Instant Pot Potato, Leek & Pear Soup…. the perfect comfort

I love ripe pears. They’re so soft and sweet with a taste that bursts on the tongue. But they’re also extremely fragile and can go from perfectly mature to bruised and battered in the blink of an eye.

While they may not be appetizing to you at this point, it’s a great time to throw them into a soup! They bring a slightly sweet taste to an otherwise salty meal and blend well into most creamy soups. Here’s one of my favourites.

Instant Pot Potato, Leek & Pear Soup

The perfect comfort food... salty, sweet, creamy goodness in a steaming bowl. Can it get any better than that?

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Course Soup

Servings 6

Equipment

• Instant Pot, 6qt

Ingredients

  

• 1 Tbsp Avocado Oil
• 1 Tbsp Butter
• 3-4 Large Leeks
• 1 Tbsp Flour
• 1 Tbsp Minced Garlic
• 3-4 Large White Potatoes, Cubed
• 10 Cups Water (Can substitute with Chicken or Vegetable Broth)
• 4 Chicken or Vegetable Bouillon Cubes (Skip if using broth)
• 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 1 Tbsp Pepper (I prefer to use Clubhouse Spicy Pepper Medley)
• 4 Very Ripe Pears, Chopped into chunks (Any Variety)
• 1/2 Cup Whole Milk or Heavy Cream (Optional)
• Sharp, Shredded Cheddar for Garnish (Optional)

Instructions

 

• Slice up your leeks into thin slices starting at the white end and ending in the light green area. Make sure you wash them well because leeks tend to hold a lot of sand.
  
• Set your Instant Pot to Sauté and add Avocado Oil and Butter. Once the butter is melted, add the leeks and stir until they're soft. About 3-5 minutes.
  
• Add garlic and continue to Sauté for about 1 minute. Don't let the garlic burn.
• Sprinkle flour over top and stir for another 1-2 minutes to remove the raw taste of the flour.
• Add potatoes
• Add water and boullion cubes (or broth). The water should reach the 1/2 way mark on your pot. Do not fill past 2/3 full.
• Add Salt & Pepper. Stir.
• Put the lid on your Instant Pot, ensuring the steam release knob is in the sealing position.
• Choose 10 minutes Manual Mode as your cooking cycle. It will take approximately 5 mins to reach full pressure mode before your cooking time starts.
• Once the cooking cycle has ended, manually release the steam.
• Open the lid, add pears and put the lid back on for at least 5 minutes. If you have other things you're preparing for your meal, this is a good time to do that. You can leave the pears in there until you're ready for the next step.
  
• Take off the Instant Pot lid. Using an immersion blender, puree everything until smooth. If you don't have an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender and puree in small batches. But be careful because this is really hot!
• At this point, it's up to you if you want to thicken the soup further. I actually forgot once and the soup was perfectly yummy. But you can add whole milk or cream to make this dish even more dreamy.

  If you're planning to make this soup ahead of time, add dairy when you heat the soup... it will last longer in the fridge or freezer without the milk or cream in it.
• Laden the soup into bowl and sprinkle with cheese (optional).

Keyword Instant Pot, Pressure Cooker, Soup Recipe

Instant Pot cooking can be a lot of fun but it can be tricky at times too. My post Five Things You Should Never Put in Your Instant Pot will help you avoid some common mistakes and Pantry Items for Instant Pot Success! will ensure you always have what you need on hand.

Looking for some recipes to try out? Find my Instant Pot Board on Pinterest for more fun meals! You’ll also find my favourites by searching for Instant Pot Roundup on the blog.

Have fun in the kitchen, my friends!