Description
Warm up this winter with some of my Vegan Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Instant Pot Tomato Soup. Easy to make and easy to dip!
Vegan, Oil-free, Sugar-free Nut-free, Can be gluten-free, Can be soy-free
Ingredients
Scale
Soup
- 2– 28 oz cans tomatoes (any, or equiv. fresh)
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 1 large white or sweet onion, diced
- 3–4 cloves garlic
- 2 medium carrots, sliced (see note 2)
- 1 roasted red pepper, diced (use jarred or homemade)
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 tsp each dried parsley, oregano, and basil
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil for garnish, optional
Sandwiches
- 1 batch of my vegan mozzarella or vegan cheddar (or 8 slices store bought vegan cheese) (see note 3)
- 16 slices of bread (see note 4)
Instructions
- Instant Pot Instructions for Soup: If your Instant Pot has a ‘Saute function’, saute your onions and garlic (in a few tablespoons of water or vegetable broth) before adding everything else in. If not, you can either saute onions and garlic on the stove top and add them in, which adds more flavor to your soup, or you can just chuck everything in the pot–it will still be delicious. After you’ve sauteed (or not) the onions and garlic, add everything else. Set the pressure valve to ‘sealing’ and press High Pressure or Pressure Cook for 6 minutes. When the soup is done, carefully release the pressure by using a cooking spoon to switch the pressure valve to ‘venting’ and allow all the pressure to release. Wait until the pressure button has clicked down (if you have another brand pressure cooker, this may look different so please consult your manual). Open the lid carefully and set aside. Taste the soup and add any additional salt or spices. Skip to the “Blending the Soup” section for further instructions.
- Stovetop Instructions for Soup: Start by sauteing onions over medium high heat in a large pot with a splash of water or vegetable broth if you use it. After about 3-4 minutes and the onions become somewhat translucent, add the garlic. Saute for another minute. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well. Put on a lid and turn down the heat to a medium low. Simmer the soup for about 20-30 minutes, until the carrots are fork tender. Then you are ready to blend the soup.
- Blend the Soup: Blend up some or all of the soup either using an immersion blender or a regular counter blender. If using an immersion blender, also called a hand blender or stick blender, simply stick the blender in the pot and blend until smooth. You can leave chunks if you like, but I prefer it smooth.
- Make the Vegan Grilled Cheese: While the soup is cooking, you can prepare the vegan grilled cheese. If using one of my cheese recipes, make it now. The vegan mozzarella and vegan cheddar each only take 5 minutes to make. If using store bought vegan cheese (I recommend a brand like Field Roast Chao), lay out all your ingredients. I prefer to use a countertop griddler for making grilled cheese as it heats more evenly. You can also cook it on the stove top or in a toaster oven. Most importantly, you don’t need to worry about the cheese melting if you’re using my recipe. If you have been refrigerating the cheese, cook the sandwich long enough for it to heat up. If using a store-bought vegan cheese, you may need to cook it a bit longer. Repeat until you have enough sandwiches.
- Serve: Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with a vegan grilled cheese sandwich. You can cube up the sandwich into little “croutons” or just dunk the sandwich into the soup, which is what we do. You can also top your soup with homemade croutons, crunchy roasted chickpeas, crackers, or a little fresh basil. Add a swirl of coconut cream or cashew cream if you’re feeling fancy.
- Store: You can refrigerate the cheese in an airtight container for up to 5 days if you have leftovers. The soup will store very nicely in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or a freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Note 1: This recipe will work in any pressure cooker, but buttons may be called by other names on non-Instant Pot brand pressure cookers (and in some cases on other models of the Instant Pot brand!). Consult your manual for any questions based on your specific brand of pressure cooker.
- Note 2: The onion, garlic, carrots, and roasted red pepper add flavor and balance to this recipe, but they’re also a great way of hiding veggies for picky eaters! You can leave them out if you choose.
- Note 3: You can use storebough vegan cheese but they’re kind of expensive and not always the heatlhiest. Some of them don’t melt well either. I have recipes for a melty vegan mozzarella and a melty vegan cheddar and they’re both sooo good. Pictured above is our melty mozzarella. But what would take this grilled cheese to the next level? How about Vegan Brie! I One of my favorites, vegan brie is a smooth and creamy cheese that would be amazing with a little apricot and basil in there too. Ooph.
- Note 4: You’ll definitely need bread. If you’re gluten-free, the only modification you need to make to this recipe is buy gluten-free bread. That doesn’t even count as a modification because y’all can choose whatever bread you want anyway. Use regular sandwich bread, french bread, rye bread, pumpernickel bread, even challah! Seriously though, challah is great in grilled cheese.
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Sandwich, Soup
- Cuisine: Vegan, Plant-based, Soup, Sandwiches
Keywords: Vegan, Oil-free, Sugar-free Nut-free, Can be gluten-free, Can be soy-free, Tomato Soup, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches