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
- 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.
- 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.
- The toppings take this soup over the top, I like to top mine with cheddar cheese and fresh basil.
Step By Step Instructions
- 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.
- 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.
- Puree the soup with an immersion blender or in a regular blender and stir in the cream (if using).
Instant Pot Tomato Soup with Fresh Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 4 lbs Roma tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 2 red bell peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
- 2 onions, quartered
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- ¾ cup water
- 1 5.5oz can of tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup heavy cream, optional
For toppings:
- ¾ cup grated cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoon fresh basil
Instructions
- To your pressure cooker add the tomatoes, bell pepper, onion, garlic and water. On top of those ingredients, add the tomato paste, dried oregano, dried basil and salt.
- Lock lid and point valve to sealing. Set to cook at high pressure for 15 minutes. When the cook time is complete, allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes. Carefully vent to release any remaining pressure and open the lid.
- Puree the soup either with an immersion blender or using a regular blender. Stir in heavy cream, if using.
Notes
- Be sure to follow the order of ingredients when adding to the pressure cooker. If you have the tomato paste on the bottom, you run the risk of it burning as your pot comes to pressure.
- It may not seem like there is enough water being added to the pot, don’t worry! The tomatoes, bell peppers and onions will all release liquid as the soup cooks.
Serene80
I’ve made this several times and it comes out just wonderful. The only change I make is putting in extra garlic because… garlic. 😁
Serene80
So easy and so tasty!!! I do put extra garlic, but that’s a me thing.
Louisa Clements
So glad you enjoyed, Serene! Love the extra garlic.
Mollie
We really enjoyed this! We have to cook low-sodium, so I only added a teeny bit of salt and it was still super flavorful. Thank you!
Louisa Clements
So glad you enjoyed, Mollie! Thanks for letting me know.
Jeremy Robson
Just wondering if you can freeze the soup
Louisa Clements
Hi Jeremy, I’ve never tried freezing it myself but I’m sure you could! I would leave the cream out and stir it in when reheating.
Mollie
Have you ever doubled this recipe? I’m new to using a pressure cooker and am curious how I might need to adjust the cook time.
Louisa Clements
I have never doubled the recipe, Mollie! I would be concerned if it would fit in the instant pot as there is a max fill level.
Dana
Delish !! I had to substitute a can of fire roasted tomatoes to replace one of the pounds of Campari tomatoes. I also made grill cheese sandwiches with homemade sourdough bread! Will make again and again!
Louisa Clements
Hi Dana, I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Perfect with grilled cheese, happy cooking!
Deborah Poulton
Made this today. I did a half quantity of the ingredients with fresh tomatoes from my garden.
I cooked the soup for 12 minutes ant high pressure and then let it stand for 5 minutes releasing the pressure.
Blended the soup but there were tiny slivers of tomato skin and seeds, so I’ve sieved the remaining soup and frozen it. It tastes amazing.
Louisa Clements
So glad you enjoyed this Deborah! Thank you for taking the time to let me know, happy cooking!
Deborah Poukton
Made this today. I did a half quantity of the ingredients with fresh tomatoes from my garden.
I cooked the soup for 12 minutes ant high pressure and then let it stand for 5 minutes releasing the pressure.
Blended the soup but there were tiny slivers of tomato skin and seeds, so I’ve sieved the remaining soup and frozen it. It tastes amazing.
Kim Maden
I’ve made this recipe two times. I did take out the seeds of the tomatoes the second time around because my husband is pickier about it. The seeds didn’t blend well the first time so I scooped out each tomato and it worked out perfectly and my husband enjoyed it much more the second time around. Making it for a third time. Very easy once I scoop out those tomato seeds. Easier to do it that way than using a sieve, I did try the sieve before but the tomatoes soup was too thick to go through it and didn’t work well. Very good tomato soup though!
Louisa Clements
So glad you enjoyed this, Kim! You can definitely remove the seeds if that is your preference! Happy cooking!
Tina
Can you freeze the soup?
Louisa Clements
Hi Tina, I’ve never tried freezing this soup but I can’t see why not! I’d probably freeze it before adding the cream as dairy can get a little weird when frozen and then stirring in the cream once you reheat after defrosting. Let me know how it goes!
Elaine
I made this, but didn’t have 2 peppers. I did one pepper, one jalapeño and one zucchini chunk cut. It as so good!!! Definitely a keeper.
Louisa Clements
So glad you enjoyed, Elaine! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review, it is much appreciated! Love the addition of the jalapeno–yum!
Bryan
Seal and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally for five minutes.
Lock lid and point valve to sealing. Set to cook at high pressure for 10 minutes. When the cook time is complete, allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes.
Both of these are listed on this page, currently. Sooooo….which is it? 10 or 15 minutes?
Louisa Clements
Hi Bryan, good catch! it should cook for 15 minutes. I’ve updated to clarify! I hope you enjoy, happy cooking!
Steven
I made this with tomatoes that were given to us, no Romas, but wow is it yummy. I used fresh Basil and added one Cayenne Pepper. Delicious.
Louisa Clements
So glad that you enjoyed, Steven! That sounds delicious.
Kathy
What if you don’t have a pressure cooker? Can you make in a slow cooker?
Louisa Clements
Hi Kathy, I haven’t tried this in a slow cooker, but I would think that it would work with everything cooked on low for 8 hours. I hope you enjoy!
Joyce Economus
Absolutely the finest soup ever! So excited that this tomato soup does use wheat or High Fructose Corn syrup as many of the canned soups contain! ( I will never buy canned tomato soup again!) This is a keeper! Thank you thank you!!!
Louisa Clements
So glad you enjoyed this, Joyce! Thank you for your kind comment and letting me know how much you enjoyed it!
Kim D Maden
Should Have I took out the seeds of the Roma tomatoes? Even after I blended it really good there were still seeds. It was perfectly fine for me, but my husband is pickier. I absolutely love this recipe!.
Louisa Clements
Hi Kim! I’ve never had a problem with the seeds in the tomatoes, you could try removing them before cooking or straining it through a sieve after blending. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!