This adaptable recipe can be made with your choice of ground meat ( beef, turkey or chicken) or vegan soy crumbles and dry pinto beans or black beans. A great way to use up all your pantry ingredients! Vegan and Gluten-Free adaptable! Serve it up with Zucchini Cornbread!
Here’s a hearty flavorful recipe for Chili that can be made in your Instant Pot pressure cooker using dry beans from and crushed tomatoes from your pantry. The best part? This recipe is very adaptable.
Make it with organic, lean ground beef or turkey or chicken, or keep it vegan by adding textured soy protein or “soy crumbles”. A quick and hearty chili with bold rich flavor! This recipe calls for dry pinto beans but black beans, and red beans will both work!
I love this hearty chili served up with this Zucchini Cornbread! So delicious!
Homemade Instant Pot Chili | 30-sec video
What is the chili setting on instant pot?
The default “chili setting” on an instant pot is set at 30 minutes at high pressure – the reccommended time- which does make a nice batch of chili. You can increase the time, or lower the time, depending on the bean type and whether the beans have been pre-soaked.
Pre-soaking the Pinto Beans:
I find that pre-soaking the pinto beans makes the beans cook more evenly and renders them more easily digestible. Pinto beans are a little larger than black beans, so they tend to cook a little unevenly if unsoaked. I don’t always presoak smaller beans like black beans, but I prefer to with larger pinto beans, and especially recommend this if your beans are older. Here we do a faux “presoak” with the Instant pot.
How do you keep the chili from burning in an instant pot?
- Make sure the underside of the pot and the heating element are clean and free from any debris.
- Always make sure the steam valve is closed to prevent too much liquid from evaporating.
- After sauteeing, always deglaze the pot, scraping up any browned bits.
- Always make sure there is at least one cup of liquid.
TIP: Giving the beans a quick 7-minute pressure cook, replaces the soaking time here and during this first phase, it is the perfect amount of time to prep the rest of the ingredients, allowing the recipe to go quite quickly!
TIP #2: To thicken the chili sometimes I’ll add a couple of tablespoons of Masa Harina which also adds delicious flavor!
Top the flavorful chili with avocado or sour cream, fresh cilantro, jalapeño and hot sauce if you like extra heat!
A bold and flavorful Instant Pot Chili using dry beans, that is fully customizable – use lean ground beef, chicken, turkey or try soy crumbles for a completely vegan version! They are all good!
Other Posts you might like!
- Zucchini Cornbread!
- Globally-Inspired Instant Pot Recipes from around the world!
- Clean- out-you- fridge Vegan Chili
Homemade Instant Pot Chili
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 45
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8
- Category: Instant pot, beef, vegan, vegetarian, healthy, turkey, Beans
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Description
Flavorful Instant Pot Chili made with Dry Beans that can be made with ground beef, or turkey or vegan TVP ( Soy crumbles). Vegan and GF adaptable!
Ingredients
- 2 cups dry pinto beans (or sub red beans or black beans) SEE NOTES.
- 1–2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 pound ground organic beef, chicken, turkey or vegan TVP (rehydrated Textured Vegan Protein or “Soy crumbles”) or soy chorizo!
- 4 cloves garlic (or 1 tablespoon granulated garlic)
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoons chili powder, more to taste
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
- 1 14-ounce can diced or crushed tomatoes with juices ( fire-roasted are nice here)
- 1–3 tablespoons fresh jalapeño, finely chopped (optional, adds a kick of heat)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 ½ cups beef, chicken or veggie broth
- 1 cup dark beer (or sub more broth)
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (optional) or soy sauce
- 1 –2 teaspoons dark cocoa powder, (optional, adds delicious depth)
- 1–2 teaspoons smoked paprika (optional, adds smoky flavor) or ½ teaspoon chipotle powder
- optional additions: frozen corn (fire-roasted is nice) or diced red bell pepper
- Garnishes: grated cheese, sour cream, cilantro, avocado, scallions
Instructions
- Place dry unsoaked beans in the Instant pot, and add water, one inch above the level of the beans. Pressure cook on high for 10 minutes. (See notes). Manually release. Drain and set aside.
- While the beans are pressure cooking prep your onions and garlic, open any cans and gather all the spices.
- Turn Instant Pot to Saute function and heat the oil. Add the onion and saute 2-3 minutes, until fragrant. Add garlic and the ground meat or soy crumbles. Saute 3-4 more minutes, while continuously stirring and breaking up the meat. I find a metal spatula comes in handy for this. Add the salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and saute one minute, cooking the spices a bit. Add the diced tomatoes and juices, tomato paste, broth, beer, Worcestershire, cocoa powder, smoked paprika or chipotle, optional jalapeño. Give a good stir, then add the pressure cooked beans (drained) or pre-soaked beans.
- Set Instant Pot to high pressure for 22 minutes. Naturally release for 15 minutes.
- If you like a thicker chili, stir in a little masa harina or masa corn flour, sprinkling it in a tablespoon at a time. This also adds delicious “corn” flavor. You can also stir in frozen corn and set to “saute” function until heated through.
- Taste, adjust spice level and salt. If you want more “kick” add it!
- Serve in bowls and garnish with any or all of the following: sour cream, grated cheese, avocado, sliced jalapeño, cilantro, scallions, corn chips.
Notes
Pre-Soaking: If your beans are very old (like older than a year) increase the Pre-Pressure Cooking Time to at least 15 minutes. Older beans and bigger beans take longer to cook. Or soak in cold water for 8-12 hours until doubled in size, then drain.
You can skip pressure cooking the beans in the beginning if you soak them in cold water for 8-12 hours. (Pre-soaking or pre-pressure cooking the beans cuts the cooking time in half.)
*FYI, if you do not pre-soak or pre-cook the pinto beans, they would take roughly 45-50 minutes of pressure cooking time, with some uneven cooking. That being said, yes, you can absolutely do it this way, just allow for the full, natural, long release.
I used a 6 Quart Instant Pot
Keywords: Instant Pot Chili, Instant pot chili dry beans, Instant pot chili vegan, Instant pot chili recipes, instant pot chili beans, instant pot chili healthy, instant pot chili turkey, instant pot chili vegetarian
What can I use in place of Mexican oregano?
Regular oregano or thyme.
This was really quite good. I added two tbsp of canned chipotles instead of powder and fish sauce instead of Worcester sauce . Instead of beer, I just used more chicken broth. With the TVP it has great texture and a creamy mouthfeel. Next time we will try it with ground turkey and serranos instead of jalapeños. It’s just a great recipe that tastes even better the next day.
★★★★★
Thanks so much, I’m so glad you liked it!
Hi I made this recipe a couple weeks ago and it is by far the best chili recipe I’ve tried so far since starting a whole food plant based diet! The only change I’m making is soaking the beans overnight first as they didn’t cook evenly. Would this change the amount of liquid used?
★★★★★
No, just drain and skip pre-cooking the beans.
Will a double recipe fit in a 6qt instant pot? Thanks
Hi Madison- I’m so sorry I dont know the answer to this! Haven’t tried doubling. Has anyone else?
Absolutely delicious! Me and my mom couldn’t stop sticking our spoons back in the pot lol. Happy to see vegan options too, I went with the TVP and it turned out great. Definitely going to repeat this one.
★★★★★
Great to hear and glad you both enjoyed!
My picky chili eater daughter loved it! Adding the coco is brilliant! I upped all the seasonings because we like a ton of flavor. Love this recipe and will definitely use it again.
★★★★★
Thanks Julia!
The recipe is fine. Not particularly flavorful. It tastes good but definitely could be a lot more flavorful.
I don’t think cooking in the Instant pot is a good idea to get the most flavor.
I think the recipe is missing fat. Maybe some butter or duck fat or or lard.
I was expecting a lot more of a kick too.
★★★
Sorry, it didn’t do it for you. You can always add more “kick” to taste.
Wow! Quick, delicious chili!! My new go to. I didn’t use tomato paste, or beer (didn’t have any), but it was so so good. Thanks for sharing a delicious Instant Pot recipe
★★★★★
Awesome Sherlyn!
Delicious and so flexible! I used a bottle of Imperial stout that we probably weren’t going to drink. I made it vegetarian with small red beans Quorn meatless pieces. Honestly, it didn’t need the Quorn pieces. I didn’t have cocoa, but I did have bittersweet chocolate so used some of that. Between the dark beer, chocolate, and smoked paprika this chili had so much flavor! I will make it again.
★★★★★
Awesome, great to hear Rachel! 🙌
So easy and SO DELISH! Have already made it several times during Pandemic. I did use pinto &black beans instead of meat. So super easy!
So good, and so easy. I doubled the beans in lieu of meat (thanks to a previous poster for the tip), and I used more broth because I didn’t have any beer. I did add masa harina to thicken it, as suggested, and it tasted great!
★★★★★
Hi,
I didn’t add any meat and instead doubled the amount of beans and added more vegetables. I also didn’t have beer do I used more broth. Came out great. I persisted my beans.
★★★★★
Thanks so much Katrina, love that you did it vegan, great to hear! 🙌
I first tasted this chili at my brother’s house when visiting him. It was the first thing that he made in his Instant Pot. It was so good, that I was compelled to buy an IP when I got home. I have since made it several times and love your recipe. I need a large amount of chili to donate for a lunch at our local Ronald McDonald House and wondered if anyone has doubled this recipe in an 8 qt IP. I would be presoaking the beans for 12 hours. I know I need to stay below the ‘maximum amount line’ on the pot but is there any rule of thumb about that many beans in the IP that I need to be aware of?
