Instant Pot Turkey Tenderloin

Instant Pot turkey tenderloin with gravy comes out moist and delicious with a thick sauce. If you don’t want to make an entire pressure cooker turkey, this is the answer. Shred and add pasta for a casserole if you want a complete one pot meal with it too.

Whether it’s Thanksgiving, Christmas, or you just want to make a turkey tenderloin throughout the year, it’s great. Tender and fork tender, here are some easy Instant Pot recipe tips to follow.

If you only have a few people in your family, it might be just what you want to cook for the holidays. Now that my oldest daughter is off to college I have had to learn how to cook for less. I mean we love leftovers but not a weeks worth so here we go… This is a great alternative to a whole Instant Pot turkey recently.

Yes you can also make a smaller Instant Pot turkey breast but if you want to skip all the bones this is what you need to buy. If it is frozen still you can still save dinner y’all. If you have never tried this you will be surprised to know that the timing doesn’t change, seriously. Biggest thing is it needs to fit and be the size listed below.

Yes, you can find this in the meat department of your local grocery store too. If you’ve never looked it’s there, if not ask your butcher if he can order a few in for you. They freeze well too so buy a couple! If you only have a Crockpot Express, that works. Using your Ninja Foodi you will attach the lid that is not attached for this one and use pressure cooker button.

Ingredient Notes

You want a fresh or defrosted turkey tenderloins ideally but we will speak to it in it’s frozen form below as well. 😉 I like to add some sliced onions in there as well for flavor and texture but that is optional.

You only need a bit of liquid when cooking this turkey breast tenderloin because it will emit some broth when it cooks too. If you want to slice it once it’s done and serve it that way you can, but it will likely fall apart once the turkey is cooked.

We are going to use a dry gravy mix packet to combine with the juices so you get a thick sauce to cook it in and serve with it.

As far as seasonings, this was kept light. Like I said, add what you like but if you are making gravy at the end remember that there will be a punch of flavor in that. If you love minced garlic in everything, add some of that on top as well. Use the flavors you love. Then we’re going to shred our meat and add pasta to it too so you’ll need some shells or penne too for that.

How Long to Cook Turkey Tenderloin in Instant Pot

All you do is place tenderloins into the Instant Pot. Add in onions, paprika, salt, and pepper. Pour in 1 c. broth and cook on high for 30 minutes. Now with meats under high pressure you want to naturally release the steam to keep it as tender and moist as possible so account for that too but it’s a super quick meal.

How Long to Cook Frozen Turkey Tenderloin in Instant Pot

Similar to when we have made Instant Pot Frozen Turkey Breast there really isn’t a change in cook time if your meat is right out of the freezer or fresh. Yes, you heard that right. Now there are variations if yours is rather large vs. the size listed below you would want to add a few minutes but in general you will be good to go.

How to Make the Gravy

Now there will be drippings from the meat at the bottom when done so all you need to do is remove the meat and whisk in the dry gravy packet with a bit more broth or water to make pressure cooker gravy in the pot to serve together.

Can you add noodles?

If you want to make into a casserole style dish with pasta, slice and then dice meat into smaller pieces after resting. Add meat back into the pot when gravy is done and stir to coat. Meanwhile cook pasta separately as directed on the package in boiling water with a touch of olive oil so noodles don’t stick. Add into pot with diced turkey and gravy. Stir together and serve.

I am not picky about what type of small noodles I use, whatever is in my cupboard gets used. My preference is to drain when they are still a bit al dente. They will continue to soften in the thick sauce so then they’re great. It makes a great Instant Pot casserole I tell you. You could even add some canned corn and put the lid on to warm it all together.

What temperature should turkey tenderloin be?

The internal meat temperature should reach 165 degrees F to be safe to consume. Use a meat thermometer, remove from heat source, and stick it into the thickest part.

Really the possibilities if you go this far are endless. If you have leftover turkey you can skip the first step entirely and just dice what you have. Make the gravy and throw in the pasta.

How to Serve Turkey Tenderloin and Gravy

Typically we will serve over Instant Pot mashed potatoes or with our popular Jiffy cream corn casserole recipe. There is no reason why you shouldn’t make this year round. Turkey should be made year round if you ask us because it is inexpensive, high in protein, healthy and so delicious.

How to reheat turkey tenderloin

Wrap what needs to be heated in tinfoil. Put it into a preheated 275 degree F oven. Bake until it is 130 F inside or warmer if you prefer. Warm leftover gravy or broth and pour over it to make it nice and moist again.

What to make with leftover turkey meat

After the holidays, you can add some into your turkey neck gravy to beef it up sortaspeak. Kinda’ like a chowder it is warm delicious comfort food on a spoon.

But there’s more….. If you have even more you need to use up and love batch cooking, make a few leftover turkey pot pies. Eat one now and freeze the rest so you have a few more meals ready to bake a serve later.