Instant Pot Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup– a creamy tomato based soup that is made from start to finish in 45 minutes thanks to the help of your pressure cooker. This is my favorite soup to make for company. I always get tons of compliments. I don’t believe I’ve tasted soup at a restaurant that is as good as this version.
Click here for the SLOW COOKER VERSION of this recipe
Here is my son demonstrating how to make the soup:
Instant Pot Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup
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Today’s recipe for Instant Pot Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup has me dancing through my kitchen. I have loved the slow cooker version of this soup for years. But now I’m super pumped that I can also make it in my electric pressure cooker. I made this soup from start until finish in 45 minutes. That includes the prep time and the cooking time and the releasing of pressure time and everything.
In the original version of this recipe you make a roux. Basically, just melting butter and stirring the flour in with it and then adding cupfuls of soup to thicken the overall consistency of the soup. I decided to try a twist on this strategy and it worked out perfectly. When the timer on my Instant Pot starting counting down from 5 minutes I melted butter in a glass dish in the microwave. Then I slowly whisked in flour, tablespoon by tablespoon. Once you can, you’ll grab a bit of the liquid out of the Instant Pot and stir it into the butter mixture. Then you’ll whisk it all into the pot. And finally add in milk and Parmesan cheese. What resulted was pure tomato soup bliss. I’m telling you, you’re going to be so happy with the velvety results on this soup.
Some other soup recipes you may like…
January is National Soup Month. To celebrate I’m sharing some amazing soup recipes from some food blogger friends.
White Chicken Chili from Ashlee Marie
Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup from Creations by Kara
Chicken Fajita Soup from The Baker Upstairs
Instant Pot Italian Chicken Soup from Super Golden Bakes
Vegan Pinto Bean Soup from Namely Marly
Slow Cooker Sweet Tomatoes Tomato Soup
Slow Cooker Skinny Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup
Slow Cooker Tomato Basil and Pasta Soup
Instant Pot Vegan Tomato Soup from Healthy Slow Cooking
Instant Pot Vegetable Soup from Cookin’ Canuck
What Instant Pot/Slow Cooker Did You Use?
For Instant Pot tomato basil parmesan soup I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I also own the 6 quart Instant Pot IP-LUX60 V3 Programmable Electric Pressure Cooker.* They are both great pressure cookers! The first one I mentioned has a yogurt making function but other than that they are fairly similar. The price difference between the two is about $20.
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Click here for the SLOW COOKER VERSION of this recipe
Instant Pot Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 cups of soup 1x
Description
A creamy tomato based soup that is made from start to finish in 45 minutes thanks to the help of your pressure cooker. This is my favorite soup to make for company. I always get tons of compliments. I don’t believe I’ve tasted soup at a restaurant that is as good as this version.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup finely diced celery (I used 3 celery ribs)
- 1 cup grated carrots
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 4 cups chicken broth (or 4 cups water with chicken bouillon)
- 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 Tbsp dried basil
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2 cups warmed milk (I used 1% milk)
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to sauté to allow it to warm up while you’re preparing your vegetables. Add the oil to the pot. Add in the onions and saute for 3 minutes. Then add in the carrots and celery and saute for 1 more minute. Pour the broth into the pot along with the crushed tomatoes.
- Add in oregano, basil and bay leaf to the pressure cooker.
- Cover the pot and turn off the sauté function. Make sure the valve is on “sealing.” Press the manual button and set the timer for 5 minutes.
- When the pot starts counting down from 5 minutes (it will take about 10 minutes to come to pressure) melt the butter in the microwave or on the stove top. Once the butter is melted, whisk in the flour a tablespoon at a time. It will form a thick mixture.
- By this time the Instant Pot will probably have beeped. Let the pot sit for about 5-10 minutes. Then move the valve to venting. Once the pressure is released you can open the pot. Turn your Instant Pot to the saute function. Ladle one cup of the hot soup into your flour mixture. Whisk it well. Then stir in the creamy mixture into the Instant Pot and whisk until combined. Let it cook for a few minutes on the saute setting (stir regularly, it just needs to cook out the flour taste).
- Add in the milk and the Parmesan cheese and the salt and pepper. Whisk. Taste at this point and season to taste.
- Ladle into bowls and serve with crackers.
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
- Category: Soup
- Method: Instant Pot
*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.
All my recipes for my Instant Pot are from your site! They have all been great! But this soup is by far the best one yet! I love tomato soup. It took for my husband and I to not lick the bowl! He has not stopped talking about this soup and asked me to double the recipe next time so we can freeze some to have on hand. Thank you soooo much for all your great recipes!!!
