September marks the start of pumpkin season, so say hello to this Instant Pot Pumpkin Lasagna Soup! Pumpkin season is usually about the pumpkin sweets – pumpkin muffins, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin cookies, the works.
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE pumpkin treats. But, I also think there are some incredible savory pumpkin recipes that get overlooked. Like this unique and fun pumpkin lasagna soup! If you are wondering, what exactly is a pumpkin lasagna soup, let me explain!
First we turn lasagna into soup form (lasagna soup is a thing, Google it). Then we add the flavors of pumpkin and woodsy herbs to make it taste like Thanksgiving. And that’s how we get a pumpkin lasagna soup!
Why you’ll love this recipe
Fun and Unique. This soup combines everything you love about two great things in life: lasagna and fall flavors. Plus, it’s unique flavor profile is guaranteed to impress.
Easy to Make. The main work involves chopping up and sautéing vegetables. Then you get to dump everything in the Instant Pot and let the machine do its work. So you get to enjoy the flavors of lasagna with a fraction of the work.
Instant Pot Magic. The cook time for this recipe is just 4 minutes, which is far less time than any stovetop soup! (Disclaimer: it does take some time for the soup to come to pressure, like any Instant Pot recipe, but it’s hands-off so you can do other things in the meantime).
Simple Ingredients. This lasagna soup is made with simple, readily available ingredients (think carrots, onions, garlic, chickpeas, lite coconut milk, vegetable broth, fresh herbs, etc.).
Cozy Fall Comfort Food. This pumpkin lasagna soup is the coziest autumn-inspired comfort food! Creamy from lite coconut milk, pumpkiny from, well, the pumpkin, and herbaceous from the bouquet garni, it has everything about fall comfort food that you love!
How to Make Vegan Instant Pot Pumpkin Lasagna Soup
First, chop up your veggies (dice the onions and carrots, and mince the garlic), and break up the lasagna noodles into small pieces. Then, prepare your bouquet garni.
A bouquet garni is a fancy French term for a bundle of herbs tied together. If you don’t have all of the specific herbs called for in the recipe, feel free to double up on another herb or use a similar herb (e.g., if you don’t have oregano, add a sprig of rosemary or add double the amount of thyme).
Then, it’s time to start cooking the soup. Select the Sauté setting on your Instant Pot and add the olive oil. Once it’s hot, add the diced onions and carrots and cook until they start to soften. Then add the garlic sauté for 1-2 minutes.
Deglaze the pot with the vegetable broth, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot.
Then, pour in the coconut milk, chickpeas, lasagna noodle pieces, salt, pepper, nooch, and tuck in the bouquet garni. Finally, scoop the canned pumpkin on top but do not stir the pumpkin into the soup. To help prevent triggering that burn error, I like to spoon or scoop thick ingredients on top of everything else, so they’re less likely to sink to the bottom and scorch the bottom of the pot.
Use the Pressure Cook setting at high pressure for 4 minutes. When the timer is done, perform a quick pressure release. A natural pressure release risks overcooking the lasagna noodles.
While the soup is cooking, you can prepare the Tofu Ricotta. All you need is a food processor and it takes 5 minutes!
When the soup is done, select the Sauté setting and add the tomato sauce, and stir until slightly thickened, just a few minutes. The reason I don’t add the tomato sauce during pressure cooking is it’s one of those very thick, viscous ingredients that is likely to trigger the burn error.
Watch! How to make Instant Pot Pumpkin Lasagna Soup
Tips for making this recipe
Be sure to break up the lasagna noodles into smaller pieces. You don’t need bite-sized pieces, but don’t stick them in the Instant Pot whole. The noodles won’t cook evenly and might stick to the bottom of the pot.
Use traditional lasagna noodles, not the no-boil noodles. I haven’t tried this recipe with the no-boil variety so I can’t say for sure, but 4 minutes was perfect for my traditional lasagna noodles, so it’s possible that 4 minutes would overcook no-boil noodles.
