Instant Pot Tomato Soup

Step 1

Optional Flavor Enhancing Step - Quick Roast Tomatoes: Preheat oven to 400°F. Layer tomatoes (cut side up) in a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt & ground black pepper. If your tomatoes are not in season, sprinkle a little sugar on the tomatoes to help them caramelize better. Place baking tray in the oven’s middle rack. Depending on your oven and tomatoes, it will take 45 - 65 minutes.*Note: This step maximizes the flavor of your tomatoes. If you don’t want to turn on the oven, another option is to brown the tomatoes (cut side down) with olive oil in the Instant Pot on Sauté More for 4 - 5 minutes. Set aside on a large bowl.

Step 2

Prepare Pressure Cooker: Heat up your pressure cooker over medium high heat (Instant Pot: press Sauté button, then Adjust button to Sauté More function). Ensure your pot is as hot as it can be (Instant Pot: wait until indicator says HOT).

Step 3

Sauté Onion, Garlic, and Carrot: Sauté onions in 1 tbsp unsalted butter for roughly 2 – 3 minutes until soften. Add in garlic and season with a pinch of kosher salt and ground black pepper if you like. Sauté for 1 minute until fragrant. Add in chopped carrots and saute for another minute.

Step 4

Deglaze: Pour ~ ½ cup (125 ml) unsalted chicken stock. Scrub all the brown bits off bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Keep the brown bits as they are very flavorful.

Step 5

Pressure Cook Tomato Soup: Add roasted/browned tomatoes, 2 tbsp (30g) jasmine rice, a pinch of dried basil, and a pinch of dried thyme in Instant Pot. Pour in 2 tbsp (30ml) fish sauce and remaining unsalted chicken stock. Close the lid and cook at High Pressure for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and do a 10 minutes Natural Release. Open the lid carefully.

Step 6

Blend & Season: Blend tomato soup into desired consistency with an immersion hand blender. *Optional: Strain the tomato soup over a fine mesh strainer for maximum smoothness. Add ½ cup (125ml) heavy cream. Taste the soup and season with salt if necessary. Depending on the tomatoes, you may want to add a pinch (or a few pinches) of sugar to balance the acidity flavor. It does wonder to the flavor!

Step 7

Serve: Garnish with fresh basil. Enjoy immediately. This will be a really good soup to serve to your favorite guests with grilled cheese sandwiches on the side :)