Instant Pot Tortellini Meatball Soup–a dump and go FAST soup recipe (only 1 minute under pressure!). Delicious and comforting and loved by both kids and adults.
Note: the SLOW COOKER instructions are listed in the recipe card below
Instant Pot Tortellini Meatball Soup
Usually soups require a bunch of chopping and dicing. Not this one! You don’t even have to brown meat or saute onions. All you do is throw the ingredients into the Instant Pot and click start. It’s as easy and can be. Because everything is already cooked the soup only takes a 1 minute pressure cook time.
My family all loved this soup. The broth was delicious and every bite of tortellini and meatball was satisfying. We ate most of it the first day but there was a little bit leftover and it tasted almost better the next day. Soup does tend to do that, doesn’t it? The only issue you might have with the leftovers is the tortellini bloating a bit and sucking up all the broth.
- By heating up the broth using the saute setting the pot comes to pressure quickly and doesn’t overcook the fussy tortellini. Make sure to bring the broth to boiling before covering and bringing the pot to pressure. If you don’t do this the tortellini will overcook.
- Meatballs: look for frozen meatballs in the freezer section of the grocery store. I like to buy the Italian-style meatballs for the flavoring. You can also brown a pound of Italian sausage in the place of the meatballs.
- Tortellini: you can find the tortellini next to the frozen breads (like garlic bread) in the freezer section of the grocery store. They are next to the frozen raviolis as well. If you’d like to use dry tortellini I would pressure cook for 3 minutes instead of 1 minute. I haven’t tried this recipe with fresh tortellini and am not sure if the fresh would hold up well under pressure.
- Mixed veggies: feel free to add in whatever veggies you like best. The kind I bought were carrots and peas.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. You can also make this in the 8 quart pot with no changes. For the 3 quart pot, halve all the ingredients and keep the same cooking time.
If you love tortellini you’ll love these recipes…
Instant Pot Chicken Tortellini Soup–brothy chicken soup with tortellini and a splash of lemon juice.
Instant Pot Sausage Tortellini Soup–a family favorite soup with loads of flavor from sausage, cheese tortellini and parmesan.
Instant Pot Creamy Hamburger Tortellini Soup–a creamy soup with ground beef, spinach, carrots and cheesy tortellini.
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Instant Pot Tortellini Meatball Soup
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 minute (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 16 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
Description
A dump and go FAST soup recipe (only 1 minute under pressure!). Delicious and comforting and loved by both kids and adults.
Ingredients
- 6 cups beef broth (or 6 cups water + 2 Tbsp better than bouillon beef base)
- 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp oregano
- 1/4 tsp basil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp thyme
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 pound frozen Italian meatballs
- 10 ounces frozen tortellini
- 1 cup frozen mixed veggies
- Parmesan cheese for garnish
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. Add in the beef broth and crushed tomatoes. While the pot is heating up add in the garlic powder, oregano, basil, salt, thyme, pepper and bay leaf.
- At this point the liquid should be boiling. Add in the meatballs, tortellini and mixed veggies. Turn off the Instant Pot.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the SOUP button to 1 minute. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then perform a controlled release (move the valve back and forth between sealing and venting every 20 seconds or so…this will prevent foam or hot soup from spewing out). Remove the lid.
- Stir, season to taste and serve with parmesan cheese.
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Add beef broth, crushed tomatoes, garlic powder, oregano, basil, salt, thyme, pepper, bay leaf meatballs and mixed veggies into the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on high for 2 hours. Pour in the tortellini and cook on high for another hour.
- Stir, season to taste and serve with parmesan cheese.
- Category: Soup
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
*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.
I ended up making this on top of the stove because I have a 3 qt pot and didn’t want to halve the recipe. I dumped the ingredients into a soup pot and let it simmer on the stove while I straightened up the kitchen. I used homemade meatballs I had in the freezer, used half beef broth and half vegetable broth, I didn’t use a bay leaf (I was out), and had to use 1 can of crushed tomatoes w/ green chilies (a little spicy but, very good). It was very good and I’ll definitely make this again.
★★★★★
Sounds like a great version!
I really hope you can help me save this dish! I’ve never used crushed tomatoes before so I didn’t know exactly what to expect, but I at least expected SOME tomato pieces. When I opened the cans (yes, I doubled the recipe, ugh) it looked verrry saucy. And that’s exactly what it was. Basically just sauce. The tomato flavor was overpowering to me, it was saucy more than soup, and now I have a ton left over because none of us could get past the sauce consistency and flavor. What can I do tomorrow to fix it so I don’t have to toss it??? Add more beef broth?? I can use stove, slow cooker or IP again if that helps.
I ended up dumping half the tomato liquid and the tortellini the next day, added new tortellini and added more beef broth, and simmered it on the stove. At the end I stirred in a block of cream cheese. And in researching crushed tomatoes, apparently different brands have different consistencies, so I won’t buy the brand I bought again.
I would add more beef broth so it’s not so tomato-y.
What size pot is this for? I have the 3 quart. Should I halve the amounts?
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. You can also make this in the 8 quart pot with no changes. For the 3 quart pot, halve all the ingredients and keep the same cooking time.
Gotcha. Can I leave this on Warm for a few hours? I use my IP at work to meal prep my lunches and usually throw my ingredients in the pot on my break, then let them pressure cook for 12 minutes and then it goes on Keep Warm til 2 hours later on lunch. I’m not picky about texture, if it’s a little soggy I don’t care, as long as it still tastes good.
Oh yes that would be fine
Karen, I just have to say how much I love your recipes!! I have made about a dozen of them so far, and have not been disappointed with a single one! My husband and I are in our mid 50’s and empty nesters. Needless to say, my dinner imagination was running kind of low. You have brought enjoyment back to home cooking! I made this soup tonight, however, I kind of combined it with your Tomato Basil Parmesan Tortellini Soup. I followed this recipe, but I finished it with the two cups half and half and mixed in one cup of parmesan cheese. It turned out fantastic!
★★★★★
Mmmmmm!! I love that idea so much 🙂