Instant Pot Creamy Turkey Spinach Penne–saucy penne pasta with ground turkey, tomatoes, green chiles, cumin, cream cheese and spinach. A perfect family friendly weeknight meal. Make it fast in your electric pressure cooker.
Instant Pot Creamy Turkey Spinach Penne
I got the idea for this recipe by watching this video on Instagram. The video shows the recipe being made on the stove top. I knew that the recipe would be a perfect candidate for the Instant Pot. I was right. I love the way that pasta turns out in the Instant Pot.
The flavors from this pasta are so good! My whole family loved this pasta and we had some leftovers for lunch the next day too. I used penne rigate pasta but you could also use rigatoni pasta or orecchiette pasta. I used ground turkey but you could also use lean ground beef or ground chicken.
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What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Creamy Turkey Spinach Penne I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I love this Instant Pot because it has the yogurt making function which I use almost weekly. It has two pressure settings (high and low), and there are also little slots in the handles so that you can rest the lid there instead of putting it down on your counter-top.
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Instant Pot Creamy Turkey Spinach Penne
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 minutes
- Total Time: 19 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Saucy penne pasta with ground turkey, tomatoes, green chiles, cumin, cream cheese and spinach. Make it fast in the electric pressure cooker.
Ingredients
For the turkey:
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
For the penne:
- 10 ounces uncooked penne rigate
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chiles (rotel)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
For after it has pressure cooked
- 4 ounces cream cheese (half a brick)
- 4 cups spinach (2 big handfuls)
- 1 cup grated monterey jack cheese
Instructions
- Brown the turkey. Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. When it says HOT on the display add the olive oil into the pot. Swirl the oil around. Add in the ground turkey and break it up with a wooden spoon. Add in the onion. Stir. Add in the salt, garlic powder, cumin, oregano and pepper. Brown the meat for about 5 minutes. There will be extra liquid that cooks off of it and that is okay. We will use it to help cook the pasta.
- Pressure cook. Pour in the penne pasta, broth, tomatoes, salt, pepper, cumin and chili powder. Don’t stir. Cover the pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes. Once the time is up perform a quick release by moving the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Finish the dish. Turn the Instant Pot to the saute setting and stir in the cream cheese, spinach and cheese. Stir until the cream cheese is melted and fully incorporated. Turn off the saute setting. Scoop the pasta onto serving dishes and enjoy.
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
You can also make this with lean ground beef or chicken.
Feel free to use whatever pasta you like best. To figure out how long to cook your particular pasta in the instant pot check the back of the pasta box. Divide the number of stove top cooking minutes in 2 and then subtract one minute. For example if the pasta says to cook for 10 minutes you’d divide 10 by 2, which is 5, and then subtract 1, which is 4 minutes in the instant pot.
To make gluten free: Double check your broth to be sure it does not contain gluten. Substitute noodles for GF noodles and decrease cook time by 1 minute.
Recipe inspired by Foodie Crush
- Category: Ground Turkey
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Mexican
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6 of recipe
- Calories: 441
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 1303 mg
- Fat: 21 g
- Carbohydrates: 36 g
- Protein: 24 g
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*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Made this again tonight using hot ground Italian sausage and the Rotel with the hatch chilis, along with one teaspoon of Ancho chili powder. Zippy but wonderful! Used no sodium chicken stock and left the salt out of both parts of the recipe. Believe me, you don’t need it The other seasonings are all you need. Used rotini noodles this time to grab more of the sauce. Super delicious! You are truly the Queen of the IP. Thanks again, Karen.
★★★★★
that version sounds amazing!
Loved this recipe. I tweaked it based on what I had and on our preferences. I used mild Italian sausage and rigatoni, I did regular diced tomatoes instead of with chiles. And I omitted the cumin since I was clearly going in an Italian style direction. Turned out excellent.
★★★★★
Sounds like an awesome version!
What an easy and delicious recipe! And, the presentation on the plates was a bonus.
★★★★★
Thanks for the 5 stars Jayna!
Another winner. I basically didn’t change anything. I used a pasta like oreochiette and chicken Better Than Bouillon instead of broth. I just dumped in the bouillon before adding water. I had regular spinach, tore it up a little, and might add a little more next time. I didn’t have grated Monterey Jack and used about a 1/3 cup each shredded Cheddar, Asiago and Mozzarella. I had a bit of zucchini that needed to be used so I chunked that and tossed it in with the spinach and cheeses. It was a good addition. This reheats really well, too. I’ll make it again, for sure.
★★★★★
I love all those ideas Jeanie! Thanks for the 5 stars!
I’ve made this recipe more than any other one before. It keeps being delicious and so easy. Thanks so much!
★★★★★
I’m so glad you discovered it! I think it is so good too.
