Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker Weight Loss Vegetable Soup
This Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker Weight Loss Vegetable Soup is loaded with fresh carrots, broccoli, squash, spinach, and more. Inspired by a Weight Watchers zero point recipe, there are no oils or fats in this soup, making it a healthy lunch, starter, or snack.
A Pressure Cooking Today reader sent me the recipe for this stovetop Weight Loss Vegetable Soup and asked me how I’d make it in the Instant Pot. I’m always looking for ways to add fresh vegetables to my diet, so I was excited to get started!
Want to try other easy recipes? Check out our favorite collection of Pressure Cooker / Instant Pot recipes and get inspired for meal time.
This recipe is really flexible and works with whatever vegetables you have on hand! Switch out cabbage or kale for the spinach, omit the peppers and add celery, or toss in frozen veggies—no change to the cook time needed.
Best of all, this weight loss soup recipe makes a big batch, so you’ll have lots of extras to freeze in individual portions for later.
Pressure Cooker Weight Loss Vegetable Soup
The original recipe is a Weight Watchers 0 points recipe. I’ve changed it up a little to fit my family’s tastes by adding V8 to the recipe. I really like the extra flavor and color the V8 adds to the broth. (Just FYI, the old points system lists V8 as 0 points. I’m seeing mixed messages about how it would score in the points plus system. So if you’re following a strict Weight Watchers plan, be sure to adjust the ingredients for your needs.)
ADDING BEANS AND MEAT TO SOUP
If you’re looking for a heartier soup, add a can of kidney beans (pressure cooker baked beans recipe here) or cooked chicken breasts—both zero point foods. Normally I keep diced grilled chicken on hand in my freezer, but we were out. So I just cooked up some frozen chicken breasts seasoned with garlic and basil! Then I reused the chicken broth I used for cooking the chicken when I cooked this low-fat vegetable soup.
(While the recipe calls for vegetable broth, I just use whatever I have on hand.)
For those not following the Weight Watchers plan in your family, you can add cooked noodles or rice to help fill out the meal. Also, since the soup doesn’t specify an amount of salt when cooking, you’ll need to salt and pepper each bowl to taste when serving
Customize this soup with your favorite seasonings. (Try fresh basil, oregano, and rosemary or mix it up with lemon pepper or taco seasoning.) However, I don’t recommend skipping the red pepper flakes! They don’t add much heat, but they do add quite a bit of flavor.
How to Make Weight Loss Vegetable Soup in Your Instant Pot or Electric Pressure Cooker
An Instant Pot is one of the most popular brands of electric pressure cookers. They are easy to use and your Instant Pot can help you create this delicious Weight Watchers zero point vegetable soup!
Sauteing Vegetables without Oil or Butter
Unlike a lot of classic vegetable soup recipes, like my Instant Pot Minestrone or Basil-Pesto Vegetable Soups, this soup does not use butter or oil to saute the onions, garlic, and carrots. Sauteing these vegetables adds a lot of flavor to your soup, so don’t skip it.
However, you can still get the flavor without the butter and oils by putting the ingredients in your cold cooking pot before turning on the saute setting. Starting cold allows these aromatic vegetables to release their juices as the pan heats up so they won’t stick to the pot.
Setting a Zero Minute Cook Time in Your Pressure Cooker
Since this Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker Weight Loss Vegetable Soup is made of only vegetables, it has just a 1 minute cook time. This cooks the veggies until they are crisp-tender.
If you want a little more crunch to your vegetables, try a 0 minute cook time.
In a 0 minute cook time, your pressure cooker will switch off (or to the Keep Warm setting) as soon as it reaches pressure. Some models of pressure cooker, like the Instant Pot, allow you to set the cook time to zero.
However, you can still use a 0 minute cook time if your brand of electric pressure cooker doesn’t allow you to set a time that low. Most units have a light or a sound that indicates that the machine has come to pressure. As soon as you notice this, simply turn off your pressure cooker.
Trick to Cooking Your Pressure Cooker Soups Even Faster
One trick I love for making brothy soups is reserving some of the liquids to add after pressure cooking!
