Instant Pot Asparagus Soup (Vegan and Gluten-Free)

Instant pot asparagus soup is quick and easy with loads of flavor. Potatoes and coconut milk make it so smooth and creamy that you can sip it from a mug. Vegan, gluten-free and ready in 30 minutes!

If you’re bored of asparagus in a salad or baked asparagus as a side, this instant pot asparagus soup is a great way to eat your greens and enjoy them too. It is thick, creamy, and tastes of spring.

Plus the instant pot makes short work of an already easy recipe. You don’t have to keep watch in fear of the soup bubbling over.

I also like to use my immersion blender to blend the soup right in the pot. It is quite a handy little tool as I don’t have to do extra dishes or wait for the soup to cool down. As soon as the pot opens, in goes the blender, and the soup gets blended in two minutes flat! Easy, right?

Ingredients

To make the soup

• Olive oil
• White onions, chopped
• Garlic, chopped
• Fresh asparagus
• Potatoes, preferably Yukon Gold
• Vegetable broth
• Sea salt

To finish

• Coconut milk
• Black pepper, freshly ground
• Lemon juice

See recipe card further down for exact quantities.

Substitutions

• If you don’t care for a vegan soup, you can use butter instead of olive oil for sautéing the vegetables.
• Coconut milk can be subbed with whole milk and a few dollops of sour cream. Again, please remember that this will make the soup non-vegan.

How to prep the asparagus

After washing the asparagus, chop off the ends, all the way to the middle of the stalks if needed. You only want the heads and the tender parts of the stalks as the tough, fibrous ends don’t get blended well.

How to tell at where to stop? As you’re cutting the stalks, you will be able to tell how much you should lop off. If your knife meets with resistance and the stalks feel tough and stringy, keep cutting. Stop when the stalks get tender and you are able to slice through them easily.

Instructions

1. Chop the vegetables

Cut off the tough ends of the asparagus stalks and chop the heads and stalks.
Peel and dice the onions, potatoes, and garlic.

2. Sauté the veggies

Turn on sauté on your instant pot, and add the olive oil. Add the onions and garlic and cook for one minute. Add the potatoes and asparagus and cook for another minute. Add the broth and salt and stir once.

3. Pressure cook

Secure the lid and pressure cook the contents for 8 minutes. After the timer beeps, wait for 5 minutes, then release the steam and remove the lid.

4. Blend

Using an immersion blender, blend the vegetables very well. The soup should be smooth with no rough bits.

5. Add the rest of the ingredients

Switch to sauté again, stir in the coconut milk, and cook for a minute or two. Finally, add the black pepper and lemon juice and serve hot.

Top tips

• Stick to the amounts of veggies mentioned in the recipe. If you add less asparagus or more potatoes, the potatoes can overwhelm the taste of the asparagus itself. Err on the side of increasing the quantity of the asparagus if you must.
• After the soup is cooked, blend the vegetables very well. The soup tastes best when the texture is ultra-smooth. Besides you don’t want stray bits of asparagus fibre in your soup, so blend, blend, blend!

Serving suggestion

Asparagus soup is so smooth and creamy, you can pour it in a mug and sip it. You can also dip some garlic bread or cheese sticks in it for a cozy meal. Either way, it’s quite delicious and healthy!

Reserve a few asparagus stalks and lightly fry them (1-2 minutes only) in a little olive oil. Garnish the soup with the stalks for a pop of color before serving.