★★★★★
Great question- and I’m not sure. I have a 6-quart, not an 8-quart. Does anyone else have the answer to this?
I load mine up to the line and follow the same ratios and times in an 8Qt with no issue.
Thanks!!!
I tried a double batch in my 8 qt this morning and it worked just fine. Thanks for responding to my question. Normally I am not too concerned about doubling a recipe in my 8 qt but I have read about some disasters with beans and wanted to be sure. I think most of those may have been people who did a quick release instead of waiting and doing a 15 min. natural release as the recipe states.
★★★★★
Great to hear, thanks for the update!!!
The problems you may have seen posted are perhaps due to people really pushing it and filling to the very max of the line or even a bit higher. They probably did not account for the fact that dry beans always naturally foam when cooked. Toss in the beer and I can see some people perhaps having a “disaster” If the foam inundates the space between the removable aluminum plate and the lid of the cooker and also gets into the pressure valve it can be a bit messy. Cooking the beans first on their own, as suggested by Sylvia will mostly mitigate this issue so it will never occur.
★★★★★
Thanks so much- really helpful!
I made the chili today it easy and delicious. I will be making this chili often. Thank you for sharing your recipe
★★★★★
Thanks so much Malena- glad you liked it!
So comforting and delicious! Definitely making again. My adaptations: I quick-soaked dry kidney, black, and pinto beans (put beans in saucepot, cover them with 3 inches of water, allow to boil for 1 minute, then turn off heat and let sit for an hour). Instead of standard chili powder and fresh jalapenos, I used New Mexico red chili powder and mild nacho jalapenos. I used ground beef and all chicken broth (no beer). I did not have paprika, chipotle powder, or cocoa, but added Worcestershire sauce, frozen corn, and 1 tsp. cacao powder. We garnished with plain skyr, cheddar, and saltines, but it was good on its own, too. The two of us finished this off in less than 2 days, so I think a double batch is in order… Thanks for sharing this recipe!
★★★★★
Wow! Thanks Elle!
I made this recipe! Still new to Instant Pot cooking, I tossed ALL INGREDIENTS in at once together – including dried red beans – but I forgot the tomatoes, Chili setting for 15 minutes including pressure release time. Beans were still half done. No problem. I added a large can of chopped stewed tomatoes + small can of tomato paste and set for Chili for 10 minutes, and voila’! All good and tender – and delicious!
Thanks for the great chili recipe! I made this with some modifications given limited availability of ingredients (#quarantinelife):
– Used supermarket private label (read = not fancy) dried pinto beans that were purchased within the last 2 months (washed, picked through, but not soaked). Unsurprisingly, they weren’t done in 12 minutes under IP manual high pressure so I added another 3 minutes under high pressure. The beans were mostly cooked but still very al dente after 15 minutes total. Knowing that they were going to be cooked for another 22+ minutes with the rest of the chili ingredients, I didn’t want them to be mushy or blown out with further cooking. The bean texture in the finished chili was perfect!
– Used ground turkey (85/15) for protein. Turkey is pretty bland so I highly recommend going with all of the optional seasonings, including Worcestershire sauce – if needed, Annie’s has a decent vegan version.
– Subbed 1/4 of 85% cacao chocolate bar in place of cocoa powder (none to be had in the house!)
– Subbed 1 chipotle pepper finely diced with 1 tsp of liquid instead of chipotle powder and smoked paprika (didn’t have either). Those who like it spicy could probably get away with 2-3 peppers and more chipotle liquid!
– Subbed extra chicken broth in place of beer (didn’t have enough to sacrifice for cooking!)
★★★★★
Thanks for your adaptions. Loved that you used Turkey!
Fabulous chili! Thank you!
★★★★★
This was amazing! Did it with Soy Crumbles and soaked red beans and ate it with brown rice. Toppings where cashew yoghurt, an avocado and some green onions. Incredible!
Perfect! Thanks!
I loved this recipe I’ve sent it to my friends. It was the best chili I’ve ever made.
THanks Julie!
I made this and had to add 5 minutes because the beans were not done ( I cooked them from dry, unsoaked, 10 minutes initially. The flavors and textures were delicious. I used a pound of ground turkey.
★★★★★
family loved it currently going to try with jack fruit
★★★★★
Awesome- let me know how it turns out.
This was absolutely delicious chili! I added dried coffee instead of cocoa but that is the only change I made. The flavors are rich and deep—just what a good chili should be. I will definitely make it again!
★★★★★
Thanks Molly! Glad you liked it!