Deglaze the pot! When you sauté something in the IP, and then pressure cook thick ingredients like coconut milk, pumpkin, or canned tomatoes, deglazing is key. If you leave browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot, you risk triggering the Instant Pot burn sensor.
Don’t stir the pumpkin into the soup before pressure cooking it. When you add very thick or viscous ingredients to the Instant Pot (think tomato sauce), it can stick to the bottom of the Instant Pot’s inner pot and trigger the machine’s burn sensor.
I have made recipes where I have stirred the pumpkin into the rest of the ingredients and the Instant Pot has been fine, but since we’re also using pasta (which has a tendency to stick), it’s best to play it safe and not stir in the pumpkin. If you’re wondering how to do that, just use a spoon to scoop out the pumpkin on top of all the ingredients and don’t stir. Or just watch the video above (around the 01:30 mark) for a visual reference.
If you don’t want to add chickpeas to the soup (maybe you think they don’t belong in lasagna soup, fine), then you can simply omit them. If you want to add a different protein to your soup, you can stir some baked tofu at the end.
Don’t skip the bouquet garni! It’s what infuses the soup with a deep aroma of woodsy herbs. It really makes the soup!
That’s about all you need to know about this vegan Instant Pot Pumpkin Lasagna Soup, so put on your fuzzy socks, light some apple spice candles, and start making this soup. And be sure to tag me on Instagram with your creations!
Vegan Instant Pot Pumpkin Lasagna Soup
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 3 medium or large carrots, finely diced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup “lite” or reduced-fat coconut milk
- 1 (15-ounce) can of chickpeas (or 1 1/2 - 2 cups cooked chickpeas)
- 8 pieces lasagna noodles (6 ounces), broken into small pieces
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- Bouquet garni: 2 bay leaves + a few sprigs each of flat-leaf parsley, oregano, and thyme, tied tightly together with kitchen twine
- 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie)
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
Tofu Ricotta (makes about 2 cups)
- 1 14-ounce (400g) block extra-firm tofu
- 4 tablespoons (16g) nutritional yeast
- 1 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons white or yellow miso paste
- 3/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 15 fresh basil leaves (optional)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 medium-large lemon)
Instructions
- Select the Sauté setting on the Instant Pot and let the pot heat up for a few minutes before adding the olive oil. Once hot, add the onions and carrots and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until starting to soften. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently, until fragrant.
- Add the vegetable broth to deglaze the pan, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Select the Cancel setting.
- Add the lite coconut milk, chickpeas, lasagna noodle pieces, salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, and bouquet garni. Stir well to submerge the lasagna noodles. Using a spoon, scoop the pumpkin on top of everything, but do not stir or submerge to prevent burning.
- Secure the lid and set the Pressure Release to Sealing. Select the Pressure Cook (Manual) setting at high pressure and set the cook time to 4 minutes.
- While the soup is cooking, make the Tofu Ricotta. Drain the tofu and blot away the excess water with a few paper towels. For a smooth ricotta, crumble the tofu into a food processor. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until you have a creamy, smooth texture. Taste for salt, acidity, and cheesiness, adding more salt, lemon juice, or nutritional yeast, respectively, as needed. For a chunkier ricotta, place the tofu in a large bowl and break it into smaller chunks using a fork. Add the remaining ingredients and mix together until the consistency resembles ricotta cheese.Note: the ricotta can also be made a few days in advance and stored in the fridge.
- Once the 4-minute timer has completed and beeps, perform a quick pressure release by carefully switching the Pressure Release knob from Sealing to Venting.
- Open the pot and remove the bouquet garni. Stir well, add the tomato sauce and select the Sauté setting. Heat the soup for 2-3 minutes until the tomato sauce is incorporated and the soup has slightly thickened. Taste and adjust the flavor, as needed, with additional salt or pepper.
- Serve the soup in bowls and top each bowl with a few spoons of Vegan Ricotta Cheese and stir to combine. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days.
Hey RPL, is there a way to adapt this recipe for a crockpot/slow cooker?
Hi Taylor, we haven’t tried it ourselves so we aren’t sure. You’d probably be best off just making the recipe in a stovetop pot separately from the lasagna noodles and adding them in at the end- we think it would be a pretty easy recipe to pull off. Just Maybe reduce the amount of liquid since you’re cooking the noodles in another pot. Enjoy!
This is my favorite soup recipe. It does thicken overnight but I love that. I’ve never made the tofu topping—I’m a low energy person and can’t find the motivation so far. It’s delicious without it. This recipe is quick, easy, and filling! It’s also easily adapted with a couple extra ingredients. I like throwing in corn and peas if I have them on hand.
Thanks for sharing, Becca!
I have been making this deliciousness as a family favourite for most of one year since buying an instant pot and stumbling upon this amazing recipe. Today I got brave and used raw pumpkin, a small thin-skinned one that I chopped and peeled – bypassing the oven roasting and processing I would normally do to emulate the canned pumpkin that we don’t have here…
So I pressure cooked for 10 minutes instead of 4 which kind of disintegrated the noodles, but it was worth it to keep the steps few and the delicious dinner on the table! Love this recipe and your blog! :)
So great to hear you’re a fan of the recipes, Tessa! :) Thanks for the delightful review!
I haven’t prepared this yet, but plan to! If you were to add additional veggies and less pasta, what would you recommend? Thank you!
Hi Martha, we think chopped zucchini and cauliflower would be nice!
Lovely. Next time we will try butter beans instead of chickpeas. What do you mean by tomato sauce? I assumed you mean purée (or paste in US) so that’s what I used and it was fine but did you mean ketchup? Very pleased nothing burned in the IP
Hi Louise, we are referring to pureed tomato sauce in a can, not tomato paste or ketchup. We are glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Ah great thanks. I think this is what we would call passata. So weird how we don’t actually have access to the same ingredients exactly in different countries 😁. Making this again tonight. Can’t wait!
Tomato sauce is basically tomato passata that’s been cooked a little longer and has additional herbs and seasonings. When I make tomato sauce at home (I don’t like how canned tomato is so acidic), I simmer the passata for I think 30 minutes. I just go by looks – it’s saucy (not wet) and smells incredible. Hope that helps :)
This is one of my family’s favorite and a recipe I come back to often. Only reason it’s not a 5 star is that the tofu ricotta is not a hit with everyone. It’s an optional one for me. I like it, but I don’t think it’s needed. I think we often forget the tomato, and it’s not a big deal. Love this one and sometimes even adjust the amount of water/broth and have this act as more of a pasta sauce. Also have done this with chickpea pasta instead of lasagna noodles, and again, loved it!
Good to hear your family enjoys the recipe, Sarah!
Oh my goodness, this soup is delicious! I used homemade cashew milk as I had no coconut milk in the house but otherwise pretty much followed the recipe. Thanks for sharing it!
Thanks for the lovely feedback, EK!
Wow … this was absolutely amazing!!! I used fresh pumpkin as tinned pumpkin is rare here and it worked a treat. The tofu ricotta was was and worth the effort. Superb delicious easy and highly recommended. Thank you for your wonderful recipe.
Awesome, Jodi. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
This is one of my absolute favorite comfort foods. Flavor explosion in the best way. She says you can leave out the chickpeas but don’t! They add great texture to the soup. I am not one to post ratings and comments but this soup deserves the accolade. I bought her Instant pot cookbook after this recipe and haven’t been disappointed yet.
Thanks for sharing, Jenny!
easy to make and delicious!
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Araya!
This is a lovely dish. SO yummy. I want to give it 10 stars, but instead, I’m giving it 4. My family has no idea the headache I have been going through to unstick the noodles. Not to mention my burned fingers from pulling them apart before finishing the dish. I need tips on keeping them from getting so friendly with one another in the pot. I have tried stirring to various degrees of vigor. I have experimented with different size pieces, added the pieces one by one and stirred in between each add. I have even tried jamming some of the pumpkin puree in between the lasagna pieces at that stage. I feel like a chaperone at a school dance, keeping the kids apart to no avail. Help!
From Nisha: “Sorry to hear about this! I haven’t experienced that myself and haven’t found anything in my online research on this top, but maybe adding a bit more liquid might help the noodles stick less. Another option that might be easier is to use bowtie pasta or another medium shaped pasta.”
This meal was enjoyed by the whole family. Will definitely make again. Thank you.
I don’t have an instant pot so just made it on the cook top. We don’t have pumpkin in a can available in Australia, so substituted with mash pumpkin.
Jo, So glad to hear you loved this recipe!
The soup was okay, it seemed to be lacking in flavor. I followed some recommendations in the comment section, but it didn’t improve much. I loved the idea of this soup yet it wasn’t the flavor I was expecting. Different from what I usually make. Great idea; I would make this again if there were some ingredient adjustments, but I can’t quite pinpoint what it needs. Thank you for the recipe!
Sorry the recipe didn’t live up to your expectations, LeAnn! Hopefully you can try more of the RPL recipes and love them.
I am a newbie to vegan cooking and to the Instant Pot. This recipe was absolutely delicious! My whole family loved it and I have made it several times since. Highly recommend!
So glad to hear everyone loved this recipe!
This looks delish! Only problem is I don’t have an Insta Pot and my space is too small to get one sadly. Have you ever tried cooking over the stove? If so – what would be the timings? Thanks so much!
Hi Scarlet, we haven’t tested this ourself, but based on our research of similar recipes, you can try (1) sautéing the aromatics in a soup pot, (2) adding the liquid, pumpkin, chickpeas, herbs and simmer for 10 minutes, (3) add the broken lasagna pieces and cook for another 7-10 minutes until al dente, stirring often to prevent sticking. Good luck!
Thank you so much! I’ll let you know how I go! Just started vegan life and feel so lucky to have you inspiring and navigating my way! I’ve found my love for cooking again thanks to you!
That’s incredible to hear :) We are so happy to help!
I loved this soup, Nisha! It was even better the next day, especially the tofu ricotta. I’d never cooked pumpkin in a savory way before, but now I’m all in. This recipe inspired me to improvise a pumpkin marinara from scratch with canned pumpkin in lieu of tomato. I even made a pumpkin pizza out of it! Going to try your pumpkin stuffed shells next. Keep the pumpkin recipes coming!
Jason, So glad to hear you’re loving the recipes! Thanks for sharing :)
This was the perfect fix to needing something decadent, cozy, super flavorful, and filling. Very fun and delicious recipe!
Ashley, So glad to hear you loved this recipe!
I’ll be honest, when I saw the recipe called to combine pumpkin, beans, and tofu, I couldn’t imagine this tasting good. Man am I glad I gave this a go anyway because it’s delightful.
I also added crushed red pepper flakes since I like things a bit spicy and I thought that elevated it even more.
Awesome, Kat. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
Made this last night for dinner. It was so easy to make. And so delicious! It will definitely be a fall/winter staple for now on! And the ricotta was so good, I was eating it by the spoonfuls before I could even get it in the soup. I say this about all Rainbow Plant Life recipes because they are all always so good, but HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Michelle!
It was just okay. There was some flavor missing. It didn’t taste savory enough. Maybe even too sweet.
Hi Alia, sorry you weren’t very impressed with the soup. If you decide to make it again, feel free to add additional salt. The lemon and salt in the tofu ricotta are also there to help mellow out the sweetness of the pumpkin, so maybe add additional tofu ricotta next time as well. We appreciate your feedback either way!