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This Instant Pot Goulash with Ground Turkey is healthy, quick and easy, and turns this classic family recipe into a one pot meal. Plus, you can hide a ton of vegetables in this meal and your picky eaters will never know.
If this healthy Instant Pot dinner looks delicious to you, you’ll love this Instant Pot White Chicken Chili!
Why I Love This Instant Pot Goulash
Goulash was a dinner staple in my household growing up. I love the simple, clean ingredients and how filling it is. Cooking this as an easy Instant Pot recipe makes it even easier by using only one pot and allowing you to walk away while it cooks it for you!
Enjoy!
– Becca
Ingredients in Instant Pot Turkey Goulash Recipe:
- Ground Turkey: Ground turkey is a leaner option than ground beef, but ground beef is delicious in this recipe as well.
- Garlic: To save time you can buy your garlic already minced, just make sure to check your ingredients. Sometimes they sneak in fillers. We prefer fresh minced garlic over garlic powder any day.
- Italian Seasoning: This seasoning blend is a must for every spice cabinet. Italian seasoning is a blend of marjoram, thyme, rosemary, sage, oregano and basil.
- Onions: I like to keep already minced onions in the freezer for recipes like this that only use a small amount. You can freeze your own, or buy them already cut and frozen from the store.
- Bay Leaves: Bay leaves are an aromatic leaf commonly used in cooking. They add great depth of flavor to soups, stews, and pasta dishes. Be sure to remove them after cooking and before eating!
- Zucchini: This low-calorie summer squash is loaded with many nutrients such as vitamin C, manganese, potassium, magnesium, and vitamin K.
- Bell Peppers: Also known as sweet peppers, bell peppers belong to the nightshade family, which can be eaten cooked or raw, and are loaded with vitamins. Green bell pepper is delicious in this dish!
- Crushed Tomatoes: Crushed tomatoes tend to be the most flavorful. We love using fire roasted tomatoes too! If you cant find these, you could substitute a jar of no added sugar tomato sauce in place of the crushed tomatoes, if you prefer. If you do this, also skip the seasonings in this recipe.
- Noodles: Whole wheat pasta is lower in calories, but higher in fiber, and other micronutrients than its more refined counterparts. The slow burning whole grains will keep you full for longer, too. I prefer elbow macaroni pasta for this recipe. You can also substitute gluten free pasta if needed.
How to Make Instant Pot Turkey Goulash Recipe in the Instant Pot
- Lightly spray the inside of the Instant Pot liner with oil and set to sauté.
- Add your turkey to the pot. Use a spatula to break apart any large chunks of turkey. Cook until meat is browned and crumbled.
- Add garlic, Italian seasoning, onions, and bay leaves to the pot. Mix well to evenly coat your turkey.
- Add chopped zucchini, bell peppers, crushed tomatoes and 2 cups of water (more or less depending on pot size and elevation) to the pot.
- Add whole wheat noodles. Stir together, making sure all of the pasta is covered.
- Close and lock the lid and turn the valve to sealing. Select Pressure cook and set time for 3 minutes.
- When the cook time is up, quick release the pressure and remove the lid. To quick release, move your sealing valve from Sealing to Venting. Steam will shoot out of the valve, so be careful to not get your hands in the way.
- Give everything one final stir, and serve topped with shredded cheese if you’d like.
How to Make Instant Pot Turkey Goulash Recipe on the Stovetop
- Sauté the ground turkey.
- Cook pasta noodles to package instructions in a large pot.
- Combine the spices, and crushed tomatoes. Or you can substitute this step with jarred pasta sauce.
- Add cut veggies, meat, and pasta sauce (homemade or store bought) to the cooked pasta and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Top with shredded parmesan cheese, if desired, and serve warm.
Recipe Tips:
- If you would like to hide your vegetables in our Instant Pot goulash recipe, you can add them all to your food processor and pulverize them. They will be hidden and your family will still get the benefits of eating the vegetables.
- If you’d like to use frozen ground turkey or frozen ground beef please read these posts for more tips and information.
