Spend an afternoon making Instant Pot freezer soups and you will reap the benefits for weeks and weeks! These soups are so easy to prepare in the Instant Pot, and then can be frozen right in canning jars. Get six soup recipes that are perfect in the freezer, several FREE printables, and a full step-by-step video!
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Y’all I am so excited to share this post with you because it means that it is finally Fall, and finally soup season! Last week I spent a few hours on Saturday making SIX SOUPS in my Instant Pots (I used two), resulting in over twenty pints of soup to go in our freezer!
We had soup for dinner tonight, and we were all able to select what kind of soup we wanted, because I froze all the soup in glass pint jars, instead of in gallon bags as I have done in the past when making freezer meals.
I know I don’t have to tell you guys how wonderful freezer meals are. You obviously share my enthusiasm for the ease of pulling dinner out of the freezer without any work on your part. I know this because the Instant Pot freezer meals post continually is the most viewed post on the blog.
(Pssst. The second round of Instant Pot freezer meals deserves the love too. Thirteen ready-to-go meals in your freezer!)
These soups are a little different, though, from the first two rounds of freezer meals. Instead of prepping meals that would need to be cooked in the Instant Pot before enjoying, these soups are cooked FIRST and then frozen. This adds a little extra time on the front end, but it’s worth it when you just want to grab one jar of soup for an easy, tasty lunch.
If you are new here, then let me tell you that cooking with WHOLE, REAL FOODS from scratch is TOTALLY MY FAVORITE. The Instant Pot just makes this even easier (which is why I’m writing a cookbook on Instant Pot family meals from scratch).
All of these soups are full of healthy ingredients. They use a variety of vegetables and proteins. You are literally eating the rainbow when you work your way through enjoying all these Instant Pot freezer soups.
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If you aren’t new here, you know I also love printables and showing you step-by-step how to cook healthy, homemade meals. I have done both VERY THOROUGHLY this time! Keep reading and you will find several free printables, including a shopping list, prep checklists, a freezer soup inventory, and more. You can also watch a video on YouTube and see how to make each of these soups.
(If you aren’t already subscribed there, I’m adding new videos *almost* weekly!)
Instant Pot Freezer Soups!!
What you want to know ::
I made six soups: (extra green) broccoli and cheese, creamy tomato, spicy sausage and lentil, butternut squash and apple, French onion, and hearty chili.
In all, I ended up with 23 pints of soups. (That’s a lot of soup!)
- 3 1/2 pints of broccoli cheese
- 5 pints of creamy tomato
- 4 pints of spicy sausage and lentil
- 3 1/2 pints of butternut squash and apple
- 4 half-pints of French onion
- 5 pints of hearty chili
Serving amounts vary. A pint jar can be enjoyed by one person, split by two people when served with a side salad or sandwich, or split between 2-3 kids.
All the soups are gluten-free. Many are dairy-free, or simply finished with a small amount of cream (which can substituted with almond or coconut milk).
The process took me about five hours to complete. However, I was recording the process, setting up shots, moving around my tripod, etc. I also went to Aldi in the middle of cooking, fixed my kids lunch, and put my babies down for naps. We all know one of the great things about the Instant Pot is the hands-off aspect. All of the soups require minimal prep, so whether you are using one or two Instant Pots, there is plenty of downtime to prep the next soup or go do something else while the soups cook.
I chose soups that would freeze and thaw well. I avoid freezing soups with rice or pasta, because both become bloated if in liquid too long. I also do not freeze soups with potatoes, because they are not the most freezer-friendly vegetable. If you are looking for more soup ideas that would freeze well, you can try the Creamy Cauliflower soup in the second round of freezer meals or the Honey Carrot Soup.
Freezing in glass jars do’s and don’ts ::
(this is also a printable below)
I received so many questions about freezing in glass jars. Many people had never even considered freezing in their jars!
Mason jars are my favorite way to freeze most things! I have been freezing broth, soup, applesauce, marinara sauce, beans, and more in mason jars for years. I have had my share of broken jars, but I have learned how to avoid breaking jars and now broken jars are rare.
Here’s what you need to know to avoid broken jars:
- ONLY use jars with straight necks. Curved jars are not meant for freezing and are more prone to breaking.
- ALWAYS let the contents cool completely before putting the jars in the freezer.
- Leave PLENTY of expansion room. Never fill the jars past the bottom line of the jar’s ring area. (Leave about 1-2″ of space. When in doubt, leave a little more).
- Don’t screw the lids on tightly until after the contents are frozen. Just screw them on loosely and tighten later. (If you remember).
- TO THAW: You never want to put a frozen jars in hot water or just heating in the microwave. Rapid changes in temperature shock the glass and can cause it to break. I like to either set a jar in a bowl of room temperature water, or use the defrost setting on my microwave. Occasionally, when I leave myself enough time, I will let a jar thaw in the refrigerator.
- Leave SPACE in between the jars when you put them in the freezer so that they are not bumping into each other.
Suggested equipment ::
These are the kitchen tools I used to both prepare and cook the soups. You can also check out the Shop My Kitchenpage for more highly recommended resources.
One last thing… Homemade Chicken Stock
Making chicken stock in your Instant Pot is not only EASY, it is also a great way to save money, and good for your health to boot. Check out this quick video to see how I use one chicken carcass to make a LOT of chicken stock.
Get the recipes ::
I apologize that they aren’t all here in this post, but the post would get phenomenally long if I listed all the recipes here. But it’s easy enough to get them! Just click on the soup name, scroll down, and click print! Easy peasy.
- (Extra Green) Broccoli Cheese Soup
- Spicy Sausage and Lentil Soup
- French Onion Soup (at the bottom of the post)
- Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
- Creamy Tomato Soup
- Hearty Chili (recipe at the bottom of this post)
Get the printables ::
I designed each of these printables to be as user-friendly as possible! The printables will take you through shopping for your ingredients, making the soups, and then keeping track of what soups you still have in your freezer!
The only thing I need to point out is that there are two prep lists– one for if you are working with two Instant Pots, and one if you are cooking everything in one Instant Pot.
- Freezer Soup Shopping List
- Freezer Soups Prep Checklist FOR TWO INSTANT POTS
- Freezer Soups Prep Checklist FOR ONE INSTANT POT
- Freezer Soups Freezing Tips
- Freezer Soup Inventory
What now?
Now you have the plan and the recipes, it’s time to get cooking!
Look over the recipes, then take your shopping list to the store to get what you need. Use the prep checklists to get a big idea picture of the process and to help you stay on track while you are batch cooking. Once your soups are safely in the freezer, you can use your inventory page to remember what you have. (I’m not the only one who has forgotten about random jars in the freezer, right?!). Circle the jar (or bag) size of the jars of soup on the inventory, then check each off as you use it.
Don’t forget you can watch the whole process on YouTube too!
Sharing is caring! Help support this blog by pinning and sharing these freezer meals. Thank you!
I am going to go ahead and let you know something I don’t usually mention. But guys, this post was a labor of love– love for you, for soups, and for Fall. If you have found these recipes and printables to be helpful, please help me by pinning and sharing! It’s one easy way you can pay it forward for free content. Thank you!
Just click the little “P” on the picture below. Go on, you can do it 😉
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Enjoy a filling and delicious chili in half the time thanks to the Instant Pot!
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 sweet bell peppers, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 can diced tomatoes, undrained (about 2 cups)
- 1 can tomato sauce (about 2 cups) (I just blend up a second can of diced tomatoes)
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 can pinto or kidney beans, drained & rinsed (about 2 cups)
- optional: shredded cheddar cheese for topping
- optional: plain yogurt or sour cream for topping
Instructions
- Turn the Instant Pot on to Sauté. When the screen reads hot, saute the onion and bell peppers in a tablespoon of olive oil for 3-5 minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the minced garlic to the onions and peppers and cook for about 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Add the ground beef to the vegetables. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes until the meat is just browned. Add herbs and spices.
- Pour in 1 can of diced tomatoes and 1 can of tomato sauce. Place the lid on the Instant Pot, turn the valve to sealing, and set the cook time for 10 minutes on high pressure.
- Quick release the pressure when the cook time is complete. Pour in the kidney beans to the chili. Return the Instant Pot to Sauté and cook for 5 more minutes. Top with cheddar cheese and sour cream/yogurt if desired.
I love the Instant Pot Chili. I’m always looking for ways to get more vegetables into our diet, so I modify this recipe as follows, turning it into a double batch:
– Husband can’t digest onions well, so I substitute one or two sliced leeks (all the way back into the dark green tops)
– I use any color of bell pepper – red, green, orange, yellow
– Double up on all the spices
– Add a can of Rotel
– Chop up 1/4-1/3 head of green cabbage
– Cut the kernels off one or two ears of sweet corn (or used canned or frozen)
– I like chicken in my chili, so I cut up about a pound of chicken meat off a grocery store roasted chicken
– I add a couple of cups of boiled red wheat berries
I follow the recipe in order, but I add the cabbage on top of the tomato sauces+Rotel before pressure cooking. Then at the sauté stage, I add the red kidney beans, the wheat berries, the chicken, and the cut corn. Yum!
Hi. How do you label your glass jars, so you can tell which soup is in which jar once they’re in the freezer?
Now that we are going into fall I need to make a lot of these so my weeknight dinners go quicker Thank you for sharing so many great freezer recipes
wow! that’s great! thanks for sharing all the recepies!
What do you think about using the Instant Pot to thaw a soup/stew frozen in a canning jar? Straight from freezer to Instant Pot?
Looking forward to making these!
Truly a labor of love — thanks so much. You are so inspiring to this old grandma!
Thank you for generously sharing your recipes!
★★★★★