Creamy, sweet, chilled fruit soup whipped up quick and easy in the Instant Pot pressure cooker! Trust me on this one, it's unique, nourishing, and can be enjoyed any time of day
I've been known to pull out some eyebrow-raising recipes before, this might be one of them.
What are your thoughts? Does a big bowl of creamy, pureed fruit topped with fresh fruit, yogurt, coconut, and/or granola sound like something you could get on board with?
When my kids pushed a bowl of Chocolate Popcorn aside for a second helping of Fruit Soup, I thought to myself, “Yep, I think my TIDBITS family will dig this one.”
WHY YOU WILL LOVE EASY FRUIT SOUP
- This soup is like a smoothie/yogurt baby. Cold and refreshing like a smoothie, but it can hang out in your fridge and be perfect all week
- Have fruit that needs to be used? Make Fruit Soup!
- So easy my kids could make it, if it weren't so darn hard to get the Instant Pot lid on . . .
- 2 – 3 servings of fruit just like that, BAM, WHAT!
I've got a confession though, this supposedly super easy recipe was a little tricky to figure out. In fact, my husband at one point said, “All I need is a tiny plastic spoon.” Admittedly it took me a solid hour for it to click that he was suggesting it was reminiscent of baby food. Sooooooo funny 😏
I wanted it thick, but didn't want thickeners or heavy cream, I wanted it sweet, but didn't want to add a ton of sweeteners, and I wanted it smooth, but didn't want to hear the baby food joke again.
HOW TO MAKE FRUIT SOUP TO DIE FOR
USE CASHEWS TO THICKEN
- Cashews are one of my favorite thickening tricks as demonstrated in this divine Vanilla Fruit Dip. The flavor isn't overpowering and when pressure cooked and blended, they are creamy perfection
USE VERY RIPE FRUIT FOR SWEETNESS
- Slightly overripe mangos, berries, peaches, bananas, etc make this fruit soup sweet without any need for added sweetener. However, if you use frozen fruit, fruit that hasn't reached its optimum sweetness, or you just prefer it a bit sweeter, honey is a great addition
ADD TOPPINGS FOR TEXTURE
- No baby food here! Take your luscious, sweet soup and top it to your heart's content with fresh fruit, Dang Coconut Flakes (I love these!), chia seeds, and/or your favorite granola (you must try Bear Naked Granola!)
There ya go! Fruit puree for the big kid/adult/okay, baby, yes the baby will also love it (just no honey under 1 year!)
HOW TO MAKE FRUIT SOUP IN THE INSTANT POT
- Combine the juice, fruit, and cashews in the pot and cook
- Let pressure release for 5 – 10 minutes (fruit foams!) then remove the lid
- Pour mixture into a blender
- Blend until VERY smooth
- Pour through a sieve if desired to make sure there are no chunks or seeds
- Chill until it's very cold and thick
All that's left to do is add your favorite smoothie/yogurt toppings and go to town!
This really is such a fun and delicious recipe!
DESSERT SOUP
While I typically serve this at mealtime, it has serious potential in the healthy dessert OR not so healthy dessert category. Dream about the possibilities with me a moment . . .
- Swirl of heavy cream or coconut cream, candied walnuts, and a sprinkle of crunchy turbinado sugar
- Scoop of frozen yogurt and crushed vanilla wafers or Golden Oreos
- Scoop of lemon or lime sorbet and toasted coconut
Of course, you can always make the soup itself sweeter by adding more honey or sugar to the pot when it cooks to make it more “dessert” like as well. How amazing would this be as a cold dessert in the middle of summer!?
FRUIT STEW
If you thought “Dessert Soup” was weird, how about this: Nix the cashews, cook up the fruit as written in the recipe, and eat it piping hot with a Frozen Whipped Cream Dollop. I suggest this option because I thought it was heavenly, but with a little bit of hesitation because A) it ain't purty B) mushy fruit isn't everyone's thing. Proceed with caution.
NOTE ON THE COLOR
I really wanted this soup to be vibrant with color like most smoothies are. Try as I may, I just couldn't get my favorite fruit combo to be colorful and bright after cooking it down with cashews. So light pink-ish, peach-ish it is! Top it with colorful fruit and call it good!
FRUIT COMBINATIONS TO TRY
Once you get the basic idea of this recipe down, go crazy with the possibilities!
- Tropical: Mango, Pineapple, Kiwi
- Berry Lover: Strawberry, Raspberry, Blackberry, Blueberry (this one will need some honey)
- Peaches and Cream: Peaches, Banana, Vanilla Extract
Here are 6 more Fruit Combos worth checking out as well. I'm especially curious to try the fig, red grape, pomegranate combo. I'm thinking pomegranate juice, dried figs, and grape . . . this could be good.
Are you going to try it? I know you've got fruit somewhere in your kitchen that's begging for the opportunity to be turned into this creamy, dreamy antioxidant bomb bowl of Fruit Soup. Do it! Let me know if you discover any new combos I need to try!
Enjoy!
TOOLS/INGREDIENTS USED TO MAKE INSTANT POT FRUIT SOUP
PrintInstant Pot Fruit Soup
Creamy, refreshing Instant Pot Fruit Soup, imagine the possibilities!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 1.5 quarts 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 cup Mango Nectar, Orange Juice, or Peach Mango Juice (I use R.W. Knudsen Mango Nectar)
- ¾ cup pineapple juice (I use a 6 ounce can of pineapple juice)
- 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen mangos or peaches
- 1 ½ cups fresh or frozen strawberries or raspberries
- 1 ripe banana, cut into four pieces
- ½ cup raw cashews
- 2 – 4 tablespoons honey, optional for added sweetness
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Optional for serving: yogurt, honey, lemon wedges, chopped fresh fruit, coconut flakes, granola, chia seeds
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to the pressure cooker pot.
- Secure the lid and turn pressure release knob to a sealed position.
- Cook at high pressure 5 minutes.
- When cooking is complete, use a natural release for 10 minutes, then release any remaining pressure.
- Pour mixture into a high speed blender and blend until very smooth, scraping the sides down once if needed.
- Optional: pour through a fine mesh sieve to make sure it’s really smooth.
- Store soup in mason jars or other storage containers and place in the fridge until completely chilled, overnight is best.
- To serve, pour into bowls, top with a dollop of yogurt, a drizzle of honey, and a squeeze of lemon juice for brightness. Add favorite fresh fruit, coconut flakes, and/or granola.
- Store in refrigerator up to 5 days.
Notes
- The ingredients are flexible, use a combination of your favorite fruits
- Great for all ages, but if serving to a baby under 1 year old, omit the honey
Keywords: instant pot, fruit soup, healthy fruit
Oh this looks so so good! Unfortunately we have a severe cashew allergy in the house. Is there anything else I could possibly use as a thickening agent? I’d really love to try this!
Karen, I asked google on this one and it said
“Substitute for raw cashews: pine nuts, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, soaked sunflower seeds, sunflower seeds and tahini (sesame seed butter), combination of zucchini and pine or macadamia nuts could work particularly well. Silken tofu can replace cashews effectively.”
Of all those choices, I’d probably go with almonds (blanched preferably), macadamia nuts, or silken tofu. If you use tofu, I would add it to the blender after the fruit is cooked. Let me know if you try it!