Thank you thank you! So glad you tried it. It is soooo delicious I must agree 🙂
I’d love to make this soup, but I have to watch my fat and cholesterol intake. Has anybody tried this without the 1/2 cup butter? Is there any substitute that might work? Thank you.
This soup is by far my FAVOURITE RECIPE FROM YOUR WEBSITE!
We have had it several times, but only the slow cooker version as that is what was available at the time. I look forward to trying the instant pot version!
Thanks Lynn! It’s a favorite of many!
I make this soup a lot in winter . I love it!
If I wanted to double the recipe, would I also double the cooking time? We love this soup, so I’m making it for the soup-er teacher appreciation week! Thanks!
Keep the same cooking time for doubling recipes. Your teachers will love it! https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/how-to-double-instant-pot-recipes/
The soup was pretty flat prior to the addition of crushed peppers and much more dried and fresh basil. We love tomato basil soup, but we can’t recommend this recipe.
I am in love with this soup! This was the first time I had made soup in the instant pot and it was a hit with everyone in the family.
Nice! So glad to hear it. Soup is my favorite in the IP!
Any idea how many calories are in this? Can’t wait to try it!
just updated this with nutrition info
The ingredients list doesn’t mention the oil, but the cooking directions do, so I used 1 T. olive oil. To cut the calories somewhat, used only 1/2 of the butter and 1/2 of the flour. Because of the reductions I chose to make, will try adding rice before cooking the soup to make it thicker next time. The soup had great flavor and went well with grilled cheese and Canadian bacon sandwiches on the side.
Oops! Just corrected that!
Wondering if you think this could be frozen?
I think it could, it may separate a bit when reheated though
is it better to add the milk and cheese once thawed andcready to serve, if ok to freeze as is, what to do if it seaparates?
I froze a lunch portion size. I let it defrost in the fridge and warmed it up. Gave it a bit of a stir and taste just as good as it did when I first made it.
This tomato basil soup is amazing!!! I have to say, I’ve ordered it in so many restaurants and this beats them all, hands down! I followed the recipe exactly. The only thing is, I used 1 cup of heavy cream and 1 cup of 2% milk. I’m sure that added to the creaminess. My husband had 3 large ladles and a grilled cheese. He went back for 2 more ladles and another grilled cheese! 😊
I really agree with you Alice. When I order tomato soup at a restaurant I’m always a little smug because I think this one is much better!
Only change I made was to use diced tomatoes (what I had on hand) instead of crushed. Blended them with my immersion blender and it was perfect! Great recipe.
Good tip if you’re in a pinch!
Great blog! I esp like the “Jump to Recipe” and “Print Recipe” links……. thank you!!
Me too!! They are handy 🙂
I made the recipe yesterday for my lunch this week. As others mentioned, I used 2% milk instead of cream. I also added a bit of brown sugar. Great flavor!!
Glad you liked it Linda!
I have an 8 quart instantpot. Should I double the recipe and increase the time?
You don’t need to double the recipe. You can keep this recipe exactly the same in the 8 quart.
Great recipe I made a double batch so I could freeze in individual servings for my Mom after she had surgery. It was just as good after thawing and reheating the soup. The only change I made was I puréed the onions, carrots and celery after I sautéed them as she prefers a smooth soup. So happy I found this recipe.
So glad to hear this. you are a wonderful daughter.
Best tomato soup we have ever made ( or eaten)!! Did add 2 cloves of garlic and used a cup of cream instead of thickening with butter and flour.Quick and easy in the instant pot. So ,so good!!
Thank you!
so glad you liked it!
Soup was very good. I did cut back on the milk and it still turned out quite thick. I used my frozen garden tomatoes which equal to 28 oz , They were roasted and added garlic to them and froze them. I also added a couple of T of sugar for the acidity of the tomatoes. I also used my vita-mix to make it smooth.
Thank you for the recipe, I will be making more of this soup. Love it
Your changes sound great!
This soup is so delicious that my husband and several friends insist that I have it available at all times, so I make it at least once a week. I added two large garlic cloves and use 1 cup of milk + 1 cup heavy cream. I was lazy once and threw the onion, celery and garlic in my food processor, chopping it all together very finely. This made the soup quite smooth – no big chunks – and we found we like it better this way. Thank you, Karen, for this and all your other fantastic recipes!
