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Instant Pot Chili that is award winning and bringing home cook-off victories across the country. You don’t want to miss diving into a bowl of our best chili!
If you want chili from scratch, this traditional chili is your answer. It took us 10 years to discover an award winning recipe and this is finally it, plus it’s an instant pot recipe which means it’s all done in less than 1 hour (with instructions for cooking on the stove top or crock pot as well)!! It is full of bacon, ground beef, beans, classic chili spices and all the toppings you want!
Let’s talk about how to make this homemade chili step by step, discuss what goes well with it, and how to freeze it to eat later. So much to talk about, so let’s get going!
We attended a chili cook-off and brought this awesome Cheesy Ground Beef Enchilada Chili. It was so good, but soooo many arteries were clogged that night. It’s pretty unhealthy, but I heard a rumor that if you don’t eat it alone the calories don’t count.
If you want a healthy chili recipe, you should definitely try our award winning healthy turkey instant pot version, which uses ground turkey instead of beef.
Chili is good year round, but we especially love it for Halloween. Well, chili or our melt-in-your-mouth buttermilk pancakes depending on our mood. Both are easy and perfect for the family. Now on to this award winning instant pot chili recipe…
Chili Cook-Off Idea!
Muffin Tin Trick
Listen to this, at the chili cook-off we went to a couple of people brought muffin tins and then placed a sample scoop of each kind in the well so they could try them all and vote without going back or over-eating. GENIUS. That’s seriously the smartest thing ever.
Ingredients for Instant Pot Chili
This chili recipe uses all the traditional chili ingredients in just the perfect ratio. Here is everything you will need:
- Meat: Ground Beef and Bacon
- Canned Beans: Kidney Beans, Pinto Beans, and Black Beans
- Tomatoes: Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes and Tomato Paste
- Vegetables: Red Onion, Red Bell Pepper, Garlic, and Jalapeño
- Broth: Beef Broth and Worcestershire Sauce
- Spices: Oregano, Ground Cumin, Kosher Salt, Ground Black Pepper, Smoked Paprika, Chili Powder
- Toppings: Sour Cream, Cilantro, Cheddar Cheese, Corn, Limes, Chips, Green Onions, etc.
The measurements and all the details for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.
How to Make Chili in an Instant Pot
Making this recipe in an instant pot is really easy because there’s an actual setting for chili and beans (if you don’t have that setting, you can totally use “manual”). That pretty much takes all of the thinking out of this, and everything can be done in the instant pot, which means only one dish to clean!!
Let’s go through it step by step:
- Sauté: Turn your instant pot to “sauté” and cook the bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon and sauté the bell peppers and onions until tender.
- Brown: Add the ground beef and cook until browned and drain any excess grease. Add all the remaining ingredients and stir everything together.
- Cook: Place the lid on the instant pot and set to “chili” mode with the vent in seal position (“manual high pressure” can be used too). Cook for 18-20 minutes and allow the valve to natural release for 10-15 minutes.
- NOTE: If you get the burn notice, please see the section below.
- Serve: Once it is cooked, serve it up and top with all your favorite toppings.
All these instructions can also be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.
What to Eat with Homemade Chili
Really any sort of bread will get the job done beautifully, but if you are making this in an instant pot, then you probably want dinner done in a hurry, so these 1 Hour Rolls are your answer! I often like something light and fresh with my chili like this garden balsamic avocado salad.
I’ve also heard that people eat cinnamon rolls with chili, and I fully endorse this! Try our World’s Best Cinnamon Rolls! And imho, all chili tastes the best with a side of cornbread or our crazy easy 7-Up biscuits!
Burn Notice FAQs
We’ve had a lot of questions, comments and concerns about the burn notice on the instant pot. We really think it just depends on your Instant Pot. Some are more sensitive than others. We have not ever had a burn notice on ours, but if you are getting them, here are a few tips and tricks…
Prior browned bits on the pot- If your pot had previous food stuck to the bottom of the pot it will continue to cook and confuse the pot to thinking that something is burning. Clean your pot well after every use. Bar Keeper’s Friend is my go-to cleaner for browned bits in pots and pans.
– PROBLEM: Is your bacon extra thin or lacking fat? Both of these can cause the bacon to stick to the bottom of the pot and cause a burn notice. Those browned bits stuck to the pot because of the lack of fat can make the pressure cooker think that you’ve walked away and left meat to burn.
– REMEDY: To counter this, please use a good quality bacon and stir often to keep it from sticking. You can also add a little oil to the pot if not much fat is rendering off the bacon.
