This Instant Pot Creamy Vegetable Soup is packed with plenty of vegetables and potatoes, cooked in a seasoned creamy base, and finished off with cheese! A family favorite amongst kids and adults, this soup is perfect on a cold evening.
This is one of my Soup recipes I know you’ll want to keep on hand!
Have you seen a lot of snow in your area? Here in the Midwest, we’ve seen a decent amount lately, which makes me think it’s time for a new soup recipe!
Not only are soups delicious, but they absolutely hit the spot on a cold evening.
Plus, soup is great to make ahead of time, or at least prep ahead, which is absolutely perfect for those weeknights where you need dinner on the table pretty quickly!
This soup is hearty and savory; packed with plenty of tasty veggies in a rich and creamy broth, then topped with a sprinkle of cheddar and crispy bacon!
How to make creamy vegetable soup in the Instant Pot?
This is just an overview; the full ingredients and directions are in the recipe card toward the bottom of this post.
- Cook bacon. Remove it to a paper towel lined plate and reserve the drippings in the pot.
- Cook veggies. The base vegetables for this recipe are onion, celery, and carrots. Cook them in that reserved bacon grease.
- Add more veggies and broth. Add the broccoli and potatoes, then pour in the broth.
- Pressure cook. For this recipe you’ll want to use high pressure for 7 minutes.
- Pressure release. Let the pot sit on it’s own for 8-10 minutes, then release any remaining pressure.
- Make slurry. A slurry is a mixture of cornstarch and a cold liquid (heavy cream in this case).
- Add slurry and corn. Stir well, the slurry will thicken the soup.
- Serve.
Helpful Tip!
This recipe is written as a soup that’s cooked in an Instant Pot, but if you’d prefer to cook it in the slow cooker or on the stovetop, don’t worry. I’ve included those directions down in the “Chef Tips” section right below the full written recipe.
Variations of this recipe
- Different veggies – please feel free to add some of your favorite vegetables to this soup! Mushrooms, squash, peas, green beans, etc would all be great additions.
- No bacon – if you’re not a bacon fan, you can omit the bacon from this recipe. Just add a drizzle of olive oil to the pot before you cook the onion, celery, and carrots (since there won’t be bacon drippings there to cook them in).
- Chicken – looking to bump up the protein? Try adding some cooked shredded chicken to the soup (when you add the cream and corn). We love picking up a rotisserie chicken for this!
- Potatoes – we love the soft and tender texture of russet potatoes, but this soup will work well with gold or red potatoes as well. Just make sure you either peel the potatoes, or scrub them really well.
- Dairy – this soup can be made with a variety of other dairy options, such as evaporated milk, whole milk, and half and half. Just make sure you have total cup (8 fl oz).
- Other cooking methods – I’ve included directions for making this soup in a slow cooker and on the stovetop in the “Chef Tips” section below the recipe card
FAQ’s
Absolutely, with two changes. First, omit the bacon and use a drizzle of olive oil to saute the veggies (rather than the reserved bacon drippings). Lastly, use vegetable broth instead of chicken. You can still use the cheese on top as a garnish if you’d like.
I believe so, however, please know that we don’t have any gluten intolerances or allergies, so I would definitely double check all the ingredients to make sure for yourself. Also different brands of things like chicken broth may contain gluten, so you’ll have to read the labels of ingredients to be sure.
Making creamy vegetable soup ahead of time
Not only can the whole soup be made ahead of time, you can also prep most of the ingredients, which means this meal will come together very quickly.
How to prep ahead for this recipe:
- Bacon – can be diced and stored in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
- Onion, celery, and carrots – veggies can be diced, then stored in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
- Garlic – can be minced and stored in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
- Broccoli – if using fresh broccoli, it can be cut into small florets and stored in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
- Cornstarch – can be pre-measured and stored at room temperature until ready to cook.
- Seasonings – all the seasonings can be pre-measured and stored at room temperature until ready to cook.
Freezing
Due to the dairy and potatoes, I don’t recommend freezing this soup.
Dairy can separate during the freezing and thawing process, and the texture of potatoes after freezing and thawing isn’t always pleasant.
However, this has just been my experience, so feel free to experiment if you’d like.
