Instant Pot Tomato Florentine Soup

I used to love ordering the tomato soup at our favorite cafe, but I knew I could make an even better version at home for a lot less money. This Instant Pot tomato Florentine soup is the delicious result, and my family thinks it’s even better! It is a little sweet and creamy, and crunchy with the grilled cheese croutons. You’ll be in soup heaven!

This soup is easy to make, comes together quickly, and everyone will be glad you made it. It’s perfect for weekend lunches or dinner on those chilly nights. It is also freezer-friendly with one change, so take note of that awesome option! We promise, this one will be a favorite!

It’s a beautiful, grown-up version of the classic, with creamy spinach and a rich flavor.

So, let the rain or snow fall, pull on the fuzzy socks, and let’s make a batch of this amazing soup. I can practically hear the fire crackling now!

🍅 Ingredients

Enjoying a hot bowl of this amazing soup is the comforting meal you have been needing. Let’s talk a little bit about a few of the ingredients:

✔️Seasonings and Herbs – We use a combination of parsley, thyme, oregano, brown sugar, coarse garlic salt, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper in this soup. It’s an incredible group of ingredients.

✔️Veggies – This soup has celery, spinach, onion and stewed tomatoes. They are perfect together, and you’ll want a second bowl when you taste it.

📌Stewed tomatoes are great here because they’re very soft and break down easily. If you only have canned diced or crushed tomatoes on hand, they will work just fine too!

✔️Grilled Cheese Croutons – One of my favorite ingredients is the homemade grilled cheese croutons. They are made with butter, olive oil, garlic salt, minced garlic, bread, and Colby Jack cheese.

✔️Tomato Paste

✔️Chicken Broth

✔️Heavy Cream

🍽️ Instructions 

This is one of the few recipes that we make that have more than just a couple ingredients! Hold onto your hats though as it is worth it.

👉Step 1: Turn the Instant Pot to the SAUTÉ setting. Add one tablespoon of butter and add chopped onion and celery. Sauté until golden brown.

👉Step 2: Add the finely chopped spinach and parsley. Cook until it becomes wilted and a little browned. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.  

👉Step 3: Turn SAUTÉ setting off and add the fresh thyme.  

👉Step 4: Stir in chicken broth, stewed tomatoes, tomato puree, and tomato paste. Stir well until the tomato paste is dissolved into the soup. Add water, and stir.  

👉Step 5: Add the Italian seasoning, oregano, brown sugar, coarse ground garlic salt, seasoned salt and pepper. Stir well to blend all ingredients. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and make sure the pressure valve is set to SEAL.  

👉Step 6: Press the SOUP setting on your Instant pot, and let the soup cook. When the Instant pot is done, it will beep.

Let the soup sit in for another 10 minutes and do a quick release by turning the pressure valve to VENT. Make sure you use a pot holder or oven mitt to turn the valve so you don’t burn yourself with the steam.

When all the pressure has been released, and the float valve drops down, remove the lid and stir.  

👉Step 7: Add the cream and stir well. Add the minced garlic and stir.

🍲 How to Make Grilled Cheese Croutons

While the soup is cooking, make the croutons. You can alternatively, make our Homemade Croutons as well. Both work great for this recipe.

👉Step 1: In a bowl, combine the softened butter, olive oil, garlic salt, and smashed garlic. Blend all together, and spread on one side of each slice of bread.

👉Step 2: In a skillet, place the bread, buttered side down, and sprinkle cheese on top. Place another piece of bread, buttered side up on top of the cheese.  

👉Step 3: Cook the grilled cheese until golden brown on both sides.  Remove from the skillet and place on a cutting board.

Cut the grilled cheese into large crouton-sized pieces, and serve on the side.

If you don’t know how to use your Instant Pot-check out the Instant Pot Manual page here to verify anything that may be slightly different on your model!

🍴How To Freeze This Soup

There is one caveat though.  If you know you are going to freeze it, I would leave out the cream. 

It is easy enough to add the cream when you defrost and reheat it later.  Sometimes, the cream just doesn’t freeze that well.  

👉Place the cooled soup in gallon sized freezer safe Ziploc bags. Press the air out and lay flat in the freezer on sheet pans until frozen. Make sure to label them.

👉To defrost, take out the night before and heat up in a stove top pot (and add the cream you left out!) and serve. 

📌 Expert Tips

🔸Swap the chicken broth with bone broth for more nutrients. I always do this if someone is getting a cold. It might be an old wive’s tale, but I swear the bone broth helps fight off mild winter colds.

🔸Our family loves the texture of this soup as is. However, if you prefer a creamier, smoother soup, you can use an immersion blender to blend it right in the pot before you stir in the heavy cream. Just be careful, as the soup will be very hot!

🔸You can use frozen spinach instead of fresh. Just be sure to thaw the frozen spinach completely and squeeze out every last drop of water before adding it in Step 2. Wringing it out in a clean kitchen towel is my favorite method to prevent the soup from getting watery.

🔸Pair with a classic grilled cheese, salad, etc.

🔸You can double the recipe, just make sure to not go over the max fill line on the Instant Pot.

🔸Feel free to swap or add more veggies to suit your taste.

❓ Recipe FAQs

🥘 More soups to enjoy!