Homemade Instant Pot Chili, made using ground beef and dried unsoaked beans, is the perfect comfort food for a fall or wintry evening. It’s also a great dish to feed a crowd, or for game day. The addition of Masa Harina (corn meal) in this chili recipe thickens the chili and gives it a corn flavor. Add your choice of toppings to take this homemade Instant Pot chili recipe over the top!
Did you know that October is National Chili Month? It’s not yet October, but the leaves are changing color, the weather’s turning cooler and I’m starting to make soups, stews and other comfort foods. I love the advent of fall and I thought it would be appropriate to post an Instant Pot Chili recipe to observe this occasion! I recently posted a recipe for Instant Pot Gumbo, which happens to be the state dish of Louisiana. And chili happens to be the state dish of Texas. Hmm, maybe I need to keep this going, and cover all 50 states?
Chili is derived from Chili con Carne (translated as ‘chili with meat’ in Spanish), which originated in Texas. During the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, the San Antonio Chili Stand helped popularize Texas chili to other parts of the United States. If you’re inclined to find out more, What’s Cooking America has a fascinating article about the origins of chili.
Chili purists might say that chili should not include beans and/or tomatoes. Well, my recipe for Homemade Instant Pot Chili has both beans and tomatoes. Because I happen to like both in my chili. This recipe uses dried beans instead of canned beans.
Dried beans are much more economical and don’t have added salt and preservatives. But many of us use canned beans just for the convenience: no pre-soaking, no long cook times, just open the can and pour. The Instant Pot affords you the opportunity to cook dried beans without the inconveniences.
The hands-on time for this Instant Pot Chili with dried beans recipe is about 10 minutes. For the rest of the time, the Instant Pot is doing the cooking while you get other important things done!
Ladle the Instant Pot Chili into bowls and provide your choice of the following toppings:
- sour cream
- shredded cheddar cheese
- diced shallots or red onions or green onions
- sliced jalapenos
- hot sauce
- cilantro
- corn bread to crumble over top
- my personal favorite: Fritos corn chips!
Tips
– The dried beans should be pre-soaked, but I’m going to show you a shortcut. I sometimes always forget to soak my beans, so here’s a tip for you that works like a charm with any recipe that uses pre-soaked dried beans. I do a quick Instant Pot pre-soak while I’m cutting up the vegetables and gathering up my ingredients:
- Put the beans in the Instant Pot and add water that’s 1-inch above the level of the beans.
- Cook in ‘Manual’ or ‘Pressure Cook’ mode for 5 minutes of high pressure.
- Do a Natural Pressure Release (NPR).
- Proceed with the recipe as usual.
– This recipe calls for masa harina (pronounced ‘maasa areena’) which is a finely ground Mexican corn flour used to make tortillas. Added to the chili after pressure cooking, the masa harina will thicken the Instant Pot chili and give it a slight corn flavor. Masa Harina can be found in the Latin/Mexican section of your grocery store or at a Latin grocery store. If you can’t find it, you can either substitute corn meal or take a few corn tortillas and powder them in a blender.
– If you’ve never cooked homemade chili before, it’s important to note that the chili powder called for in this Instant Pot Chili recipe is American chili powder which is a mixture of different spices including cumin and garlic. Please don’t use cayenne pepper or ground chili powder that you get from Asian, Mexican, ethnic markets – you won’t be able to eat this chili; it’ll be too spicy! So be sure to check the ingredient list. I like to use McCormick Chili Powder.
– If you have leftovers, you’ll find that the Instant Pot Chili tastes even better the next day, once the flavors have had a chance to meld.
If you’re new to the Instant Pot and aren’t familiar with how to use it, please read the Instant Pot DUO Beginner’s Quick Start Guide or the Instant Pot ULTRA Beginner’s Quick Start Guide first and then come back here to learn how to make Homemade Instant Pot Chili.
Instant Pot Chili with Dry Beans Ingredients
Quick Instant Pot Pre-Soak of Dry Beans Step by Step Instructions
(What to do if you haven’t pre-soaked your beans for 4 to 8 hours)
- Rinse pinto beans and drain.
- Add beans to inner pot of the Instant Pot.
- Pour in enough water to be 1 inch above the level of the beans.
- Close Instant Pot Lid, and make sure steam release handle is in the ‘Sealing’ position.
- Press ‘Manual’ or ‘Pressure Cook’ and ‘+’ or ‘-‘ until display reads ‘5’ (5 minutes)
- Instant Pot display will change to ‘On’.
- Once the Instant Pot is pressurized, the float valve will go up.
- The display will count down from 5 to 0; it will then switch to ‘Keep Warm’ mode and display ‘L0:00’.
- Do a Natural Pressure Release: wait for the float valve to drop on its own, about 12 minutes.
- Press ‘Cancel’ and open the Instant Pot.
- Drain the beans and set aside.
Instant Pot Chili with Dried Beans Step by Step Instructions
- Press ‘Saute’ button.
