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!
Want more lentil soup recipes? Try this Mediterranean Lentil Soup or Instant Pot Lentil Soup! Looking for a red lentil soup? This warming, spiced Red Lentil Soup is a must-make!
Watch! How to make Instant Pot Lentil and Cabbage Soup
More great cabbage recipes
- Creamy Cabbage Curry: think my Red Lentil Curry with silky sweet cabbage!
- Napa Cabbage Salad: crisp napa cabbage, carrots, and cucumbers meet a sizzled garlic-sesame dressing
- Noodle Salad with Rainbow Veggies: red cabbage & carrots mingle with a tangy-sweet Vietnamese sauce, crispy tempeh, and peanut sauce.
- Gochujang Noodles: napa cabbage gets folded into noodles with a savory-sweet-spicy Korean sauce
And if you want more than 90 incredible vegan Instant Pot recipes, be sure to order my cookbook, The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook!
Introducing
Big Vegan Flavor
Techniques and 150 recipes to master vegan cooking.
Vegan Instant Pot Lentil and Cabbage Soup
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 medium carrots, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt + more to taste (see Note 1)
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 cup (200g) green lentils
- 1 medium green cabbage, quartered, cored and thinly sliced or chopped
- 1 vegetable bouillon cube (can use 2 for more flavor) (see Note 2)
- 4 cups (960 mL) water (see Note 2)
- 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 lightly browned and completely soft, 6 to 8 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.
- Once the pressure has released naturally, open the pot and stir in the vinegar. Taste for seasonings, adding more salt and pepper as needed. Serve with bread.
Video
Notes
- If using table salt, use 1 teaspoon salt total instead of 2 teaspoons. If using sea salt or Morton's kosher salt use, 1 heaping teaspoon salt instead of 2 teaspoons, then add more to taste.
- Or, use 2 to 3 teaspoons of Better than Bouillon, no chicken base. Or, skip both and use 4 cups (960 mL) vegetable broth instead of the bouillon and water.”
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love this? Leave a rating below!
I did not have carrots so I used potatoes. Absolutely delicious and very easy to make. Everyone had seconds. I will be making this again.
Thanks for sharing, Elizabeth! That makes us very happy to hear!
Pretty sure this is the yummiest soup I’ve ever had. The fact that the ingredients are so cheap is the cherry on top!
Caitlin, So glad to hear you loved this recipe!
Soup was yummy, easy to make.
Hi Sunitha, thank you so much for your kind review!
Delicious and so easy to prepare! Can I freeze this?
Hi Marlee, we’re so glad you enjoy it! We haven’t tested this out at RPL but it seems like a soup that would freeze well. You might want to zhuzh it up with a squeeze of lemon or vinegar and a little salt plus chopped fresh herbs to revive it after thawing.
Made this yesterday and can’t wait for lunch today 😋
Hi LynD, thank you so much for your kind review!
I needed comfort food today. So instead of resorting to my “go-to” dal from your Instapot cookbook, I tried something new and so happy I did. I only had 1/2 of a cabbage and used that but I can see using an entire head since I love cabbage. I was so smitten by the aroma coming out during the natural release that I totally forgot about cutting the crusty bread and just stood there in anticipation of the goodness about to come out of the pot. Thank you for sharing such a delicious, comforting soup!
So great to hear the soup went well for you, Maria! 🙂 Thanks for giving it a shot!
Hi there! I’m looking to use this recipe but I’m wondering if you have any advice on how to make this if you don’t have an instapot?
Loved it!! i also used half of a cabbage. it was too much for my taste but overall DELICIOUS
Good to hear you enjoyed the soup, Looch!
Hi,
I made this tonight, but I just noticed your cooking time for 50 minutes. I don’t see how that’s correct.
Mindy Richmond
Hi Mindy, thanks for letting us know! We’ll take a closer look 🙂
Hi Mindy, Because there’s a large volume of liquid, it often takes the instant pot quite a bit of time to come to pressure. then there’s the natural pressure release time, which can be 15 to 20 minutes given this volume. Both of those times are built into the 50-minute cook time in the recipe card. Hope that helped clarify!
Very hearty soup. Very cabbagy. I couldn’t use the whole cabbage, it was too big. It was very thick, like a stew. Is it supposed to be? What quantity did you use to calculate the nutritional I for below? Over 300 calories seems like a lot for such a vegetable dense soup but I don’t know how much you were calculating. This is my third soup I try from your group of recipes “17 Vegan soups” and they are all delicious!
Hi Susan, Yes this soup is on the thicker side. It has vegetables, tomato and lentils which account for the 300 calories. Thanks for going through the vegan soup roundup, we’re so happy you’ve found value in it!
Thanks Kaitlin, 300 calories for 1 cup?
Hi Susan, the nutrition facts are for one serving. Which is 1/4 of the full recipe yield.
Ok thanks. 1/4 is a lot of soup.