Carrot and coriander (cilantro) is a classic soup recipe that is frugal, nourishing, full of sunshine flavours and so quick to make in the pressure cooker.
Carrot and coriander soup
Light, fresh and zingy, I love carrot and coriander soup, with the sweet earthiness of the humble carrot and the zestiness of the coriander leaf (or cilantro, if you prefer).
See also
- the classic carrot and coriander soup to make in a saucepan on the stove top
- let the slow cooker do all the work with this throw it all in and leave it to cook slow cooker carrot and coriander soup
- carrot and parsnip soup is a delicious pairing of root vegetables
I think some people are put off making soup because they think it takes too much time, yet many of my soup recipes take barely half an hour.
That’s still half an hour that you need to spend in the kitchen but the electric pressure cooker is a game changer, because you can walk away and it leave it to switch itself off, without needing to watch the pot.
I have taken the time to sauté the onions with the spices, as I think this makes a real difference to the flavour (though you could just throw everything in without doing this). It really doesn’t add a lot of time to the method, though.
This pressure-cooker recipe can be ready in 30 minutes, most of which is hands-off time. This means a fabulous, nutrient-packed soup is within easy reach and you never have to think, ‘I really should have made soup!’
Why make pressure cooker carrot and coriander soup?
- unbelievably fast and hands off
- fresh, zesty and delicious
- flexible recipe, so you can vary quantities and use up leftovers
- a really nourishing lunch
Pressure cooker carrot and coriander soup ingredients
- carrots – one of the best value vegetables and you don’t need them to look pretty
- garlic
- celery – don’t be put off, the flavour will be subtle and savoury in the background
- potato – to give a little extra body and creaminess to the soup
- onion – a medium white/yellow onion
- olive oil and a knob of butter – just a dash of oil and a little butter, to fry the onion. Leave the butter out for a vegan-friendly soup.
- spices – a little ground coriander, turmeric and garam masala. If you are not fond of curry spice, you could leave the garam masala out.
- stock – vegetable or chicken. I like the little pots of jellied stock but you can use a cube if that’s what you have to hand.
- coriander (cilantro) – a generous handful of coriander leaf (and stem)
Coriander?
In the US, this recipe is widely known as carrot and cilantro soup. In America, the Spanish name is favoured for the leaf of this fresh and spicy herb.
Here in Britain, we use the term coriander for both leaf and seed, the word handed down from Latin through Medieval French.
Coriander/cilantro is cheap and easy to grow if you have space, but it can be pricey to buy cut.
It is an essential ingredient in Indian and Mexican cooking, so if you like spicy food, why not keep a pot on the kitchen windowsill in winter and a larger pot by the kitchen door from spring to autumn?
How to make pressure cooker carrot and coriander soup
Before you start, read my step-by-step instructions, with photos, hints and tips so you can make this perfectly every time.
Scroll down for the recipe card with quantities and more tips at the bottom of the page.
Step One – First, prepare your vegetables. You don’t need them to look pretty or cut them especially small or evenly for this blended soup. (They are not all shown in the photo)
- Carrots – top, tail and scrub or peel carrots, and cut into pieces.
- Onion & Garlic – peel and chop.
- Celery – cut into chunks.
- Potato – chop. Peeling is optional, depending on the state of the skins.
Step Two – Heat the oil and butter in the pressure cooker and sauté the onions until they are turning translucent and fragrant. Then add the garlic and spices, and cook for a minute more.
Step Three – Add the carrots, celery, potato and whole stock cube (no need to dissolve it, as we are blending the soup). Then pour the water over.
Put the lid on, seal and set for 7 minutes on high pressure or the soup programme. Remember it can take ten minutes for the pressure cooker to come up to pressure and factor this into cooking time.
Helen’s Fuss Free Tip
Always check you have added the inner seal to the lid. It is easy to forget!
Once cooked, allow 5 minutes of natural pressure release (NPR). Then release any remaining pressure and remove the lid.
Step Four – Use a stick blender to blend your soup to a smooth consistency. Then taste and season with pepper and salt to taste.
Helen’s Fuss Free Tip
A cheap immersion blender is probably the simplest and best way to blend any soup.
If you use a jug blender with hot soup, do not use the central bung. As you blend it will generate steam and you do not want to blow the lid off and send scalding soup everywhere.
Instead, cover with a folded piece of kitchen paper, then a tea towel. Lift from time to time between each blend to allow the steam to escape.
Step Five – Chop up the leafy coriander (cilantro) and stir into the soup. Don’t discard the stems but cut them up and add them too. They are full of flavour.
Helen’s Fuss Free Tip
A sharp pair of ordinary kitchen scissors is the only tool you need to snip herbs. I tend to put the herbs in a mug and stick the blades of the scissors in with them. This contains them and you won’t get bits of herb confetti everywhere.
I have found fancy multiblade herb scissors to be a complete waste of time and money, and do not recommend them.
Step Six – Serve your pressure cooker carrot and coriander soup hot and fresh with your favourite bread, scones or crackers.
Serving suggestion
I love to make the most of a bowl of soup with a beautiful garnish. The simplest and most obvious way here is to reserve some coriander leaves to top the soup. You can, however, go so much further.
Add crunch with homemade croutons or toasted seeds.
Drizzle or dot with your favourite oil.
Swirl with a little cream or a dollop of yoghurt.
Variations
- This recipe is very flexible, so you can add extra carrots if you have some spare or throw in other root vegetables in small quantities to use them up, as long as you have enough carrot to dominate.
