Instant Pot Ground Turkey Pasta
Every bite of Instant Pot Ground Turkey Pasta has cheesy, creamy pasta and delicious ground turkey. This creamy pasta with ground turkey will make your weeknight dinners easy and tasty. People who are picky about what they eat adore it!
Check out our wide variety of easy Instant Pot recipes!
Pasta with creamy ground turkey
It’s easy to create ground turkey pasta with tomato sauce in the instant pot using things you probably already have on hand. This one-pot spaghetti dish is as wonderful as what you’d get at a restaurant, and it always gets rave reviews from family and friends!
For a healthier ground turkey pasta or penne pasta recipe, you can change the amount of cheese and liquid dairy to make your own unique creamy tomato sauce.
Pasta with Ground Turkey in the Instant Pot
- Time to get ready: 5 minutes
- Time to cook: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Number of servings: persons
- Calories: 619 kcal
What you need
- 12 ounces of uncooked pasta shells
- 1 pound of ground turkey
- 1 cup of onion
- 1 tbsp of garlic (minced)
- 1 cup of yellow bell pepper, cut into thin pieces
- 15 ounces of tomato sauce (425 grams)
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- Salt (to taste)
Spices
- 1.5 teaspoons of paprika
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
Wet
- 3 glasses of water (warm)
- 2 tablespoons of Better Than Bouillon
Milk
- ¾ cup of heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup of full milk
- 1 cup of cheddar cheese
- 1 cup of mozzarella cheese
Used equipment
Instant Pot DUO 6 quart
How to Do It
Brown the ground turkey lightly.
Put the instant pot on SAUTE mode and turn the heat down to low. To change the heat settings on SAUTE mode, press the sauté button several times. Add oil, and when it gets reasonably heated, carefully add the diced onion, garlic, and bell pepper. Sauté for 30 seconds, then add salt. Sauté for one more minute.
Now, add the ground turkey and use your spatula to break it up into big pieces. Sauté the ground turkey until it starts to turn brown. As you keep browning the meat, cut it into smaller pieces. The ground turkey will let out some moisture, so you need to sauté it well until all the extra moisture is gone. That’s when the meat will start to brown. Add all of the spices from the “SEASONINGS” portion of the ingredients list and cook with the ground turkey for one more minute. This will really bring out the taste in the one-pot ground turkey pasta recipe. CANCEL the Sauté mode.
Remove the glaze from the pot
Pour in the chicken stock and use your spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the pot very well to deglaze it. This will help get rid of any sticky food and stop the burn error. Don’t rush through this step!
Put pasta and tomato sauce on top of each other.
Now, put the uncooked pasta in the instant pot and use your spatula to spread it out in a single layer. Don’t mix or stir. Use your spatula to press down on the spaghetti a little bit on all sides.
Put the tomato sauce on top of the spaghetti and use your spatula to spread it out evenly. Do not mix or stir.
Cook under pressure
Close the lid of the instant pot, seal the valve, and cook on HIGH for 4 minutes. When the cooking cycle is over, the instant pot will beep. Move the valve from the sealing to the venting position to let off some steam right away. Carefully open the lid of the instant pot when the floating pin on top drops. Stir everything in the instant pot really well.
Make pasta with ground turkey and cream
Set the SAUTE mode to low heat and turn it on. Add the milk and heavy whipping cream, and whisk everything together well. Now, add roughly 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese. Mix well until the cheese melts completely and mixes in nicely to make a creamy cheese sauce.
Shut off the instant pot. Now, put the rest of the ½ cup of cheddar and mozzarella cheese on top of the one pot ground turkey pasta and close the cover of the instant pot. Allow it to sit for five minutes or until the cheese melts. The heat left over will help the cheese melt and make a cheesy top layer.
Take off the lid and serve the cheesy ground turkey spaghetti. Have fun!
Advice for doing well
- If you like saucy pastas like this Instant Pot Tortellini Pasta, you may make the creamy sauce thinner by adding extra milk, cream, or a few dashes of stock. You can change the thickness of the sauce to suit your own taste. The recipe for today has a lot of sauce.
- Adding veggies: This easy ground turkey pasta recipe lets you add green peas, sliced mushrooms, broccoli, baby spinach, or cherry tomatoes if you like more veggies in your pasta recipes.
- For the best texture: For the greatest texture, serve the one-pot ground turkey spaghetti right away. Pasta that has been cooked absorbs a lot of liquid, thus the longer it rests in the creamy tomato sauce, the softer it will get as it absorbs more of the sauce.
- To avoid the BURN mistake, use stock and your spatula to deglaze the pot extremely well. This will help get rid of any food that is stuck and stop the burn error. Don’t hurry through this step! Also, don’t mix or stir the ingredients in the pot before you cook them under pressure. The best way to get the greatest results is to layer the spaghetti and the sauce.
- The best pasta: I used salad shells. You can also use penne, farfalle, or rotini pasta. You can use rotini, penne, fusilli, or farfalle instead of the salad shells if you wish.
- Red pepper flakes: These will give the one-pot ground turkey pasta dish a little extra bite. If you can’t handle heat or are cooking the recipe for youngsters, leave off the red pepper flakes.
- Can I use half and half? You can use half and half instead of heavy whipping cream. Use the same amount.
- Is it okay to use 1% or fat-free milk? You can use either 1% or fat-free milk instead of whole milk in the recipe to make it less strong. For a healthier alternative, use 1% or fat-free milk and half and half.
- Is it okay to use grated cheese that comes in a package? Yes, you can use pre-packaged grated cheese or grate cheese from a block. If you want the cheesiest ground turkey pasta, add a lot of cheese.
- For saucy pasta, you may always change the texture of the dish by adding extra liquid. If you like saucy pasta, add additional milk or stock at the end.
- Don’t use red onion. It will give the food a strong taste.
- You can use any color of bell pepper, such yellow, orange, or red. I used orange bell pepper because it was the only one I had.
- You can use tomato passata instead of tomato sauce.
- Olive oil that is very light or light is good for cooking. You can use any neutral oil, though, including avocado oil, canola oil, or sunflower oil.
- Salt: Add salt to taste. This ground turkey pasta instant pot recipe tastes so fantastic because salt brings out the flavor.
Storing and using leftovers
Fridge:
If you put this one-pot ground turkey pasta in airtight containers, it will last for 3 to 4 days in the fridge. The sauce will soak into the noodles. Please follow the steps below to reheat.
Freezer:
You can keep the instant pot ground turkey pasta in the freezer for up to two months. Store the pasta in heavy-duty freezer-safe containers that are the right size for each serving. In such scenario, you can take out each serving, reheat it, and serve it. Below are the steps for reheating.
How to reheat
Fridge:
When you put pasta in the fridge, it soaks up a lot of the sauce. Before you reheat the ground turkey pasta, you need add some water or stock or a few drops of milk. Put the spaghetti in the microwave and heat it until it’s hot or warm. Serve after gently stirring with a spoon.
Freezer:
Put the frozen pasta in the fridge overnight to thaw, then follow the instructions above for reheating. Pasta that has been frozen or kept in the fridge will be soft.
Did you cook this spaghetti with ground turkey and cheese? Please tell me in the comments below!