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Cooking frozen meat in the Instant Pot is my favorite cooking hack. Seriously, how many times have you forgotten to take the meat out of the freezer?
If I’m honest, once I figured out how to cook frozen ground turkey in the Instant Pot, it was quickly my favorite way to make it. The pressure the Instant Pot creates infuses the seasoning right into the cooked meat. Less mess, less time, less planning, and more flavor.
What kind of meat can I use?
Any ground meat you prefer, but I prefer frozen ground turkey in most recipes. I love cooking frozen turkey in the Instant Pot because you can put everything in and walk away until it’s finished. I prefer to use ground poultry when I can because of the lower saturated fat.
Got beef? You can find tips for cooking frozen ground beef here.
Ingredients:
- Ground meat: Frozen ground turkey or chicken both cook the same in the Instant Pot. I’ve used both 1 pound packages as well as the larger 1.75-2 pound packs from Sam’s and Costco. See notes below for the different cooking times.
- Water: Sometimes I add stock for additional flavor.
- Seasoning: You can simply add salt and pepper, or season your meat for the meal you’re making–tacos, chili, or spaghetti. Scroll down for some of my favorite seasonings to add to this recipe.
Instant Pot Taco Meat
Whether you’re making traditional tacos recipes or my favorite low carb ground turkey tacos, you’re going to love this homemade taco seasoning!
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp oregano, dried
- 1 tsp cilantro, dried
Instant Pot Turkey Chili Seasoning
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 2 tbsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
Instant Pot Turkey with Italian Seasonings (for spaghetti or other pasta)
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
How to cook frozen ground turkey in the Instant Pot:
You’ll need about 40 minutes for this recipe. These directions work for an Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or any other brand of electric pressure cooker.
- Add the frozen ground turkey to the bottom of the Instant Pot insert. Pour 1/2 cup of cold water (or stock) into the bottom of the pot and top the meat with any seasonings you’d like. You’re using a bit less liquid than usual for this recipe because the frozen turkey will also produce a bit of liquid.
- Close the lid and turn the pressure valve to the sealed position. Set the cook time for 15 minutes for 1 pound of meat or 20 minutes for 2 pounds of meat and cook on high pressure.
- Once the cook time is up, quick release the pressure and remove the lid. Quick release means that you’ll manually move the valve on the top of your pot from Sealing to Venting. Steam will come out.
- Your ground meat will be thawed at this point but not all the way cooked. Be careful when pressing your cooking utensil into the meat for the first time, as some water will release. Pressing your utensil into the meat slowly will help with this.
- Turn your pot to Sauté (high). Use a spatula to gently break apart your meat into crumbles while the meat continues to cook. Stir well to incorporate all of the seasonings and continue to sauté until most of the liquid has cooked out.
Recipe Tips:
- If making a dish that requires tomato sauce, such as chili, you can add that to the top of your ground turkey when it’s frozen. Don’t put tomato sauce on the bottom of your pot under the meat–you’ll get the burn warning. When adding tomato sauce, don’t leave the liquid out–you need that too.
- Sometimes I think the seasonings are absorbed into the meat a bit more when cooking this way, so you might want to add extra seasonings to your meat after it’s sautéed.
- This method isn’t necessarily faster than thawing the meat in the sink, but I love that pressure cooking is something I can walk away from for a bit and allow to cook on its own.
- While this is a quick way to defrost and cook the ground turkey, it’s not the same as defrosting in the fridge. For example, you won’t be able to make turkey burgers or meatballs with this meat after defrosting because it cooks the turkey at the same time.
- Don’t have enough in the freezer? These tips for how to stretch ground beef work with ground turkey as well!
Healthy Eating Plans
Did you know that the recipes here at My Crazy Good Life are all perfect for the 21 Day Fix/Ultimate Portion Fix and Weight Watchers?
- Weight Watchers: When using extra lean ground turkey each 4 ounce serving counts as 0 Blue Plan Points | 1 Green Plan Point | 0 Purple Plan Points | 2023 Points: 0
- 21 Day Fix/Ultimate Portion Fix: Each 3/4 cup serving counts as 1 Red Container.
- 2B Mindset: In addition to this meat, fill your plate with 75% FFC for a complete breakfast. Fill your plate with 50% veggies and 25% FFC for a complete lunch, or add 75% veggies for a complete dinner.
