The Best Instant Pot Chili
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Hands down THE BEST chili ever. Done in less than 1 hour with no babysitting, no fuss! So easy and so flavorful!
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I know, It’s not exactly chili season just yet. But, we’ve had the tiniest drizzle of rain with a bit of cold weather these last few days. So we’re staying in with a cozy bowl of chili under the thickest blanket we can find.
But guys, this is not your average bowl of chili. Nope, not at all.
This is the best instant pot chili recipe you can find (loaded statement, I know). The texture of the chili comes out oh-so-perfectly with the lean, tender, crumbled ground beef with all the spices (chili powder, smoked paprika, oregano, cocoa powder, and cumin) alongside the black bean goodness.
It’s chunky, it’s hearty, it’s cozy and it’s perfect to dunk your buttery, crumbly buttermilk cornbread right in. Yes to all the cornbread, please.
Tools For This Recipe
6-qt Instant Pot®
The Best Instant Pot Chili: Frequently Asked Questions
Not at all! Ground pork or ground turkey can be used instead of ground beef.
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and reheat on the stovetop.
Buttermilk cornbread or homemade crusty no knead bread are two of our favorite sidekicks to chili!
Yes, you absolutely can! Here is our easy slow cooker chili recipe – also one of our favorites!
The Best Instant Pot Chili
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tablespoons canola oil
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium sweet onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 poblano chili, minced
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 12 ounces lager or pilsner beer
- 1 ½ cups beef stock
- 2 (10.75-ounce) cans tomato puree
- 2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese
Equipment
Instructions
- Set a 6-qt Instant Pot® to the high saute setting.
- Heat canola oil; add beef and cook until beef has browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks. Drain excess fat and set aside.
- Add garlic, onion, bell pepper and chili to the Instant Pot®. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 4-6 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, chili powder, paprika, oregano, cocoa powder and cumin.
- Stir in beer, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Stir in beef stock, tomato puree, black beans and ground beef; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Select manual setting; adjust pressure to high, and set time for 18 minutes. When finished cooking, quick-release pressure according to manufacturer’s directions.
- Stir in cilantro; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately, garnished with sour cream and cheese, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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Made this last night and it was delicious! Ang idea what the nutritional info is?
Nutritional information is provided only for select recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, we recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information. Hope that helps!
Quick Question: Have friends in recovery and need to know if the alcohol in the beer cooks out completely in this recipe. Or is there a substitution you would recommend? Thanks!
Beef broth can be used as a possible substitute – while obviously not the same, it still has a rich flavor that should hold up well. Hope that helps, DS!
I used lemon/lime seltzer water, with good results.
My husband is a very picky eater and usually not adventurous to try anything new. I made this for dinner tonight and he couldn’t stop raving about the flavor. He wants the leftovers for dinner tomorrow! This was absolutely one of the best Chili’s I’ve made. Packed full of flavor and very tasty. There is nothing I would change – the recipe is perfect as is. Thanks for sharing!
That’s awesome! Thank you for your feedback.
The chili was fantastic. It says 8 servings. Can you tell me what size the portions are?
Hi Patrick! You would have to divide the full amount by 8 servings to get the serving size. Hope that helps!
OMG I made this tonight it was so delish!
So happy you liked it!
Made this recipe “as is” and it was delicious. It was a great consistency, wonderful flavors. I would not change a thing–would prepare exactly as suggested next time. This will be in regular rotation! (Used a bottle of Yuengling beer.)
Thanks for sharing!
Oh WOW!!! Of course I changed a few things. I used one can each of white and red kidney beans because I didn’t have black beans. And because I didn’t have beef broth I used water an a veggie bouillon cube. Also put in two bell peppers because they were looking tired in my fridge.
Yum! Thanks for sharing.
Wow! What an awesome recipe. I just got an Instant Pot and decided to make the first meal chili.
This recipe is AMAZING, and I agree that it’s the best chili I’ve ever had.
I tweaked the recipe just a tad – used two type of beans (kidney and black); crushed tomatoes (instead of tomato puree), and added minced carrots, cayenne pepper and a little Worcestershire sauce.
Must admit that cutting/measuring everything took longer than cooking time itself. However, every minute invested in preparing this delicious chili is worth it.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It’s a total winner!! A+++
Thank you so much, Alexis!
Made it with ground Turkey!!!
Soooooooo good!!!!
Yum!
I’m not sure if I’m being wimpy but I found this to be very spicy. I’m not sure if maybe my chili powder was super potent or something was off with my poblano pepper? Other than that, it’s very good and I’ll probably use less chili powder next time!
I used root beer instead of beer and ancho chili powder. So yummy.
This chili recipe was on point. I had a house full of teenagers hanging out and they all came back for seconds and thirds.
I substituted chicken broth for beef broth because its all I had. I also recently pickled peppers and added those, the vinegar gave it a great flavor. I will definitely be making this again.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the great recipe! This came out great. I tweaked a bit and added some apple cider vinegar, garlic powder, and a little bit of fish sauce. Finished with a bit of lime and Franks hot sauce, absolutely delicious.
I have a question – my Nova Plus Instant Pot gave me a burn sign about half-way through the 18 minute cycle. I’ve made all of your recipes on the top 10 list and they’ve all been delicious, so I’m frustrated about the chili problem. I didn’t know what to do so I put the pressure on normal for 30 min. Any suggestions?
Oh no – what a bummer! Here is a great resource for common reasons for IP burn messages and how to avoid it.
https://www.paintthekitchenred.com/instant-pot-burn-message/
I hope that helps!
This was my first recipe using my new instant pot and it came out delicious. Directions were spot on especially for someone who is new to the instant pot world. Just for my own preferences I omitted the bell pepper and oregano and added in a little sugar to cut the acidity. Portions were perfect too since it’s just 2 of us I was able to freeze enough for a second meal too. Thanks for posting this.
Thank you!
Best chili I’ve ever made. I didn’t use the poblano chili as there were none on hand at the grocery store, but it was just fine without it. I also used kidney beans instead of black beans as those are my preference. I will definitely make this again.
Awesome!
Thanks for sharing! Basically followed your recipe with a few subtle subs based on items on hand. Paired with some scratch corn muffins. Really tasty and a perfect meal for a chilly wet weekend.
Great!
amazing!! can’t wait to make it again. Followed the recipe exactly. This is a winner!!
Sweet!
Our poblanos are pretty big down here, about the same size as my red bell pepper. Should I be using the entire thing, minced?
Can’t wait to make it tonight!!!
Chris, you can use as little or as much as you prefer. 🙂
Just discovered your website and saw your Chili recipe. The one time I attempted to make chili in the instant pot it wasn’t thick but soupy. What consistency is this recipe? Your recipe sounds yummy.
This one shouldn’t come out soupy! It’s a great consistency when you stick to the directions.
Hello, we really enjoyed this recipe. But we’re wondering if 3 TBsp of chili powder refers to ground hot chili peppers or the spice mix ?
Spice mix. 🙂
Wonderful! What type of intsta pot did you use? a 6 quart or 3 quart? Should I change the amounts of each ingredient if I am using a 3 quart pot?
The 6 quart is used here but when using the 3 quart, the general rule of thumb is to divide the recipe in half with the same cook time. But as always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.