Heat the oil in the Instant Pot on Sauté. Once heated, stir in the onion, sauté for 5 minutes, until the onion is translucent.
Next add the vegetable broth, lentils, carrots, beets, bay leaves and thyme.
On the Instant Pot, manually set the time to 6 minutes. Once done, do a quick release using the top vent.
Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprig.
Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprig. (see note!) Puree the soup until smooth and velvety. Puree right in the cookpot, or of you don’t have an immersion blender, puree the soup in a blender. (Do this in 3 batches, as to not make a huge mess.)
Put the miso in a small bowl. Add ½ cup of the pureed soup and stir to dissolve the miso well. Stir the miso mixture back into the pot. Heat gently but do not boil. *Boiling destroys some of the nutrition of the miso, and changes the flavor.
Serve simply, garnished with chopped parsley.
Notes
Original recipe: https://www.lettyskitchen.com/instant-pot-red-velvet-beet-soup/