enjoyed soup during warm/hot seasons.
What I love about this summer soup is it has such a fresh taste and the melding of the flavors makes you want to shovel it in your mouth. It is light enough that you won’t feel overwhelmed or overly full.
But don’t let the name stop you from enjoying it during the colder months. Just add a few chunks of bread and get ready for a scrumptious meal.
Why this recipe works
- You can eat a soup like pea soup and while it is delicious, it doesn’t make you think ‘summer’. This soup screams summer because of the ultra fresh zucchini and corn cut right off the cob.
- If you have a garden, you can use your fresh summer produce in this recipe.
- The grain farro gives the soup substance, which means it is hearty enough to be eaten by itself for dinner.
- Cooking farro in an Instant pot or pressure cooker lessens the cook time of the grain and causes it to thicken the broth, giving your soup a rich and satisfying texture.
- This recipe makes a good quantity of soup, which means, if you aren’t feeding a crowd, you can freeze it in an airtight container, defrost it, and serve it again another time (or two).
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Helpful tips
helpful
Tips
- Zucchini and corn cook really quickly, so depending on how crunchy you like your vegetables, you can either 1) add them to the instant pot after the soup is done for an additional three-minute cook time, as I do in this recipe OR 2) stir them into the finished soup without cooking, after you’ve released the pressure. In the case of option 2, just cover the pot and let everything sit for 10 minutes. Either method will work.
- If you want this summer soup to be vegetarian, omit the chicken broth and add vegetable broth or just water.
- Want some meat in this soup? I find that pre-cooked shredded chicken breasts go well with the vegetables and broth.
- You can also add canned cannellini beans to make it thicker.
- Farro comes in two different ways, regular (30 minutes) or instant (10 minutes). I’ve used both and prefer the regular kind just because it feels heartier.
- I always wash my farro before using it. Here’s how: Place a smallish strainer in a large bowl and pour the correct amount of the grain into the strainer. Add enough water to cover the farro without covering the top of the strainer and swish the grain around the water with your fingers. Dump the water and repeat it two times.
- I have made meals in the Instant pot where I use the sauté function on the vegetables before I seal it up and start cooking. I have also done it without sautéing the vegetables with olive oil. Let me tell you, I hardly ever sauté anymore. I just throw the ingredients in the pot, seal it and start cooking. I never can tell the difference. The only thing I will sauté in the Instant pot before cooking is meat.
Ingredients and substitutes
- Onion – I use Vidalia onions as I love that they are sweeter than yellow onions, but you can use yellow onions if you prefer.
- Diced tomatoes – 28-ounce can. I love diced tomatoes and cook with them almost exclusively, even with tomato gravy (what you would call tomato sauce).
- Farro – either full cook or instant. See the above notes. Farro is a fabulous grain that you MUST try if you haven’t already. Here’s a great post espousing the virtues of the grain.
- Chicken broth – I use Trader Joe’s free-range broth, which is both inexpensive and delicious. You can substitute vegetable broth (which Trader Joe’s also sells) in this recipe since the soup is tomato based.
- Herbs – dried oregano and basil. I use organic.
- Garlic – I use garlic paste and if I could write a whole post on it, I would. I L O V E this stuff. You can buy it in the grocery store at the produce section where the fresh herbs are. The brand is Gourmet Gardens. LOVE IT!
- Salt – I always use fine sea salt.
- Zucchini – two medium-sized firm zucchini, about 2.5 cups. You could also substitute it with summer squash.
- Corn – Fresh and sweet; about 2 cups. Cut it off the cob with a sharp knife. If fresh corn isn’t available, you can use frozen.
How to make Summer Soup
Pre-step
Get out your pressure cooker or Instant Pot. Chop the onion in chunks and wash the farro. (See the helpful tips above.)
Step one
Gather the ingredients – farro, diced tomatoes, chopped onion, chicken broth (or vegetable if you are want your summer soup to be vegetarian), garlic, oregano, basil, and salt.
Step two
Place all the above ingredients plus 2 cups of water in the instant pot.
Step three
Seal the IP and make sure the venting knob is in the sealed position. Press the pressure cook button and the mode should be on Normal and the temperature High. These are the default factory settings and I’ve yet to change them. Set the timer to 20 minutes. Please note that the pressure cooker will take around 10 minutes to come to pressure.
Step four
Wash the zucchini and fresh corn.
