You will win a gold medal with my Instant Pot Chili Con Carne recipe. With an all day simmered taste, it cooks in under 10 minutes in the pressure cooker.
Instant Pot Chili Con Carne
Wait, what? Chili on the table in under 30 minutes! Yep! This Instant Pot Chili Con Carne is going to make you toss out all your other chili recipes.
My Instant Pot Chili is a pure comfort meal and this is a recipe which you will call “a keeper” for years to come. I adapted my stove top recipe for the Instant Pot Mealthy MultiPot or Pressure Cooker and it was love at first bite! No more standing over the stove and checking and checking.
Can I Use Ground Turkey Instead of Ground Beef?
- Just as you can change up individual spices to your personal palette, other ground meat can be used. Bison, chicken, turkey, lamb or even a combination of any ground meat.
- My Instant Pot Turkey Meatloaf was changed up from my regular meatloaf recipe and for those who prefer to limit red meat, try my Tex-Mex Turkey Chili recipe. It is seriously just as wonderful
Brown the Ground Beef
Chili was one of my favorite things to make when I was young. For some reason, I liked to serve it with green beans. I was twelve, there’s no telling why. We love making this delicious Instant Pot Chili recipe at least a few times a month. It is a hearty meal, which always turns out so mouth watering and perfect. Now we like to make delicious Corny Cornbread. I’ve even put a Basic Polenta Cornmeal Topper Recipe on top and popped it in the oven.
How to Brown Beef for Instant Pot Chili
- It is simple, just heat up your pressure cooker completely and add the oil and the beef. Sauté until the meat begins to brown.
- You do not need to brown the ground beef very much. Just a few minutes will add delicious extra flavor and ensure the beef remain nice and juicy.
Pro Tip: Always make sure to heat your cooking pot fully prior to adding any kind of oil. This will help to make your stainless steel Instant Pot, Mealthy MultiPot or Pressure Cooker non stick and deglazing will be a breeze.
What is Chili?
- Chili is a spicy stew with ground meat, tomato products, chili peppers and beans. If you don’t want beans in your chili, ask for chili no beans.
San Antonio helped to popularize Texas style chili con carne and the name chili con carne is commonly known all over the United States.
Does Real Chili Have Beans in it?
- Well, all chili is real. 🙂 Texans might disagree however. Con carne means “with beef.” The origins of chili are from Southern Texas/Northern Mexico and did not include beans. Chili is simply a spicy beef stew and it was simply called chili.
- Even though beans were not an ingredient originally, they have been included for so long that chili with beans is now considered authentic and is referred to as chili con carne.
Pro Tip: Feel free to change up the beans and use any type you like.
Add in the veggies
What are your Secret Seasonings?
- Well, I don’t know that I would call these a secret, but I can tell you that Worcestershire Sauce and an Asian fish sauce like Three Crabs Brand Fish Sauce adds great flavor and takes chili to another flavor level. Don’t worry, with the small amount used, there is zero fish taste. Seriously and literally, zero.
- Cocoa powder, expresso and cinnamon are also incredible flavor enhancers. They give chili a bit of an “earthy” flavor. They are wonderful to use in small amounts.
We love to make big batches of Instant Pot Chili and then enjoy as leftovers throughout the week.
How to Freeze Instant Pot Chili
- After you have let the chili completely cool, divide the chili into portions. For bring chili to work for lunch, divide the chili into individual lunch size portions. Make sure to use a freezer safe container, ziplock baggie or Food Saver Vacuum Sealing System and leave about 1/2 inch of empty space at the top.
- The chili will expand during freezing and you want to make sure the bag or container will not burst in the freezer.
To reheat the frozen chili, simply add a cup of water to your pressure cooker cooking pot and place a trivet inside. Then open the container of chili and place into a stainless steal bowl or pan and put that right on top of the trivet. Lock on your lid and set the timer to about 5 minutes. That’s it. After the pressure has released, it is time to enjoy a bowl of chili.
Instant Pot Chili Con Carne
Of course Instant Pot Chili can be simmered a few minutes and become a very thick chili too. The best of both worlds in one Instant Pot Chili recipe.
