Looking for a comforting soup? This Instant Pot chunky potato soup is made with red potatoes that hits the spot! The best part is that it’s a very hearty soup with a rich flavor that the whole family can enjoy!
Do you know why I love a good Instant Pot Recipe?
It’s an easy way to make soup and takes a fraction of the time!
This soup is ready in just 30 minutes and it’s one hearty bowl of potato soup!
Originally published on December 1, 2016 at 4:56pm. Click here to see why this recipe was updated.
🛒 Ingredients
Here is a quick look at the ingredients. It is to understand why these specific ingredients were chosen. To get the full recipe, go to the recipe card below.
Red Potatoes – I think these are the best potatoes to use in this recipe because they have a buttery texture to them, once cooked. They are also low in the fat content and cook very quickly. I love cooking them in the Instant Pot because they get a nice creamy texture.
Fennel – Fennel is a fiber king! Just one cup has about 2.7g of it. It’s also a good source of calcium, iron, zinc, and B vitamins. Since it is rich in Vitamin C, eat it with Iron-rich foods which will be absorbed faster. Fennel adds a great flavor to this soup, so don’t skip it. Source: Medical News Today and Masterclass.
Peas and carrots – These colorful veggies are packed with polyphenols, vitamins, cancer-fighting ingredients, and fiber! Get the frozen peas and carrots without the corn. Or, get fresh carrots and chop them up. Source: Consumer Reports and Good Housekeeping.
🥕 Frozen Tip: Use frozen peas and carrots but get the one without the corn. If you can find organic versions of these veggies, get those.
🪜 Instructions
Step 1 – Cooking the potatoes
- Start by washing the red potatoes
- I chose 3 large potatoes (1.15 lbs) and 2 small ones (0.41 lbs).
- Put water in the bottom of the pot and place the potatoes in it. I use a separate container which is optional.
- Close it and choose the pressure cook button. Cooking time will be 10 minutes on high pressure.
- Once done, let the natural release happen before opening the Instant Pot.
- Let them cool to room temperature. Peel the skin and keep the big potatoes separate from the small ones. Roughly chop the big potatoes.
Step 2 – Making the potato soup in the Instant Pot
- Cut about a ¼ of the fennel bulb only. Wash it gently and cut it into small cubes. It should amount to about ½ cup once chopped (50g).
- Set the Instant Pot to sauté function and 3 Tbsp of water to the inner container. Add the fennel, minced garlic (3g), and minced ginger (4g) into the container. Saute until the fennel is soft (about 4 minutes)
- Add the big potatoes that were roughly chopped early. Add ½ cup of water and heavy cream to the container. Turn off the saute setting and unplug your Instant Pot!
- Using an immersion blender, blend until you get a creamy mixture. You can also use a potato masher if you don’t have an immersion blender. Get the mixture as creamy as you can and it’s ok if you have some chunks.
- Now, roughly chop the two small potatoes earlier. Add them to the container, along with the black pepper, nutritional yeast, salt, and Italian seasoning.
- Finally, add the water and remaining heavy cream. Mix with a wooden spoon and close the lid. Press the pressure cook button and set the cook time to 2 minutes.
Wait for the natural release of the Instant Pot and open it. If you can’t wait, use the quick release and wait for it to stop steaming before opening.
Garnish with Basil and dill weed (or green onions and fresh herbs like parsley) before serving. That’s it! Isn’t this one of the easiest soups you have ever made?
🥔 Substitution tip: Use red potatoes because their buttery texture makes them perfect for soup.
❓ Answering common questions
– Red potatoes are the best for this creamy Instant Pot potato soup.
– Russet potatoes are good too, but they do have a high starch content.
– Yukon gold potatoes will give a creamy texture too, but they take longer to cook.
No, you don’t need to add broth to make a delicious soup. Personally, I prefer using water over broth, but you can always use what works for you. For broth, use mushroom broth if you can find it.
Yes, you sure can! The only thing you will need to sub out is the heavy cream. Use almond milk or full-fat coconut milk instead and mash the potatoes to get a thicker soup.
Using an electric pressure cooker like the Instant Pot is a very easy appliance. If you follow the instructions laid out in the recipes and in the manual, your electric pressure cooker can be very safe to use. In my home, it has overtaken my stove to become the most used appliance.
Yes, you can. Cook the potatoes for about 2 hours and then follow the same instructions. Once you add the peas and carrots, set the crock pot to cook for 15 minutes. Let me know how your Crockpot potato soup turns out.
🥥 Handy Tip: To veganize this recipe, the only thing you need to substitute is the heavy cream. Use full-fat coconut milk and/or almond milk.
⏰ Make ahead and storing leftovers
You can make this creamy soup about 1 day ahead for meal prep recipes or dinner parties. Make the soup as described below and then store it in an airtight container and use it within 2-3 days.
Leftover pressure cooker potato soup should also be stored in airtight containers and used up within 1-3 days. Store the leftovers in (Affiliate Link) single-serve containers so that you are not reheating the whole batch each time.
To reheat, you can do it stove top (on medium heat) or put the soup back into the Instant Pot, press the pressure button, and cook for 1-2 minutes. The time will depend on the amount of soup.
This easy potato soup recipe doesn’t freeze well, so just refrigerate it.
📦 Storage tip: For best results, leftovers or meal prep should be done in single-serve containers. This way you are not heating and freezing the whole batch several times. It ruins the texture and flavors of the soup.
🥣 Serving this Instant Pot Chunky Potato Soup
This potato soup is the ultimate comfort food, so it can be eaten by itself. Top it with your favorite toppings like croutons or tofu crumbles. The best things to serve on the side are crusty bread, dinner rolls, or drop biscuits.