Healthy recipes you can use frozen ground turkey with:
- Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Turkey Chorizo and Eggs
- Homemade Hamburger Helper
- Instant Pot Spaghetti
- Instant Pot Turkey Goulash
- Baked Beans with Ground Turkey (this recipe is delicious–it uses black beans and red kidney beans!)
- Spicy Instant Pot Chili (my favorite chili recipe!)
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How to Cook Frozen Ground Turkey in the Instant Pot
Approximate Serving Size: 3/4 cup
Servings 4
Cooking ground turkey from frozen is my favorite way to cook meat in a pressure cooker. The pressure the Instant Pot creates infuses the seasoning into the meat. Less mess, less time, more flavor.
Equipment
- Instant Pot 6 qt
- Instant Pot Trivet
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground turkey extra lean
- seasonings optional, can be found in post
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Place frozen meat in the bottom of the Instant Pot. Add seasonings to the top of the meat now. 1 lb ground turkey seasonings
- Pour water over the top of the turkey. 1/2 cup water
- Close and lock the Instant Pot and turn the pressure valve to sealing.
- Pressure cook High for 15 minutes.
- Once your cook time is complete quick release the pressure and remove the lid.
- Set your pot to saute and use a spatula to crumble your meat.
- Add any (optional) extra seasonings now and saute until all the liquid is absorbed.
- Serve immediately or store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Notes
- If making a dish that requires tomato sauce, such as chili, you can add that to the top of your ground turkey when it’s frozen. Don’t put tomato sauce on the bottom of your pot under the meat–you’ll get the burn warning. When adding tomato sauce, don’t leave the liquid out–you need that too.
- Sometimes I think the seasonings are absorbed into the meat a bit more when cooking this way, so you might want to add extra seasonings to your meat after it’s sautéed.
- This method isn’t necessarily faster than thawing the meat in the sink, but I love that pressure cooking is something I can walk away from for a bit and allow to cook on its own.
- While this is a quick way to defrost and cook the ground turkey, it’s not the same as defrosting in the fridge. For example, you won’t be able to make turkey burgers or meatballs with this meat after defrosting because it cooks the turkey at the same time.
- Weight Watchers: When using extra lean ground turkey each 4 ounce serving counts as 0 Blue Plan Points | 1 Green Plan Point | 0 Purple Plan Points | 2023 Points: 0
- 21 Day Fix/Ultimate Portion Fix: Each 3/4 cup serving counts as 1 Red Container.
- 2B Mindset: In addition to this meat, fill your plate with 75% FFC for a complete breakfast. Fill your plate with 50% veggies and 25% FFC for a complete lunch, or add 75% veggies for a complete dinner.
Nutrition
Calories: 170kcal | Protein: 21g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 84mg | Sodium: 80mg | Potassium: 242mg | Vitamin A: 83IU | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 1mg
Make This Recipe?
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How long to cook fresh ground turkey in instant pot? I cannot find the answer anywhere online.
Hi Matt,
For fresh ground turkey we usually just cook it in sauté mode until it’s browned and no longer pink.
There must be something wrong with the cooking time in your recipe. I followed it exactly as written, which at the time of my reading was pressure cooking high for 15 minutes, and what I got as the end result was a rubber square of what used to be turkey that couldn’t be crumbled at all, like I couldn’t even push a meat crumbling tool into it. Entire pound of pasture raised ground turkey wasted. Ended up chopping it up with a knife and giving it to my dogs as there’s absolutely nothing I could do with it. So disappointed!
Hi there! I’m sorry this didn’t work for you. It sounds like either your pot is cooking super fast or maybe you have a smaller pot? 15 minutes for frozen ground turkey is my magic number for both of my pots.
My ground turkey was moist! I will never wait to defrost meat again ever thank you so much. This was so helpful.
Mine burned. The cooking time is too long for this recipe
I’m sorry to hear this! I’ve used this recipe every week or two for a few years. How much meat were you cooking, and was it partially defrosted already? Also, did you add liquid?
Thank you! This looks super easy, I’ll have to try it this week. I have a 3lb frozen ground turkey, how much water and how long for 3lb?