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    Home » Instant Pot

    Instant Pot Spanish Lentil Soup (Lentejas)

    80 · Apr 26, 2017 · 7 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

    I already blogged the Thermomix version of this Spanish Lentil Soup/Stew (Lentejas) recipe a few years ago (find it here). It’s such a lovely dish. Simple yet comforting. Here it is now in Instant Pot Spanish Lentil Soup (Lentejas) recipe format!

    Instant Pot Spanish Lentil Soup (Lentejas) by Feisty Tapas served on a deep white dish with an Instant Pot DUO in the background. Green lentils, chorizo, potatoes... but it's super easy to make it a vegetarian or vegan lentil soup. Lentejas is a traditional Spanish Lentil Soup. An authentic Spanish dish
    Instant Pot Spanish Lentil Soup (Lentejas) by Feisty Tapas

    If you want to keep it vegetarian or vegan, skip the chorizo of course, and increase the paprika a bit; also, make sure you use a good stock base like my Homemade Vegetable Stock Paste.

    In the Instant Pot there are two ways of cooking this and they are going to depend on your time and energy. If you have a bit of extra time, it’s worth sauteing the vegetables and the chorizo (if using) at the start. If you’re short on time or just can’t be bothered because you’ve had a tough day or a long week then skip that, add all the ingredients to the inner pot and skip straight to step 5.

    For those of you with a Thermomix and an Instant Pot, this is one of those perfect collaborations: chop it all up quickly in Thermie, decant into the Instant Pot to cook, give the Thermie bowl a rinse and make yourself something nice for dessert, a treat to take into work or tomorrow's lunch!

    Ready for the recipe?

    Instant Pot Spanish Lentil Soup

    Serves: 4-6 people

    Quick and easy Instant Pot Spanish Lentil Soup (Lentejas) with green lentils, vegetables, paprika

    Ingredients

    1 large onion or 2 small ones
    3 garlic cloves
    1 large carrot
    1 red pepper

    200 g potatoes, peeled weight

    1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
    100 g cooking chorizo (if you want to make it vegetarian or vegan, skip the chorizo and increase the paprika)

    150 g chopped tomatoes
    1 tablespoon sweet paprika (more if making it vegan)

    300 g dried green lentils
    1 bay leaf
    1.3 litres of water, cold
    1 tablespoon homemade vegetable stock paste (you can also use my gammon stock or chicken stock)

    1 teaspoon salt (you can always adjust at the end)

    Salt and pepper

    Quick and easy Instant Pot Spanish Lentil Soup (Lentejas) with green lentils, vegetables, paprika
    The stick it all in, press a button and put your feet up option, also known as "stick it all in and skip to step 5"

    Method

    You have two options, the "stick it all in, press a button and put your feet up” option (in which case you can literally place all the ingredients in your Instant Pot and go directly to step 5) OR the Sauté option, in which case follow steps 1, 2, 3 and 5.

    1. Chop onion and garlic. Dice carrot and pepper (in Thermie just chop onion garlic and carrot 5 seconds, speed 5, then add the pepper for 2 more seconds at speed 5). Reserve. Dice peeled potatoes. Reserve in a different bowl.

    2. Press Sauté button (NO need to wait until the display says HOT), add the teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil, add chorizo and stir, let it sauté for approx. 2-3 minutes to release the juices.

    3. Add onions, garlic, red pepper and sauté for about 5 minutes.

    4.  Press Keep Warm/Cancel and add chopped tomatoes, paprika and potatoes, give it a stir and add the lentils, bay leaf, water, stock, salt and pepper (I use a few twists of the black pepper mill).

    5. Lock the lid in. Steam release handle pointing to Sealing. Press Manual, use the - and + buttons to programme 5 minutes. Do a natural release at the end. You can let the rest of the steam out 8-10 minutes into the natural release or you can let it go to Keep Warm, you choose.

    Quick and easy Instant Pot Spanish Lentil Soup (Lentejas) with green lentils, vegetables, paprika
    With lid just off after natural release

    Note: you can bulk it up with more vegetables of course

    Do please let me know if you try it!

