Instant Pot Vegan Borscht Food

INSTANT POT BORSCHT

Steps:

• Finely dice the onions.
• Shred the carrots. I prefer doing it using my food processor but you could use a manual grater.
• Peel and dice the beets into 1/4 inch pieces.
• Peel and cut the potatoes into 1-1.5 inch pieces.
• Remove the core from the cabbage and finely shred it. I like also cutting each long cabbage shred in half so that they aren't too long.
• Turn your Instant Pot on and choose the sauté function.
• Add the olive oil and wait until it gets hot.
• Add the diced onions and shredded carrots and cook for about 5-7 minutes while stirring it with a spatula or a wooden spoon. I find that Instant Pot sauté function cooks vegetables faster than the stove, so in about 5-7 minutes this amount of vegetables will become quite soft. NOTE: You can technically omit this step of sautéing the vegetables first. It adds the flavour but even without the step the soup will still be delicious!
• Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot.
• Close the lid, turn the pressure valve to Sealing, choose either Manual mode or Pressure cooker mode (depending on your model) and use the arrows to select cook time of 13 minutes.
• It took 32 minutes to come to pressure for me but I used cold tap water. if you use room temperature water/stock, it may take a few minutes less.
• Once the 13 minutes of pressure cooking are up and your Instant Pot beeps that it's done do a manual quick release. I like putting a small kitchen towel on the pressure release valve to contain the steam a little bit. It took about 5 minutes to fully release the pressure.
• Carefully open the lid, the borscht will be hot and steaming. Add minced garlic if using.
• Serve sprinkled with chopped dill.

VEGAN BORSCHT

Steps:

• Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic and onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Set aside. Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the celery, carrots, bell pepper, beets including the greens, whole tomatoes, diced tomatoes, potatoes, Swiss chard, and the onion mixture. Cook and stir until the chard begins to wilt, 4 to 8 minutes. Stir in the vegetable broth, water, dill weed, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 1 hour.
• Strain half the beets from the broth and place in a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the beets moving before leaving it on to puree. Add the tofu, and continue pureeing until smooth. Stir the tofu mixture back into the pot. Simmer until the mixture is reduced by a third, about another hour. Serve chilled or warm.

INSTANT POT® VEGAN BORSCHT RECIPE

Steps:

• Turn on a multi-functional pressure cooker (such as Instant Pot®) and select Saute function. Add oil and onion. Cook, stirring often, until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add a splash of water to stop cooking.
• Add 8 cups water, cabbage, beets, potatoes, carrots, bell pepper, bay leaves, salt, and pepper to the pot. Close and lock the lid. Select high pressure according to manufacturer's instructions; set timer for 40 minutes. Allow 10 to 15 minutes for pressure to build.
• Release pressure carefully using the quick-release method according to manufacturer's instructions, about 5 minutes. Unlock and remove the lid.

INSTANT POT BORSCHT

Steps:

• Mix beets with a little oil to coat and season with salt. Wrap in foil packet.
• Mix carrots and sweet potatoes with a little oil to coat and season with salt. Wrap in a second foil packet.
• Place meat, broth, tomatoes, and onion in instant pot. Put foil packets on top.
• Set for 55 minutes. Natural pressure release for 15 minutes.
• Remove foil packets and open carefully, transferring contents to instant pot. Stir gently. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with sour cream if desired.