This easy vegan Instant Pot kale soup with quinoa is very unforgettable! This creamy soup is packed with protein, and essential nutrients, and is naturally gluten-free. Ready in just 30 minutes.
This Instant Pot soup recipe is like no other kale soup recipe you have ever tasted!
It’s so warm and comforting that even my toes were warmed up after just one spoonful.
Do you know what this soup is like? It’s like wearing a warm sweater while sitting in front of a fireplace and holding a cup of hot chocolate!
Originally published on December 15, 2021 at 4:30pm. 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 bottom of this post.
Quinoa – This is a superfood! Quinoa is considered a complete protein and should be consumed as a meal whenever possible. It’s a great source of protein for vegans.
Purple kale – This color of kale has one amazing ingredient. The polyphenols in it are important for your brain and overall mood. Purple kale is also packed with antioxidants, fiber, and essential nutrients. Did you know that they have a masterclass on Kale?? That’s a class I want to try.
Broccoli – It is one of my favorite veggies of all time! Broccoli has so much nutrition, like Vitamin C, Iron, and Potassium. It’s also our ally in the fight against cancer. Source: National Kidney Foundation.
Mushrooms – Whenever I post mushroom recipes on my social media, many people respond that they dislike them. That just saddens me because there is so much nutrition in it. Check out FreshCap’s deep dive into this fungi!
Red Beans – Who would think these tiny beans are packed with protein and vitamins!? They are also easier to cook than the large beans. If you don’t have them on hand, sub with ¼ of red kidney beans or black beans.
If you don’t want to use mushroom stock, try this homemade vegan chicken bouillon recipe made with pantry ingredients.
🥬 Substitution tip: The beauty of this recipe is that you can add any veggie of choice. Add things like zucchini, cauliflower, and green beans.
Freezing and storing this soup
I am so happy I made a soup recipe that can be used later! It doesn’t happen often, so I am doing a little dance of joy right now.
This instant pot kale soup with quinoa will taste just as delicious when eaten a few days later. Make a big batch and then store it for future use or in meal prep recipes.
I put the soup into individual portion containers so they are easy to freeze and thaw when needed. I thaw the soup just enough to transfer it into a soup pan.
Then, I heat it for about 5 minutes on the stovetop. The flavors were retained during the freezing and thawing process, which is very good news.
P/S: You can also make purple kale salad with pomegranate.
🥬 Substitution tip: Don’t have purple kale? You can put in any kale you find in your local grocery store.
More ingredients to add
- Veggies like cauliflower, squashes, zucchini, sweet potatoes, and carrots.
- Seasonings like Creole seasoning, Italian seasoning, Old Bay, or any seasoning blend.
- Add ingredients like capers and spicy brown mustard for a more tangy taste.
- More proteins like brown rice, tofu, and tempeh.
- Add any veggies you have on hand. If you have stray veggies, why not pickle them?
For me, having beans in my soup is a must. It adds texture and protein to my soup, making it hearty. If you are a bean soup lover, you must make this Tuscan white bean soup! It’s so hearty and delicious.
Don’t skip the mushrooms in this recipe. They add so much texture to the soup. If you are like me and love mushrooms in soups, then this Hungarian mushroom soup is right in your wheelhouse.
🫘 Handy Tip: If you have time, use dry small red beans soaked overnight. In the morning, cook them in the pressure cooker before making the soup.
What to serve with instant pot kale quinoa soup
- Spinach Salad – A spinach salad goes well with this quinoa soup.
- Tomato sandwich – Soup and sandwich is a time-honored tradition.
- Beet Chips – Top your soup with these chips for added nutrition and flavor.
- Brussels sprouts pilaf – This is a hearty dinner recipe made with easy ingredients.
- Sweet potato wedges – These wedges are a perfect substitute for French fries. They are made with sweet potatoes and oven-baked.
The Instant Pot is not the only appliance for making soup. How about an Air Fryer? Katy Kicker did just that! Check out her Air Fryer Roasted Tomato Soup.
🍽 About this recipe: This recipe is vegan-friendly, vegetarian-friendly, and low-carb friendly too.
How to make Instant Pot kale soup
1) Open your Instant Pot lid and set it to “Saute”.
2) Add 1 Tbsp coconut oil to the pan and let it melt
3) Put 1 tsp cumin seeds in the oil and let them brown for about 30 seconds
4) Add 1 tsp turmeric powder and 1 tsp black pepper
5) Add 3 cloves of diced garlic and 1 Tbsp of minced ginger to the pan. Mix it and cook for 30 seconds
6) Put in 1/2 cup of red beans
7) Add 1/2 cup of diced mushrooms, 1/2 of a yellow or red bell pepper, and 1 cup of broccoli florets. Optional: ¼ of a red onion, diced.
8) Give it a quick stir
9) Add the 2 tsp pink salt
10) Add a 1/4 cup of quinoa
11) Pour 2 cups of water into the instant pot (you can sub water with vegetable broth).
12) Add 1 tsp cumin powder and 1 tsp red chili powder (½ teaspoon, if you can’t handle this spice). Mix well and close the lid
13) Choose the “Rice” option and remove the “keep warm” option. Also make sure that it is set at high pressure.
14) Once the instant pot is done cooking and the valve has dropped, gently open the lid. Do a quick stir of the soup.