    Quick and easy Instant Pot Spanish Lentil Soup (Lentejas) with green lentils, vegetables, paprika
    After a quick stir to loosen it up
    Pressure cooked Instant Pot Spanish Lentil Soup (Lentejas) seen in a beige bowl with an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker in the background

    Instant Pot Spanish Lentil Soup

    A delicious authentic Spanish soup, a staple in Spanish cuisine now made easier by pressure cooking it in your Instant Pot
    5 from 4 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Recipe Saved!
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    Course Appetizer, Main Course
    Cuisine Spanish

    Equipment

    • Instant Pot or pressure cooker

    Ingredients
      

    • 1 large onion or 2 small ones
    • 3

      garlic cloves


    • 1 large carrot
    • 1 red pepper
    • 200 g potatoes peeled weight
    • 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
    • 100 g cooking chorizo if you want to make it vegetarian or vegan, skip the chorizo and increase the paprika
    • 150 g chopped tomatoes
    • 1 tablespoon sweet paprika more if making it vegan
    • 300 g

      dried green lentils


      
want to make it with dried red split lentils? Try this recipe instead

    • 1 bay leaf
    • 1.3 litres water from the cold tap
    • 1 tablespoon homemade vegetable stock paste (you can also use my gammon stock or chicken stock)
    • 1 teaspoon salt you can always adjust at the end
    • Salt and pepper

    Instructions
     

    You have two options, the “stick it all in, press a button and put your feet up” option (in which case you can literally place all the ingredients in your Instant Pot and go directly to step 5) OR the Sauté option, in which case follow steps 1, 2, 3 and 5.

    • Chop onion and garlic. Dice carrot and pepper (in Thermie just chop onion garlic and carrot 5 seconds, speed 5, then add the pepper for 2 more seconds at speed 5). Reserve. Dice peeled potatoes. Reserve in a different bowl.
    • Press Sauté button (NO need to wait until the display says HOT), add the teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil, add chorizo and stir, let it sauté for approx. 2-3 minutes to release the juices.
    • Add onions, garlic, red pepper and sauté for about 5 minutes.
    • Press Keep Warm/Cancel and add chopped tomatoes, paprika and potatoes, give it a stir and add the lentils, bay leaf, water, stock, salt and pepper (I use a few twists of the black pepper mill).
    • Lock the lid in. Steam release handle pointing to Sealing. Press Manual, use the – and + buttons to programme 5 minutes. Do a natural release* at the end. You can let the rest of the steam out 8-10 minutes into the natural release by turning the steam release handle from Sealing to Venting OR you can let it go to Keep Warm, you choose.

    Video

    Notes

    Note: you can bulk it up with more vegetables of course.
    *Terminology
     
    Quick release (also called quick pressure release or QPR) means venting the steam as soon as the pressure cooking process finishes, i.e. moving the steam release handle from Sealing to Venting.
     
    Natural release (also called natural pressure release or NPR) means letting the float valve pop back down of its own accord, so basically you don’t need to do anything at the end and can keep your feet up. If it takes over 15 minutes, you're ok to release the rest of the steam (by turning the steam release handle to Venting) that may be left in order to unlock and open the lid. 
     
    Sometimes you'll see me talk of a combination of NPR followed by a QPR. For example, a recipe can have a 4 minute NPR followed by a QPR. This means that you wait for 4 minutes at the end of the pressure cooking time and then do a QPR by moving the steam release handle from Sealing to Venting. 
    Keyword lentils, soup, Spanish food
    Tried this recipe?Mention @feistytapas or tag #feistytapas!
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Michele Hawdon says

      October 14, 2019 at 12:54 pm

      5 stars
      Made this last week and have to say it was scrummy.
      Was a first time experience for me and eating lentils, flavours were stunning and now on my to do again list

      Reply
      • Veronique says

        October 16, 2019 at 12:49 am

        This is a staple in my house (flat) everyone loves it 😋

        Reply
      • Beatriz Albo says

        November 23, 2019 at 6:36 am

        5 stars
        This is amazing! I came home feeling very cold and made this in less than 20 minutes. It is one of my favourite Spanish meals. Thank you Maria for a perfect recipe

        Reply
    2. Jo says

      April 22, 2020 at 4:46 pm

      Definitely need to try this. Looks amazing

      Reply
      • Maria says

        April 23, 2020 at 11:40 am

        Let me know when you do Jo!

        Reply
    3. Tera says

      July 16, 2020 at 10:28 pm

      5 stars
      Can’t believe this worked out perfect! I pretty much followed the recipe to a T - only added a little apple cider vinegar at the very end. My husband who is from Spain said they were perfect, authentic and just like from home! Thanks so much for sharing. Super delicious.

      Reply
      • Maria says

        July 17, 2020 at 10:17 am

        That's great Tera!! I'm so glad. Yes, it's like the Lentejas from my childhood too

        Reply

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    Hi, I'm Maria! A food blogger passionate about kitchen gadgets and their power to make life easier and tastier.

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