- A generous squeeze of lemon juice will lift all the flavours for a light, bright carrot and coriander soup. Add it with the coriander.
- If you don’t like curry flavours, you can leave the garam masala out. Substitute your favourite spice blend, such as ras el hanout, or if that’s too earthy try a little ginger.
- Leave the butter out if you need a dairy free soup, or if you are trying to keep the fat to a minimum.
Storage
This recipe serves four generously for lunch or six as a starter. If you make it for one or two, I recommend making the full quantity so you have some to put aside for another day.
Fridge – Once cool, cover and store in the fridge, where it will keep for up to three days. Reheat in a pan on the stove or in the microwave.
Freezer – Transfer the cooled soup to airtight containers and freeze your carrot and coriander/cilantro soup for up to three months.
Reheating – Defrost your pressure cooker carrot and coriander soup in the fridge overnight, or on the kitchen counter for a few hours.
Reheat in a pan on the stove top, or in a safe container in the microwave. When using the microwave, I like to use a Pyrex-style jug as you can lift it out one handed, and I do not like reheating in plastic.
Hints and tips
- It is important to get to know your own pressure cooker. Timings and liquid needed may vary according to make and model. I use an Instant Pot Duo 5.7. If you use something else, make adjustments as necessary.
- Soup recipes lend themselves to batch cooking, but if you decide to double the recipe it will take longer to come up to pressure, but the cooking time will be the same.
- If you are batch cooking for the freezer, use less water and make a more concentrated soup. You can then dilute it a little when you come to heat it. This means your soup will take up less space in the freezer. But don’t forget you need at least one generous cup of liquid for most pressure cookers to come to pressure.
- To keep your coriander fresh, stand it in a cup of water as if it were a bunch of flowers, put a plastic bag over the top, and keep it in the fridge.
- Above all, do not forget the seal!!!
FAQs
The best one is one that you like! Use your favourite vegetable or chicken stock. I tend to prefer pots but I have used a cube here.
You can, and leaving it for ages will not help the flavour. But remember that with an electric pressure cooker you set the time or programme. For a larger batch, it will take longer to come to pressure but it will have the same cooking time under pressure.
Remember when your mother said you should eat carrots so that you can see in the dark? If you need an excuse to eat this gorgeous soup, it is full of beta carotene and other vitamins and antioxidants.
You can. I don’t particularly recommend it, both because I think that the flavour benefits from frying the onions and spices, and because your body needs a little fat to process the beta carotene.
Having said that, if you have been put on a fat free diet, you could skip that initial sauté and leave the fats out, putting everything in the pot at once.
More pressure cooker soup recipes
- Pressure cooker pumpkin soup with apple – a deliciously fresh soup with flavours of late summer and autumn
- Easy pressure cooker tomato soup – wholesome, delicious and so easy with canned tomatoes
- Pressure cooker butternut squash soup – sweet, delicious butternut squash is perfect in soup
- Why not explore all my pressure cooker soup recipes?
Pressure Cooker Carrot and Coriander Soup
Ingredients
- 500 g carrots
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 stick celery
- 1 potato
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 knob butter
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 stock cube or pot (vegetable or chicken)
- 600 ml water
- pepper and salt (to season)
- a large handful of coriander leaf (cilantro)
Instructions
- Prepare the vegetables, trimming, peeling, topping and tailing and chopping roughly. Only the onion and garlic need to be chopped small, as you will sauté these.500 g carrots, 1 onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1 stick celery, 1 potato
- Set the pot to sauté and heat the oil and butter. Sauté the onion until soft and translucent and then add the garlic and spices. Continue for a further minute.1 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp garam masala, 1 knob butter
- Add the carrots, celery, potato and the whole stock cube. Then add the water.1 stock cube or pot, 600 ml water
- Putthe lid on, seal and set for 7 minutes on high pressure or the soup programme. Once cooked, allow 5 minutes natural pressure release (NPR). Then release any remaining pressure and remove the lid.
- Using a stick blender, blend the soup until smooth and velvety. Then season to taste with pepper and salt.pepper and salt
- Chop the coriander leaf and stir into the soup. Serve hot.a large handful of coriander leaf
Notes
Storage
This recipe serves four generously for lunch or six as a starter. If you make it for one or two, I recommend making the full quantity so you have some to put aside for another day. Fridge – Once cool, cover and store in the fridge, where it will keep for up to three days. Reheat in a pan on the stove or in the microwave. Freezer – Transfer the cooled soup to airtight containers and freeze your carrot and coriander/cilantro soup for up to three months. Reheating – Defrost your pressure cooker carrot and coriander soup in the fridge overnight, or on the kitchen counter for a few hours. Reheat in a pan on the stove top, or in a safe container in the microwave. When using the microwave, I like to use a Pyrex-style jug as you can lift it out one handed, and I do not like reheating in plastic.Hints and tips
-
- It is important to get to know your own pressure cooker. Timings and liquid needed may vary according to make and model. I use an Instant Pot Duo 5.7. If you use something else, make adjustments as necessary.
-
- Soup recipes lend themselves to batch cooking, but if you decide to double the recipe it will take longer to come up to pressure, so allow for this.
-
- If you are batch cooking for the freezer, use less water and make a more concentrated soup. You can then dilute it a little when you come to heat it. This means your soup will take up less space in the freezer.
-
- Above all, do not forget the seal!!!
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