Instant Pot Chili Recipe (Tex-Mex Style)

This Instant Pot chili is a Tex-Mex easy stew made with ground beef, a blend of beans, tomatoes and spices, all simmered together in a pressure cooker for just 15 minutes until tender. But this one pot meal is so flavorful that it will taste like it has been cooked all day long!

Whether it's on chilly or hot days, Texans don’t say ‘no’ to a big bowl of chili… it is a budget-friendly and comfort food that brings joy to the soul. Serve homemade chili either with cornbread or crackers and you will have a complete meal in no time. 

If you are an impatient cook or one who, like me, has no time to let it simmer for hours, this pressure cooker chili recipe is for you!

What are Chili and Chili Beans?

Chili, Chilli, or Chile Con Carne, meaning chili pepper with beef, dates as far back as the 1800s and has been a subject of several debates.

Some argue about its origin: whether is from Northern Mexico or Southern Texas. Moreover, there is always fierce debate about whether it should include beans, the type of beef used, and whether tomatoes are included in the recipe.

A recipe from the 1850s describes dried beef, suet, dried chili peppers, and salt pounded together, formed into bricks, and left to dry. Then they were boiled in pots at an army encampment in Monterrey, Mexico.

Later on, it became a stew made of beef chuck, chilies, and spices.

Debates aside, my city of San Antonio is famous for its chili, which became famous decades ago for being inexpensive and including ground beef, beans, and tomatoes in the recipe – something similar to our Instant Pot chili recipe. They are commonly made this way by home cooks and restaurants in my hometown.

Beans are a staple in Tex-Mex cuisine -- and so much so that many prefer their chili with chili beans (beans in chili sauce)! If you prefer yours without them, you should order a ‘chili no beans.’ The most common types of beans present in chili are black beans, kidney beans, or pinto beans – although you can also use black-eyed peas, great northern beans, or cooked navy beans. They can be either dry or canned!

I know it can be a little confusing but chili, a meat stew with chili pepper, can have beans or not, depending on the location (and leaving any debate aside). While chili beans consist of beans in chili sauce, highly commercialized in cans by Bush's Beans. 

Ingredients and Substitutions for this easy chili recipe

• Olive oil – you will need just enough to not let the ground beef stick too much at the bottom of the pot. Moreover, the meat already contains plenty of fat. Replace it with any high-smoking point vegetable oil.
• Onion – if you intend a dump chili recipe, you may use onion powder instead.
• Garlic – you may use garlic powder instead.
• Diced tomatoes – either canned or fresh work in this recipe.
• Tomato sauce – some omit it from the recipe, but I prefer mine with it because it adds flavor and acidity to the stew.
• Beef broth – you may use chicken, vegetable, or pork broth instead if you prefer. 
• Spices and seasonings – we used chili pepper, smoked paprika, cumin, sugar, salt, and ground black pepper, which are common in Tex-Mex cuisine. Cocoa powder, called for in some online recipes, is not in ours. This is not a Mexican mole but a modern, Texas-inspired chili!
• Beans – we used canned kidney and pinto beans to make this recipe quick and easy but, if you prefer, you may use dry beans, which requires more time to cook our stew. 
• Lime juice – this will brighten the complex flavors and bring them all together, making the best Instant Pot chili ever! You can also use lemon juice instead.
• Toppings: these are optional, but I serve my chili with jalapeno, shredded cheddar, green onions, avocado, lime wedges, and sour cream. Although not common, you may also use pickled red onions as a topping. Of course, cornbread or crackers make great sides for our chili with beans. 

Variations

You can either make these on the stovetop or Instant Pot. Here are a few variations: 

• Vegetarian or vegan chili – this skips the meat and uses a combination of beans and either sweet potatoes or yellow corn with spices and other vegetables.
• 5-Ingredient chili mac and cheese – This mixes mac and cheese, cheese, ground beef, spices, and beans.
• Turkey chili – This replaces ground beef with ground turkey.
• White chicken chili – This uses chicken white meat instead of ground beef, and sometimes white beans.

Most of the above use stewing as a cooking method!

