Instant Pot Hobo Soup–a hodgepodge of ingredients, like Italian sausage and vegetables, that comes together in a warm, comforting soup.
Note: the SLOW COOKER instructions are listed in the recipe card below

Instant Pot Hobo Soup
Hobo soup is a concoction of ingredients that comes together and tastes so warm and comforting. With only a 5- minute pressure cooking time it comes together pretty quickly! There are lots of ways to mix and match this soup so don’t worry if you don’t have all the ingredients on hand. Although I must say that my favorite part of this soup is the cabbage. It cooks down so small but reminds me a bit of pasta.
What Ingredients You’ll Need:
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage–I used mild but if you like heat use spicy
- 1 cup diced onion–for a prep shortcut buy frozen diced onions at your grocery store
- 4 cups V8–or tomato juice
- 3 cups chicken or beef broth–or you can use 1 tablespoon of Better than Bouillon Beef or Chicken Base plus 3 cups of water
- 2 medium Russet potatoes–about 8 ounces. You can peel the potatoes if you’d like or keep them unpeeled.
- 2 medium carrots–you can also use frozen carrots
- 1 (14.5 oz) can whole kernel corn, drained–fresh corn or frozen corn will also work, use about 1.5 cups
- 1 (14.5 oz) can green beans, drained–fresh green beans will also work, use about 2 cups
- 4 cups chopped cabbage–this was half of a small head of cabbage
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce–for flavor
- 1/4 teaspoon cajun seasoning–for a kick
- Salt and pepper, to taste
How to make Hobo Soup in the Instant Pot or Crockpot
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the Italian sausage and break it up. Add in the onions. Brown for about 5 minutes. Drain off excess grease.
- Pour in the V8 and broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking this will prevent the burn error message
- Add in the potatoes, carrots, corn, green beans, cabbage, Worcestershire and cajun seasoning.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the SOUP button to 5 minutes. If you don’t have a soup button you can just use the manual/pressure cook button. When time is up let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. You can also let this one sit for several hours on warm before serving. Remove the lid.
- Stir. Add salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve.
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Heat a pan over medium high heat. Add in the Italian sausage and break it up. Add in the onions. Brown for about 5 minutes. Drain off excess grease. Add mixture to the slow cooker.
- Pour in the V8, broth, potatoes, carrots, corn, green beans, cabbage, Worcestershire and cajun seasoning.
- Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Remember each slow cooker cooks differently so your cooking time may be different.
- Stir. Add salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve.
Recipe Notes and Tips
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. You can make this in the 8 quart with no changes. For the 3 quart pot halve the recipe and keep the same cooking time.
- This is one of those soups that you can add or subtract ingredients that you have on hand. For example try swapping the green beans with okra or lima beans. Another idea is to substitute ground beef in the place of Italian sausage (make sure to season the ground beef well!). Other choices you could add are bell peppers, celery, frozen mixed vegetables, zucchini, sweet potatoes, chopped spinach, great northern beans, pinto beans, diced or stewed tomatoes, peas, garlic, cauliflower florets, parsley, bay leaves, etc.
- Frozen or fresh vegetables can be used interchangeably. Use the same cooking time.
- Paper towel grease draining tip: Tilt the Instant Pot to one side while holding the ground meat against the other side with a wooden spoon. This should make most of the grease pool on the tilted side. Lower the Instant Pot down, the meat should stay to its side and the grease on the other. Place a couple paper towels into the grease and use the spoon to sop up the grease. Discard the paper towels.
- I like to serve this soup with warm cornbread and honey butter, fresh bread and butter or a dinner roll.
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More Instant Pot Soup Recipes…
Instant Pot Dakota Smashed Pea And Barley Soup
Instant Pot Unstuffed Cabbage Soup
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc. Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.
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Instant Pot Hobo Soup
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
Description
A hodgepodge of ingredients, like Italian sausage and vegetables, that comes together in a warm, comforting soup.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage (I used mild)
- 1 cup diced onion
- 4 cups V8 (or tomato juice)
- 3 cups chicken or beef broth
- 2 medium Russet potatoes (about 8 ounces), cut into cubes
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
- 1 (14.5 oz) can corn, drained
- 1 (14.5 oz) can green beans, drained
- 4 cups chopped cabbage
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 tsp cajun seasoning
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the Italian sausage and break it up. Add in the onions. Brown for about 5 minutes. Drain off excess grease.
- Pour in the V8 and broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking.
- Add in the potatoes, carrots, corn, green beans, cabbage, Worcestershire and cajun seasoning.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the SOUP button to 5 minutes. When time is up let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir. Add salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve.
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Heat a pan over medium high heat. Add in the Italian sausage and break it up. Add in the onions. Brown for about 5 minutes. Drain off excess grease. Add mixture to the slow cooker.
- Pour in the V8, broth, potatoes, carrots, corn, green beans, cabbage, Worcestershire and cajun seasoning.
- Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
- Stir. Add salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve.
- Category: Soup
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
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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.
what hobo is walking around with a slow cooker, all these ingredients and a place to plug it in and wait X emount of time for it to cook? try a coffee maker+pot, spam, canned veggies+liquid, water and Ramen noodles. now that’s hobo soup.
Karen, you made my day! Had a pkg of ground Italian sausage & wanted to do something different. So I used your “filter” thing on your website looking for sausage recipes. (I love that filter thing) Found this Hobo Soup & the more I looked at that pic the hungrier I got. Subbed cannellini beans for green & added a bit of smoked paprika. WHOA, baby! My husband did the “Greg thing” & started hovering the minute he heart the pressure release. EXCELLENT recipe. You bad.
p.s. I know it’s only Sep. but I was ready for some soup & this one’s the bomb
★★★★★
oops, I meant ‘heard’
Haha! Love it. It September 6th and 100 degrees here today. All I want to do is make soup and banana bread! Hopefully the weather cools down soon.
I made this soup on Friday and I am making it tonight, I would clearly recommend this hearty soup to anyone and have told other already. This recipe is a keeper!
★★★★★
Ahhh! Thanks so much! What a nice review to read!
It was pretty good. I used N/A beer instead of broth and used frozen soup vegetables. Stayed with fresh cabbage though. First pressure cooker use other than initial water test lol.
Good work using your IP! I hope you find lots of recipes to make here.
I made this last week and was so amazed at the ease of ingredients. Items I usually have on hand. I had a bowl and went back for a 2nd helping! Hubby was amazed at how delicious it is. Thank you so much for introducing this to us. It’s like having a bowl of gourmet, restaurant quality soup. It’s winner at my house!
★★★★★
WAHOO! So glad to hear it Joy. Thank you for the 5 stars!
Absolutely Delicious! We had it 2 days in a row and I have two more meals in the freezer. It’s a keeper and a repeater, for sure. Thank you so much for all your hard work that goes into creating your amazing recipes!
★★★★★
Ahhh, thanks Lisa! I appreciate it the 5 star review!
I use a different brand of instant pressure cooker and it doesn’t have a “soup” button. It has a high and a low pressure setting. Which setting do you recommend and how long should I cook the soup?
I would use the pressure cook button on high pressure for 5 minutes.