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February 15, 2021

Instant Pot Dolly Parton’s Stone Soup

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Instant Pot Dolly Parton’s Stone Soup–a nourishing soup with cabbage and other veggies and a bit of smoked ham hock. This soup will warm you right up!

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Note: the SLOW COOKER instructions are in the recipe card below

Instant Pot Dolly Parton’s Stone Soup

I came across Dolly Parton’s Stone Soup recipe and immediately was intrigued. I do remember reading a book called Stone Soup when I was young. Initially I didn’t remember much about the book but as I went to my old friend Google I found out more about the storyline and then it all came back to me. The story of stone soup as told by Wikipedia goes something like this…

“Some travelers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the very hungry travelers. Then the travelers go to a stream and fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travelers answer that they are making “stone soup”, which tastes wonderful and which they would be delighted to share with the villager, although it still needs a little bit of garnish, which they are missing, to improve the flavor.

The villager, who anticipates enjoying a share of the soup, does not mind parting with a few carrots, so these are added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the travelers again mention their stone soup which has not yet reached its full potential. The villager hands them a little bit of seasoning. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. Finally, the stone (being inedible) is removed from the pot, and a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by travelers and villagers alike. Although the travelers have thus tricked the villagers into sharing their food with them, they have successfully transformed it into a tasty meal which they share with the donors.”

Dolly tells the story of when she was a young girl her mom would tell the kids to go out to the yard and find a stone for dinner. Each child would bring back their rock and clean it up well. Then Dolly’s mother would choose which stone would go into the soup pot. Her mother would usually choose the child that was struggling with something that week and it would make them feel special. I love Dolly Parton and her story-telling ability that makes me feel nostalgic for a Tennessee mountain childhood.

The stone is optional in my version of the soup! Although it could be a good way to get your kids out of the house for a while. We loved this soup and I mentioned after dinner that it just tastes so nourishing and comforting. With less than 200 calories per serving it’s also pretty low calorie! The smoked ham hock gives the soup excellent flavor. Enjoy Instant Pot stone soup at your house this week! Try serving it with French Bread mmmmmm!

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More Instant Pot Recipes You’ll Love…

Instant Pot Dolly Parton’s 5 Layer Dinner

Instant Pot Empty Your Pantry Soup

Instant Pot Amish Chicken Corn Soup

Instant Pot Detox Soup

Instant Pot Easy Posole

  • Dolly’s 5 Layer Dinner
  • Empty Your Pantry Soup
  • Amish Chicken Soup
  • Vegetable Detox Soup
  • Posole

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Instant Pot Dolly Parton’s Stone Soup


★★★★★

4.5 from 4 reviews

  • Author: 365 Days of Slow and Pressure Cooking
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 5 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 8 servings 1x
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Description

A nourishing soup with cabbage and other veggies and a bit of smoked ham hock. This soup will warm you right up!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 8 cups chicken broth
  • 1 pound peeled and diced potatoes
  • 1 small head of cabbage, chopped
  • 3 diced carrots
  • 1 cup diced onion
  • 1 Tbsp minced garlic
  • 1 smoked ham hock
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/4 tsp sage
  • 1/2 tsp crushed rosemary
  • 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 very clean stone (optional)

Instructions

Instant Pot Instructions:

  1. Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting and pour the broth into the pot. Let the broth heat up to a simmer while you chop and prepare all the vegetables. 
  2. Cancel the sauté setting. Add the potatoes, cabbage, carrots, onion, garlic, ham hock, bay leaf, thyme, sage, rosemary and paprika into Instant Pot. 
  3. Cover Instant Pot and make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the SOUP button to 5 minutes. When time is up let the pot sit for 10 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
  4. Remove the meat from the bone and chop it up. Add the meat back to the soup and stone, if using.
  5. Ladle into bowls and if needed, season with salt and pepper. 

Slow Cooker Instructions:

  1. Add broth, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, onion, garlic, ham hock, bay leaf, thyme, sage, rosemary and paprika (and stone, if using) into slow cooker.
  2. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. 
  3. Remove the meat from the bone and chop it up. Add the meat back to the soup.
  4. Ladle into bowls and if needed, season with salt and pepper. 

Notes

I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.

Recipe adapted from Dolly’s soup as shared on Hallmark Channel

  • Category: Soup
  • Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker

Did you make this recipe?

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*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

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23 Comments Filed Under: All Recipes, Dump and Go, Gluten Free, Healthy, Instant Pot, Ham, Potatoes, Soups, Slow Cooker Tagged With: one pot meal

Recommendations

Comments

  1. Joan Wash says

    September 29, 2022 at 7:22 am

    Can you use celery in place of the carrots? I’m not a carrot fan.