15) Add 2 Tbsp mushroom stock
16) Pour in 1 cup of coconut milk
17) Finally, put in 4 leaves of roughly chopped purple kale.
18) Close the lid again, choose the “Pressure Cook” option, and set the time to 5 minutes. Remove the “Keep Warm” option
19) Let the instant pot go through the cook cycle and wait for the pressure valve to drop. Open it up gently, add 1 tsp of fresh lemon juice, and give it a final stir.
20) This quinoa vegetable soup is ready to serve. Optionally, garnish with fresh herbs.
A few more soup recipes
Acorn squash soup
Making these amazing acorn squash soups is my take on Panera’s acorn squash soup. My soup is vegan-friendly.
Butternut squash soup
Give yourself a soup break by making this Latin-inspired soup recipe made with butternut squash zoodles
Sweet potato soup
A creamy and delicious vegan sweet potato soup that everyone will love.
Healthy recipes like this quinoa soup are easy to make. Check out my collection of the easiest healthy recipes. I also have an Instant Pot quinoa and small red beans with Cuban flavors that is super delicious.
What do you think about having quinoa in soup?
Sharing is caring!
Don’t be shy, chime in below in the comments. Your feedback on this Instant Pot quinoa and kale soup recipe is highly appreciated. If you enjoyed this, please give it 5 stars and share it on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
Instant Pot Kale Soup with Quinoa
Equipment
- Instant Pot (6qt)
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic diced into small pieces
- 1 Tbsp ginger minced
- 1/2 cup red beans from a can, thouroughly washed
- 1/2 cup mushrooms diced, I used baby bell mushrooms
- 1/2 bell pepper diced
- 1 cup broccoli florets I used just the florets
- 2 tsp pink salt or regular salt
- 1/4 cup quinoa dry, uncooked quinoa
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp red chili powder optional, adjust to taste
- 2 Tbsp mushroom stock or use vegetable stock
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 4 leaves purple kale or regular curly kale
- 1 tsp lemon juice fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Open your instant pot lid and set the cook to "Saute"
- Add coconut oil to the pan and let it melt
- Put cumin seeds in the oil and let them brown for about 30 seconds
- Add turmeric and black pepper
- Add garlic and ginger to the pan. Mix it and cook for 30 seconds
- Put red beans
- Add mushrooms, bell pepper and broccoli florets
- Give it a quick stir
- Add the pink sink
- Add quinoa
- Pour water into the instant pot
- Add cumin powder red chili powder. Mix well and close the lid
- Choose the “Rice” option and remove the “keep warm” option.
- Once the instant pot is done cooking and the valve has dropped, gently open the lid. Give it a quick stir.
- Add mushroom stock
- Pour in coconut milk
- Finally, put in the purple kale.
- Close the lid again, choose the “Pressure Cook” option and set the time to 5 minutes. Remove the “Keep Warm” option
- Let the instant pot go through the cook cycle and wait for the pressure valve to drop.
- Open it up gently, add lemon juice and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- If you add more ingredients in this recipe or change them, you will have to adjust your cook times. The times I have mentioned in my recipe are set to my ingredients.
- I used purple kale because I had it on hand. You can use any kale you have.
- Don’t add the kale until towards the end because it will wilt and loose all it’s nutrients.
- I use red chili powder in it because I like a little kick. I urge you to use it too because chili powder has a way of warming you up.
- To make this soup cook faster, I used canned red beans which I washed thoroughly before adding to the soup. If you have time, soak dry beans overnight. Pressure cook them separately before adding to the soup. It’s extra work, but, worth it.
- Add any veggies you have on hand. I had mushrooms that were on their last leg. So, I put them in it before they went bad. Even broccoli and bell peppers were left over from other recipes.
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
This recipe was not changed and the ingredients/instructions are still the same as the original. What was changed was the text in the post itself to remove grammar errors and make the whole post more readable.
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This is such a great winter soup. Love all the ingredients and added quinoa. It’s so healthy and looks delicious. I’m making it for sure after the holidays.
Thank you, Natalie
This soup looks so amazing! I love the flavors and especially that I can make it in my instant pot!
Thank you, Chenee
Oh my goodness the soup has so much flavor and is definitely filling without being too heavy. Love the combination of flavors and the easy instructions, thank you!
Thank you, Chandice
This is such a great recipe to make when you feel under the weather and it is super delicious. Thank you for sharing this recipe, I cant wait to make it again!
Thank you, Ramona
This is such a hearty, delicious soup! I just so happened to have everything on hand to make the soup and it came together so quickly. I froze some of it so I’m grateful I’ll have nutritious lunches to keep us running through the holidays!
Thank you, Marie
This soup looks super hearty, filling, and tasty. I love the fact that it’s vegan as well.
Thank you, Moop
To tell you the truth, I had never had quinoa in a soup before, until my daughter made it for me. Absolutely delicious! Then Nicoletta made a simple turmeric and quinoa soup and just loved it!😋❤ your soup looks amazing love the cumin and the addition of coconut milk. Great tip for freezing too!😁🥰😋
Thanks to both of you. Glad you liked it.
I’m trying to eat more plant based meals and this soup is fabulous! Hearty, healthy and tastes great.
Thank you, Brianna.
The soup is pleasingly creamy with plenty of substance to fill you up. Add some crusty bread like we did, your lunch will be complete.
Thank you.