The Ultimate Instant Pot Beef Chili Recipe

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Cooking With Anadi

12K subscribers · beef, beans, chipotle and spice in one pot

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Looking out my window earlier today, I knew it was the perfect day to make chili. It is warm, hearty and nothing feels better than a cozy bowl of chili on a damp, drizzly day. Today was also a busy day at work which worked out perfectly since I could whip out my Instant Pot.

This really is the Best Instant Pot Beef Chili recipe you’ll find! This chili has got everything you could ask for! Hearty ground beef steeps its incredible flavor, and we have extra body with the combination of pinto beans and red kidney beans. You’ll get lots of heat from the California chilies, and everything is all topped up with sour cream and cheddar cheese. Whenever you’re feeling cold or you need to do some healthy meal prep, this is totally going to be the chili recipe you’ll keep coming back to!

Literally until last week, I haven’t been much of a soup person! Funny enough despite it being summer time, I’ve been really loving making soups! I give more details about this in my Make Cooking Fun!! guide - my top 5 tips to get creative and motivated to explore your full potential in the kitchen - but having a theme surrounding your weekly cooking can help spark some creativity and you’ll explore tons of new dishes! Actually, I decided to make this because I had some leftover beans from my Instant Pot Minestrone Soup! For a vegan soup option, then be sure to check out that recipe, and if you’re looking for cooking motivation and to take your skills to the next level, then definitely check out my free guide, along with the one-month Live to Cook challenge!

Be sure to watch the video to see all the details of how to make this awesome Beef Chili in the Instant Pot! The video will show you how to make the recipe with canned beans, and the written recipe will show how to make it with canned and dried beans! If you’re not already, I’d really appreciate if you’d subscribe to my YouTube channel! Please also hit the bell button so you receive the notifications when my video recipes go live! The video recipes are excellent to give you all the tools for success, and I love to make them to give you a full picture of what’s going on! Let’s get cooking!

A Thick & Rich Sauce

Simply looking at this sauce makes your stomach rumble. A rich red color from tomatoes, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, and from fragrant spices. The onions, jalapeño and garlic literally melt into the sauce giving the sauce body. And the kidney beans help naturally thicken the sauce and add so much flavor.

I use lean ground beef which becomes so tender and absorbs all of the yummy flavors.

Top the chili with dollops of sour cream, cheddar cheese, loads of scallions and cilantro and you are good! I quite enjoy this chili by itself, but it will be great with plain rice or a crusty bread.

Tools Needed

• Instant pot
• Cutting board
• Chef's knife
• Wooden spoon
• Measuring spoons
• Garlic press

Ingredients for Beef Chili in the Instant Pot

Time to see what ingredients we’ll need for our delicious beef chili in the Instant Pot! Don’t forget to scroll to the bottom of this post for the FULL PRINTABLE recipe card for all ingredient quantities and the recipe instructions. The recipe card will also help you scale the recipe depending on how much chili you want to make. If you’re looking to make a giant batch to freeze up so you have it prepped throughout the winter or you just want this to serve for a crowd one night, then you can make as much of the recipe as you want, and all the ingredient quantities are automatically adjusted!

• Chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
• Olive oil
• Bay leaf (if using dried beans)
• Onions
• Jalapeño
• Ground beef
• Diced tomatoes
• Beef broth or chicken broth
• Garlic
• Red kidney beans (dried or canned)
• Pinto beans (dried or canned)
• tomato paste
• sugar
• oregano
• ground cumin
• chili powder
• smoked paprika
• Cayenne Pepper
• Salt and pepper

How to Prepare the Best Chili in the Instant Pot

If Using Dried Beans

1. If using dried beans rinse the beans and add to the pot of the Instant Pot. Fill the pot with water such that the water covers the beans by 1 inch. Add 1 bay leaf and season with salt

2. Close the Instant Pot lid and set the Instant Pot to Sealing mode. Select Pressure Cook setting and cook for 20 minutes. Let pressure release naturally once done cooking.

3. Transfer the beans along with half of the cooking water into a bowl and set aside.

Prepare the Chili

Turn the Instant Pot on Sauté Mode at High Setting and heat the olive oil. Add chopped onions, jalapeño pepper and garlic and cook until soft, about 3-5 minutes. Add chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, sauté for 2-3 minutes.

Add in the minced meat and cook until the meat is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to break any chunks into smaller pieces. Select Cancel on the instant pot.

Add diced tomatoes, all of the beans (add canned, rinsed beans if using), broth, sugar, tomato paste and all the spices. Season with salt, stir well and press cancel on the instant pot.

Place the lid on the instant pot, make sure it is in Sealing Mode and select Bean/Chili or Pressure Cook mode and cook for 18 minutes. Let Pressure Release naturally for 10-15 minutes, manual release any remaining pressure.

Stir well and check for seasoning. Serve over warm rice with shredded cheese, sour cream, green onions and cilantro.