This is why you are the Queen of the Instant Pot! I needed to use up some ground turkey so I thought I’d try this. My husband went for 3rds. I was blown away at just how good it is! I didn’t have penne so I used mini farfalle (the bow tie noodles) but did everything else the same. I was a little skeptical at first with the more southwest spices with pasta, but I will never doubt you again, Karen! Winner Winner Ground Turkey Dinner! Will be a regular in the house now, along with so many of your other recipes!
★★★★★
YESSSSS! Thank you Lisa!
Every time I decide my favorite Karen recipe, a new one I try is even better than the last favorite! I needed to use up some shredded chicken, this recipe was perfect! What’s amazing is that your recipes lend themselves so easily to substitutions, but mostly use ingredients already have on hand. Currently on a kick for one serving cooking so I can try more recipes & not fill up freezer with leftovers. 1\3 recipe in 3qt was 2 heaping servings. Will be making again with ground turkey added to my grocery list. Another winnner, thanks Karen!
★★★★★
Awesome to know about cutting the recipe down and it working well! Thank you!
We literally make this every week and have been for over a year! And my 2 year old eats ALL OF IT!! She doesn’t eat anything. I’ve tripled and did 2 minutes as suggested, turned out great. We don’t add the cheddar at the end and sometimes do egg noodles, but everything else we follow!!!
★★★★★
I love that you make it every week! That is awesome! Thanks for the 5 stars Kelsey!
Can this be made in a regular crock pot with a high and low heat setting?
I haven’t tried this one in a slow cooker. I have had mixed results when I’ve made pasta in the slow cooker. If I were you I would try the high setting, you’ll probably have better results.
Hmm ok thanks! Maybe I can do it on the stove abs just cook the pasta separately and then combine everything when it’s cooked
This was such a great dish! My boyfriend wanted 2nds after his 1st bite haha! I made it in my 3 qt and it was a tight squeeze when stirring the cheeses and spinach but no issues! Thanks
★★★★★
Good to know about the 3 quart! Thanks for your nice review.
Soooo tasty! Question: can you freeze leftovers?
★★★★★
Yes I think this would freeze fine!
This recipe is delicious! I followed the recipe exactly, but I used gluten free/grain free Cassava penne. Cooked the same amount of time the recipe called for and it came out perfect! Will be making this again soon!
★★★★★
Glad to know it works with gluten free! Thanks!
Can the full recipe be made in a 3qt Instant Pot? Or does it have to be 6qt?
I bet it would fit but it will be close!
This was AMAZING. I would absolutely order in a restaurant. What really made it stand out to me was the spices.
If you really follow the recipe exactly (highly recommend) there is so much amazing flavor from all the spices and a bit more unique for a pasta dish with the cumin and chili powder. We are already making it again this week 🙂
★★★★★
WOOHOO!!! Thanks Jessica! I appreciate your 5 star review!
This is the best pasta dish I have made in the instant pot. It was flavorful and the pasta didn’t become mushy. It has a little bit of spice to it, but not too much. It’s a perfect balance. I added more spinach only because it wilts down and I had to use my container up.
★★★★★
It’s one of my faves! I’m glad you agree Katie!
Great recipe – I used refried beans in place of cream cheese and it turned out really well.
★★★★★
Cool idea! I wouldn’t have thought of that!
I made this tonight and it was amazing! I omitted the salt in both sections and it was perfect! Thank you so much for this recipe
★★★★★
you’re welcome! glad you liked it!
I had a similar one pot recipe for this but needed one for my new IP. This one matched it perfectly except for the Rotel which made an amazing difference. I made it exactly to your instructions and my husband loved it! We have an RV and things like this are perfect to freeze for easy meals after a day of kayaking. Thank you and I’m loving the Instant Pot more and more as I use it. Especially the “keep warm” feature!
★★★★★
Fun! I want to be kayaking! Where are you at?
This is our FAVORITE recipe! We love things spicy here so we use hot rotel diced tomatoes and add some crushed red pepper and wooo it’s so good!! I’d love to double or even triple the recipe for meal prep because it’s so good reheated, but I’m not sure how long to pressure cook so the pasta is fully done. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you for your awesome instant pot recipes!
★★★★★
So glad you like it! I would reduce the cooking time down to 2 minutes if you double/triple the recipe. The pot will be so full and will take longer to come to pressure so you’ll need less pressure cooking time.
This was such an easy (and delicious!) recipe with ingredients I normally have at home, which definitely makes it a winner in my book. I omitted the chili powder, used tomatoes without green chiles, threw in a little extra (frozen) spinach, used leftover mozzarella cheese, and subbed rigatoni instead. My chicken broth was lower sodium, so the 2 tsp of salt total was not too salty for our tastes.
★★★★★
Sounds like a great dinner!
