Hearty, flavorful, and SUPER easy to make! Instant Pot Chili is the ultimate comfort food for a cold winter day or while watching the game!
Chili is such an amazing dish. It’s packed with protein, tastes incredible, and can be topped with all kinds of yummy toppings. Chili is really the best way to warm up on a cold day.
This Instant Pot Chili recipe is the easiest, fastest way to get that mouth-watering flavor into your mouth! Whether I’m making this delicious traditional chili with beans and beef, or another family favorite, White Chicken Chili, I always reach for my instant pot because it makes chili perfectly!
INSTANT POT CHILI
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I always think of January and February as my “hibernation” months – the holidays are over, but it’s still freezing outside. I want to snuggle up, never leave the house, and eat only my favorite comfort foods. Typically when this time of winter rolls around, I’ve totally spent myself creatively in the kitchen. I can’t even attempt to try out a new recipe or experiment with ingredients.
That’s why I always stick to tried and true comfort food recipes during these frigid, holiday-less months! Believe me when I say my crock pot and instant pot are the true champions of the winter months. They’re used for all of my favorite comfort food recipes!
The one recipe that fits everyone‘s taste palate (yes, even my picky teenagers!), is this incredible instant pot chili. It’s warm, delicious, chocked full of meat and beans, and has just the perfect amount of kick to it. My husband loves that it’ll clear out his sinuses from those winter sniffles. (And you can totally adjust the heat to your own liking!!)
Instant Pot Chili Ingredients
Ground beef – I love the hearty texture and flavor that ground beef gives to a chili. I typically use ground chuck that is 80% meat and 20% fat. This blend of ground beef gives a juicy and tender flavor to this instant pot chili recipe.
You can absolutely take the fat content down to a 90/10 mixture of lean ground beef, though. Or even use ground turkey!
Beans – the backbone to any good chili is a mix of good chili beans! This chili instant pot recipe calls for kidney beans and pinto beans. They’re full of fiber, protein, and antioxidants, and other things that are simply excellent for you. You can absolutely substitute in some other types of beans that you have on hand if you prefer!
Seasonings – there’s no “secret ingredient” to this delicious, easy instant pot chili recipe. Just tried and true seasonings that mix perfectly and simmer together with your ingredients to create the most delicious chili you’ve ever tasted! You’ll need a combination of chili powder, cumin, oregano, paprika, garlic powder, and brown sugar.
How to Make Instant Pot Chili
A hearty, flavorful chili in under 45 minutes? It’s unheard of!!! But, I promise you, it’s totally do-able with this incredible instant pot chili recipe. It’s as simple as can be and you’re sure to add it to your list of favorite recipes!
- Start by pressing the saute button to turn on your Instant pot. Add in the oil and allow it to heat up until hot.
- Next, add your ground beef and cook for 5 minutes until just brown. Break it up as it cooks to crumble it well. (The beef will continue to cook, so it doesn’t need to be fully browned at this point.)
- Add in your onion and garlic and heat for 2 more minutes until the onion is translucent and cooked.
- Next, it’s time to add in your seasonings! Mix in the chili powder, cumin, oregano, paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and brown sugar. Cook for another 2 minutes until fragrant and well mixed.
- Now add the beef broth, and scrape up any brown bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pot. (This is where the true, deep flavor comes from.) Turn off the saute by pressing cancel.
- Once your chili is seasoned, add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, kidney beans, and pinto beans. **VERY IMPORTANT** DO NOT stir the beans into the other ingredients. This will prevent them from burning on the bottom. Just let them sit on top of the instant pot, they’ll get cooked and flavored, believe me!
- Now, close the lid and adjust the steam release valve to the sealing position. Press the bean/chili button and set the time for 20 mins. The pot will take some time to pressurize, then it will begin cooking and the time will count down.
- Once the cooking time has ended, allow the pot to naturally release for 10 minutes. Then quick release the rest of the pressure by turning the release valve to the venting position. Be careful not to put your hand near the hot steam! Once the steam is done venting and the red button is all the way down, open the lid.
- Give the chili a stir with a spoon and serve, garnishing with shredded cheese, green onions, and sour cream if desired.
Here are some tips and tricks that I’ve learned as I’ve made this chili over and over and over again…
Instant pot chili is not overly spicy. If you’re someone who likes a spicy chili, just use dark chili powder and add 1/2 tablespoon to 1 tablespoon to give it a good kick!
Or you could even add some hot sauce after the chili is done if your whole family isn’t into seriosu spice.
