Instant Pot Chili
Comforting and easy, this Instant Pot Chili a deliciously thick, flavorful, perfect cold weather meal that will instantly warm you up!
A PERFECT COLD WEATHER MEAL
Who doesn’t love a nice pot of chili on a cold winter’s day? I know that I do, but sometimes I don’t like to babysit the pot, so that’s when I make this delicious Instant Pot Chili! This pot will taste like it simmered on the stovetop for hours! Serve with some cornbread and you have an amazing meal in half an hour. The best thing about this is that you can customize it to your liking! So if you are looking for a meaty and super flavorful chili, then you need to try this Instant Pot Chili recipe!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
On many instant pots you will see a chili/bean setting. This button is only used for when you are cooking with dried beans in liquid. In this recipe, I am using canned beans, not dried, so you don’t want to use this setting here. In general, when cooking with dried beans, you’ll have 3 setting options depending on how soft you want the beans. So if making chili with dried beans, you will need to add additional liquid since the dried beans are going to soak up that liquid and double in volume.
Cocoa powder adds a richness and depthless of flavor that can compliment a spicy chili. It is one of those controversial ingredients you will love to add or hate to add. I don’t have it in this particular recipe, but if would like to try it, you would add about a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder your pot of chili.
If you fell your chili has too much liquid after cooking, turn on the Sauté mode for several minutes, stirring occasionally to thicken before serving. In addition, you can add a little bit of corn meal and stir (start with about a tablespoon).
For this recipe, I prefer to use a leaner ground beef. It produces less grease so you probably won’t have to drain hardly any grease at all after it cooks. But you could certainly use a fattier meat if that is what you have on hand.
If you are not a fan of black beans you can just add another can of kidney beans in its place or even pinto beans.
Not if you have enough liquid. This is important. With any instant pot recipe, you need enough liquid in the pot for it to come up to pressure and to keep from getting that dreaded “burn” notice on your instant pot.
This can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container where it will keep for up to 3-4 days. This can also be frozen, to do that let you chili cool all the way and then place in a freezer bag. This will keep in the freezer for up to 4-6 months. To defrost, remove to refrigerator overnight and then you can reheat in the microwave or on the stove.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)
- olive oil
- lean ground beef
- onion
- green bell pepper
- fire roasted diced tomatoes
- crushed tomatoes
- kidney beans
- black beans
- tomato paste
- garlic
- chili powder
- dried oregano
- ground cumin
- smoked paprika
- salt and pepper

HOW TO MAKE INSTANT POT CHILI
Set your Instant Pot to Saute mode and add the olive oil to the bottom of the pot. Once the oil has warmed through add the diced onions and bell peppers and saute until vegetables are softened and onions are translucent.

Add the ground beef to the pot and cook until beef is no longer pink and crumbled. Turn off the Saute mode and use a spoon to scoop out any excess grease from the cooked beef.

Add the remaining ingredients to the pot, reserving the lime juice for the end and place the lid on. Set the steam valve to seal and select manual high pressure for 15 minutes.

Once the chili has finished cooking, do a quick release to let out the steam. When the steam pin drops, remove the lid.

Serve immediately with green onions for garnish and your favorite chili toppings, enjoy!

WANT MORE DELICIOUS RECIPES?

Instant Pot Chili
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 14.5 ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 14.5 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 15 ounce can kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 15 ounce can black beans drained and rinsed
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- salt and pepper, to taste
- juice of half a lime (optional)
- cilantro, sliced green onions and sour cream, for garnish
Instructions
- Set your Instant Pot to Saute mode and add the olive oil to the bottom of the pot. Once the oil has warmed through add the diced onions and bell peppers and saute until vegetables are softened and onions are translucent.
- Add the ground beef to the pot and cook until beef is no longer pink and crumbled.
- Turn off the saute mode and use a spoon to scoop out any excess grease from the cooked beef.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the pot, reserving the lime juice for the end and place the lid on. Set the steam valve to seal and select manual high pressure for 15 minutes.
- Once the chili has finished cooking, do a quick release to let out the steam. When the steam pin drops, remove the lid and stir in the lime juice.
- Serve immediately with green onions for garnish and your favorite chili toppings, enjoy!
Notes
- You can customize this to your liking, take out or add to your flavor preference.
- This can be frozen, see the tips above.
- If you do not like black beans just add another can of kidney beans or even pinto beans.
- If think your chili is too thin, you can set it on sauté setting after it has cooked to thicken it up.
- Try adding a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa to add a richer flavor.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Sorry, but I don’t see lime juice in the list of ingredients. How much do you add?
Thanks, Brandie—I enjoy your recipes
Sorry Diana – it’s the juice of half a lime. Completely optional of course. It just brightens up the flavors but you don’t taste it as a separate ingredient. 🙂