Step five
Cut the zucchini first in 1/2 inch wheels and then in quarters. You want about two and a half cups, don’t go over that amount as you don’t want the contents to exceed the mark on the inside of the insert as it could overflow when cooking. Also take a sharp knife and slice corn kernels off the cob. You want about two cups but your veggie measurements don’t need to be exact. It’s soup!
Step six
When the IP beeps to let you know it is done, you can either wait five minutes and do a quick release by putting on an oven mitt and nudging the venting knob to let the steam out OR you can let the pressure release naturally, which takes between 10 – 15 minutes.
I do the quick release method.
Step seven
Open the cover of the IP.
This is what the soup looks like once you do. (A)
Step nine
Pour the zucchini and corn in the soup and stir. (B)
Step ten
Seal the IP again, making sure the venting knob is in the sealed position. Press the pressure cook button and set the timer for 3 minutes. At this time the IP will come to pressure again but does so at a quicker timeline.
Step eleven
Do a quick release: first, let the IP rest for 5 minutes, then don an oven mitt and nudge the venting knob to the venting position in order to let all the steam escape and the little silver button to retract.
I always transfer soup out of the IP and into either a serving dish or one of my Le Creuset pans.
I cut some bread and ladle the summer soup into bowls.
And the overhead view.
So delicious. Want to give it extra pizzaz? Sprinkle some fresh parmesan on it before serving.
I hope you enjoyed this instant pot summer soup recipe.
Other popular soups recipe
And as always, may all your dishes be delish!
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Summer Soup
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion (chopped)
- 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes (one small can)
- 1.5 cups farro (washed and rinsed)
- 4 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you want vegetarian or vegan)
- 2 cups water
- 3 teaspoons garlic paste (or 3 garlic cloves, crushed)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt (sea salt)
- 1 teaspoon oregano (dried)
- 1 teaspoon basil (dried)
- 2 medium zucchini (2.5 cups – sliced in .5 inch rounds and then quartered)
- 2 ears corn (2 cups – kernals cut off cob or you could use frozen if it's not available)
Instructions
- Place onion, broth, water, farro, diced tomatoes, salt, oregano, basil and garlic in Instant pot.1 medium onion, 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes, 1.5 cups farro, 4 cups chicken broth, 2 cups water, 3 teaspoons garlic paste, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon basil
- Seal IP and make sure the venting knob is in the sealed position. Press pressure cook button, make sure it is on high and normal (default factory settings) and set the timer for 20 minutes.
- Cut the zucchini in 1/2 inch wheels and then in quarters. Also cut the corn kernals off the cob and set aside.2 medium zucchini, 2 ears corn
- Once the timer beeps to indicate it's done, wait 5 minutes before you do a quick release – don an oven mitt and nudge the knob to the venting position.
- Once the pressure has been released, open cover and pour in the zucchini and corn in with the soup. Give it a quick stir then seal the IP. Make sure the venting knob is set to sealed and press the pressure cook button and set the timer for 3 minutes. The IP shouldn't take as long to come back to pressure.
- Once the timer beeps, wait 5 minutes before doing another quick release. Open cover and transfer soup into a serving dish or pan.
- Serve
- Eat
- Enjoy
Equipment
See all my favorite tools and gift ideas at my Amazon Store page!Check out Elaine’s Amazon Store!Notes
- Zucchini and corn cook really quickly, so depending how crunchy you like your vegetables, you can either 1) add them to the instant pot after the soup is done for an additional three-minute cook time, as I do in this recipe OR 2) stir them into the finished soup without cooking, after you’ve released the pressure. In the case of option 2, just cover the pot and let everything sit for 10 minutes. Either method will work.
- If you want this summer soup to be vegetarian, omit the chicken broth and add vegetable broth or just water.
- Farro comes two different ways, regular (30 minutes) or instant (10 minutes). I’ve used both and prefer the regular kind just because it feels heartier.
- I always wash my farro before using. Here’s how: Place a smallish strainer in a large bowl and pour the correct amount of the grain in the strainer. Add enough water to cover the farro without covering the top of the strainer and swish the grain around the water with your fingers. Dump the water and repeat 2 times.
- I have made meals in the Instant pot where I use the sauté function on the vegetables before I seal it up and start cooking. I have also done it without sautéing the vegetables. Let me tell you, I hardly ever sauté anymore. I just throw the ingredients in the pot, seal it and start cooking. I never can tell the difference. The only thing I will sauté in the Instant pot before cooking is meat.
