The idea that a university student dragged an Instant Pot to dorms has gotten a chuckle here and there; but I am quickly learning the power of the multi-function unit. Nothing beats setting food on the slow-cooker function and then heading to a six-hour time block knowing that supper will be ready for me when I stagger back home. Nothing is more money saving than coming home from a hectic day, throwing some ingredients in, and putting on the pressure cooker function for 10 minutes. Dominoes misses me, but my bank account doesn’t miss them.
With cold weather on the way, it’s time for soup season. But students are still looking for filling meals to last long blocks of study time. Enter the joys of potato soup. And the Instant Pot, which makes this delicious meal utterly painless. With a final batch of 17 cups worth of soup, I know I’ll be eating well for the next while.
Ingredients
8 Russet potatoes peeled, and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 onion sliced
4 tbsp butter or olive oil
3 cups chicken broth
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 cups milk
Seasoning to taste
Instructions
Turn the Instant Pot to Sauté function. Melt the butter/add the olive oil. Add the onions and stir for a few minutes. Add the garlic and stir for another minute. Press Keep Warm/Off.
Add potatoes and then broth. Secure the lid and set the nozzle to “sealing.” Press “Pressure Cooker” and then, using the manual function, set the pressure to high. Set the timer for six minutes.
When the time is up, let the pot manually release. Be patient, it can take up to 10 minutes due to the amount of liquid in the pot. If you hit 10 minutes and the pressure pin hasn’t dropped yet, feel free to turn the nozzle to “venting” to let that last bit of pressure out.
Using an immersion blender, blend the soup to your preferred thickness. I prefer to leave some chunks of potato in there. Add the milk, salt, and pepper. Stir.
If you don’t have an immersion blender, transfer the soup in batches to a blender. Remove the middle part of the lid and place a towel over it. This lets the steam escape and your lid won’t blow off. Put the soup back in the pot. Slowly stir in milk until the consistency is to your liking. Cook down for another five minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
Once the milk has been fully mixed in, feel free to add extras to your soup. I’m not one to say no to bacon, and a healthy cup of bacon bits was added to my batch.
