Instant Pot Turkey Taco Pasta is a zesty meal that the whole family will love. This meal cooked in no time when using your Instant Pot or pressure cooker. The ground turkey, taco seasoning, fired roasted tomatoes paired with pasta make this a fun alternative to taco night.
I know how much you guys love my Instant Pot recipes so I am back with an easy, delicious weeknight meal. It also makes a great freezer meal!
I find this recipe to be comforting and honestly the leftovers are almost better than the first day. This Instant Pot Ground Turkey Pasta is super easy, delicious and one we make a lot in my house.
If your family likes tacos you can think of this as a deconstructed taco pasta dish.
This recipe uses ground turkey but you could also use pork or beef.
I love all of the toppings that are added at the end like red onion, green onion, diced tomatoes, cheese and cilantro.
Check out these other ground turkey recipes to make soon as well! Looking for more instant pot recipes try this Instant Pot Vegetable Mac and Cheese, Instant Pot Turkey Chili, Instant Pot Chili Mac, Instant Pot Pork Chili or this Instant Pot Carnitas Recipe.
Table of Contents
Why You Will Love this Instant Pot Turkey Taco Pasta Recipe
- Easy to Prep in Advance: This is one of those recipes that is great for meal-prep or to make a day before you know you will be serving it. The instant pot makes it super quick and easy to make. The ingredients all hold up really well for up to 4 days and the flavors meld nicely together.
- Great for Leftovers: I think the leftovers are even better than the first day. I suggest portioning the leftovers into containers so you can quickly heat the taco pasta when you need quick protein packed meal.
- Minimal Clean-Up: The nice thing about an instant pot is that it involves minimal clean-up. Everything cooks in one pot and can be cleaned up in less than 5 minutes!
Recipe Ingredients You’ll Need
- Ground Turkey: I used lean ground turkey in this dish but you can easily use ground beef or pork in its place. After you cook the ground pork or beef make sure to drain the fat from the instant pot. When I use turkey there often isn’t much fat so I don’t need to drain it.
- Corn: I added frozen corn to this pasta. You can skip the corn or even use canned corn in its place.
Taco Seasoning: The taco seasoning adds so much flavor. Try making a homemade version like this Homemade Taco Seasoning recipe. - Broth: This recipe uses broth to help deglaze the pot and then to help cook the pasta in. You can use chicken, vegetable or beef broth depending on what meat you pick to use.
- Fire Roasted Tomatoes: I love the flavor that fire roasted tomatoes add to Mexican style dishes. If you don’t have them on hand regular diced tomatoes work just fine too.
- Pasta: I enjoy using a small or medium sized pasta shape in this dish but really any pasta works. I especially like elbow macaroni in this dish.
- Cheese: I used sharp cheddar cheese in this recipe. I suggest using freshly shredded cheddar for a better texture and flavor.
See the full list of ingredients with measurements below in recipe card.
Ways to Modify this Turkey Taco Pasta
- Beans: I love adding beans into this pasta dish. I think that black beans, white beans or red kidney beans work the best!
- Cheese: You can add a different cheese to this pasta. Try pepper jack, mozzarella cheese or Monterrey cheese.
- Spices: If you don’t want to use taco seasoning you can use a combination of chili powder, cumin and paprika instead.
- Diced Tomatoes: I added fire roasted diced tomatoes in this pasta. I love the smoky flavor it adds. You could use regular diced tomatoes or diced tomatoes with green chiles instead.
- Veggies: You could easily add in diced vegetables to this pasta. Try red pepper, green bell pepper or poblano peppers.
How to Make this Instant Pot Turkey Recipe
Step 1: Sauté Turkey: Set your Instant Pot or your pressure cooker to saute and wait until it shows HOT. Add the olive oil and after 30 seconds add the ground turkey. Cook until the turkey is browned. Add the taco seasoning and stir until combined.
Step 2: Add Remaining Ingredients: Add the frozen corn, chicken broth, diced tomatoes and pasta and stir. Cancel the sauté mode.
Step 3: Pressure Cook: Put the pressure cooker lid on and set the steam release valve to the sealed position. Change the Instant Pot to MANUAL HIGH or high pressure and set the time to 4 minutes.
