Instant Pot Smoky Potato and Kale Soup Recipe

This Instant Pot Smoky Potato and Kale Soup recipe has the smokiness of chili in a warm, comforting vegetarian soup made with baby potatoes and fresh kale. Thank you to our sponsor Workman Publishing for introducing us to an exciting new Instant Pot cookbook!

I bought an Instant Pot last year on a whim, and I have to say, it has been a life-changing appliance in my kitchen.

Whenever I’m short on time, I can grab a few ingredients (even ones from the freezer!) and throw them in the Instant Pot and dinner will be ready before I know it.

Since I’ve had my Instant Pot, I’ve tried a variety of recipes, including hard boiled eggs, ribs and chili— all have been amazing.

When I find a good recipe, I tend to stick with it! Because of this, it’s been awhile since I tried something new, which is why I was super excited to get my hands on a copy of How to Instant Pot by Daniel Shumski.

How to Instant Pot includes over 100 delicious one-pot recipes, organized by function. This is the only Instant Pot cookbook that breaks down each function with corresponding recipes!

After going through the book I realized I was only using a fraction of my Instant Pot’s features. Did you know you can make yogurt and desserts in your Instant Pot? Or use it as a slow cooker?

Needless to say, How to Instant Pot was eye-opening and showed me how much more I could be using the revolutionary appliance that’s changing the way we cook. If you have an Instant Pot or are thinking about getting one, this cookbook is a MUST-HAVE!

For my first recipe from How to Instant Pot, I wanted to try a soup, because it’s the season for warm, comfort food!

When I came across the recipe for Smoky Potato and Kale Soup, I knew that was it—

Smoky Potato and Kale Soup Recipe

Excerpted from How to Instant Pot by Daniel Shumski (Workman Publishing). Copyright © 2017. Photographs by Ken Carlson.

This vegetarian soup gets a flavor boost from canned chipotle peppers in adobo, which provide a smokiness as well as some heat. Pressure-cooking the potatoes gives them a head start, while adding the kale at the end ensures it does not fall apart.

Smoky Potato and Kale Soup Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• 1 ½ pounds baby potatoes (about 15 potatoes), unpeeled, quartered
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small white or yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Pinch of salt, plus extra for serving
• Pinch of freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for serving
• 6 cups reduced-salt vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo
• 8 ounces flat-leaf or curly-leaf kale, stems removed, leaves sliced crosswise into 1⁄4-inch ribbons
• Crème fraîche or sour cream, for serving

How to Make Instant Pot Potato and Kale Soup:

1. Place the water and the potatoes in the inner pot. Close and lock the lid. Set the valve to Sealing. Press Manual or Pressure Cook and use the Pressure or Pressure Level button to select High Pressure. Use the – or + button to set the time to 1 minute.

2. When the cooking cycle ends, carefully use a wooden spoon to release the pressure by turning the pressure-release valve to Venting. (The pressure is released when the small metal float valve next to the pressure-release valve sinks back into the lid and the lid is no longer locked.)

3. Remove the lid. Wearing oven mitts, remove the inner pot (be careful—it’s hot!), drain the potatoes through a colander, and set them aside until step 6. Return the inner pot to the appliance.

4. Press Cancel, then press Sauté and use the Sauté or Adjust button to select the lowest temperature (“Less”). Place the olive oil in the inner pot, wait about 1 minute for the oil to warm, then add the onion, garlic, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Cook with the lid off, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens slightly, about 5 minutes.

5. Add the broth, chili powder, oregano, and chipotle and stir to combine. Press Cancel, then press Sauté and use the Sauté or Adjust button to select the middle temperature (“Normal”).

6. Allow the soup to come to a simmer, about 5 minutes. Add the kale and reserved potatoes, stir to submerge the kale, and cook until a steak knife easily pierces a potato and the kale is soft about 5 minutes.

7. Serve hot, garnished with a dollop of crème fraîche and a dash of salt and pepper.

Instant Pot Smoky Potato and Kale soup will keep, in an airtight container in the refrigerator, for up to 5 days. To reheat, place the soup in a pot and warm on the stovetop over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes.

My husband and I couldn’t wait to try the soup because it smelled so delicious, having many of the flavors of chili.

The Smoky Potato and Kale Soup from How to Instant Pot did not disappoint and the added sour cream really is the icing on the cake for this recipe. We even went back and added some extra chipotle chiles in adobo for an even more smoky flavor….We will be making this recipe again and again (and trying many more from How to Instant Pot)!

5 from 2 votes

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Smoky Potato and Kale Soup

Author: Stefanie Fauquet

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 1 ½ pounds baby potatoes about 15 potatoes, unpeeled, quartered
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small white or yellow onion finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• Pinch of salt plus extra for serving
• Pinch of freshly ground black pepper plus extra for serving
• 6 cups reduced-salt vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo
• 8 ounces flat-leaf or curly-leaf kale stems removed, leaves sliced crosswise into 1⁄4-inch ribbons
• Crème fraîche or sour cream for serving

Instructions

1. Place the water and the potatoes in the inner pot. Close and lock the lid. Set the valve to Sealing. Press Manual or Pressure Cook and use the Pressure or Pressure Level button to select High Pressure. Use the – or + button to set the time to 1 minute.
2. When the cooking cycle ends, carefully use a wooden spoon to release the pressure by turning the pressure-release valve to Venting. (The pressure is released when the small metal float valve next to the pressure-release valve sinks back into the lid and the lid is no longer locked.)

3. Remove the lid. Wearing oven mitts, remove the inner pot (be careful—it’s hot!), drain the potatoes through a colander, and set them aside until step 6. Return the inner pot to the appliance. 

4. Press Cancel, then press Sauté and use the Sauté or Adjust button to select the lowest temperature (“Less”). Place the olive oil in the inner pot, wait about 1 minute for the oil to warm, then add the onion, garlic, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Cook with the lid off, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens slightly, about 5 minutes.

5. Add the broth, chili powder, oregano, and chipotle and stir to combine. Press Cancel, then press Sauté and use the Sauté or Adjust button to select the middle temperature (“Normal”).

6. Allow the soup to come to a simmer, about 5 minutes. Add the kale and reserved potatoes, stir to submerge the kale, and cook until a steak knife easily pierces a potato and the kale is soft, about 5 minutes.

7. Serve hot, garnished with a dollop of crème fraîche and a dash of salt and pepper.

About How to Instant Pot Cookbook

How to Instant Pot is both a guide to understanding the Instant Pot basics and a foodie’s creative collection of over 100 recipes specially crafted to take advantage of the Instant Pot’s many virtues, from cooking perfect risotto in six minutes, no stirring required, to five kinds of yogurt, to creating one-hour killer chili and soups from scratch, using dried beans.

About the Author

Daniel Shumski is a writer and editor who has hunted ramen in Tokyo for the Washington Post and tracked down ice cream in Buenos Aires for the Los Angeles Times. Between stints at the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune, he worked for a Midwestern heirloom apple orchard. His bestselling first book, Will It Waffle?: 53 Irresistible and Unexpected Recipes to Make in a Waffle Iron won praise from the New York Times, People magazine, and Food52. He lives in Montreal.

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