Instant Pot Moroccan Lentil Soup is a hearty and tasty one-pot dinner. Filled with fresh veggies and protein-packed lentils, this flavorful soup is ready to eat in 40 minutes and is naturally vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free!
Looking for an easy, filling, and comforting soup recipe to warm you up during winter? Look no further than this Instant Pot Moroccan Lentil Soup! It’s a well-rounded dish that’s packed with tender vegetables, lentils, and warming spices. Plus, it’s made completely in the Instant Pot!
Lentil soup is always a healthy and hearty meal you can turn to for meal prep, weeknight dinners, or when you’re in the mood for comfort food. Not only is it delicious, but the lentils fill the soup with fiber, iron, magnesium, polyphenols (to prevent cancer cell growth and lower blood sugar), and can help lower your risk of heart disease.
From the tender cooked lentils to the earthy vegetables and beyond, every bite of this easy pressure cooker soup is sure to leave you happy, full, and satisfied. The Instant Pot keeps the process low maintenance and it’s ready to eat in just 40 minutes!
Moroccan lentil soup ingredients
- Lentils - I like using dried French green lentils for their subtle nutty flavor, but regular green or brown lentils may also be used. Dried lentils are a must in this recipe as they’re cooked completely in the Instant Pot (canned lentils will turn out mushy). I don’t recommend using red lentils because they cook very quickly and could turn to mush.
- Vegetables - Moroccan soup is made with a medley of onion, garlic, baby bella mushrooms, carrots, red bell pepper, and fresh spinach for a variety of textures and earthy flavors.
- Red wine - A splash of red wine is needed to deglaze the pot while adding bold, aromatic flavors to the soup. If you’d rather make this soup without alcohol, replace the red wine with vegetable broth or lemon juice.
- Tomato sauce and paste - Both of these create a rich, tangy, and creamy tomato soup base.
- Vegetable broth - If you don’t need the soup to be vegan, you can replace this with bone broth, beef broth, or chicken broth.
- Spice blend - A mix of paprika, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, salt, and pepper fills every bite with spicy and warm flavors.
How to make Moroccan lentil soup in the Instant Pot
This Instant Pot lentil stew is easy to throw together thanks to the short list of basic ingredients and the pressure cooker method. It’s ready to enjoy after a few simple steps:
Step 1: Using the Sauté function on your Instant Pot, saute the onions and garlic in oil until soft and fragrant. Next, add the mushrooms, carrots, and bell pepper and cook until soft.
Step 2: Pour in the red wine to deglaze the pot. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up all of the stuck brown bits on the bottom. Keep cooking until the wine reduces slightly.
Step 4: Stir in the tomato paste, tomato sauce, and all of the seasonings. Allow everything to simmer for a couple of minutes before adding the lentils and vegetable broth.
Step 5: Give everything one last stir before turning off Sauté mode. Seal the lid on top, then cook on high pressure for 20 minutes followed by a quick pressure release.
Step 6: Once the soup is ready, take off the lid and stir in the spinach. Adjust the seasonings as needed, then serve and enjoy!
How to make lentil soup on the stove
No Instant Pot, no problem. Cook the soup on the stove using these simple instructions:
Step 1: Sauté your veggies in a large soup pot with oil until soft and tender. Deglaze the pot with wine and let it reduce slightly before adding the tomato paste, sauce, and seasonings.
Step 2: Add the lentils and veggie broth and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover and allow to cook for 20 minutes or until the lentils are soft and tender.
Step 3: Finish by stirring in your spinach, then serve with Roasted Chickpeas!
Serving suggestions
Lentil soup is a healthy and hearty dish all on its own, however, it can be paired with some simple sides to make the meal complete. These are a few of my favorite pairings:
- Garlicky Carrot Brown Rice
- Artisan Bread
- Oven Roasted Potatoes
- Honey Roasted Carrots
- Roasted Asparagus
- Mediterranean Hummus Salad
Frequently asked questions
Do lentils need to be soaked before making soup?
The Instant Pot does a great job of thoroughly cooking dried lentils in a short amount of time, meaning there’s no need to soak the lentils before adding them to the soup. I do, however, recommend thoroughly rinsing the lentils under water first to remove any debris.
What else can you add to Moroccan lentil soup?
Bite-sized cubes of chicken, lamb, or beef can be added to your soup at the same time as the lentils. Everything should cook to tender perfection under the high pressure of the Instant Pot.
As for additional veggies, the sky is truly the limit. Feel free to throw in some sweet potatoes, zucchini, turnips, radishes, beets, collard greens, green beans, cauliflower, or broccoli.
How do you store lentil soup?
The leftover cooked and cooled soup can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. I recommend reheating any leftover soup on the stovetop until warmed through.
Can you freeze lentil soup?
Yes! The cooled soup can be stored in an airtight container and frozen for up to 3 months. Just let it thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
Looking for more easy Instant Pot soup recipes?
Instant Pot Moroccan Lentil Soup
Equipment
- Instant pot
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil (+1 to serve)
- 1 white onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1 cup baby Bella mushrooms, chopped
- 1 cup carrots, diced small
- 1 red bell pepper, diced small
- ½ cup red wine
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 2 cups French green lentils, rinsed
- 32 oz vegetable broth
- 4 oz fresh spinach
Seasoning
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon each, coriander and cumin
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Turn instant pot on sauté mode. When hot add oil, onion and garlic. Sauté for 2-3 minutes until the onions are translucent.
- Add in mushrooms, carrots and bell pepper. sauté for 5-7 minutes stirring often, until vegetable are soft.
- Add the wine to deglaze the pot. Stir to remove browned bits from the pot. Allow wine to reduce
- Stir in tomato paste, followed by the tomato sauce and all seasonings. Stir well and allow another 2-3 minutes of sautéing to further cook the vegetables.
- Finally add the lentils and broth, stir to combine.
- Turn off sauté mode. Cover and lock the instant pot. Cook on high pressure (HP) for 20 minutes then quick release all pressure (QPR).
- Open the pot and fold in spinach. Stir well, cover it back up for 2-3 minute to allow the spinach to wilt. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and you favorite toppings
Lissa says
Super tasty soup! My husband and I both loved it, and we'll make it again. It's got a nice sweet undertone that complements the savory flavors.
I love recipes where you can just dump it all in the pot and cook it - and this one works well. I skipped the saute and deglazing steps, just dumped all the ingredients in and pressed cook. NOTE: the pressure cook time was too long - 20 minutes turned the lentils to mush, so next time we'll shorten it. We also substituted cranberry juice for the red wine because we try to avoid alcohol.
Silvia Ribas says
That's great Lissa, happy to hear! Thanks for your feedback!
Elena Verastegui says
Delicious!! I don't know english,but I know read a little b..Thank you for your recipes. Sorry,
Silvia Dunnirvine says
You're welcome Elena, I am so glad that you liked my Moroccan Lentil Soup!