I like how he wants it available at all time 🙂 That is great!!!
I loved this recipe but I wanted to know if the parmesan melted smoothly…becsuse mine didn’t. My cheese was goopy and stringy, Would I destroy the flavor of I omitted the cheese?
Perhaps you could just sprinkle each individual serving with parmesan cheese instead?
This soup is to die for!!! Everyone I have served it to says it is the best tomato basil soup they’ve ever had. The only change I made was to use 1 cup of heavy cream and 1 cup of 2 percent milk in place of the 2 cups of 1 percent milk because I was running low on milk. I will continue to make it this way. Thank you for an outstanding recipe.
Oops – I forgot the other change I made. I added 4 cloves of minced garlic.
Simply Outstanding. I added 2 cloves of garlic and a can of fire roasted tomatoes. I also used homemade chicken bone broth that added some incredible depth and flavour as well. This will be my go to tomato soup recipe.
Those changes sound so good! I’m glad you liked it.
I made this almost to the recipe – I had some fresh tomatoes to use up, so I threw them in the chopper and added them along with the canned tomatoes. Because of the extra liquid from the fresh tomatoes, I reduced the chicken stock to two cups. I am not a vegetable soup person, which this seemed to be to me after trying a bit, so out of the IP into the Blendtec – result, the most amazing creamy, rich tomato soup ever!! Love it!!
NICE!
I followed the instructions and it wasn’t done, the tomatoes were still there not cooked down at all. Are they supposed to be chunky? The carrots and celery weren’t done either. What could’ve happened?
did it come to pressure? that is really weird!
Are the tomatoes chunky? It looks amazing but my kids won’t eat it if it resembles tomatoes!
You can always puree the tomatoes with an immersion blender!
Hi can use heavy cream instead of milk if so how cups would you need thanks
I’d start with 1 cup, that should be enough.
I have the Model IP-LUX60 6 quart Instant Pot. Will this model be workable with this recipe? Thank you.
Judy
yep absolutely
I made a goal for the year to use my Instant Pot more often. Can’t wait to give this soup a try!
This soup is delicious! I found too late I was out of basil so I used 3 drops of basil essential oil. The flavor came out great. I wanted to leave a picture, but can’t see how. Thanks for sharing your recipes. They are easy to follow and delicious. So far I’ve made chicken enchilada soup and Thai coconut chicken soup and they were wonderful too.
oh interesting! essential oils to the rescue!
Definitely our new favorite! Thank you for the wonderful recipes!
Your son is adorable and he did get a great job! The soup looks pretty amazing also..
Thanks carol!!
This recipe is very similar to mine, but I have a son who doesn’t like ‘bits’ (the onions, carrots, celery) in his soup. To get the same flavor, I use V-8 juice instead of chicken broth. I also use Half in Half instead of milk. It makes the soup a bit thicker, reducing or eliminating the need for flour step, depending on your taste. You could use corn starch instead of flour, if your allergy is wheat gluten only. Try adding a splash of lemon juice, it adds a delicious zing.
Great ideas thanks for sharing!
Can one sub vegetable broth for the chicken for a vegetarian soup?
Sure!!
Could you use rice milk to make this dairy free. Wasn’t sure if it would still get thick and creamy…. my husband just found out he’s allergic to cows milk so I’m new to cooking without regular milk.
(PS: I would use sheep cheese in place of the Parmesan cheese!)
Give it a try! I bet it’d work.
This sounds delicious. We love tomato rice soup. If I were to add uncooked rice to this would I need to add more liquid? What ratio?
I’d add in a cup of broth per cup of rice.
To make this gluten free, would using a gluten free all-purpose work, here?
I’m sure it would!
I love this recipe! I noticed that there isn’t any garlic in this Instant Pot version. Is there a specific reason for that? Also, I’m curios, what’s your favorite kind of Parmesan cheese to use? Preshredded? Powder in the green can? Freshly grated from a wedge? Thanks?
I don’t know why I didn’t put garlic in it haha!! I guess you could add it if you want. I have used all sorts of parmesan and it it good with any! My husband loves the green can and I love just buying a big thing of already grated parmesan at costco.
Good to know! Thanks, Karen!
PS I just realized that I spelled curious wrong! Oops! I’ll blame my phone for that one. Haha
🙂
Do you drain the tomatoes or use the juice?
I use the juice.
Could I cut recipe in half. There are only two of us. Would I have to adjust the cooking time?
yes you can cut it in half. the cooking time will be the same 🙂