How to Make Chili Soupier
- Increase the liquid ingredients until you get the soupiness you like. You would also need to increase the seasonings.
How to Make Chili Thicker
- After the chili has been cooked, remove the lid and select “Sauté.” Let the chili simmer until it gets as thick as you like!
I hope you enjoy this chili as much as my husband and I do!
Toppings and Bottoms
- Cheddar Cheese is wonderful on top of the Chilil
- Diced Avocado
- A big dollop of sour cream is wonderful. My Instant Pot Greek Yogurt can be subbed for sour cream.
- How about on top of a bowl of Pressure Cooker White Rice? That is Ed’s favorite way.
Try some Cornbread on the side. That is always so wonderful!
More Instant Pot Classic Recipes to Make:
- Sometimes less is more and my Instant Pot Classic Pot Roast is just one of those things. Tender beef is a flavorful braising liquid is great for Sunday night dinner and company.
- Instant Pot Macaroni and Cheese is always a great meal. This can be ready to eat in under 30 minutes without ever turning on the oven or stove.
- The very best Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes are a favorite among pressure cooker users.
- Remember Foster Farms famous recipe printed on the package of whole chicken? Here you go! Instant Pot Chinese Simmered Chicken.
So, now you have some classic recipes to cook. Have fun cooking and scroll just a bit more to find the full recipe below.
Kitchen Equipment and Esssentials
- Instant Pot, Mealthy MultiPot or Pressure Cooker
- Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
- Culina Stackable (Dry) Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
- Anchor Hocking Glass (Liquid) Measuring Cups
- Cilio Olivewood Spatula
- Rachael Ray Stoneware EVOO Oil Dispensing Bottle
- Alpha Armour Salt Box with Spoon
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Here is the handy printable recipe:
Pressure Cooker Competition Chili Con Carne
Print Pin RateIngredients
- 3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1.5 cups Yellow/Brown Onion diced
- 1 large Red Bell Pepper diced
- 2 Jalapeño Peppers stems and seeds removed, finely diced
- 2 Tablespoons Fresh Garlic minced
- 1.5 teaspoons Ground Cumin
- 1 Tablespoon Chili Powder
- 1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1.5 teaspoons Sea Salt
- ½ teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1.5 pounds Lean Gound Beef
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 28 ounces Whole Tomatoes in Purée
- 12 ounces Beef Broth (or fresh water)
- 1 can Black beans rinsed/drained
- 1 can Kidney beans rinsed/drained
- 1 can Pinto Beans rinsed/drained
Flavor Boosters
- 1 Tablespoon Premium Fish Sauce
- 2 teaspoons Cocoa Powder
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon choose this or cocoa, not both
Recommended Products
Instructions
- Push Sauté or Browning button on your pressure cooker and allow to fully heat.
- Add oil to the cooking pot and swirl to coat bottom.
- Add ground beef, breaking it up well with a meat chopper/masher or wooden spoon and sauté until slightly browned. Drain off any excess fat, if desired.
- Add onions, bell pepper, jalapeños, garlic, cumin, chili powder, oregano, salt and pepper and sauté for three minutes.
- Add Worcestershire Sauce, fish sauce & cocoa powder (if using), tomatoes, water and beans and stir.
- Lock the lid and close pressure value. Cook at high pressure (most machines default to high) for 5 minutes.
- When beep sounds, wait 10 minutes and then release the rest of the pressure.
- Serve as it or Select Sauté and allow to simmer for a thicker chili.
Notes
Nutrition
PIN this Instant Pot Chili Con Carne!
Pressure Cooker Competition Chili Con Carne
what size cans of beans?
Cut down on the salt if you are using fish sauce!
Made this tonight — it was the second time that I used my new IP. And I have to admit it — the first time I ever made chili from scratch (and I’m 60-something). Recipe turned out well, good flavor. The comments from others were helpful, as I reduced the amount of water.
Thanks for the recipe and the easy-to-follow instructions!
I made this and added 1/3 cup of quinoa and it was perfect, used my black beans from your recipe too!
Sounds delish!! Jill