If your chili has been combined and then you get the burn notice you probably didn’t thoroughly stir everything together or something is stuck to the bottom of the pot. This is why that bacon step is important. If you added those heavy ingredients and added the lid something will probably stick and burn. Stir well, make sure you measured properly.
If none of these tips work, you should contact instant pot as you may have a model that needs to be replaced.
Chili FAQs
This recipe is too big to be doubled in both a 6 qt Instant Pot and an 8qt. It can be one and a halved in an 8qt Instant Pot. We have also been told you can double it in an 8qt Instant Pot if you take out 1 or 2 cans of beans.
1. Start with your bacon. Always. See our How to Cook Bacon post for all the details on bacon! Whenever bacon is going in a dish we crisp it first, drain the fat and leave the browned bits in the pan. It adds extra flavor to whatever comes next.
Start by pressing the “sauté” button and once you can feel the heat, add the chopped bacon, stirring occasionally until crisp. Remove to a paper towel lined plate and drain the fat.
2. Next, grab your ground beef. Any kind is fine for chili since other flavors are in there, but there’s more flavor in an 80/20 versus 90/10, though you will need to drain out the fat before continuing on.
Make sure you stir occasionally in order to crumble the meat instead of having big chunks. Chili shouldn’t be big and chunky.
Scroll down to the Notes section of the recipe card for all the details.
Toppings for Homemade Chili
The toppings you choose for your chili is totally up to you! You can add more crunch, creaminess, heat, freshness, acidity…really anything that makes you happy! Here are a few of our favorite chili toppings:
- Cheese
- Sour Cream
- Sliced Jalapenos
- Green Onions
- Cilantro
- Tortilla Chips or Corn Chips
Storage Tips
Leftover chili should be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container. It will keep for up to 5 days.
If you want it to last a little longer, classic chili is really easy to freeze. Cool your chili completely and store in ziplocs with all the air pressed out, or we prefer to use our Food Saver. You can store individual servings to eat for lunch or larger portions to feed the whole family later. They will last in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To reheat the chili, let it thaw in the fridge overnight and then warm it up in a pot on the stove top. Warming up a single bowl in the microwave works great too!
Our Favorite Cheat Sheet
P.S. Have you seen our Instant Pot cheat sheet? Head there are all our tips for cooking all the basics in your Instant Pot!
When it comes to classic chili, I want it to be full of flavor, bold and comforting! Friends, this recipe is the result of me making dozens of recipes in order to find the greatest of all time. So I tell you hands down this is the VERY BEST CHILI!
Here are some more CHILI RECIPES that you’ll love:
- Instant Pot Turkey Chili
- Best Stove Top Chili
- Ground Beef Enchilada Chili
- Brisket Chili
- White Chicken Chili
- All our Chili, Soup, and Stew Recipes here!
Looking for more Instant Pot recipes?
Watch How this Chili Recipe is Made…
Thank you for all of your love and support with making this the #1 chili out there!
Instant Pot Chili Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ Pounds Ground Beef
- 6 Strips Bacon, good quality, chopped
- 1 Can Kidney Beans, 15 ounces, drained
- 1 Can Pinto Beans, 15 ounces, drained
- 1 Can Black Beans, 15 ounces, drained
- 1 Can Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes, 15 ounces, with juice
- 1 Can Tomato Paste, 6 ounce
- 1 Red Onion, chopped
- 1 Red Bell Pepper, seeded and chopped
- 1 Jalapeño, seeded and minced *optional
- 2 Cups Beef Stock
- 1 Tablespoon Dried Oregano
- 2 teaspoons Ground Cumin
- 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
- 1 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- 2 Tablespoons Chili Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Garlic, minced
For Garnish
- Sour Cream
- Cilantro
- Cheese, shredded
- Lime, fresh, optional
Instructions
- Turn your instant pot to sauté and add the bacon.6 Strips Bacon
- Cook until crisp, stirring often to cook evenly.
- Remove the bacon to a paper towel lined plate.
- Add the onions and peppers and cook until tender.1 Red Onion, 1 Red Bell Pepper
- Add the meat and cook until browned.1 ½ Pounds Ground Beef
- Drain off any excess grease, we just tilt the pot and use a large spoon.
- Add all of the remaining ingredients and 3/4 of the bacon and stir to combine.1 Can Kidney Beans, 1 Can Pinto Beans, 1 Can Black Beans, 1 Can Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes, 1 Can Tomato Paste, 1 Jalapeño, 2 Cups Beef Stock, 1 Tablespoon Dried Oregano, 2 teaspoons Ground Cumin, 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt, 1 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper, 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika, 2 Tablespoons Chili Powder, 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce, 1 Tablespoon Garlic
- Turn the instant pot to chili (if you don't have a "chili" setting, use the "manual" setting) and cook for 18-20 minutes (see note). Allow pressure to release for 10-15 minutes or quick release with the vent.
