Quick and Healthy Instant Pot Ground Turkey Recipe

Soup season is my very favorite time of the year for frugal, real food cooking.

All you need to make really delicious soup is a few ingredients: broth, onion, celery, carrots, spices, and a few other ingredients you can change out depending on your mood.

Soup is an easy way to eat clean vegetables, protein, healthy carbohydrates, fiber, and nourishing broth while saving money.

Seasonal Ground Turkey Instant Pot Recipe

One of our favorite recipes is this ground beef and veggie soup. It’s a regular rotation at our house during the colder months, along with this vegan turmeric lentil soup.

Ground beef can be expensive, especially right now during such high inflation, so lately, I’ve been making more ground turkey recipes. Ground turkey is leaner than beef and usually far less expensive. I grew up eating it in place of ground beef, so I love it.

In this ground turkey soup, we use all the basic soup ingredients (broth, onion, carrots, celery, spices) and we add ground turkey and potatoes for the main event.

Adjust this recipe with these easy tips!

Sometimes we need to adjust recipes to fit what we have in our kitchen. Here are some tips for adjusting this soup recipe.

• Swap out the potatoes for rice or pasta.
• Swap out the diced tomatoes for tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes
• Add more veggies! I’ve used shredded cabbage, shredded zucchini, chopped greens, peas, broccoli, and cauliflower.

Ground Turkey Instant Pot Soup Recipe

Because I love my Instant Pot, I make it in there more often than not. I love that I can sauté everything in the pan, set it to pressure cook for just a few minutes, and then let dinner sit on the warm setting until we’re ready to eat.

When using the Instant Pot to make this soup, I cook it for 8 minutes if I’m using diced potatoes. If I decide to use rice, I cook it for 12 minutes. If I use pasta, I cook it for about 3 minutes. If you want to learn more about adjusting soup recipes for the Instant Pot, check out my post and video here!

Cooking Ground Turkey in the Instant Pot

Ground turkey is extremely easy to work with in the Instant Pot. It cooks up just like ground beef, and you can use it in place of ground beef for any recipe. It has a slightly different taste, and because it’s so lean, you might need to heat some oil in your pan before you brown it (I don’t, but some people do).

Because ground turkey is so lean, you need to focus on building the FLAVOR in this soup.

Here are some sure-fire ways to build flavor in this soup:

• Use broth, not water (if you must use water, add extra onion, garlic, and a bay leaf)
• Brown the meat first, then remove it from the instant pot and sauté with celery, onion, and carrots separately. This is a step I don’t always follow, but it will improve the flavor of your soup.
• Add the tomato paste after sauteeing the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic, stir for a minute to build that umami, then add the liquids.
• Use fire-roasted tomatoes instead of plain canned diced tomatoes (not necessary but fun!)
• Taste after cooking and add salt and pepper as needed

Instant Pot Ground Turkey Soup

To make this soup in the Instant Pot, start your pressure cooker on the sauté mode. Brown the meat first, then scoop it out and set it aside while you sauté the onions, celery, and carrots. Add the garlic and cook for one minute, then add the tomato paste and cook for another minute. After building that flavor, add the rest of the ingredients. Stir it all together, top it with the lid and seal it. Then cook it on the high-pressure setting for 8 minutes.

When cooking soups in the Instant Pot, you want to cook them according to the ingredient that takes the longest to cook. In the case of this soup, it’s the potatoes. If you decide to use pasta instead, the carrots take longer to cook than the pasta, so you need to cook it for 3 minutes. If you follow this rule, it’s pretty simple to make great Instant Pot soup.

Scoop your soup into bowls and top with shredded cheese or sour cream (or both!).

Ground Turkey and Veggie Soup in the Instant Pot

This soup is simple, clean comfort food. It’s like a big hug. Not only is it warm and comforting, but it’s full of clean ingredients – lean meat, broth, vegetables, and spices. That’s it.

Feel free to make it your own: add a cup or two of beans (we love lentils!), top it with cheese or sour cream (or both!), and add any other vegetables that need to be eaten in your kitchen. We like shredded cabbage, shredded zucchini or summer squash, and chopped greens.

Turkey and Vegetable Instant Pot Soup

I really love this soup. It’s quick, delicious, a perfect weeknight meal, easy to make, family-friendly, and loaded with clean ingredients and real food.

If you like recipes like that, check out my other soup recipes:

• Beef & Veggie Soup
• 10-Minute Tomato Soup
• Vegan Turmeric Lentil Soup
• Instant Pot Vegetable Soup
• Githeri (Kenyan corn and beans)

Quick And Healthy Instant Pot Ground Turkey Recipe

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• Author: Stephani Jenkins
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 18 minutes
• Total Time: 38 minutes
• Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
• Category: Main Dish
• Method: Instant Pot
• Diet: Gluten Free

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Description

This is a quick, delicious weeknight meal, easy to make, family-friendly, and loaded with clean ingredients and real food.

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 2 Tbs. oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 c. celery, diced
• 2 c. carrots, sliced into 1/4-inch discs
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tbs. tomato paste (in glass jars, no BPA!) (optional)
• 2 c. potatoes, peeled and diced
• 3 c. cabbage, shredded (or other veggies, see notes)
• Two 14.5-oz cans of diced tomatoes (in glass jars, no BPA!)
• 4–6 c. vegetable broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp. basil
• 1/2 tsp. thyme or oregano
• Salt (Use the code kitchenstewardship for 15% off of your first purchase), to taste
• Pepper, to taste

Cook Mode : prevent your screen from turning off while you're making this recipe

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Instructions

• Set your Instant Pot to the sauté mode. Brown the meat. When it is cooked, remove it from the pot and set it aside.
• Add the oil to the Instant Pot and let it heat for just a few minutes. Add the onions, celery, and carrots. Sauté until the onions are translucent.
• Add the garlic and cook for one minute, then add the tomato paste (if using) and cook for another minute.
• After building that flavor, add the rest of the ingredients to the pot. Stir it all together, top it with the lid, and seal it. Cook it on the high-pressure setting for 8 minutes.
• Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper until the flavors sing.
• Scoop the soup into bowls and top with shredded cheese or sour cream (or both!).

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Notes

Instead of cabbage, try adding other vegetables. We like shredded zucchini, chopped greens, peas, broccoli, and cauliflower.

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1.5 cups
• Calories: 313
• Sugar: 9g
• Sodium: 798mg
• Fat: 14g
• Saturated Fat: 2g
• Trans Fat: 0g
• Carbohydrates: 22g
• Fiber: 5g
• Protein: 23g
• Cholesterol: 77mg

What is your favorite Instant Pot soup?

Some Favorite Instant Pot Recipes:

Gluten-free Instant Pot Mac & Cheese

Easy Instant Pot One Pot Meals that any beginner can make!

Fast Smoky Mexican Chicken Soup

Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Meatballs (AIP & GAPS)

Easy Mashed Potatoes (no drain!) in the Instant Pot

Keto Instant Pot BBQ Beef

See more Instant Pot Recipes!