Instant Pot! Double Pea Soup with Pickled Beets. Vegan + Gluten-Free!

FROM THE ARCHIVES!

ORIGINALLY SHARED ON MY FORMER BLOG – JULIE & KITTEE

VEGAN + GLUTEN-FREE / SOY-FREE / NUT-FREE / CAN EASILY BE OIL-FREE

This tasty and comforting pea soup is one of my favorites! It’s super easy to make in an Instant Pot or pressure cooker.

Notes in the form of a humdinger run-on sentence from my old blog post:

“This double pea soup is perfect when you can sorta taste Spring around the corner, but it’s still cold outside, and warm, comforting soup is craved and welcomed.”

The idea for a double pea (or triple if you add pea shoots) soup was inspired by a version my sweet Mama Bee z”l used to make for me. The idea for adding pickled beets came from my brain, because I love beets, and I also appreciate a little tang in my pea soup.

The addition of green peas and baby greens adds just the right hint of brightness and crunch to the creamy split pea base. The quick pickled beets balance the savory with a little tang. Plus the color pop is soOO nice! Use pea shoots instead of baby greens, for 3X pea power.

For the fastest and easiest heart shaped beets, carve them out with a paring knife. However, if you want your cutouts a bit more perfect and less rustic, slice the beets and apply a small ❤︎ shaped cookie cutter.

See the recipe notes for basic instructions on how-to roast beets. However, here’s an even easier, less conventional way to roast them:

Wrap washed and trimmed beets in parchment, place in a covered Dutch oven and bake.

No need for tinfoil or oil!

Look at this stellar bowl of soup! Add pea shoots instead of baby greens for a triple PPP soup.

Print Recipe

Instant Pot! Double or Triple Pea Soup!

2

A beautifully verdent green soup made with dry peas, green peas, pea shoots and garnished with pickled beets. Naturally vegan + gluten-free.

Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Protein, Soup

Cuisine: Beans, Instant Pot

Keyword: Easy to be Oil-Free, From the Archives, Gluten-Free, Legumes, Soy-Free, Vegan

Servings: 7 Cups

Ingredients

For the Pickled Beets

• 3 medium beets about 1 1/2 pounds roasted, peeled and sliced, see notes
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil optional
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the Pea Soup

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil optional
• 1/2 onion diced
• 1 stalk celery diced
• 1 medium carrot thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 teaspoon granulated onion
• 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 3 1/4 cups water
• 1 cup dried split peas
• 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• Pea shoots, micro greens, or baby greens for garnish

Instructions

Make the Pickled Beets

• In a medium bowl or large jar, combine the roasted beets, vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Cover and refrigerate - the beets become more delicious the longer they sit in the fridge and marinate.

Make the Pea Soup

• Press the saute setting on the Instant Pot and let it get hot while you prep the veggies.
• Add the olive oil to the hot pot and quickly add the diced onion, celery, carrot and salt. Cook, stirring regularly, until the veggies soften and the onion just begins to brown.
• Add the garlic, split peas and liquid smoke. Stir to combine. Cover, lock the lid, close the vent and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes (you'll need to temporarily turn the Instant Pot off to change between the saute setting and manual/high pressure). Carefully, quick-release the soup after letting the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, or let the pressure release naturally.
• Remove the lid and stir. Add the frozen peas (no need to defrost) and vinegar and stir again. Season to taste with more salt and freshly ground black pepper, if desired. Garnish with pea shoots,or greens and pickled beets.

Notes

To Roast Beets: preheat oven to 400F. Wash and trim the beets and cut in half.

Gather the beets in 2 sheets of layered foil and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt. Tightly cover in foil and roast until fork tender, this usually takes between 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Carefully vent the tin foil and let rest until cool enough to handle. Peel the beets (the skin should come off easily, but you can also use the edge of a spoon to make this a little easier).

These days, I don’t cook with added oil, but that’s up to you! To easily make this soup without oil, simply leave it out! The beets will still be delicious without olive oil, and you can sauté the onion, celery and carrots dry, with salt to sweat them and a little water if necessary to prevent sticking. Then simply follow the rest of the recipe as written.

I’m hoping to build the recipe section of this site to be a mix of new and old recipes you may have seen before. I want my best recipes culled from my old projects to have a place where I can access and share them easily, and I want a place for new recipes, too!

Click here to learn more about the kinds of recipes I create.