The Instant Pot is my favorite way to make soup, and this vegetable beef soup is a great example of that!
Filled with plenty of healthy vegetables, this soup has just enough beef to give it a hearty flavor and to keep all the meat lovers in your house happy. 😃
This comforting soup is guaranteed to warm you on a cool night and will fill you with the healthy vitamins that only veggies can provide.
Why I Love this Soup
I love a good bowl of soup, and used to turn to the stove top or slow cooker to deliver its comfort. Now, using the Instant Pot makes it so easy to make! The beef is tender, and the vegetables provide a variety of tastes and textures, all in a rich flavorful broth.
This soup is very veggie-forward. Many soups will start with a full pound of meat, whereas this one only takes ½ a pound. Using that much meat plus beef stock or broth provides loads of flavor. But at its heart, this is more an Instant Pot vegetable soup that happens to contain beef.
Trust me, the meat-eaters won't notice. 😀
Ingredients Needed
How to Make This Vegetable Beef Soup
I buy stew meat for this soup, but chuck roast or another cut of beef will also work. Either way, the first step is to cut the meat into small bite-sized pieces. Most stew meat seems to come in 1.5 to 2-inch cubes which I cut much smaller. The smaller size guarantees faster cooking and helps to distribute the tender beef throughout the soup.
Now, start with the sauté setting, my favorite feature of the Instant Pot. Sauté the beef cubes and onion in the pot (season with a little salt and black pepper), until the meat is well browned.
Add a can of diced tomatoes, including the liquid. Give it a stir and scrape up any browned bits clinging to the bottom of the pot. You want all that to give your soup depth of flavor! Then, cancel the sauté function while you add the rest of the ingredients.
Add all the remaining ingredients except the frozen peas. That includes beef broth, carrot, potato, green beans, celery, orzo pasta, thyme, and parsley.
Give everything a quick stir, then cover and seal the Instant Pot.
Set the cycle to cook for 8 minutes on high pressure. I use the pressure cook or manual button for this.
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The Instant Pot will take about 10-15 minutes to build pressure before the cycle will start. Once the cycle is done, wait 5 minutes to let the pressure cooker natural release pressure. After 5 minutes, quick release the remaining pressure.
Remove the Instant Pot lid and add the frozen peas. Stir for a minute, and your soup is ready to serve.
Sula's Tips/Variation ideas
If using frozen beans, you could wait to add them after the cooking cycle, when you add the frozen peas. However, you will want to cook the soup on sauté for 5 minutes just to ensure the beans are completely warmed and cooked through.
Try a different combination of your favorite vegetables if you'd like. Using a bag of mixed frozen vegetables is another way to cut down on your prep time, making it even easier to make this hearty soup in less time.
This might be fun to try with ground beef in place of cut up beef. It would kind of be a variation on Hamburger Barley Soup, another family favorite.
Don't have beef broth? I've substituted with chicken broth with success. I've never tried vegetable broth or stock, but that would be a great way to add even more vitamins to this soup, especially with homemade vegetable broth.
Instead of orzo, you can use any small pasta, like ditalini. Or, just leave it out for a lower carb variation.
Serving Suggestions
This soup can stand very well on its own, it makes a terrifically warming meal. For those who like some bread with their soup, you can make some air fryer bread rolls to serve with it. It would make a delightful way to soak up some of that extra liquid - yum!
More Soups You Can Make in your Instant Pot
📖 Recipe
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Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup
Ingredients
- ½ pound beef stew meat cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion chopped
- 14 ounces diced tomatoes
- 32 ounces beef broth 4 cups
- 1 carrot peeled and sliced
- 1 potato Yukon gold or peeled russet, cubed
- 1 cup cut green beans fresh or frozen
- ⅓ cup orzo pasta
- 1 celery rib chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1 cup peas frozen
Instructions
- Turn on the Instant Pot to the sauté setting and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the meat. Season with a little salt and pepper. Add the chopped onion. Cook and stir until the meat is well browned.½ pound beef stew meat, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 small onion
- Add the can of diced tomatoes, including liquid. Stir for a minute and scrape up any browned bits sticking to the bottom of the pot. Press cancel to stop the sauté function.14 ounces diced tomatoes
- Add the beef broth, carrot, potato, green beans, celery, orzo pasta, thyme, and parsley.32 ounces beef broth, 1 carrot, 1 potato, 1 cup cut green beans, ⅓ cup orzo pasta, 1 celery rib, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- Cover and lock the Instant Pot lid.
- Set the cooking cycle on high pressure for 8 minutes. The Instant Pot will take 10-15 minutes to build pressure before the cycle will start.
- When the cooking cycle is done, allow it to naturally release pressure for 5 minutes, then do a quick release of the remaining pressure.
- Remove the Instant Pot lid and add the peas. Stir well, then serve.1 cup peas
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition values are estimates only, using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.
Jim
Has anyone tried it substituting Farro for the rzo?
Sula
I haven't but I think that would be an interesting sub!
Michael M
Has anyone doubled this recipe successfully? I don’t see why it wouldn’t work but you never know😀
Sula
Will it fit in your Instant pot? That might be the only thing to watch out for, without exceeding the "max fill" line.
Michael m
This recipe was incredibly delicious and easy! Definitely exactly what I was looking for. Store bought soups are so full of sodium and preservatives that I just can’t do them anymore. This one is a keeper! Thank you so much!!
By the way I ended up just doing the standard recipe as it’s so quick I can just make it again. I did add some beans to make it extra hearty and threw in corn instead of peas.
Sula
Wonderful, I'm so glad you love it and thank you so much for sharing your adjustments. Love the addition of beans!
Jennifer
Loved this! This is my kind of soup - 1 pot, a quick sautee, then lock the lid and cook! It had such great flavor and I froze the leftovers for another meal.
Sula
I love using my Instant Pot to make soup! Its always delicious!
Sherry L Ronning
I never thought about adding Orzo to a vegetable beef soup recipe. I tried your soup recipe with the orzo pasta and it tasted amazing!!
Sula
It really does make a difference!
Susannah
This turned out so well! Such a great recipe that I'll be making again soon.
Sula
Wonderful!
Sarita
A comforting and tasty soup that tastes like it has been slow-simmered all day. Love the addition of the orzo!
Sula
I have to admit, I tried it without orzo and really missed the extra "body" it gives. I love a hearty soup!