I stumbled upon this recipe when looking for an Instant Pot meal that included ground turkey. I have made it THREE times in two weeks, my family can’t get enough of it! Thank you!
★★★★★
Wow that is awesome!!! Thanks Molly!
I topped with sliced avocado. Delicious!
Avocado makes everything better!! 😊
Hi! Could you tell me how to make this in a crock pot? Could I still cook the noodles with it? Pre-cook the meat? Thank you!
Hi Katrina, I try to avoid writing pasta recipes for the crockpot because they get such mixed results depending on the slow cooker people use. I don’t have a crockpot version for this recipe! Sorry!
Thank you! Ill just do the stove top. I know I need to get on the instant pot parade!
Great recipe. Didn’t have enough monty Jack cheese. Substituted half with white sharp cheddar. Holy crap! Changed the entire taste! Was incredible!
★★★★★
yum white sharp cheddar sounds like the bomb!
I made the recipe exactly as written. I thought it turned out way too salty.
★★★
Can you use frozen spinach in this recipe? I have all the fresh ingredients, including the spinach. But I somehow managed to accidentally buy copious amounts of frozen spinach on my last grocery order
Sure! That would totally work 🙂
This looks delicious. I am wondering what you would choose to substitute for the diced tomatoes. While I love them, my husband will not eat the chunks of tomatoes. Will a can of tomato sauce work? Thanks!
A winner!
★★★★★
Glad you liked it Deb!
My husband has CHF so am always looking for heart Heath recipes. Hacpve made this numerous times less the salt and amped up the other seasonings. Absolutely delicious. You need to try this recipe!
★★★★★
Thanks Vanessa!
I never comment on recipes, but this was totally delicious! Hit with everyone, and I ate way too much. Ha! I trippled the recipe bc I had 3lbs of ground turkey to use up. It fit in my 8qt. Now I don’t have to cook for 3 days! Thanks!
★★★★★
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it Jen!
This was wonderful! My husband is not a fan of cooked spinach but he loved this dish and said I can make it anytime. It’s a little hard to measure 10 oz of pasta and I think I added a little too much. I am so happy to have found this.
★★★★★
I always use my digital scale to measure the pasta. It is so perfect for that!
This has become a FAVORITE in our house! Everyone loves it. Today I made it with mild ground Italian sausage as a switch up from ground turkey. Yum!! Since my fam doesn’t care for too much spice we omitted the chili powder, but did the Rotel with chiles. Just enough for us.
★★★★★
So glad you liked it! I love your ideas!
I dont have a pressure cooker but made this in a Dutch oven. It was an easy delicious one-dish meal. I didn’t add the Monterey jack because I dont love it. Might add more spinach next time.
★★★★★
Cool! Glad it worked in the dutch oven 🙂
It turned out good. Since I didn’t have fresh spinach, used fresh kale (from my garden), added some mushrooms, and used onion and chive cream cheese. Cut the salt in half. My husband liked it.
★★★★★
mushrooms! Yum!
Can you make this in a regular pot ? I don’t have a pressure cooker 😫 unfortunately but it sounds so good !
★★★★★
You could make it on the stove, I’m sure!
How would you make this recipe on the stove ? I don’t have an instant pot but this recipe sounds so good I definitely want to try it. Already have all the ingredients needed.
★★★★
Brown the turkey with onions and seasonings on the stove. In a separate pot make the pasta according to package directions. Drain the pasta and stir it in with the turkey. Add in the cream cheese and spinach. Stir until creamy.
Hi. I have a question. Instead of cream cheese can you substitute for something else? I have everything but that at moment
You could do a cottage cheese or a cream instead.
Can you use cheddar instead of Monterey?
Sure!
This recipe is so easy and very delicious. I don’t find it to be spicy at all. In fact, we added red pepper flakes and more spinach. I’m excited to have another dish to make with ground turkey.
Thank you.
★★★★★
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it Amy!
Made it again for dinner tonight but doubled the recipe in my 8 qt, 4 mins and QR. Delicious !! My son and his friends love it !! I’m so happy I bought an IP, I started cooking again and actually enjoy it .
★★★★★
HOORAY!
Great dish, as in all pasta dishes that I make in my instant pot, I add a bit more liquid and add 3-5 minutes to the cooking time. The pasta, especially larger noodles are never done in 4 min. We enjoyed it!
Interesting. What size/brand of pressure cooker to you use?
Really good! I think I made it as is, but I had to add more liquid and cook the paste for 2 more minutes. Several pieces were not cooked nearly enough. The family loved it!
★★★★★
Glad you made it work Kathy!
This was a huuuge hit in my house. And so easy to make. It’s a great rainy day, weeknight meal. I doubled the recipe in my 8qt. But used the same amount of cream cheese and extra pepper jack/Monterey. Also added sautéed mushrooms (because we put mushrooms in just about everything.) This will be happening again!
