For Christmas this year, I got an Instant Pot. I think it was the most popular present this year. Have you jumped on the Instant Pot craze? Since I got it, I’ve been playing around and trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t. I decided to use it to make an Instant Pot soup. I love soups! How can you not? They are warming, filling and usually pretty economical (hello students!). Since I’ve also been trying to increase the number of healthy recipes in my repertoire, I decided to make an Instant Pot Tomato Chickpea Soup. I love tomato soup, and the addition of the chickpeas gives this soup a boost of fibre and protein.
This soup is great if you have vegans, vegetarians, celiacs, people following gluten-free diets, lactose intolerant friends or people watching their calories over for dinner (sorry Paleo diet friends). You can serve this as a starter or as a meatless Monday main. Bonus, although it’s creamy-tasting, there is no dairy in it!
Don’t have an Instant Pot? You can also make this a “Dinner While You Work” recipe by following the steps (sauté on the stovetop) and putting the ingredients into your slow cooker and cooking on low for 6+ hours.
Prep time: 5 minutes; Cook time: ~ 45 minutes (includes warm up, cooking and release time); Serves: 4 – 8 people (464 – 232 calories, according to Myfitnesspal)
What you need:
- 3 cups cooked chickpeas (see last week’s post here) (or two 19 oz cans drained)
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 1 jalapeño pepper, membrane and seeds removed, diced (this does not make it spicy)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced (I used 2 small)
- 1 medium (I used 4 small) white potato, diced
- 4 large (or 6 small) cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 tbsp minced ginger (I used the jarred stuff)
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- salt, pepper to taste
- green onion, diced for garnish
- lemon wedges (optional)
- Parmigiano-Reggiano (optional)
What you do:
- Put your Instant Pot on “Sauté”, when it gets hot, add the olive oil and the onions and garlic
- Stir and cook for approximately 2 minutes until soft
- Add the ginger and paprika, stir
- Cancel the sauté setting
- Add the chickpeas, red pepper, jalapeño pepper, potatoes
- Stir to coat
- Add the crushed tomatoes and vegetable stock
- Give it a good stir to scrape up any bits on the bottom
- Seal your lid and set your Instant Pot to “Soup” for 15 minutes
- Let it “naturally release” for 10 minutes and then “quick release”
- Carefully remove the lid
- Use an immersion blender (or put in batches in a blender), puree until smooth
- Serve with green onion
- Optional: squeeze a lemon wedge just at the end for a burst of flavour (highly recommended)
- Optional: serve with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- Enjoy!
- Healthy, hearty and high in protein and fibre!
- Shhhhh! Don’t tell them that this is good for you!
