Tortellini Soup with Turkey

Soups are so easy to make in your Instant Pot® (IP) Mini.  Whether it’s a pot of beef, chicken, or vegetable broth or a more hearty soup with vegetables, your IP will produce a soup that is more than pleasing to your taste buds.  

Most often, whatever ingredients I have on hand is what goes in the soup, as was the case with this recipe.  I like to experiment with herbs and spices all the time. Some of my favorites – parsley, rosemary, and thyme – are used in the recipe.

I used a pound of ground turkey in this recipe which may be a bit much for some folks.  The extra meat and veggies actually turned it into more of a stew. After some taste testing, I felt the extra meat required extra seasoning, so I leaned toward 1 teaspoon each of the dried thyme and rosemary.  The broth itself is on the light side.

Tortellini Soup with Turkey

(adapted from https://www.simplyhappyfoodie.com/instant-pot-mini-tortellini-soup/)

Prep Time:  19 minutes             

Cook Method/Time:  Pressure Cook for 5 minutes             

Natural Release:  5 minutes + additional time required to release remaining steam by turning steam release handle to venting position

Total Time:  45 minutes (Includes prep through complete pressure release.)

Makes 7 cups

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 lb. lean ground turkey (97%)
  • ½ medium yellow onion, diced
  • 4 medium carrots, sliced
  • 3 ¼ cups low sodium chicken broth
  • 3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
  • ¾ – 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • ¾ – 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
  • ¼ teaspoon table salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 cup refrigerated Tortellini
  • Fresh or dried parsley for garnish, if desired

Instructions

  • Press Sauté and heat until display reads “HOT.”  Add olive oil and turkey. Cook until turkey is no longer pink, stirring occasionally.
  • Stir in onion and carrots.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion appears slightly translucent – about 2-3 minutes.
  • Add garlic, broth, thyme, rosemary, mushrooms, salt and pepper. Stir.
  • Add tortellini and stir.
  • Secure the lid and make certain the steam release handle is set to Sealing.  
  • Cancel Sauté and set to Pressure Cook for 5 minutes.
  • When cooking is completed, Natural Release for 5 minutes.  Then turn the steam release handle to Venting to complete steam/pressure release.
  • When all steam/pressure is released and the float valve (pin in lid) drops, carefully open the lid.
  • Stir soup.
  • Garnish with fresh or dried parsley or parmesan cheese, if desired.

Notes:

  • Use meat of your choice: ground beef, ground chicken, ground turkey, or diced (bite-size) fresh chicken.  If adding diced fresh chicken, brown on all sides and add 2 minutes to cook time.
  • Made with ingredients listed, the soup was more like a stew.  Using ½ lb. of meat would result in more broth – a lighter soup.
  • After sautéing, make sure there are no brown “yummies” (stuck-on food)  on the bottom of the inner pot as this could interfere with the pot reaching pressure.  Brown “yummies” can be removed by scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden or plastic utensil.
  • Use less or no meat and add more vegetables such as zucchini, canned cannellini beans, celery, green beans, tomatoes, spinach.
  • Have some fun and use tri-color cheese tortellini!
  • Try different herbs such as oregano and basil.
  • Exchange vegetable broth for the chicken broth.
  • When adding extra ingredients: REMEMBER: DO NOT fill the inner pot  higher than the ⅔ or PC Max line to avoid interfering with the safety valves (in the lid) controlling pressure.