★★★★★
Oh I love the idea of adding mushrooms!
I’ve made this a handful of times, but not recently – do you think I could double this in a 6qt? I just can’t remember if there’d be enough room! Thanks!
Yes you could, I believe. the one thing I would be worried about is it foaming a bit. I would cut the pressure cook time down to 2 minutes and then use a 10 minute npr.
I made this for dinner with out the spicy and still was delicious, definitely a keeper
★★★★★
Glad you liked it!
This was my first instant pot meal and it was a total hit! I followed the recipe as is and it all worked out great. Will definitely be putting this into our meal rotation. So good!
★★★★★
Hooray! I’m sure you’ll love your Instant Pot!
We loved this recipe! I used a whole 14 oz box of Barilla protein pasta, so I added an extra 1/2 cup water. I also cooked it for 5 minutes because I know that works for that kind of pasta. I used 1/2 of an 8 oz tub of spreadable cream cheese. And I used pepper jack cheese because we like things spicy. It still wasn’t particularly spicy, but it was great!
★★★★★
Wow that sounds great! I haven’t tried the protein pasta yet. I will give it a shot 🙂
My family loved it!
★★★★★
This recipe is wonderful. I only had 1/2 C of jack so I added 4 oz. more cream cheese in hopes it would work out. My turkey was dark meat chunks from a leftover roast. Otherwise I followed the recipe as listed. I found I had to pressure cook a bit longer to get the pasta tender, but the end result was delicious
Any suggestions on how to cook this recipe using chicken breasts instead of turkey?
You can cut the chicken breasts into bite size pieces. No need to saute them before hand. They will cook at the same rate as the pasta since they are small pieces.
I made this with gluten free noodles. And it turned out perfect still! Not too spicy and I can’t take much spice at all!
★★★★★
Good to hear it works with gluten free!
I tried this dish again. This time dumped the whole box of pasta 16 oz, the whole brick of creme cheese, the entire bunch of spinach ( didn’t want a bunch of small portions laying around), then added a little more broth and only used 1/2 tsp of powder. It was delicious again. For me just the right amount of spice. Four bites per drink of water.
this is a winner
Good! Thanks for sharing. I love the 4 bites per drink of water!
Would the recipe need to be altered at all if making in a duo-8 quart rather than the 6 quart?
I’m pretty sure you can keep it exactly the same.
My only suggestion: omit the second teaspoon of salt in the pasta part. Maybe contemplate using low sodium broth. I LOVE salt and even I find it a little too much. Otherwise this is GREAT!!!! Next time I’ll reduce the sauce and then add the entire 10 ounce bag of raw spinach instead of the couple handfuls. You CANNOT TASTE THE SPINACH WHICH IS SNEAKY HEALTHY WITCHCRAFT!!!!! Haha but seriously this was so good I can’t wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow! <3
★★★★★
Good ideas! Thanks Michelle 🙂
I gave 4 stars bc I didnt realize that his was a pressure cooker recipe only. Could it be made stove top?
★★★★
Yes, it would be easy to make it on the stove top. Brown the turkey with onions and seasonings on the stove. In a separate pot make the pasta according to package directions. Drain the pasta and stir it in with the turkey. Add in the cream cheese and spinach. Stir until creamy.
Thanks! I don’t have an instant pot so I was going to “wing it”. This really helps
Hi, I was hoping to try this recipe out but had one question- my family is not crazy about spicy meals, do you think if I skipped the cumin and chili pepper all together it would eliminate the kick to this dish’? Thanks in advance!!
Maybe you could just cut the spices in half? I’d hate to eliminate all the flavor!
I used a little smoked paprika instead of chili powder and it was so good!!!!
Yum! I love smoked paprika.
This was easy and quite good! One of the meals where my husband ate it all, then asked, “What was that?” In my household, that is ALWAYS a sign of a winner. I accidentally dumped in the whole box of penne. Upped the broth by a little bit, but left everything else about the same. Still worked.
★★★★★
Nice!!! Love the approval of the family members. It always makes me so happy
This was so good and easy!! It was a little spicy, but you can always lessen the cumin and chili pepper.
★★★★★
I’m glad you liked it and yes a tad spicy but that’s why I like it 🙂
Thanks for the reply. Just realized I used the Mexican Style Ro-tel with lime and cilantro which probably has a bit more kick than the mild.
ken
Oh well that sounds good!
Made this last night. Loved it. Had some spice to it which may bother some people. It registered for me one sip of water per 5 bites.
As a rookie, have a question. In step two after adding the ingredients you say not to stir. Curious as to why?
Ken
Sometimes when tomato products are on the bottom of the pot they cause the burn notice to come up. Glad you liked it! I like how you said it was 1 sip of water per 5 bites 🙂