Soups can take a long time to reach pressure thanks to all the liquid in the pot. However, you don’t always have to add the full amount of liquid before you pressure cook the soup.
By reserving some of the broth to add after pressure cooking, your soup will come to pressure a little quicker. Also, adding liquid after pressure cooking helps cool down the soup and gets it on your table more quickly.
Since this Instant Pot vegetable soup recipe is loaded with fresh vegetables, initially there’s not enough broth to cover them. However, as the pot comes to pressure, the vegetables will release liquid and sink down below the broth line.
RECIPE PAIRINGS WITH INSTANT POT VEGETABLE SOUP:
- Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker Cornbread
- Pressure Cooker Stuffing
- Pressure Cooker / Instant Pot Garlic Roasted Red Potatoes
- Pressure Cooker Baked Beans
Because of how flexible this recipe is, this soup is keto-friendly, gluten-free, and fit for the cabbage soup diet—or just right for anyone who wants to eat healthy.
Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker Weight Loss Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 1 small onion, diced (about 1 cup)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 carrots, diced (about 1 cup)
- 4 3/4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, divided
- 2 cans (5.5 ounces each) low-sodium V8
- 1 can (14 ounces) diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 cups spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 cup frozen cut Italian green beans
- 1 to 2 whole bell peppers, seeded and diced
- 2 cups diced broccoli florets
- 1 cup diced yellow squash
- 1 cup diced zucchini
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place onion, garlic, and carrots in a cold pressure cooking pot. Select Saute and cook until vegetables release a little liquid and soften, about 5 minutes.
- Add 2 3/4 cups vegetable broth and V8 and stir. Add tomato paste, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, and bay leaves. Stir until well mixed.
- Add spinach, Italian green beans, bell peppers, diced tomatoes, broccoli, yellow squash, and zucchini. Lock lid in place and select High Pressure and 1 minute cook time.*
- When cook time ends use a quick pressure release.*
- Add remaining 2 cups broth. Remove bay leaf before serving.
Notes
* If you prefer crisper vegetables, you can try a 0 minute cook time. If foam or liquid starts to emerge from the pressure release valve, return to the sealed position and wait about 30 seconds, then try the release again.
**If you're a fan of cabbage soup, replace all or part of the spinach with diced cabbage.
Looking for more healthy Instant Pot recipes? Check out my roundup of 25+ Healthy Recipes You Can Make in the Instant Pot / Electric Pressure Cooker. Whether you’re looking for low-fat, low-carb, or veggie-heavy recipes, this roundup has something for everyone!
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- Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
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- All our Instant Pot Soup Recipes
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How does this recipe only cook for one minute? I don’t understand…soup has to cook for hours in a crock pot and I don’t see how this recipe wouldn’t take longer. How can it taste good if only takes one minute???
Hi Julie – using vegetable broth and V8 gives the soup lots of flavor without a long cook time. The short cook time keeps the vegetables from getting too soft. Enjoy!
What can I use instead of V8? Lots of sodium
The low sodium V8 only has 140 mg of sodium but if you want you could add 2 cans of tomatoes instead.
Do you know how may calories/servings?
Hi Malinda – it makes about 8 servings. I’ve updated the recipe with the nutritional information. Enjoy!
You just keep encouraging in so many ways Barbara…:)…..Thank you for that! I just have to add some cabbage too.
General question about coming to pressure:
If the liquid (or ingredients in general) are hot when I put them in, does that tend to make it come to pressure faster? Thanks! I have been wondering this and never seen it addressed.
Hi Becky – yes, if you use hot liquids it will come to pressure faster. With some things like this soup, it may be nice to have it come to pressure faster. But some things, like hard boiled eggs, your eggs may not be cooked through because it shortens the cook time.
Thank you for pointing that out.
Start hot for most stuff but eggs not … start cold works best.
I’m all about vegetable soups so this is right up my alley. Robin is always looking for new WW ideas so I sent this to her just in case she didn’t see it. She’s got that points thing down to a science, I swear. Thanks Barbara!