Toppings for the Best Instant Pot Beef Chili

Feel free to top your chili however you want! Whatever you do, a chili is a blank canvas to really load up your favorite goodies! Here, I’ll be topping with sour cream, chopped cilantro and scallions, and shredded cheddar cheese. Other options could be crushed tortilla chips, sliced avocado, chopped red onions, jalapeño, sliced tomatoes, chopped bell pepper, or even Homemade Guacamole or Pico de Gallo!

Tips for a Mouthwatering Instant Pot Chili

• Have fun with the beans, use your favorite kind and feel free to use any combination of beans.
• Spice is nice to have, adjust to your personal preference by substituting jalapeño with serrano peppers for more heat, or with green peppers for less heat.
• When it comes to chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, the more you add, the more heat you get. Add less instead of not using any at all.
• Adjust to your preferred consistency after the pressure has released by setting the Instant Pot to Saute mode and simmering gently.
• Substitute the meat and the base of the broth to your liking and preferences.

OTHER DELICIOUS INSTANT POT RECIPES!

• Instant Pot Indian Black Eyed Pea Curry (Lobia Masala)
• Instant Pot Restaurant-Style Dal Makhani
• Instant Pot Red Kidney Bean Curry (Rajma Masala)
• Instant Pot Vegan Minestrone Soup
• Instant Pot Butter Chicken
• Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala

Got chili left over? It’s incredible loaded over a British jacket potato!

The Spice Base, and What Each Thing Is Doing

The full list of ingredients runs long, but the spice base is only six things and it helps to know what each one contributes. One tablespoon of chili powder is the backbone. Two teaspoons of ground cumin bring the earthiness. Then 1 teaspoon of oregano, half a teaspoon of smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, and an optional teaspoon of cayenne if you want real heat. Salt to taste - sea salt or table salt, whichever you keep.

The heat and the smoke actually come from somewhere else: 2 tablespoons of chopped chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, added after the aromatics and cooked for 2 to 3 minutes so the paste loses its raw edge. If you cannot find them, a 1:1 mix of smoked paprika and cayenne gets most of the way there with less heat, and ancho chili paste is milder and less smoky.

A few ingredient notes on the rest. Two garlic cloves, minced. Half a jalapeno - a serrano if you want more heat, a fresno if you want less. The 14 oz of canned diced tomatoes can be fire-roasted diced tomatoes instead, which adds smoke for no extra work, or crushed tomatoes for a smoother mixture. One tablespoon of tomato paste does the thickening, and note that is paste and not tomato sauce, which is far thinner and would loosen the chili rather than tighten it. And half a teaspoon of sugar, which sounds odd in a chili but takes the metallic edge off canned tomatoes.

Avoiding the Burn Notice, and Adapting It to Stovetop or Slow Cooker

The burn notice is the one thing that goes wrong with pressure cooker chili, and it comes from tomato and tomato paste sitting against the hot base of the pot. Two habits prevent it: deglaze properly after browning the beef so nothing is stuck to the bottom, and add the tomatoes last, on top, without stirring them all the way down.

Once the lid is on, set the valve to Sealing and use the Bean/Chili setting, or manual high pressure, for 18 minutes. Then let it come down on its own for 10 to 15 minutes before releasing whatever is left - a natural release lets the beans finish softening and stops the chili spitting up through the valve.

This is written as an instant pot version, but adapting it is straightforward. On the stovetop, brown everything the same way in a heavy pot, then simmer over medium heat, uncovered, for 45 minutes to an hour until it thickens. In a slow cooker, brown the beef and aromatics in a pan first - do not skip that step - then everything in on low for 6 to 8 hours. If you are cooking dried beans yourself, that is a separate 20-minute pressure cook with a bay leaf, natural release, and drain them before they join the chili.

Swaps, Storage and Game Day

Eight ounces of ground beef is what the recipe calls for, but it takes a swap well: ground turkey or ground chicken both work at the same weight for something leaner, and ground pork gives more fat and a slightly sweeter result. Whatever you use, brown it until no longer pink before the remaining ingredients go in.

On types of beans, the recipe uses red kidney and pinto together and that pairing is worth keeping - kidney beans hold their shape while pinto beans break down a little and thicken the sauce. Black beans swap in for the pinto with an earthier flavor. Canned is the fast route, and 1 cup of drained canned beans replaces half a cup of dried. A diced red bell pepper added with the onion is the easiest way to stretch the pot further, and its sweetness plays well against the chipotle.

Favorite toppings are sour cream, shredded cheddar, chopped cilantro and sliced scallions - and a squeeze of lime at the table lifts the whole bowl. It is not in the ingredient list, but it belongs there.

A bowl of this is a full meal rather than a side dish. It is high in protein and fiber because of the beans, and most of the sodium arrives with the canned beans and the broth - so rinsing the canned beans and reaching for a low-sodium broth is the simplest way to bring that down. The calories and carbohydrates are largely beans as well, which is the good version of both.