I love chili! And I love experimenting with chili recipes. Spicy, sweet, white, chicken, turkey, simmered all day or even made in a slow cooker.
Instant Pot Chili is a gold star chili. A simple chili recipe using jalapeño, chili seasoning, beans and beef ready in just 20 minutes!
All chili recipes have their own merits and I refuse to believe that there is one singular best chili recipe. But not all chili recipes are created equal.
While I do have my own quick chili recipes that are good, I prefer my chili to simmer for hours upon hours letting the flavors marry and develop. However, I don’t always have the luxury of time (or foresight.) The Instant Pot solves that problem.
It isn’t “instant”, but it is darn near close and develops levels of sophisticated flavor in just minutes.
Instant Pot Chili allows me to make it fast, but not sacrifice sophisticated flavor. This is a spicy chili recipe using chili powder, jalapeños and pepper jack cheese to add heat. Both pinto and black beans add creaminess to lean ground beef and juicy tomatoes.
Pair this spicy chili with a complementing sweet cornbread or with my jalapeño cornbread muffins. And if you are a chili lover like me, scroll on down to check out even more award winning chili recipes!
If you haven’t gotten on the Instant Pot
train yet, you should. This bad boy has several functions that make life easier, but the main one is as an electric pressure cooker. Check out my article on the Instant Pot Basics.
Here are a few commonly asked questions for Instant Pot Chili:
Can you freeze chili? YES! Chili is an excellent dish to be frozen. Break it into the desired serving size, large plastic containers for family meals and smaller plastic bags for single servings, and freeze it for up to 4 months. Chili gets better with age!
Can I use turkey instead of beef? Yes! Use ground turkey, ground chicken or even bulk ground sausage or venison. In fact, if you really want to up the flavor factor, use any mix of protein.
Can I omit the sugar? Sure you can! Sugar helps to balance out the acidity, but it isn’t necessary. If you are looking for a more natural sweetener, try using agave nectar or honey instead.
Can I omit the beans? You are one of those bean haters, aren’t you? You can surely omit the beans, but I would recommend doubling up on protein, tomatoes, onion and bell pepper to have enough volume to make the same number of servings.
Here are a few more Instant Pot recipes, you are going to LOVE them!
- 1 tablespoon light olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion , chopped
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 green bell pepper , seeded and chopped
- 2 jalapenos , seeded and minced
- 1 pound ground beef 90% lean
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 15 ounces black beans , drained and rinsed
- 15 ounces red kidney beans , drained and rinsed
- 1 cup pepper jack cheese , shredded for topping
- Set Instant Pot to saute function. Add light olive oil.
- When hot, add onion, garlic, bell pepper and jalapenos. Saute for 3-4 minutes or until slightly softened.
- Add ground beef, breaking into pieces for 1-2 minutes.
- Add remaining ingredients, except pepper jack cheese. Stir together.
- Lock lid, set vent to "sealed." Use manual setting in high pressure for 20 minutes. Allow for natural release, approximately 20 minutes.
- Stir well, ladle into soup bowls and top with shredded pepper jack cheese.
If you've tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was!
I am excited to share that I just joined a fun, new group of bloggers that love to celebrate, what? FOOD!!! We’ll be gathering the best blogger recipes around for popular food holidays and sharing them with you. This month we are celebrating National Chili Day (February 23rd). Check out these and few more of my favorites and tell me WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WAY TO MAKE CHILI in the comments!
Celebrating Food Hearty Chili Recipes:
- Instant Pot White Chicken Chili – Ashley Marie
- Taco Chili– An Italian In My Kitchen
- Taco Chili– Simply Stacie
- Chicken Enchilada Chili– Creations by Kara
- Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili – Real Mom Kitchen
- Slow Cooker Chili– Pretty Providence
- Creamy White Chicken Chili– Crumb
- Sweet Potato Chili– Namely Marly
- Pork Verde Chili – The Baker Upstairs
- Instant Pot Turkey Lentil Chili– 365 Days of Slow Cooking + Pressure Cooking
- Slow Cooker Turkey Chili– My Mommy Style
- Instant Pot Turkey and Bean Chili– Supergolden Bakes
- Jalapeno Popper Turkey Chili– Premeditated Leftovers
- Award Winning Crockpot Chili– Heather Likes Food
Even more fabulous chili recipes!
- Blue Ribbon Award Winning Chili
- Simple Chili
- Red Beef Chili – Made with whole steak!
- Chili Verde
- Easy Chili
- Award Winning Crockpot Chili– Wishes and Dishes
- Maple Bacon and Ham Baked Bean Chili– Big Bear’s Wife
- Slow Cooker Southwestern Chili– Eazy Peazy Mealz
- Easy Turkey Chili– Sugar and Soul
- Crockpot Weight Watchers Chili– Real Housemoms
- Chicken and Bacon White Chili – Bread, Booze, Bacon
- Buffalo Chicken Chili– Go Go Go Gourmet
- Paleo Pumpkin Chili– My Suburban Kitchen
- Easy Black Bean Chili– That Skinny Chick Can Bake
Really good Chili. ONLY thing I might change is a little less brown sugar. Loved the beautiful COLor and flavor without all those extra ingredients (beer, chocolate, etc)
I have an Instant Pot, but need to use it more. Your chili recipe sounds easy and delicious.
This looks so yummy! I can’t wait to try it out!
I’m totally obsessed with my Instant Pot right now. It’s so perfect for turning slow-cooked dishes like chili into last-minute dinners! I love how you kept this recipe simple… just a nice, homey, old-school kind of chili, perfect for cornbread. 🙂
I can’t wait to try this, I love my Instant Pot!
I love how the Instant Pot makes it so fast to cook something that tastes like it simmered all day long! This chili looks super yummy!
I love my instant pot! I need to make this recipe soon 🙂
I shared this on my Pinterest Board on recipes I can’t wait to veganize! Love the jalapeños! Also, Happy National Chili Day!
This sounds so yummy, especially topped with pepper jack cheese! And I love that it doesn’t have to simmer all day. Hooray for the Instant Pot!
Yum! Looks delish! This will be in my back pocket for the chili cookoff we have in my parents’ neighborhood!
Chilli is my favourite dish when its cold out. I don’thave an instant pot though do have another electric pressure cooker that this would work equally well in.
I love Chili and I love the fact that this can be ready in just 20 minutes. I need to get myself and instant pot asap.
Chili season is my favorite time of year and this sounds amazing!
I’m pretty sure the instant pot was made for chili…and chili was made for the instant pot LOL. There’s something to be said about making a classic menu item on a regular basis…in a short period of time. Loving my instant pot…Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I have to get an Instant Pot for sure. This Chili looks amazing.