If you like thick chili, allow the chili to “rest” after you open the lid for 10-15 minutes. This gives it a chance to cool down and thicken up a bit.
How Long to Cook Chili in an Instant Pot
Most instant pots have a “Chili/Beans” setting which takes out all the guesswork for you when making this easy instant pot chili recipe. However, if yours doesn’t have that setting, don’t worry! I’ve made it on the manual setting too.
All you need to do is set your instant pot to “manual” (AKA high pressure) and cook for 20 minutes. Then you’ll be on your way to serving up a delicious chili!!
What to Serve with Instant Pot Chili
In my mind, no chili is complete without a side of warm bread. You can eat biscuits, cornbread, sourdough, really the possibilities are endless and delicious. Here are a few of my personal favorite bread recipes to serve up with instant pot chili!
If I feel like having some delicious dinner rolls, I’ll mix up a batch of my MawMaw’s famous dinner rolls. This is a recipe that has been passed down for generations, they are perfection in a roll!
Cornbread is a very predictable side to go along with chili (and for good reason, it’s amazing). But, sometimes I feel like getting fancy with my cornbread recipes. Then I make some Honey Jalapeno Cornbread Drop Biscuits or some crispy Hush Puppies!
Other Instant Pot Chili Recipes
Once you’ve tried out this delicious instant pot chili recipe, you have to try some of these other super easy instant pot chili recipes!! You won’t be disappointed.
- Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili – this delicious chili recipe is filled with healthy veggies and bursting with so much flavor! You won’t even notice that it doesn’t have meat!
- Instant Pot Chicken Chili – grab some rotisserie chicken, cannellini beans, and cream cheese and you’ve got yourself the makings of a delicious chili!
Looking for some more comfort food to cure your winter blues?
- Slow Cooker Taco Chili
- Cheesy Instant Pot Chicken Pasta
- Instant Pot Tortellini Soup with Italian Sausage
- Tex-Mex Instant Pot Sloppy Joes
- Easy Three Bean Turkey Chili
- more MAIN DISH recipes…
Tools used to make this Instant Pot Chili recipe
Instant Pot: this thing was seriously one of the best inventions ever. I love my instant pot and can barely remember life without it!
Chili Bowls: how cute are these adorable crocks? I love serving chili and soup in these bowls.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1.5 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 small yellow onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 cup beef broth
- 28 ounces diced tomatoes
- 15 ounces tomato sauce
- 14.5 ounces kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 14.5 ounces pinto beans drained and rinsed
Toppings
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Sliced green onions
- Sour cream
Instructions
- Press the sauté button to turn on your Instant Pot. Add oil and allow it to heat up until hot. Add ground beef and cook for 5 minutes until just brown, breaking it really well up as it cooks.
- Add onion and garlic and heat for 2 more minutes until onion is translucent and cooked.
- Add chili powder, cumin, oregano, paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and brown sugar and stir. Cook for another 2 minutes until fragrant.
- Add beef broth, and scrape up any brown bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pot. Turn off the sauté setting by pressing cancel.
- Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, kidney beans, and pinto beans. DO NOT stir the beans into the other ingredients. This will prevent them from burning on the bottom of the vessel.
- Close the lid and adjust the steam release valve to sealing position. Press the bean/chili button (or manual buttom) and set the time for 20 mins. The pot will take some time to pressurize, then it will begin cooking and the time will count down.
- Once the cooking time has ended, allow the pot to naturally release for 10 minutes. Then quick release the rest of the pressure, be careful not to put your hand near the hot steam. Once the steam is done venting and the red button is all the way down, open the lid.
- Stir the chili with a spoon and serve warm. Garnish with shredded cheese, green onions, and sour cream if desired.
Notes
- This chili is not overly spicy, I used a mild spice chili powder and it was perfectly mild. To add more spice you may use dark chili powder and add 1/2 tablespoons- 1 tablespoon more to give it a good kick!
- If you like a thick chili, allow the chili to “rest” after you open the lid for 10-15 minutes. This gives it a chance to cool down and thicken up a bit.
- Nutritional information does not include toppings.
Delo says
Hi Aubrey! I was reading the instructions for this recipe and in #5 of the instructions, it says to add tomatoes, tomato sauce, and beans……but in the ingredient list, there is no tomato sauce listed. How much tomato sauce does it call for?
Thank you
Real Housemoms JK says
Hello Delo! It is one 15 ounce can of tomato sauce. Thanks for letting me know and I will update the recipe card!