    Reply
    • Karen says

      September 30, 2022 at 12:30 pm

      For sure!

      Reply
  2. Peggy L says

    September 28, 2022 at 8:30 pm

    Thank you, Karen for all sharing all your wonderful recipes!! This soup is awesome!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Karen says

      September 30, 2022 at 12:30 pm

      You’re welcome! Thanks Peggy!

      Reply
  3. L says

    February 20, 2021 at 2:11 pm

    Hey, I really like your recipes, & have always found the stone soup story charming (we did it church& grade school, etc)
    However, putting a rock in a pressure cooker is potentially a REALLY BAD IDEA! Like, accidental bomb bad. May I suggest a stone-shaped hunk of cheese instead

    Reply
    • Karen says

      February 22, 2021 at 2:01 pm

      I changed the recipe so that the stone is added after the pressure cooking cycle ❤️️

      Reply
  4. Gail says

    February 18, 2021 at 12:24 pm

    Stone soup… yum. I am a little concerned about adding the stone to a pressure cooker and then bringing it up to pressure. Some stones have tiny, almost microscopic fissures in them. If water gets into them and they are put under pressure, the possibility exists that they will explode and at least, damage the pressure cooker. Don’t want anyone to get hurt.

    Reply
    • Karen says

      February 19, 2021 at 1:12 pm

      Good point! I’ll add this into recipe card

      Reply
  5. Kate says

    February 15, 2021 at 9:23 pm

    Would this work with red cabbage instead of green cabbage?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      February 16, 2021 at 12:30 pm

      yes I think it would. It’ll be more colorful!

      Reply
    • Nikki Krakauer “JustTabandMe” says

      February 22, 2021 at 2:53 am

      Frankly, purple cabbage looks terrible when used in a soup. It turns a dull, “dirt” brown and is extremely unappetizing.

      ★★★

      Reply
      • Barry Scheps says

        March 2, 2021 at 2:45 pm

        Well, with a name like “Stone Soup,” would anyone expect it to appear perfectly and pristinely clear, like plain chicken broth?!
        I think in this case that bit of extra color would add a little authenticity (color-wise!).

        Reply
  6. Helen P Weaver says

    February 15, 2021 at 9:16 pm

    I remember growing up that we had a few Church Suppers that were “Stone Soup Suppers”. We were a small family type church and had 5th Sunday Suppers. On Stone Soup nights we had different soups brought by the ladies, but there would be a big pot of stone soup made with no meat. The stone was removed and shown to the kids to show that not everyone had meat in there soup because their families could not afford it.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Karen says

      February 16, 2021 at 12:32 pm

      Oh I love this story. Thanks so much for sharing Helen!

      Reply
  7. Francine says

    February 15, 2021 at 6:31 pm

    Karen, would love to try this. I don’t have a ham hock but do have a thick ham slice in the freezer. Would that work as well?
    Love your recipes and videos. Keep up the great work!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      February 16, 2021 at 12:32 pm

      Yes it will! If you need more seasoning at the end you can add more in!

      Reply
  8. Chris says

    February 15, 2021 at 2:27 pm

    This is the same thing as Boiled Dinner. Been making it for 45 years, and my mother and grandmother made it for ever also.

    Reply
    • Karen says

      February 16, 2021 at 12:38 pm

      I love traditional recipes from Grandma 😊

      Reply
      • Christine Cuneo says

        February 16, 2021 at 2:44 pm

        Yes, and now we make them in the Instant Pot and save a ton of time.

        ★★★★★

        Reply
  9. Barb says

    February 15, 2021 at 1:35 pm

    I’m showing my age but I remember Captain Kangaroo reading this book on TV in the morning before heading off to walk to elementary school!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      February 15, 2021 at 1:47 pm

      😂

      Reply
    • Cindy Redden says

      February 16, 2021 at 7:15 am

      I loved captain kangaroo when I was a kid! I’ve only heard of stone soup from watching little house on the prairie 🤷 can’t wait to try this recipe

      Reply
      • Karen says

        February 16, 2021 at 12:29 pm

        All these nostalgic tv shows 😍

        Reply

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Hi, I’m Karen. I know that dinner time can be less than relaxing. Busy schedules and cranky kids and a hundred other things can lead to weariness when it comes to putting dinner on the table. I can help! I make homemade, family-friendly slow cooker and Instant Pot dinners and share the recipes with you.

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