By making broccoli soup in the Instant Pot, you can have a flavorful comfort food without any of the guilt (and in a fraction of the time!).

Instant Pot broccoli soup is full of nutrients and flavor, making it an easy vegan soup! This delicious pressure cooker soup is Whole30 friendly and a healthy meal that is ready in no time!

LAST UPDATED: November 15, 2021

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Upon hearing the knock at the door, I picked up my toddler and went to answer it.  When I opened the door, there she stood, slightly hurried but with the same familiar and warm smile I’d come to know and love.

My sweet friend and neighbor quickly handed me a container of soup from her refrigerator, along with a few other items, before saying her goodbyes and heading down the steps with her suitcase.

For more than a decade, my husband and I lived in a 1940s building that housed three separate apartments in a lovely historic neighborhood in Nashville. 

The top apartment was home to our dear friend Patsy, who lived most of the year in Paris, France, but would come to Nashville a few times a year, usually staying for a few weeks at a time.

Whenever the time came for her to fly back to Paris, she would often bring us leftover goodies that she didn’t want to throw away.  Hence, the parting gift of soup.

But it wasn’t just any soup–it was homemade broccoli soup. And it was delicious.

Healthy Broccoli Soup in the Instant Pot

I admit, I’d never had plain broccoli soup before.  Broccoli potato soup, yes.  Broccoli cheese soup, of course.  But never just broccoli soup.

So that evening, I popped open the container and warmed up some of Patsy’s broccoli soup.  My daughter, who was probably only one year old at the time and wasn’t extremely fond of vegetables, gobbled it up and asked for more.

Naturally, I asked Patsy for the recipe and she graciously obliged. It’s written on a yellow scrap of paper and, while the ingredients are extremely simple, the soup is delightful.

Patsy’s vegan broccoli soup recipe uses a traditional stove top method of preparation, but when I recently made the soup again, I opted to use my Instant Pot to save a little time. 

It worked like a charm–and this Instant Pot broccoli soup recipe was born!

Vegan Instant Pot Broccoli Soup

I know you’re going to love this recipe, because it only requires a handful of simple ingredients, yet it transforms into a delicious savory soup!

It’s a healthy broccoli soup recipe, with no heavy cream or cheese, so it’s low in calories. It reminds me of a cream of broccoli soup, but without the dairy.

If you’re looking for a creamier soup with cheddar cheese, try my Instant Pot broccoli cheese soup or my Instant Pot broccoli potato soup!

If you’re trying to incorporate more veggies into your diet, you’ll love this super quick and easy broccoli soup in the Instant Pot! 

It’s flavorful comfort food without a smidge of guilt. 🙂

Then, go check out this Instant Pot cauliflower soup, Instant Pot potato leek soup, and Instant Pot butternut squash and apple soup for more ways to sneak in some veggies!

Check out my list of the best Instant Pot soup recipes as well as how to make soup with leftovers!

How to Make Quick and Easy Healthy Broccoli Soup in the Instant Pot

It’s so simple to make this healthy broccoli soup in the pressure cooker!

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• Onion
• Broccoli crowns
• Vegetable broth or stock
• Salt and pepper
• Red pepper flakes (optional)

How to Make it:

(Full printable recipe is available below)

Chop. Before you get started, be sure to chop up your broccoli crowns. I like to use broccoli crowns because you don’t get as much of the stem.

I used to never weigh my broccoli crowns, but I had a reader ask about the weight. So the next time I made this recipe, I weighed the broccoli.

You’ll want between 1.5-2 pounds of broccoli crowns. You can get an idea here of how large mine were.

Coarsely chop the broccoli into florets. What bits of stems you do have, don’t throw them away! You can slice them into rounds, like coins, and include them in the soup.

Saute. First, you’ll saute some onions in some olive oil using the Saute function of the Instant Pot. 

Once they’re beginning to soften and turn translucent, throw in your chopped broccoli and add in the broth or stock and black pepper.

Pressure Cook. Lock the lid in place and set a cook time of 3 minutes at high pressure. When the cook time is complete, you can perform a quick release of pressure. 

Blend. Use your immersion blender to get it to the consistency you prefer, then add in some salt to taste, if needed.

Because it’s pureed, the result is a creamy soup (without cream!). If you wanted, you could always add in a splash of coconut milk.

This Instant Pot broccoli soup is delicious as-is, but you can top it with a sprinkling of red pepper flakes or vegan croutons (or even some shredded cheese, if you don’t need it to be vegan). 

You could also serve it with some homemade dinner rolls or in a bread bowl for a delightfully easy meal.

Notes and Adaptations:

• You can use frozen broccoli if needed, but I prefer fresh broccoli.
• Because there are so few ingredients, their quality matters more. Be sure to choose a flavorful vegetable stock or broth.
• I don’t add salt prior to cooking. The amount needed will depend on how salty your broth/stock is. I wait until afterward to taste, and I often don’t even need to add any salt.
• If you prefer a thicker soup, you can decrease the broth to 4-5 cups.
• If you don’t need the recipe to be vegan, you can use chicken broth instead of vegetable broth.
• I’ve been asked if this broccoli soup recipe would work with the Instant Pot Ace Blender, which cooks and blends food. Although I haven’t tried it myself, I believe it should work fine. However, you will likely need to cut the recipe in half to avoid over-filling the blender.