Instant Pot Turkey Meatball and Ditalini Soup
This hearty Italian soup is loaded with mini turkey meatball, zucchini, vegetables and ditalini pasta. I love to add a Parmesan cheese rind to my soup, my secret for extra flavor but it’s totally optional!
Turkey Meatball and Pasta Soup
My kids love Italian meatball and pasta soup, especially my oldest Karina who was home when I was making this, and loved it so much she packed up the rest to take with her. It’s a meal in one, perfect served with grated cheese on top.
It’s also great for batch cooking, whether your making it ahead for the week or saving the leftovers for lunch the next day.
Meatball Pasta Soup Tips and Variations:
- To make the meatballs without breaking them, cook in a few batches and don’t turn them until they no longer stick.
- You can skip the browning if you wish and plop them directly into the liquid.
- Refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. To reheat, defrost overnight in the refrigerator, then heat on the stove.
- You can swap the pasta for a 15 ounce can of white beans.
- The pasta will continue to expand in the soup, so if you have leftovers you can add more broth or water. If you plan on making this ahead for the week, I suggest under-cooking the pasta a few minutes.
- You can also cook the pasta separate, then add it to the soup when serving if you like your pasta al dente.
Stove Top Directions:
Make this in a large pot, brown the meatballs in batches as directed and simmer the rest with exception of the pasta and zucchini covered on low heat 30 minutes. Add the pasta and zucchini, then cook according to package directions.
How To Make Pasta and Meatball Soup in the Instant Pot:
Instant Pot Turkey Meatball and Ditalini Soup
Ingredients
- For the meatballs:
- 1 pound 93% lean ground turkey
- 1/3 cup seasoned breadcrumbs, Can substitute gluten-free breadcrumbs
- 3 tbsp grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 clove crushed garlic
- 1 tbsp fresh minced parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Soup:
- cooking spray
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 1/2 cup chopped carrot
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1 can, 28 ounces diced San Marzano tomatoes, I used Tuttorosso
- 4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
- 4 to rn basil leaves, plus optional more for garnish
- 2 bay leaves
- 5 ounces ditalini pasta, 1 cup* (wheat or gluten-free)
- 1 cup zucchini, diced small
- Parmesan rind, optional
- Grated parmesan cheese, optional for serving
Instructions
- In a medium bowl combine turkey, breadcrumbs, pecorino, egg, garlic, parsley and salt and gently mix to combine.
- Form into 30 meatballs, about 1 heaping tablespoon each.
- Press saute in the Instant Pot and spray with oil.
- Brown the meatballs in 2 to 3 batches, spraying each time. Set aside on a dish and clean the pot.
- Heat the oil and add the onion, celery, carrots and garlic, cook until soft, about 4 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, Parmesan rind, basil, bay leaves and stir, return the meatballs to the pot.
- Add the chicken broth, cover and cook high pressure 15 minutes.
- Quick release and open the lid, add the pasta and zucchini and cook 4 minute more, quick release so the pasta doesn’t overcook.
- Serve with grated cheese if desired and basil.
Nutrition
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Love it! Definitely add the parmesan rind (game changer).
Tips:
Added salt and red pepper flakes to broth
If you want left overs, keep the pasta on the side
I’ve made this with pork instead of Turkey and tortelloni instead of ditalini and both versions turned out perfect. Solid Italian soup base. I can see this easily converted into minestrone soup for a vegetarian version.
I had some ground turkey in the freezer and remembered this recipe! Followed instructions for the Instant Pot with the exception of 1% ground turkey, plain ol’ diced tomatoes vs. San Marzano, and panko instead of bread crumbs. Added a little seasoning to the meatballs since I didn’t use seasoned bread crumbs. Adding the parm rind really deepens the flavor.
Very filling and low on WW points if you are on that program!
So delicious! My meatballs always fall apart in the IP, so I baked them for about 5 minutes to brown them. I subbed crushed for diced tomatoes and spinach for zucchini based on what I already had. I also added a sprig of rosemary.My son had 3rds! Thanks for the recipe.
I made this tonight and it’s very, very good. I made it in my regular old pressure cooker.
Delicious recipe. Toddler approved!
Hmm I’m new to onstant pot, followed exactly. My noodles were undercooked. So I let them sit in the soup with everything turned off, and covered…. Anyone else have this problem??
Made this tonight but took the lazy way out and just browned the ground turkey with a bunch of Italian seasoning. I used a regular pot too lol. It needed more liquid making it this way so I doubled the broth. I spiced it up a bit too but what a yummy recipe!
Is the pasta pre cooked ? It looks cooked in the video but does not say in the recipe.
Thank you!
Can I use ground beef instead of the ground turkey for the meatballs? Will cooking time change?
Awesome recipe. Lots of flavour. Will definately make again. I browned the meatballs on the stovetop and cooked them through with some chicken broth. I made the soup a couple of days later. They were tender and perfect.
Wow this soup is absolutely delicious and savory heaven! I made it in my Dutch oven, cooked the pasta separately so I can add in for leftovers. Another winning recipe Gina!
In the ingredients what is meant bye “rn” for basil?
4 to rn basil leaves, plus optional more for garnish
Typo.
4 torn basil leaves
Needs a lot of salt and some red pepper flakes – a little on the bland side otherwise.
Tasty! I like the addition of zucchini. I ended up browning my meatballs on a frying pan to reduce the amount of time cooking (two batches of meatballs + onions to fry is a lot of steps compared to other recipes)
So good. Meatballs were tender and the soup was well seasoned
Still a great recipe. I did not sauté the meatballs for fear that most of the meat would stick to the bottom of the instant pot. I just added them raw after making the broth, cooked for 15 minutes and THEN added the zucchini and pasta. It. is delicious and there was only one bowl left over for lunch the next day.
Everyone gives it an A.
Delicious
This was a big hit with my family! It was super easy to add meatless meatballs for my vegetarian daughter too. We can’t wait to eat this again!
Can you give directions for a crockpot, no InstaPot
I would say 8 hrs low.
This soup is great – if you use ground turkey breast you can reduce the ww points. Also, I would put in less pasta because of how much it expands. We also found we had to add more broth when serving as leftovers. But overall a hearty soup that made a great dinner on a cold night!
Hi Do you have instructions for this if you don’t have an Insta pot. Either on the stove or also do you have a crockpot
Yes it is listed in the post. “STOVE TOP DIRECTIONS:
Make this in a large pot, brown the meatballs in batches as directed and simmer the rest with exception of the pasta and zucchini covered on low heat 30 minutes. Add the pasta and zucchini, then cook according to package directions.”
We loved this soup. There’s a lot going on with zucchini and pasta adding nice texture. Did this stove top and substituted 28oz crushed tomatoes bc our family prefers no tomato chunks. Used Barilla Rotini protein + noodles and zucchini became tender quick maybe only needed half the time of the pasta. We didn’t have a ton of leftovers so I’m not sure how it would keep with the zucchini.