Instant Pot Turkey Goulash Recipe

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!

I love pressure cooking because it helps cut down the time I stand in front of my stove. Using a pressure cooker allows the meal to cook faster, and it is almost always a one pot clean up- my favorite type of kitchen mess.

This Instant Pot Turkey Goulash Recipe 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. 

We realize that not everyone has an Instant Pot at home, so we’ve included stovetop directions for our Instant Pot Turkey Goulash recipe. It’s just as delicious whether you make it in the Instant Pot or on the stove. We have all the details on how to make this delicious Turkey Goulash Recipe in an Instant Pot or on the stovetop.

Where’s the recipe?

I have readers from all levels of comfort and experience in the kitchen on my site, and I receive a lot of questions about recipes.

To better serve all of my readers here at My Crazy Good Life, I’ve made a commitment to put a ton of helpful information in all of my posts. We know that we have readers of all levels of expertise when it comes to cooking.

If you’d like to skip over the parts about nutrition, swapping ingredients, and healthy eating plan point information, please simply scroll to the bottom of the page, where you will find the printable Instant Pot Turkey Goulash recipe.

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

1. Lightly spray the inside of the Instant Pot liner with oil and set to sauté.
2. Add your turkey to the pot. Use a spatula to break apart any large chunks of turkey. Cook until meat is browned and crumbled.
3. Add garlic, Italian seasoning, onions, and bay leaves to the pot. Mix well to evenly coat your turkey.
4. Add chopped zucchini, bell peppers, crushed tomatoes and 14 oz of water to the pot.
5. Add whole wheat noodles. Stir together, making sure all of the pasta is covered.
6. Close and lock the lid and turn the valve to sealing. Select Pressure cook and set time for 3 minutes.
7. 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.
8. 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

1. Sauté the ground turkey.
2. Cook pasta noodles to package instructions in a large pot.
3. Combine the spices, and crushed tomatoes. Or you can substitute this step with jarred pasta sauce. 
4. Add cut veggies, meat, and pasta sauce (homemade or store bought) to the cooked pasta and simmer for 10 minutes. 
5. 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 

More Instant Pot Recipes that are both Healthy and Delicious

• Stuffed Pepper Soup
• Instant Pot Burrito Bowl Frozen Chicken
• Healthy Tuscan Chicken Pasta
• Healthy Crack Chicken
• Healthy Chicken Pot Pie Soup
• Instant Pot Chicken Lo Mein

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Instant Pot Turkey Goulash Recipe

Created by: Becca Ludlum

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Approximate Serving Size: 1 1/4 cup

Servings 6

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This healthy goulash recipe an easy one pot meal! Instant Pot Goulash is a fast dinner that the whole family will love!

Equipment

• Instant Pot 6 qt
• Food processor
• Sealing Rings

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

• ▢ 1 lb ground turkey
• ▢ 1 cup zucchini chopped
• ▢ 1 cup bell peppers chopped
• ▢ 1/2 cup onions chopped
• ▢ 1 cup whole wheat pasta
• ▢ 14 oz water

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 1/2 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 onions, 2 bay leaves, 1 cup zucchini, 1 cup bell peppers
• 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 , 14 oz 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

Makes six equal servings of 1 1/4C each.

21 Day Fix Container Count, per serving: 2/3 red container, 1/2 green container, 1 yellow container. For the entire 21 Day Fix Goulash Recipe: 4 Red Containers, 4 Green Containers, and 4 Yellow Containers.

2B Mindset: This is a complete 2B Mindset lunch recipe

For the Weight Watchers version and counts, click here

Recipe Tips 

• This is a great recipe for meal prep. Goulash freezes nicely and reheats easily for on the go lunches and dinners. 
• If you would like to hide your vegetables from picky eaters you can add them all to your food processor and pulverize them.      

• If you are using gluten free noodles reduce your cooking time to 2 minutes. 

• If your noodles are undercooked, turn your Instant Pot to sauté and boil and addition minute or two until your noodles reach desired doneness. 

• 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.

Stovetop directions:

1. Sauté ground turkey.
2. Boil noodles per packaging instructions in a large pot.
3. Combine the spices and crushed tomatoes. Or you can substitute this step with jarred pasta sauce. 
4. Add cut veggies, meat, pasta sauce (homemade or store bought) to the cooked noodles and simmer for 10 minutes. 
5. Top with parmesan cheese, if desired, and serve warm.

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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