- If you are using gluten free noodles reduce your cooking time to 2 minutes – try to find gluten free elbow macaroni, if possible.
- If your noodles are undercooked, turn your Instant Pot to sauté for an additional minute or two until your noodles reach desired doneness. Be sure not to cook the pasta for longer than recommended, you don’t want mushy pasta in your instant pot goulash.
- Diced tomatoes would work if you can’t find crushed tomatoes. You could also manually crush whole peeled tomatoes with your hands or using a potato masher.
- This recipe is easy to customize for your family’s tastes. You can omit the zucchini and double up on the bell peppers, add fresh chopped onions, riced cauliflower, the options are endless.
- You may also use lean ground beef or other ground meat for this instant pot goulash recipe. We prefer lean ground turkey.
- This recipe is also called American Goulash or American Chop Suey.
Healthy Eating Plans
- 21 Day Fix: For the entire 21 Day Fix Goulash Recipe: 4 Red Containers, 4 Green Containers, and 4 Yellow Containers.
- Per 1 ¼ cup serving: ⅔ Red Container, ⅔ Green Containers, and ⅔ Yellow containers.
- 2B Mindset: This is a complete 2B Mindset lunch recipe
- For the Weight Watchers version and counts, click here
If you tried this recipe for Instant Pot Goulash or any other recipe on my site please leave a rating and let me know how it went in the comments!
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Instant Pot Goulash with Ground Turkey
Approximate Serving Size: 1 1/4 cup
Servings 6
Hearty flavor meets smart simplicity — my Instant Pot Goulash with ground turkey is a one-pot, veggie-loaded twist on a comfort classic. Lean meat, whole grain pasta, hidden greens, and cozy tomato sauce all come together in minutes for a dinner that’s warm, satisfying, and good for you.
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Equipment
- Instant Pot 6 qt
- Food processor
- Sealing Rings
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 cup zucchini chopped
- 1 cup bell pepper chopped
- ½ cup onion chopped
- 1 cup whole wheat pasta
- 2 cups water more or less depending on pot size and elevation.
Optional: you can substitute the following with 1 jar of pasta sauce, or you can make your own with the ingredients below.
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
- 2 ½ tbsp Italian seasoning
- 2 bay leaves
- 14 oz crushed tomatoes
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté and brown the ground turkey. 1 lb ground turkey
- (Note: If you're using jarred pasta sauce, omit the seasonings and tomatoes.) Add garlic, Italian seasoning, minced onions, and 2 bay leaves. Toss in chopped zucchini and bell peppers. 1 tbsp garlic, 2 1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning, 1/2 cup onion, 2 bay leaves, 1 cup zucchini, 1 cup bell pepper
- Mix so that the seasonings and veggies are distributed.
- Pour 8 ounces of dry whole wheat pasta, 1 can of crushed tomatoes, and 14 oz of water over the vegetables. 1 cup whole wheat pasta, 14 oz crushed tomatoes , 2 cups water
- Stir until the pasta is fully mixed with the sauce. Lock the lid into place and turn the pressure valve to sealing. Cook on high pressure using the manual function for 3 minutes. Use the quick release method to release the pressure. Give it a final stir to mix everything together and let the goulash cool for a few minutes.
- Top with cheese if desired and serve warm.
Video
Notes
If you’re trying to sneak veggies past picky eaters, just toss them in the food processor and blend until smooth—no one will even know they’re there!
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 160kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 42mg | Sodium: 133mg | Potassium: 571mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 1015IU | Vitamin C: 42mg | Calcium: 71mg | Iron: 3mg
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Do you think this recipe would work well as a make ahead and take to a family? I’m thinking maybe giving it in a pan that can be reheated in the oven, kind of like a casserole?
It’s a little soupy but I don’t see why that wouldn’t work. I love this recipe reheated for lunch the next day so the flavor will definitely be there!
I made this tonight and WOW!! It’s fantastic and so easy to make! I made the whole meal in my Ninja Foodie first by sautéing the ground turkey till done, adding the veggies, spices, water and noodles then pressure cooking for 3 minutes!!! Love it!!!