Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup is the ultimate cozy-comfy, super satisfying meal when you’re short on time but want that slow-simmered taste of a soup that’s been cooking for hours. Filled with veggies and tender beef, it’s easy on the budget and sure to be a family favorite comfort food recipe.
Satisfying Soup Recipe Without the Wait
If you’re craving a big hearty bowl of comforting soup that will warm you from the inside out but didn’t plan ahead to make it happen, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered with this easy Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup.
Thanks to the magic of pressure cooking, what would take hours to accomplish on the stovetop, takes a total time of less than an hour start to finish. And most of that time is hands-off time so you’re free to catch up on those life tasks that never seem to end or just relax and take a moment to breathe.
What are the Ingredients in this soup?
- Beef stew meat – ‘Stew meat’ or any tougher cut of meat that benefits from slow (or in this case fast but under high pressure) moist-heat cooking. Is made by cutting beef chuck roast (or shoulder) or round (rump) roast into cubes. Buying a large roast and cutting your own stew meat at home is a great way to save money.
- Avocado oil or olive oil
- Potatoes – Yukon Gold potatoes, or Russet potatoes, leaving the skin on to increase the fiber while cutting down on prep time. Sweet potatoes or butternut squash would also work
- Celery and Carrots
- Onion and Garlic
- Green beans – You can use fresh or frozen veggies
- Frozen peas
- Diced tomatoes – If you prefer a more rich tomato flavor we recommend adding 4-6 ounces of tomato paste
- Beef broth – you can also use beef stock but may need to add an additional teaspoon salt if unsalted
- Thyme – fresh or dried thyme or use oregano if that’s what you have on hand
- Italian seasoning
- Fine salt and black pepper
Find the ingredient list with exact measurements in the recipe card below
How to Make Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup in Your Instant Pot
- Brown the beef cubes: Select the ‘saute’ function on your Instant Pot. Add the oil to the bottom of the pot. When it starts to shimmer, add half of the meat and cook for 2-3 minutes until browned. Flip the cubes of beef over and repeat on the other side. Remove meat to a plate and repeat browning with the remaining beef cubes. Press ‘Cancel’ when the second half of the meat has been browned. Return all meat to the Instant Pot.
- Add the vegetables: to the Instant Pot, add the onions, potatoes, carrots, celery, garlic, diced tomatoes, broth, thyme, and Italian seasoning (reserving the frozen peas and green beans for later). Stir, lock the lid into place, set value to ‘Sealing’ position then set cooking time for 20 minutes at high pressure. We found that 20 minutes is the perfect time to make the beef nice and tender and the vegetables just perfect (not mushy).
- Release the pressure: After cooking time is up, allow for 10 minutes of natural pressure release before flipping the vent valve to ‘venting’ to quick release any residual pressure. Remove the lid. Press ‘Cancel’ then select the ‘Sauté’ function.
- Add frozen vegetables: Add remaining ingredients (frozen peas and frozen green beans) to the soup. Stir then cook for 5-6 minutes or until they are heated through. Taste your homemade vegetable beef soup and season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
For the complete directions and ingredient amounts, scroll down to the recipe card below. All of our recipes include nutrition information, listing kcal, protein, carbohydrates/carb, fiber, sugar, sodium, cholesterol, total fat, and more per serving.
How to Freeze Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup
Allow soup to cool to room temperature. Then place in the refrigerator to cool completely before transferring it to the freezer. We like to freeze the soup in airtight containers, reusable zip top bags, or souper cubes.
Ensuring that the soup is chilled before freezing reduces the number of ice crystals that form on the surface. Ice crystals on the surface increase the chances of freezer burn during long storage periods so take the time to cool and chill before you freeze for best results.
To help your soup cool faster for freezing
To help your vegetable beef soup cool faster, we suggest placing in a large, shallow glass container and stirring it occasionally. A shallow container creates more surface area for cooling and stirring brings hot soup from the bottom of the container to the top where it can cool faster.
To reheat the soup
Add the desired amount of thawed soup to a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 1 ½ minutes. Stir and continue to heat for 30 second increments until hot. To reheat on the stovetop, place soup in a pot over medium heat. Heat until soup reaches a desired temperature stirring every 30 seconds. You can also heat from frozen. You’ll just need to add additional time.
What to Serve with Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup
While a hearty soup like this vegetable beef Instant pot soup is basically a meal in a bowl, it never hurts to serve it with a biscuit to mop up all that goodness. These gluten-free Garlic Cheddar Biscuits are one of our favorites for the soup season. Another option is our gluten-free Sweet Potato Buttermilk Biscuits.
5 Reasons to Buy an Instant Pot
If you’re one of the select few who has yet to get on the Instant Pot train, don’t fret. We have a recipe for Slow Cooker Beef Stew and Crockpot Hamburger Soup that’s made with ground beef – they are both remarkably similar to this Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup recipe. But if you’re on the fence about taking the plunge and getting yourself an Instant Pot, let us give you a little nudge:
- It’s more than a pressure cooker – Though most people use their Instant Pot almost exclusively for pressure cooking, it’s actually a ‘multi-cooker’. It has many functions that allow you to do everything from sauteing, steaming, making yogurt, slow cooking, and more.
- It’s efficient – the Instant Pot uses little energy because cooking times are significantly reduced as compared to slow cooking.
- It’s safe – All of the Instant Pot models have 10 or more built-in safety mechanisms making them the safest way to pressure cook.