Storage
Leftovers should be refrigerated in an airtight container and eaten within 3-4 days.
More Instant Pot Soup Recipes:
My Favorite Instant Pot!
I love this model’s features like a completely flat bottom insert, as well as a locking insert, making stirring super easy. Plus, it automatically switches to sealing when you lock the lid!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 3 slices bacon sliced lengthwise, then diced
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 stalk celery diced
- 2 medium carrots peeled and diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme
- 2 cups small broccoli florets
- 1 – 2 russet potatoes peeled and diced into small pieces (you want about 3 cups of diced potatoes)
- 4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth divided
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 8 oz can whole kernel corn drained
Garnishes
- finely shredded cheddar cheese
- cooked bacon
- minced fresh chives or scallions
- sprinkle of black pepper
Instructions
Saute
- Turn on Instant Pot and select “saute”. Once hot, add diced bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally, until bacon is crispy. Remove to a paper towel lined plate with a slotted spoon, reserving the bacon grease in the pot.
- Add onion, celery and carrot and saute until onion is soft and translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds, until fragrant.
Deglaze
- Season with salt, pepper, and paprika and stir to combine. Add about 1 cup of the chicken broth and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to make sure no browned bits are stuck on there.
Pressure cook
- Add broccoli florets and diced potatoes, then add remaining chicken broth. Give a gentle stir.
- Press “cancel” to cancel the saute mode.
- Secure Instant Pot lid, and make sure the valve is set to “sealing”. Press “pressure cook” or “manual” mode, and adjust the time so the display reads 7 minutes.
Pressure release
- Once cooking time has elapsed, don’t touch the Instant Pot and let the pressure release naturally for 5-10 minutes (this is a natural pressure release). After that amount of time, release any remaining pressure by moving the valve to "venting".
Thicken
- In a small mixing bowl, add heavy cream and cornstarch. Whisk or stir together until smooth.
- Select “saute”, and pour the cream and cornstarch mixture into the soup. Add corn and stir well to combine everything.
- Let soup simmer a few minutes, until thickened to your liking.
- Taste and add more seasonings if needed.
Serve
- Serve hot, garnished with the crispy bacon from the beginning, a sprinkle of finely shredded cheddar cheese, a sprinkle of fresh minced chives, and a dash of black pepper.
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Chef Tips
- Cooking time doesn’t include the time the Instant Pot takes to come up to pressure, since this will vary from person to person. For reference, my pot usually takes about 15 minutes.
Stovetop Directions:
- Heat a large dutch oven (or whatever you like to cook soup in), over MED LOW heat.
- Add bacon and cook until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate, reserving the grease.
- Add onion, celery, and carrots, and increase heat to MED. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes, until soft and translucent.
- Add garlic and cook about 30 seconds.
- Season with salt, pepper, paprika, and thyme.
- Pour in about a cup of the chicken broth, using a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pot to release any browned bits.
- Add broccoli and potatoes, then pour in the remaining 3 cups of chicken broth.
- Stir, and increase heat to MED HIGH. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to MED LOW and simmer (uncovered) for about 12-15 minutes, until potatoes and carrots are fork tender.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the heavy cream and cornstarch until smooth. Add mixture to the pot, add the drained corn, and stir well.
- Simmer for several minutes, stirring often, until soup is thickened to your liking.
- Taste and add more seasonings if you’d like.
- Garnish and serve.
Slow Cooker Directions:
- Add the onion, celery, carrots, garlic, salt, pepper, paprika, thyme, broccoli, russet potatoes, and chicken broth (no need to divide, add the full 4 cups) to the insert of a slow cooker.
- Stir well, then cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours (this hasn’t been tested cooked on high), until potatoes and carrots are fork tender.
- Switch the slow cooker heat to HIGH at this point.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the heavy cream and cornstarch until smooth. Add mixture to the slow cooker, and add the drained corn.
- Stir well and cook on HIGH, uncovered, for about 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the soup is thickened to your liking.
- Taste and add more seasonings if you’d like.
- Garnish and serve.
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Beth says
Oh, yum! I love the creamy base here, and all of those veggies with the bacon are amazing!