Lentil Soup in 10 Minutes (Pressure Cooker)

blucoat's Note:

This is a super-fast, filling, healthy, and delicious vegetarian soup. Note: you may add corn kernels when you remove the pressure cooker lid. Remember that this soup is hotter than any soup that you make on the stove so let it cool accordingly. Recipe adapted from "The Veggie Queen" Jill Nussinow, MS, RD, and is on her DVD, "Pressure Cooking: A Fresh Look".

• Total Time: 18 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 8 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 1 tablespoon olive oil or 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 medium onion , chopped
• 2 large carrots , cut into 1/8-inch half moons
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon fresh winter savory (optional) or 1 teaspoon fresh summer savory (optional)
• 6 cups water or 6 cups all-natural vegetable broth
• 1 ½ cups green lentils or 1 ½ cups brown lentils
• ½ cup red lentil
• 1 medium potato , peeled and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
• ½-1 teaspoon kosher salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in the pressure cooker over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and sauté until soft, about 2 minutes. Add the carrots and sauté for another minute. Add the bay leaves, thyme, savory as desired, water or broth, lentils, and potato. Stir well.
3. Lock the lid in place on the cooker and bring the mixture to a boil over high heat until you achieve high pressure. Reduce the heat to maintain pressure for 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the pressure come down naturally. Remove the lid, tilting it away from you. Remove the bay leaves and thyme stems, and add salt and pepper to taste. Top with grated Parmesan as desired.

Reviews

[lbruce]

This was excellent I had no savory winter herbs so I used 1/2 Tbsp of parsley and 1/2 tsp oregano. I also added 1 Tbsp minced garlic, 3 stalks of celery chopped and added an extra potato. It was my first time using my pressure cooker and it turned out great.

[Mikekey]

I am always on the lookout for new pressure cooker recipes and I am really glad I found this one. Delicious and so easy. And the lentils don't cook to mush! I made as written, except for using all brown lentils (my store was out of red). Very filling. We are not vegetarians, but enjoy a meatless meal now and then. I also would consider adding some ham to this. Thanks for a keeper!

[imdawn]

This is sooooooo good! I modified it to make a very hearty and thick bowl of lentils. Didn't have any savory so I used twice as much thyme. I added 2 diced celery stalks and used 2 cups of lentils instead of 1 1/2. I cooked it for about 18 minutes because I like lentils super soft. I used quick release method to let the pressure come down I wouldn't do less than 10 or 12 minutes with this recipe. However, it tasted so good that it gets 5 stars in spite of the discrepancy in cooking time.