- It’s easy to clean – Both the inner stainless steel pot and the lid are dishwasher safe. The pot can be washed in the bottom rack of your dishwasher and the lid and seal can be washed on the top rack.
- You forgot to take the meat out of the freezer – It happens to all of us! Thankfully, with an Instant Pot, you can go from frozen to ready-to-eat in very little time. Check out these 5 foods that can be cooked from frozen.
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Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup
Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup is complete with nutritious vegetables, tender hunks of beef, and pantry spices. Thanks to pressure cooking, it takes less than an hour to make from start to finish.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb. beef stew meat
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil or olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 lb. potatoes, cut into ½ -inch cubes, skin on (Red, Yukon Gold, or Russet will work)
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
- 2 ribs celery, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with their liquid
- 4 cups beef broth
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1 cup frozen green beans (may substitute fresh green beans cut and trimmed into 1-inch pieces)
- 1 cup frozen peas
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
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Select ‘Saute’ on the Instant Pot.
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Add 1 tablespoon oil to the bottom of the pot. When it starts to shimmer, add half of the meat, season the beef cubes with a little salt and pepper, and cook for 2-3 minutes until browned. Flip and repeat until browned on all sides.
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Transfer meat to a plate and repeat with remaining oil and beef. Press ‘Cancel’ when the second half of the meat has been browned. Return all meat to the Instant Pot.
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Add the onion, potatoes, carrots, celery, garlic, diced tomatoes, beef broth, thyme, and Italian seasoning to the Instant Pot. Stir, lock the lid into place, set the vent valve to the ‘sealing’ position, and cook on high pressure for 20 minutes.
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Allow for 10 minutes of natural release before flipping the value to the ‘venting’ position to release any remaining pressure.
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Press ‘Cancel’ then select the ‘Saute’ setting. Add the frozen green beans and frozen peas and cook for 5-6 minutes or until tender.
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Season with additional salt and pepper to taste before serving.
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Notes
SLOW COOKER: For a slow cooker beef soup cook on low in the slow cooker for 6-8 hours. Add the frozen green beans and frozen peas 30 minutes before serving. Add more broth if needed.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size: 1/6th recipe
- Calories: 410
- Fat: 24g
- (Sat Fat: 9g)
- Sodium: 275mg
- Carbohydrate: 19g
- (Fiber: 5g
- Sugar: 5g)
- Protein: 28g
Dietary
Frequently Asked Questions
If you’re soup tastes bland, adding something acidic will help bring out the flavors. Try adding a splash of apple cider vinegar or a squeeze of lemon juice. For a more rich flavored soup, add 2-3 tablespoons tomatoes paste or a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Another option to enhance the flavor is to add additional herbs such as bay leaves, oregano, or basil and season with salt and pepper to taste.
This recipe makes 6 servings, about 1 1/2 cups per serving.
This classic beef soup recipe calls for onion, garlic, potatoes, carrots, celery, frozen green beans, and frozen peas. You can substitute or add any additional vegetables as you please such as zucchini, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, parsnips, butternut squash, and more.
Photo Credit: The photos in this blog post were taken by Jess of Plays Well with Butter.
For ultimate success, we highly recommend reading the tips in the full blog post above. All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. If you wish to republish a recipe, please rewrite the recipe in your own unique words. Link back to the source recipe here on The Real Food Dietitians. Thank you!
Mark says
This is such a go to for prepping my lunch during the week. I can have it made inside an hour, and it is highly adaptable. I usually omit the potatoes and use 2 packages of the Trader Joe’s precut mirepoix, a tin or two of green chiles, and loads of garlic. So good!
Stacie Hassing says
Awesome Mark! Thanks for the great feedback on this recipe. We appreciate the 5-star review!
Montana Jan says
Easy and quick soup even though the meat and several other ingredients were frozen. I opted to marinate the partially thawed meat instead of browning it, just to save time. And then I used vegan basil pesto instead of Italian seasoning. And frozen baby limas in place of the peas. It all worked great in the Instant Pot, and there’s leftovers! Yay!
Stacie Hassing says
Thanks so much for the feedback and 5-star review!
Lisa says
Making this tonight and I am a bit disappointed in the flavors. Sadly. I think the tomatoes kind of kill it for me. But also the meat is a bit over done and I have only cooked it for 3 hrs on high in slow cooker. Used the same call for liquid. Any ideas what’s wrong?
Jessie Shafer says
Hi Lisa, we’re sorry to hear this recipe missed the mark for you and that tomatoes aren’t your preference. In a slow cooker, tough cuts of meat benefit from a long and slow simmer, so our recommendation is cooking on low for 6-8 hours, as the meat should get more tender over time.
Terese says
It takes only minutes to prepare. I floured coated my beef before sauteing–just a preference thing for added thickness to the broth/sauce. I passed on the frozen veggies and loaded up on the others. One of the great things about this recipe is that you can work with what you have (echoing other posts). Some other recipes create unnecessary work prior to pressure cooking; after sauteing the meat, they have you saute the vegetables, too, which takes more time to cook. The reason I bought an instant pot was to save time, so I cut those added steps and notice no change in the outcome. Many thanks to Jessica for sharing it and to others who added their tips! YUM!
Stacie Hassing says
Thank you so much for the feedback and 5-star review Terese!
Wayne Darnaby says
I made it and it’s delicious. I will make it again. Thank you for sharing.
Stacie Hassing says
Thank you for the 5-star review!