- Serve with limes, sour cream, cheese, and a little bacon!Sour Cream, Cilantro, Cheese, Lime
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
We absolutely love this recipe. We alter it a bit by taking the can of black beans out(wife doesn’t like black beans) and adding a can of kidney beans because we took out the black beans. Then we take a cup of the beef stock out and put a bottle of Guinness extra stout(alcohol cooks out) in place of it. The last time we made it there wasn’t any left my kids devoured it and they don’t normally like chili. Thank you for this recipe.
Three cheers for a recipe the whole family loves! That makes our day! Thanks for sharing with us!
Wowza – Just made and my husband literally said, “this is award winning chili” (HA!) . We like it SPICY so we used a whole large jalapeno, added 4 chopped chilies in adobo, a roasted poblano (since I had one) and 1/2 can of sweet corn which was hangin in the fridge.
Like others, I deeply browned the meat separately (2lbs ground chuck) and drained all but one teaspoon of bacon fat before adding the onion/red pepper. To avoid the possibility of burning, I added an extra cup of stock and mixed everything really well; still thick – not soupy at all… Maybe cause I used a can of white bean chili (not drained) since I couldn’t find canned pinto beans. I did drain and rinse the other beans to remove unwanted additional salt.
My IP has a bean/chili option. so I rolled for 25 min, natural release for 10, then a quick release. Tasted, and added a teaspoon sugar – just fab! Thanks for my new go to chili recipe!!
Thank you for the awesome feedback! We love to hear success stories like yours!
I doubted the red onion, I always use yellow, but I made it per the recipe and WOW! My husband was amazed at how great this chili is. It is also really easy to make. Don’t tweak it until you make it per the recipe and you may find (like I did) that it is perfect!
Thank you Jen!! Finding new recipes that everyone loves is happy dance time!!
Just made this tonight for my family that came over for dinner. I’m a vegetarian so I didn’t taste it but they said it was great! They could really taste the bacon back flavors and enjoyed it. I used 2 lbs. of turkey instead and the Better Than Bouillon vegetarian “chicken base” for the broth.
As a side note for a veggie version: I omitted the meat and found it a little too salty. I’m guessing that’s because the meat wasn’t there. If omitting I’d suggest cutting the dry seasonings down a little bit. Otherwise great!
Thanks for tip on a vegetarian version! So glad your family enjoyed it!
This recipe will be my 1st ever IP dish. I have the 3 QT as I’m cooking for 1. I understand I will need to half the recipe, but what about cook times? Has anyone else tried this? I’m a bit nervous, but I love chili and it looks delicious!!
I’m not entirely sure about this since we haven’t tried it, but I would assume the cook time would be the same.
I won the chili cook-off at work with this recipe this year (2018). Also, I have never made chili before.
Thanks for making me look good Oh Sweet Basil!
That’s what we are here for Jon!! We love hearing about people bringing home chili cook off victories! Thank you for sharing your success with us!
I am making your award winning chili but forgot to sauté the onions and peppers before adding them to the slow cooker. Should I cook it all on high and how long to soften them up ?
I would just cook them really quick in a pan or put them in the pot and they might have a bit more crunch. No need to change cook time.
Followed recipe to a tee and husband brought home champion trophy from his office chili cook off this year (sept 2018). So thankful I found this recipe! Y’all are awesome!!
Yessssss! This is what we like to hear! Bringing home chili cook off victories! Thank you for sharing with us!
I doubled this recipe and have an eight quart. It was just a tad too much, I omitted one can of red kidney beans and scooped out one ladle of content to be on the safe side. It took a lot longer to brown the meat and the bacon, too. FYI! It’s pressure releasing now. Can’t wait to taste, smells delicious!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this feedback! Hope you enjoyed it!
Odd. I have the larger one as well and did a double batch. Added a serrano pepper for good measure and used 3lbs of ground bison. It filled just below the max line. Under pressure now but I’ve been through enough of these rodeos to know its going to be awesome. I cut back on the salt a bit and didnt drain much fat, since my meat was so lean to begin with. Gonna garnish with green onion, sour cream, and cheddar. Perfect fall meal.
Did you have to adjust the time for the 8 qt? I am adding more meat to mine but I figure the time will be okay . Serrano is the way to go for heat . Jalapeños aren’t that hot really .
That sounds amazing!!
This was my first ever Instant pot recipe to try. It turned out pretty good, however there were several large clumps of mushy stuck together beans. Can anyone shed some light as to why this happened? Did I not stir it enough?
Yes, it sounds like it. Everything needs to be stirred together thoroughly.