How to make Instant Pot chili

1. Press the sauté button and let the Instant Pot heat for 3-5 minutes. Then add the oil and brown the beef, about 5-6 minutes, stirring every now and then.
2. Stir in the onion and let it soften for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Next, stir in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, the broth, spices and seasonings, and the canned beans.
3. Cancel the sauté function! Lock the lid, turn the valve to sealing, and set to cook on High Pressure for 15 minutes (or press the stew button and adjust the time manually to 15 minutes).
4. When the cooking time comes to an end, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and then do a quick release.
5. Squeeze a lime over the chili and stir. Serve with your favorite toppings such as jalapeno slices, chopped green onions, sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, avocado slices, etc.

Watch our video for step-by-step instructions on how to cook our pressure cooker chili easily!

How long does it take to cook chili in an Instant Pot?

It takes 15 minutes to cook chili under pressure, in addition to the time that it takes to sauté the ground beef, onions, and garlic (10 minutes). We recommend letting the pressure release manually for at least 10 minutes before doing a quick release because there is a fair amount of liquids into the pot.

How do you thicken chili in a pressure cooker?

Although our Instant Pot chili has a lot of liquids, once it cools down (and is chilled for at least 2-3 days) most of the liquids are absorbed by the beans. But if you prefer yours thick, you may blend 1-2 cups of beans in the blender, depending on how thick you want it, and then stir the blended beans into the chili to thicken it without adding flour or cornstarch. Another way to thicken it is to let it simmer for an additional 5-10 minutes after it’s already been cooked under pressure (to do that, press the sauté button).

Can I use a different type of bean?

Yes, you can basically use any kind of cooked or canned beans you prefer or that you have at home.

What type of chili powder should I use?

 Ancho chile powder consists of ground-dried poblano peppers. It has a mild, earthy flavor and doesn’t taste exactly the same as regular chili powder, which is a blend of ground spices, including chiles.

If you use chili powder, you may need to adjust the amount down if your chili powder is hot.

Is chili spicy?

Ours has a mild kick, but if you prefer yours hotter, add a splash of hot sauce.

Does authentic chili contain beans?

This is one of the controversies surrounding this dish. Most people agree that the earliest original recipe did not contain beans of any kind.

However, beans have been present in several versions of chili within the last century, including in Texas, which seems long enough to claim it as authentic.

How about tomatoes in chili?

Some chili experts say that tomatoes are a later addition to the original recipe and therefore not authentic. Of course, many Texans may not agree with that!

The story goes that a North Texas newspaperman created a “Two-Alarm Chili” (marketed later as a kit of spices) and added tomato sauce to the meat plus the spices. In addition, he believed that chili should be chilled in the fridge overnight to allow the flavors to develop. If you eat a one-day-old chili, you will be able to taste the difference. It is much more flavorful the next day compared to a freshly cooked chili-- as is the case with many other bean and meat stews, such as our feijoada.

Tips for Instant Pot Chili Recipe

• 90% lean ground beef works best to make a healthy chili, not a greasy one. If you are cooking yours on the stovetop, you may choose an 80% lean beef, which is cheaper, and drain the fat right after cooking the meat and before adding the other ingredients. You can also use ground turkey or ground chicken.
• I use a blend of beans, with one can of kidney beans and one can of pinto beans. I added a small amount of leftover black beans to mine as well. But feel free to use other types of beans to suit your tastes, such as red beans.
• Serve this easy Instant Pot chili with a variety of toppings that suit your tastes.
• If you can, try to eat it one day later instead of freshly cooked in order to enhance the flavor.
• This makes a great meal prep dish because you can cook a double batch and chill or freeze some for later, saving you time in the kitchen! The same applies to our Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage.

Storage

Store the chili in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days, or freeze it for up to 2 months. Chili is one of those easy freezer meals!

More Recipes with Beans and/or Ground Meat to Enjoy

• Instant Pot Black Beans
• Easy Beans and Rice
• Vegetarian feijoada
• Turkey Chili Bean Sandwich
• Chili Bean Turkey Pot Pie
• Healthy Turkey Chili

 

PIN AND ENJOY!

 

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