This Instant Pot Harissa Carrot Soup from The Whole Smiths is a MUST for your winter meals. Not only does it cook up in minutes but Michelle shows you how to incorporate it into your meal prep using a convenient zip-top bag freezer concept. It’s paleo, gluten-free and can easily be made vegan or vegetarian.
Paleo Instant Pot Carrot Soup with Harissa – a Zip-Top Freezer Meal!
The idea of a zip-top freezer meal came to me while I was making this paleo Instant Pot Harissa Carrot Soup a few weeks ago. As I was prepping the vegetables to be added into the Instant Pot, I realized I could easily prep a second batch of chopped veggies, throw it into a gallon-sized zip-top bag (I can’t legally say Ziplock, ok? So zip-top bags it is!) with its spices, store it in the freezer and dump it into the Instant Pot another day.
Brilliant if I don’t say so myself. It’s a definite problem-solver for busy humans everywhere that are looking for an easy, healthy meal at the end of the day with minimal effort. Yes, you can use this same concept with a slow cooker but you’ll have to adjust the times for each recipe. Personally, I’m an Instant Pot girl at heart and don’t use a slow cooker (unless it’s for queso) so I can’t be of too much help in that department. Use the Google, find a slow cooker vegetable soup recipe, see how long it takes and chances are your soup will come out deliciously.
The Instant Pot: Here’s why I love mine:
With that said, please do yourself a favor and get yourself an Instant Pot. Pretty please? I have this one here and I love it. You don’t need the fanciest version either. I’m always asked what my favorite appliances are and I always say it’s my Instant Pot. That’s it. Not the ice cream maker. Not the food dehydrator. Not the whip cream maker. Not the pasta crank. It’s the Instant Pot. It makes every day, whole-food meals accessible. Amazon is always running great deals on Instant Pots, so start there.
Not to mention you can then make other delicious recipes like my Instant Pot Coconut Rice or Instant Pot Short Rib Chili.
But back to this soup. I created this recipe for one portion in order to give you some options. If you’re just looking to make one batch of Instant Pot Harissa Carrot Soup, follow the recipe as-is. However, I recommend utilizing the zip-top freezer bag meal concept, tripling the recipe and storing one portion in each zip-top bag for another day. That’s the beauty of this soup.
When you’re ready to cook your freezer bag soup simply pull it out of the freezer, dump the contents into your Instant Pot (frozen is ok!), set it and let it depressurize naturally (about 10 to 15 minutes). Run your immersion blender through the soup to create a smooth consistency, add your coconut milk and harissa, stir it to combine and pour it into a bowl. It’s that easy.
Ingredients for this Instant Pot Harissa Carrot Soup:
Onto ingredients. Quite frankly, there aren’t a whole lot of ingredients in this one. I designed it to be easy, affordable and practical for a busy weekday night. And you know what else? I designed it to be easy for meal prep. Because who wants to spend entire Sunday meal prepping? That’s no fun. So let’s make the meal prep easy too.
You will need to source a harissa paste, which is a chili paste originating from North Africa, to give it a kick. Trader Joe’s has one available but I prefer the one from Mina. Not only does the Mina brand harissa offer better quality ingredients, but you can choose what level of spice you and your family prefer; spicy or mild. The mild variety is perfect for our family.
If you find yourself loving harissa after this recipe, check out my Shakshuka + Moroccan Spiced Meatballs. Not only does it incorporate harissa but it’s Whole30 compliant for you.
FAQ:
Is this Whole30 compliant?
Nope! Omit the maple syrup and check the ingredients on your harissa to make it compliant.
How can I make this vegan?
To make this vegan (or vegetarian) simply swap out the chicken broth for vegetable broth.
Can I add the vegetables frozen to the Instant Pot?
Yes! Absolutely Just add another minute to the cooking time (for 8 minutes instead of 7).
Tips for making this Instant Pot Carrot Soup:
- Adjust the amount of harissa you add to the soup to increase or decrease the spice factor. This will vary depending on the level of spiciness you’d like in your soup and the variety of harissa you use as some are spicier than others.
- If you are making for younger eaters or humans with spice sensitive palates portion out their carrot soup first, then add the harissa to your liking.
- Feel free to use a garlic chili paste if you can’t source harissa paste locally. It will bring a different flavor to the soup but is a tasty twist.
- Add some shredded rotisserie chicken to the soup post-blend for added protein.
- If you find some of the seasonings have stuck to the freezer bag while freezing, simply pour a bit of the chicken broth into the bag after dumping the ingredients out, seal it and shake it around a bit. Pour the chicken broth along with the seasoning it grabbed into the Instant Pot.
Instant Pot Carrot Soup with Harissa
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 pounds carrots trimmed, peeled and cut into haves
- 1 yellow or sweet onion quartered
- 1/2 medium tomato
- 4 cloves garlic peeled
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 32 ounces chicken stock or broth
- 1 - 2 tablespoons harissa paste to taste
- 1 15 ounce can full-fat coconut milk
Instructions
- If you are making this recipe to store in the freezer, add the carrots, onion, tomato, garlic, maple syrup, salt, paprika, and black pepper to a gallon-size zip-top freezer bag. Press out any air, seal and store up to 3 months.
- To make the soup add the freezer bag contents into your Instant Pot (if you are making the batch fresh, add the carrots, onion, tomato, garlic, maple syrup, salt, paprika, and black pepper) along with the chicken broth.
- Set the Instant Pot to “Manual” for 8 minutes if your ingredients are frozen and 7 if they are fresh.
- Let the Instant Pot depressurize naturally.
- Once the vegetables are cooked, add the harissa paste and use an immersion blender to blend the soup to a smooth consistency. If you don’t have an immersion blender you can also transfer the soup to a blender and blend it.
- Add the coconut milk and stir to combine well. Let the soup heat through for 5 minutes and serve.
Notes
- Adjust the amount of harissa you add to the soup to increase or decrease the spice factor. This will vary depending on the level of spiciness you’d like in your soup and the variety of harissa you use as some are spicier than others.
- If you are making for younger eaters or humans with spice sensitive palates portion out their carrot soup first, then add the harissa to your liking.
- Feel free to use a garlic chili paste if you can’t source harissa paste locally. It will bring a different flavor to the soup but is a tasty twist.
- Add some shredded rotisserie chicken to the soup post-blend for added protein.
- If you find some of the seasonings have stuck to the freezer bag while freezing, simply pour a bit of the chicken broth into the bag after dumping the ingredients out, seal it and shake it around a bit. Pour the chicken broth along with the seasoning it grabbed into the Instant Pot.
I wasn’t sure what to expect since I’ve never had a carrot soup before but this is delicious!!! I added a little shredded turkey breast to my bowl and it was good but the soup is definitely great without the meat added too. Thank you for sharing this recipe!