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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.
This chili was delicious!!! I made it as directed except that I cooked the bacon in the oven. Outstanding!
Thank you for the feedback Cassandra! So glad it was a hit!
This may be a silly question … Sorry
If doubling the recipe, Do I also double beef stock?
Yes! Doubling the recipe doesn’t quite fit a 6 qt Instant Pot just FYI. Enjoy!
Man, no joke on the Burn notice, and this is the first recipe I’ve ever had this repeatedly happen. I didn’t even cook bacon or meat in the pot to try and alleviate the issue after reading the other comments. I cooked the meat separately and added oil to the pot to cook the veg. The bottom was completely scraped and then each time I set it for chili mode pressure it goes to burn after about 5 minutes and the bottom is caked. My guess is it’s the tomato paste to liquid ratio. Better off just slow cooking it…
Hey Erin! I’m so sorry you had so many issues with this! We have made this dozens of times just as the instructions say and have never had a burn notice problem. I’m not sure why it is an issue for so many readers, but we include more tips about avoiding it in our turkey chili post if that helps at all: https://ohsweetbasil.com/award-winning-healthy-turkey-instant-pot-chili-recipe/.
The slow cooker and stove top methods also work great though!
It was still so good, we just let it cook to perfection on slow cooker for 3 hours. No worries. I’ve already shared the recipe and plan on it being our go-to chili recipe. We ate it for 3 days and we both really don’t like leftovers so that says something LOL Thank you for the recipe!
That says a lot!! Thank you so much for the feedback and SO glad you enjoyed it!
Thank You So Much for this awesome sharing! These look absolutely delicious!
Enjoy!
I have made your healthy turkey chili and your Mexican casserole, which I love. I have made both of those with vegetarian meat substitutes which require more fluid as the meat substitutes don’t have the liquid content that meat does.
Back to this recipe: great balance of condiments and ingredients. I added two cubanelle peppers, and substituted 1 tbsp ancho chili powder and 1 tbsp chipotle chili powder for the 2 tbsp chili powder, and this recipe came out absolutely superb. I had never used oregano in chili, and it definitely added to the flavor profile. I used 90/10 ground beef and there was no excess grease to spoon out.
I like to serve this with some Mexican blend cheese and olive bread for sopping. True comfort food. I am so happy my vegetarian wife was away so I could enjoy the deep savory flavor of bacon and beef chili.
I have a 6 quart IP, and it was maxed out. Leftovers are already in the freezer for warming my winter soul in the coming months.
Thank you!
Thank you so much for the feedback! I love your substitutes and I’m so glad you’ll be able to enjoy it all winter long!
I’ve made this recipe countless times and it is always great, and the family loves it. Recently, I’ve been paying attention to what I eat and started counting calories, sodium, etc. I see you posted the nutrition info, and sodium says omg. Is that “OMG It is so high”, or is that zero mg? Given beans, and broth, I think it would be more than zero. So, is it omg it is high sodium?
Hi Samir! It looks like our nutrition info isn’t calculating correctly on this recipe. Let me look into it and get it fixed!
Ok, the nutritional info has been fixed. Thank you for letting us know!
I almost never comment on recipes, but I have to come back here after using this recipe for over a year to say how fantastic it is. I make it in an hour or so for every large get together and follow it to a T (except sometimes I forget the bacon), and it is always, always a hit. Everyone gobbles it up. I had never even thought of putting the toppings on, but now, sour cream, cilantro, cheese and lime are always cut up along side. Thank you, thank you for making such a great recipe.
You’re the best Jessica! Thank you!!
Absolutely fab, hubby loved it and had seconds,,, I followed the recipe, just added a touch of honey and lemon juice, thickened with cornflour. Made it in pressure king pro on slow cooker function.
Thanks for the feedback Tracey! So glad you enjoyed it!
Has anyone made this with turkey? We absolutely LOVE this recipe as is, but I’m trying to lose a few #s so I’d love to sub turkey for the ground beef but don’t want to ruin this in any way. Anyone?
I always sub ground beef for ground turkey. Treat it the same way you would ground beef.
Hi Micall! We actually have a recipe for this with ground turkey and turkey bacon that you’re going to love! https://ohsweetbasil.com/award-winning-healthy-turkey-instant-pot-chili-recipe/
I am 48 years old and this is my FIRST ever red chili. I’ve made a lot of white bean chicken chil’s but for some reason red chili’s made me nervous. I made this for a work “Chili Cookoff” last week with 5 other entries. AND I WON! So, the name says it all….Award Winning Chili. Thanks for sharing this recipe and making my first-ever chili the best!
Yessssss Shannon! LOVE to hear this! Thank you for sharing your victory with us!
I followed this recipe almost to the letter. I had to buy regulate diced tomatoes (fire roasted weren’t available) and I used dried minced garlic (1/2 Tbsp). It turned out so salty, we almost couldn’t eat it! What happened? 😞
Oh no! I’m so sorry! Are you sure you only did 2 teaspoons of Kosher salt? Everyone tastes saltiness differently, but we haven’t had this feedback from anyone else before. You could try using low sodium beef broth next time. The change in tomatoes and garlic shouldn’t have caused saltiness.