- Once Instant Pot is hot, add vegetable oil to inner pot.
- Add ground beef to inner pot.
- Stir with a wooden spoon to break up the meat into smaller pieces and saute until meat is browned, about 3 minutes.
- Add onions to beef and saute until soft, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in bell peppers.
- Stir in garlic.
- Add chili powder, oregano, cumin powder, cocoa powder, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper.
- Stir well and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add beef broth, tomatoes and pre-soaked dried beans (whether using quick Instant Pot pre-soak or countertop pre-soak).
- Close Instant Pot Lid, and make sure steam release handle is in the ‘Sealing’ position.
- Press ‘Manual’ or ‘Pressure Cook’ and ‘+’ or ‘-‘ until display reads ‘20′ (20 minutes).
- Instant Pot display will change to ‘On’.
- Once the Instant Pot is pressurized, the float valve will go up.
- The display will count down from 20 to 0; it will then switch to ‘Keep Warm’ mode and display ‘L0:00’.
- Do a Natural Pressure Release: wait for the float valve to drop on its own, about 15 to 18 minutes. *
- Press ‘Cancel’ and open the Instant Pot.
* After 15 minutes, if you wish to, you can release the remaining pressure by moving the pressure release handle to venting position.
- Press Saute.
- Stir in masa harina.
- Cook until chili is thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Press ‘Cancel’.
- Allow the Instant Pot chili to rest for 5 more minutes before serving, it will thicken some more.
- Ladle chili into serving bowls and serve with your choice of toppings: sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, chopped red onions, shallots or green onions, sliced jalapenos, hot sauce, diced avocado, or Fritos chips (my favorite!)
Homemade Instant Pot Chili (with dried beans)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups dried pinto beans
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
- 2 cups onion chopped
- 1 cup bell pepper chopped
- 2 Tbsp garlic minced
- 3 Tbsp chili powder *
- 1 Tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- 2 tsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or to taste
- 4 cups low sodium beef broth
- 2 cups tomatoes (or 1 (14.5-oz) can diced tomatoes) chopped
- 1/4 cup masa harina
- Your choice of toppings: sour cream shredded cheddar cheese, chopped red onions, shallots or green onions, sliced jalapenos, hot sauce, diced avocado, or Fritos chips
Instructions
To pre-soak pinto beans on countertop:
- Rinse pinto beans and drain.
- Place beans in a medium bowl and add enough water to be 1 inch above the level of the beans.
- Let bowl sit on countertop for 4 to 8 hours.
- Drain and set aside.
To do a quick pre-soak of pinto beans in Instant Pot:
- Rinse pinto beans and drain.
- Add pinto beans to inner pot of Instant Pot and pour in enough water to be 1 inch above the level of the beans.
- Close Instant Pot Lid, and make sure steam release handle is in the ‘Sealing’ position.
- Cook on ‘Manual’ or ‘Pressure Cook’ mode for 5 minutes.
- Do a Natural Pressure Release (NPR), about 12 minutes.
- Press 'Cancel' and open the Instant Pot; drain the beans and set aside.
Instant Pot Chili Instructions:
- Press ‘Saute’ button.
- Once the Instant Pot is hot, add oil to inner pot.
- Add ground beef to inner pot.
- Stir with a wooden spoon to break up meat into smaller pieces and saute until meat is browned, about 3 minutes.
- Stir in onions and saute until soft, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in bell peppers and garlic.
- Add chili powder, dried oregano, cumin powder, cocoa powder, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in beef broth, tomatoes and pre-soaked pinto beans (use either countertop or Instant Pot quick pre-soak method from above).
- Close Instant Pot Lid, and make sure steam release handle is in the ‘Sealing’ position.
- Cook on ‘Manual’ or ‘Pressure Cook’ mode for 20 minutes.
- Do a Natural Pressure Release (NPR), about 15 to 18 minutes. **
- Press ‘Cancel’ and open the Instant Pot.
- Press 'Saute'.
- Stir in masa harina.
- Cook until chili has thickened, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.
- Press 'Cancel'.
- Allow the Instant Pot Chili to rest for 5 more minutes before serving, it will thicken some more.
- Ladle chili into serving bowls and serve with your choice of toppings: sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, chopped red onions, shallots or green onions, sliced jalapenos, hot sauce, diced avocado, or Fritos chips (my favorite!)
Notes
Nutrition
I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
If you loved this recipe, please give it a 5 Star rating in the comment section below and please share it on social media using the social media share buttons at the top and bottom of this post. Thank you so much!
You might also like to try:
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| Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice | Instant Pot Gumbo | Instant Pot Carnitas |
Shristi
So if I pre-soak the beans for 4-8 hours, I don’t have to cook them at all? I just add them to the IP when making the chili?
And if I do want to “soak” the beans in the IP for 5 mins, I don’t need to fully cook the beans?