They would go great with a small bowl of kale salad or a vegan Caesar salad. It’s also a great starter to main course meals like roasted whole cauliflower and butternut squash risotto.
Love soups? I have a few soup recipes for you to enjoy and a few Instant Pot recipes that will make mealtime so much easier.
🥗 Serving Tip: This soup goes great with a leafy green salad. The soup’s nutrition is a great compliment to the green salad’s nutrition.
🥔 A few potato recipes that you will love
- Sauteed kale and potatoes – The star of this recipe is Old Bay Seasoning which, very nicely, brings together the strong flavors of kale with the buttery flavors of potatoes.
- Smashed potatoes – These smashed potatoes are topped with sour cream, cream cheese, and diced onions. It’s unbelievably delicious!
- Bombay potatoes – Love Indian food? I make these rich Bombay potatoes frequently and serve them with a side of Basmati rice.
Make a loaded baked potato using a sweet potato or russet potato. If you are in the mood to try another Instant Pot soup recipe I have a quinoa soup that you will devour.
💌 Sharing is caring
Don’t be shy, chime in below in the comments. Let me hear your opinion on this Instant Pot chunky potato soup recipe. If you enjoyed this, please give it 5 stars and share it on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram.
Instant Pot Chunky Potato Soup
Equipment
- 1 Immersion Blender
- 1 large knife
Ingredients
For the potatoes
- 3 medium red potatoes 1.15lbs before cooking, washed
- 2 small red potatoes 0.41lbs before cooking, washed
- 2 cup water for putting in the Instant Pot Container
For the Soup
- ¼ fennel ½ cup when chopped
- 3 Tbsp water
- 1 clove garlic 3g when minced
- 1 inch ginger 4g when minced
- ½ cup frozen peas do not thaw
- ½ cup carrots frozen or fresh
- 1 tsp nutritional yeast
- 3 tsp pink salt
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp black pepper adjust to taste
- 1 cup water divided into 2 equal portions
- 1 cup heavy cream divided into 2 equal portions
For garnish
- 3 leaves basil ribbon shaped
- 1 tsp dill weed
Instructions
For the potatoes
- Put water in the bottom of the pot and place the potatoes in it.3 medium red potatoes, 2 cup water, 2 small red potatoes
- Close it and choose the pressure cook button. Cooking time is 10 minutes on high pressure.
- Once done, let the natural release happen before opening the Instant Pot.
- Let them cool to room temperature.
- Peel skin and keep the medium potatoes separate from the small one.
- Roughly chop the medium potatoes.
For making the soup
- Cut about a ¼ of the fennel bulb only and wash it gently.¼ fennel
- Cut it into small cubes.
- Set the Instant Pot to sauté function and 3 Tbsp of water to the inner container.3 Tbsp water
- Add the fennel, minced garlic and minced ginger into the container.1 clove garlic, 1 inch ginger
- Saute until the fennel is soft (about 4 minutes).
- Add the big potatoes that were roughly chopped earlier
- Add ½ cup of heavy cream and ½ cup of water to the container.1 cup heavy cream, 1 cup water
- Turn off the saute setting and unplug your Instant Pot.
- Using an immersion blender, blend until you get a creamy mixture. Get the mixture as creamy as you can and it’s ok if you have some chunks.
- Now, roughly chop the two small potatoes from earlier.
- Add them to the container, along with the carrots, peas, black pepper, nutritional yeast, salt and Italian seasoning.½ cup frozen peas, ½ cup carrots, 1 tsp nutritional yeast, 3 tsp pink salt, 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning, 1 tsp black pepper
- Finally, add the remaining water and remaining heavy cream.1 cup water, 1 cup heavy cream
- Mix well and close the lid. Press the pressure cook button and set the cook time to 2 minutes.
- Wait for the pressure release valve to drop before opening.
- Transfer to serving bowl, garnish and serve
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Version 1
From time to time, I will go through old recipes to update the content. Sometimes, I update just the images and sometimes, I give the recipe a complete makeover.
I kept the potato and fennel in this recipe, but changed around some of the other ingredients.
The ultimate goal was to simplify this recipe. It felt too complicated, so I turned to my Instant Pot to make it more efficient. Also, I felt it was bland in texture. So, I added the peas and carrots to give it more composition.
And, having chunky potatoes in the soup was the ultimate bonus in texture.
If you want the original recipe, you can get it here.
So incredibly easy – and it tastes perfect.
Thank you, Michelle
I had some cream and potatoes to use up so gave this recipe a try. It was easy to make in the Instant Pot and soooo filling on a cold, snowy winter day.
Thank you, Sage.
Hi there! I recently tried out your chunky Instant Pot potato soup recipe, and I just had to drop a comment to express my gratitude. It was an absolute delight to make and even better to devour! The flavors were rich and comforting, and the chunks of potato added a hearty touch. The Instant Pot made the process so easy and efficient. Thanks for sharing this fantastic recipe – it’s definitely going into my regular meal rotation!
Thank you so much Marianne. I am so happy to hear that. You definitely made my day. 🙂
This Instant Pot chunky potato soup recipe sounds like the perfect comfort food for a chilly day! I love that it’s not only delicious but also ready in just 30 minutes.
Thank you, Jhicel.
I love making soup in the Instant Pot, and this Instant Pot Chunky Potato Soup is no exception! The convenience and speed of the Instant Pot make it a fantastic tool for creating delicious and hearty soups like this one. Happy to hear how my family loved it! Thanks for this recipe!
Thank you, Sheena! I am so delighted to hear that you loved making a soup in the Instant Pot. This appliance has taken over the #1 spot in my home. I used it at least once a day and find it so convenient.