Instant Pot Tomato Soup with Fresh Tomatoes

You’ll love the deep tomato flavour in this easy-to-make instant pot tomato soup made with fresh tomatoes, garlic, basil and red bell pepper. It has a delicious, slow simmered tomato flavour and is ready in 30 minutes making it perfect for a weeknight dinner.

Tomato soup is a classic for good reason. It’s good pretty much every time of year (yes, I’ll enjoy tomato soup on a rainy summer day). And a homemade version? Seriously, so much better than anything you can get out of a can–just like Instant Pot mushroom soup. And if you use an Instant Pot, it’s barely any more effort.

My recipe doesn’t require any sautéing, simply add the ingredients to your pressure cooker and walk away.

This recipe goes perfectly with a caramelized onion grilled cheese or a chopped salad.

Why this Recipe Works

All of the ingredients get added to a pressure cooker and cooked at high pressure for 15 minutes. There are a few ingredients that help to give this soup more complexity than you would expect (without roasting any tomatoes!).

It’s sweet, savoury and a little rich. I stir heavy cream in at the end for that delicious, creamy mouthfeel you’d expect from a tomato soup, but you can leave this out if you want to keep things dairy free or vegan.

Ingredient Notes

• The key ingredient here are obviously the tomatoes. I like to use fresh tomatoes and opt for Roma tomatoes because of their meaty texture and lower number of seeds.
• Bell peppers add additional sweetness to the soup without needing to add any sugar.
• Garlic and onions are a must in pretty much every tomato recipe (like in a homemade marinara sauce).
• Dried oregano and dried basil are my herbs of choice as the dried versions can stand up well to the high pressure environment. (Read my piece about choosing fresh vs. dried herbs).
• This recipe uses a whole can of tomato paste, this is how this soup gets a really deep and rich roasted tomato flavour.
• I like to use water instead of broth for the liquid so that I can control the amount of salt in the recipe. It may not seem like a lot of water as you’re adding the ingredients to the Instant Pot, but remember that the tomatoes, onions and bell peppers will all release liquid as they cook.
• Heavy cream is optional, but I’d keep it in. You’ll end up with the velvety soup of your dreams–and who doesn’t want that?

Expert tips

1. The order of ingredients is key when using an Instant Pot. Be sure to follow the instructions for the correct order; if you start with the tomato paste, it will burn on the bottom of your pot before it comes to pressure.
2. Don’t worry too much about chopping the vegetables since they will all be pureed in the end. You’ll want to roughly chop the tomatoes and bell peppers into 1.5-2 inch chunks.
3. The toppings take this soup over the top, I like to top mine with cheddar cheese and fresh basil.

Step By Step Instructions

1. Add all of the ingredients into the Instant Pot, starting with the vegetables and water and finishing with the tomato paste, dried herbs and salt. This order will ensure that the ingredients don’t burn as the pot is coming to pressure.
2. Seal and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally for five minutes. Carefully vent to release any remaining pressure and open the lid.
3. Puree the soup with an immersion blender or in a regular blender and stir in the cream (if using).