Step 4: Quick Release: When the Instant Pot beeps showing that it is done, do a quick release. Once all of the pressure/steam is please turn off the Instant Pot. Remove the lid keeping the lid pointed away from you and stir the taco pasta together.
Step 5: Add Cheese: Add the cheese to the pasta mixture and let the cheese melt.
Step 6: Serve: Serve the taco pasta in bowls with your favorite toppings like cheese, cilantro, sour cream and diced tomatoes.
Recipe FAQ
The key to pasta that is cooked correctly in the instant pot is making sure you do a quick release. If you do a natural release it allows the pasta to continue to cook and will often become mushy.
This will often happen when there isn’t enough liquid in the pot or if the pasta is sticking to the bottom. You can try adding more liquid and also make sure you deglaze the pot before cooking if there are stuck bits from previous use.
What to Serve with Instant Pot Turkey Pasta
I love serving a light salad with this taco pasta. Try adding this Lemon Arugula Salad, Massage Kale Salad or this Avocado Kale Spinach Salad.
I also love setting out a variety of sides to go with this recipe. Try adding Pickled Red Onions, Pickled Vegetables, Homemade Salsa or this Homemade Pico de Gallo.
Thinking about a different kind of pasta dish? Try this Italian Sausage Pasta Bake or this One Pot Chicken Enchilada Pasta.
If you try it, please leave me a star rating and comment below, and follow me on Instagram @acedarspoon for more delicious recipes!
More Turkey Recipes to Try:
Instant Pot Turkey Taco Pasta
Ingredients
For the Pasta
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound ground turkey {you can use ground beef or pork-drain any fat after sautéing }
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 1 cup frozen sweet corn
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 – 14.5 ounce can of fired roasted diced tomatoes including juices
- 8 ounces pasta of your choice, uncooked {smaller pasta works best, half of a 16 ounce box}
- 1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar, shredded {or cheese of your choice}
Garnishes::
- Freshly chopped cilantro
- Freshly chopped green onion
- Sour cream
- Chopped red onion
- Extra cheese
- Fresh salsa
- Shredded lettuce
Instructions
- Set your Instant Pot or your pressure cooker to sauté and wait until it shows HOT. Add the olive oil and after 30 seconds add the ground turkey. Cook until the turkey is browned. Add the taco seasoning and stir until combined.
- Add the frozen corn, chicken broth, diced tomatoes and pasta and stir well making sure to get any browned bits off of the bottom of the instant pot. Cancel the sauté mode.
- Put the pressure cooker lid on and set the steam release knob to the sealed position.
- Change the Instant Pot to MANUAL HIGH and set the time to 4 minutes for al dente pasta or 5 minutes for a softer, more cooked pasta {I do 4 minutes}.
- When the Instant Pot beeps showing that it is done, do a quick release. Once all of the pressure/steam is please turn off the Instant Pot.
- Remove the lid keeping the lid pointed away from you and stir the taco pasta together.
- Add the cheese to the pasta mixture and let the cheese melt.
- Serve the taco pasta in bowls with garnishes.
Notes
- Feel free to use ground beef if you like for this recipe. I would suggest using 80/20 when it comes to the ground beef. Depending on the type of ground beef you use you may have to drain the excess fat after browning it. The learner ground beef won’t need to be drained.
- You can use regular diced tomatoes instead of the fire roasted tomatoes.
I made this tonight and it is delicious! I used brown rice pasta, but that was the only change. The topping suggestions were perfect, too. I’ll definitely make this again! Thanks for a delicious, and pretty simple, recipe! Chopping some of the toppings was the most labor-intensive part, but that’s ok because it’s easy to leave out the ones you don’t want to take the time to prepare. I think it would be perfectly tasty with nothing but sour cream, green onions and salsa on top, but it’s nice to do it all if you have time, to give people options. Thanks again for a great recipe!
I am so glad you liked it!
This was really good. The turkey turns out very tender. I will make this again, adding a can of kidney beans to the cooked dish at the end. The leftovers are even better! Thank you for the recipe!
I am so glad you liked this! I love it too. I like the idea of adding the kidney beans in.