Whenever I was making chili in the IP, I was using beans that I had fully cooked (20ish mins) already. I didn’t even know there were shortcuts!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Shristi – that’s right. Either way, whether you pre-soak the beans for 4 to 8 hours or whether you cook them for 5 minutes NPR, you add them to the IP with the beef and pressure cook with the beef for 20 minutes. Note that if you substitute another type of bean (i.e. not pinto), the 20 minute cooking time might need to change. Also if your beans are older or have been sitting on the grocery shelf for a long time, bean pressure cooking times go up. Good luck and thanks for your comment!
Shristi
We just had it for dinner and it was amazing! I make chili all the time, but this was so much better than my other recipes. Thank you!!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Oh, I’m so glad Shristi! I love getting comments like your’s – makes me happy to have shared the recipe!
Jenna
Hi,
I found you on Reddit and your recipes look so good! I plan to make this chili as soon as weather cools down (still in the 90s where I am)! Do you take requests?? I would love to see a pav bhaji recipe for the instant pot.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Jenna – I do have a list of requests, but you might need to be a bit patient – I will put pav bhaji on the list! I’m glad you found me. P.S. It snowed briefly here today!
Sandy Studebaker
I made the chili and really enjoyed it. Now I want to double the recipe to fix for family. Do I need to cook the chili longer?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Sandy – thanks for your comment. Make sure you don’t go past the fill line of the Instant Pot. When cooking beans and chili, it should be no more than half full, to compensate for expansion and foam that can clog the valves. See your Instant Pot manual. But to answer your question, no you don’t need to change the cook time if you increase the quantity.
Ula
I just made this recipe, with a few changes since I was trying to use up what I had on hand. I subbed a 1/2# of ground pork for an equal amount of beef. I don’t care for bell pepper in my chili (didn’t have one anyway) but I did have a spare jalapeño in the fridge, so I minced that and changed the cayenne pepper to smoked paprika to compensate for the heat. Otherwise, the proportions and ingredients are true to the recipe,
I cold-soaked my beans because I had time (and I remembered), but only for 4 hours. That wasn’t enough soaking time, because in the end they came out a tiny bit too al dente. But not to worry, I simmered them on Low for the 25 minutes it took the cornbread to bake and everything came out perfectly. Next time I’ll use the quick soak method. This is the best chili I’ve ever made.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Ula – thank you for sharing info about your substitutions. That’s really helpful for other readers. Did you use Pinto beans? Some beans require longer soaking… Glad to hear you loved the recipe – makes my day!
Doug
Never had chili with cocoa powder in
Recipe. Will try it. Do you drain beef
After browning.? Not in directions.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Doug – I try to use beef that’s not very high in fat, so I do not drain it. If you find that there’s more fat than you like, I would drain at least some of it. Hope you like it.
Liz
Looks good….. going to try it. Was wondering what I can substitute for the masa? Don’t have any right now.
Thanks
Paint the Kitchen Red
If you have corn tortillas, you can crumble them. You can also sub corn meal.
Crystal McHale
This is the new family favorite. We’ve made it twice and both times it was a big hit. It’s hard to please this family of five with a meal that everyone loves equally but your recipe hits the spot! Thank you so much for sharing this with us!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Crystal – ohhh, that is so great! Thank you for sharing that, you’ve made my evening! I hope you find other recipes you like.
Pam Kinnunen
Is this recipe based on 6 or 8 qt instant pot? Sorry if I missed it in the remarks/recipe. Thanks
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Pam – I used a 6 quart, so it would work perfectly in an 8 quart too.
Jessica
Best chili I have ever made. I have even made much more complicated chilis with beer, different kinds of exotic meat, countless hours of simmer time, etc. but this chili blows those away! I will be following the same recipe with no edits for many quick chili dinners to come.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Jessica – you just made my Thanksgiving! Thank you so much for commenting – comments like your’s keep me going and striving to publish only the best 🙂
Karen
Wow! I was looking for an Instant Pot recipe that used dry beans and found your recipe. I veganized it by substituting TVP (textured vegetable protein), vegetable broth and I used a bag of frozen onion/colored peppers from Trader Joe’s and also added one-half bag of Trader Joe’s fire roasted corn. This will be my new go-to chili recipe. I did use red beans and pinto beans, but I don’t think I will do this next time. Thank you for sharing!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks, Karen! I’m so glad you liked and I’m sure other readers are appreciative of your vegetarian instructions. I sometimes use veggie crumbles in the stove-top version of this recipe, but have not tried in the Instant Pot!
Tallulah
The masa harina got clumpy and wouldn’t stir in correctly, which I think kept it from thickening properly. What am I doing wrong?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Tallulah, did you add the masa in and begin stirring right away? If you pour it in and delay, it might clump. Or is it possible that your chili was already a bit thick? I would suggest that maybe next time, pour in a little less and stir, and add more only if needed. And when you pour it in, do it in by spreading it out in a circular pattern rather than dump it all in. Let me know if you have further questions. I hope you get to try it out again.
Bobby T
Using a sifter helped me on this step.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Great idea!
Bobby T
I made this for my family this past weekend in my new (Christmas gift) