I recently shared three Budget-Friendly Easy Vegan Instant Pot recipes over on Youtube, and one of them is for a Vegan Instant Pot Lentil Cabbage Soup.
I love making lentil soups and stews. They are one of the easiest recipes to make in the Instant Pot and usually affordable. As with most of my dried ingredients, I usually purchase lentils in bulk to save money. And I use a ton of cabbage in this recipe because cabbage is one of the cheapest vegetables per pound you can find! Plus, it’s rich in nutrients and fiber, which helps you stay full.
I use standard green lentils in this recipe to save money, but if you have a bit more room in your budget, you can also you use French green lentils. They tend to hold their shape more under pressure cooking so you’ll have more distinct pieces of lentils, as in this recipe.
Another money-saving trick is to use a vegetable bouillon cube instead of buying vegetable broth. Of course, if you make homemade vegetable broth using veggie scraps and water, that’s your best option from a taste and affordability perspective! But for those of you who don’t have homemade broth on hand, using a vegetable bouillon cube with water instead of using vegetable broth can save you a couple dollars.
I love making this soup on Sunday and eat leftovers throughout the week. It’s especially delicious paired with some whole grain bread or a baguette!
Watch! How to make Instant Pot Lentil and Cabbage Soup
EASY VEGAN INSTANT POT RECIPES (Budget-Friendly)
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Vegan Instant Pot Lentil and Cabbage Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or neutral cooking oil of choice
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 medium carrots, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt + more to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup green lentils
- 1 head green cabbage, quartered, cored and thinly sliced or chopped
- 1 vegetable bouillon cube (can use 2 for more flavor)
- 4 cups water
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- For serving: whole grain bread or baguette
Instructions
- Crush the canned whole tomatoes by hand into a bowl.
- Select the Sauté setting on the Instant Pot and let the pot heat up for a few minutes before adding the olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook until the onion is browned and completely soft, about 6 minutes.
- Add the carrots, garlic, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and the pepper. Cook until the carrots are just starting to soften, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the lentils, cabbage, water, vegetable bouillon cube, remaining salt, and bay leaves. Stir to combine, pressing the cabbage down with a long spoon to ensure everything is below the Instant Pot’s maximum capacity line. Select the Cancel setting.
- Pour the crushed tomatoes on top and stir to combine.
- Secure the lid and set the Pressure Release to Sealing. Select the Pressure Cook setting at high pressure and set the cook time to 10 minutes. Allow a natural pressure release.
- Open the pot and stir in the vinegar and taste for seasonings, adding more salt and pepper as needed. Serve with bread.
This is a wonderful hearty, easy soup that takes minimal prep and active cooking time (especially if you’re using the instant pot), and has a great payoff! I ended up using already crushed tomatoes rather than the whole ones because that’s what I had, and it turned out great, so I’m excited to try crushing whole tomatoes in next time. Like a couple of other reviewers I was surprised by how few spices there were, but I decided to trust Nisha and of course it turned out delicious. Will definitely be making again this fall/winter!
Awesome, Elizabeth. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
This was delicious! I have to resist a second helping. :)
I had some homemade broth so I used that instead. Thank you so much for the recipe!
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Lorna!
I live in Minnesota and we are experiencing a very cold spring/ long winter (32 degree today). This soup was perfect for today. I love to try a new soup of Nisha’s on Monday to eat throughout the week. This one was perfect. Very well seasoned, hearty yet didn’t weigh me down. My mom made a version of this with potatoes growing up, but I really liked the lentils in place of potatoes. The vinegar at the end is a great finisher.
Awesome, Jenni. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
This recipe surprised me as it had few spices but the soup was loaded with flavor. A traditional comfort food for cool spring weather, loved it, thank you again!
Awesome, Scott. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
I made this soup in a normal pot so it took a bit longer, but it was very tasty nevertheless. I substituted green with brown lentils and added marjoram and a bit of ground chilli and smoked paprika instead of bay leaves, which gave it a really nice warmth and depth of flavour. Great recipe!
Awesome, Visnja. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
I just got an instant pot for Christmas and have been a little terrified to use it. But I always love making your recipes as me and my husband are trying to cook more vegan food and less meat. So I gave this recipe a shot tonight and it was a huge hit! The depth of flavor was amazing… I used 2 vegetable bullion cubes and it made the soup so rich. I am excited to have leftovers to eat for lunch all week long. I just wasn’t sure how much cabbage to add… my cabbage was quite large so I only used 2/3 of it (although I didn’t measure how many cups) and it was more than enough. I always find cabbages are like a Tardis… once you cut into them, there seems to be so much more than you started with. … they are more than the sum of their parts! LOL Thank you for making vegan cooking very approachable and less intimidating.
Thanks for sharing, Colleen! So glad you loved the recipe :)
the cook time doesn’t add up to 50 minutes. So How?
Hi Nisha,
I made this yesterday. I substituted a few things and used a normal pot. It was yummy. I will freeze some for later on in the week. This is the first recipe that I have tried since I signed up. Thank you and I can’t wait to try others. Greetings from Germany.
Thanya, So glad to hear you loved this recipe! Greetings from San Diego!
Very tasty soup. I used green lentils and red cabbage because it was on hand. Great depth of flavor and so easy. I also cooked it on the stove top since I do not have an instant pot which, of course, it then takes longer to cook. Will be making this again….
Thanks for sharing, Cheri!
Can you use Napa cabbage?
Hi Kathy, we haven’t tried it ourselves, but we’re sure it would work fine. It does have slightly less natural sugar content than regular cabbage so we suggest tasting the soup first, then add a pinch of sugar or maple syrup as needed to balance the flavors.
I love it. Simple and delicious. Good with the bread but also with rice.
Thank you. Finally something I can make. I don’t have the patience require to follow recipes.
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Susie!
As with all your recipes…..they’re out of this world!! I’ve never made anything with a whole cabbage head before, but after following your recipe step-by-step, the result was “other worldly”!! Hearty, flavorful, satisfying and sinfully delicious. Five mega stars!!!
Awesome, Neil. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
This soup is delicious! I made it for the first time tonight and did not stray from the recipe. My whole family loved it, including my 6 and 9 year old kids! They say that it’s definitely a “make again.” Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Awesome, Steph. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
It would be helpful to post directions for those of us without Instant Pots or Pressure Cookers. I like a clean counterspace and do most of my cooking on the
stovetop.
Love all your recipes! Thank you!
I haven’t tried this yet, but I plan to. Looks easy and delicious, and as you said, it’s all ingredients I keep on hand other than the cabbage. I’m curious where the 16 grams of sugar comes from. Does the nutrition info include the bread? Thanks for another great recipe!
Glad you are looking forward to trying it! The nutrition info does not include bread. The sugar mostly comes from the tomatoes and cabbage but also the carrots. One large head of cabbage has close to 30g of sugar, interestingly! Enjoy the recipe :)
Hi Nisha !
Can i do this with brown lentils instead ?
Hi there Roxanne, yes you can! Although brown lentils will cook more quickly. You can try pressure cooking them for 8-9 minutes instead of 10, otherwise they will simply come out a tad more mushy in the end (which might not necessarily be a horrible thing). Enjoy!
Soooo yummy!! It reminded me of my grandmothers pot of cabbage and tomatoes.
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Renee!
I would appreciate nutritional value for those of us looking to limit our carbs and cholesterol.
Hi Larry, all of our recipes are 100% cholesterol-free (we don’t use animal products). But we don’t include nutrition facts on our recipes for a few reasons. If you’d like to read more as to why, you can do so at this link: https://rainbowplantlife.com/welcome/.
Many of our readers use apps like MyFitnessPal to calculate nutrition facts for their own purposes. Hope that helped!
Delicious soup! My only pet peeve with many recipes, this one included, is the lack of more specific quantities of ingredients. For example, instead of I cabbage, I would prefer an approximate quantity in cups of cabbage in brackets.
Hi Jackie, sorry about that. We’ve begin to denote whether a small/medium/etc. cabbage is needed for the recipe in our newer recipes. We’re glad you loved the recipe otherwise!
Would it be a simple step to weigh the item that is not “measured” so at least we would have the weight you are using for your recipe? I do not worry about weight or size most of the time but cabbage can vary dramatically from small to HUGE so the weight you used in your recipe to get the balance of seasonings and liquids that you felt were ideal would be helpful. The other option is to simply toss the sliced cabbage in a large measuring cup before adding it to the pot. Thx for your consideration.
So what size cabbage should be used, or how many cups or weight?
Hi Lyn, a medium cabbage weighs about 32 oz.
Hi there Valerie, a medium cabbage weighs about 32 oz.
Delicious, nutritious, low cost … this recipe has it all!
Lisa, So glad to hear you loved this recipe!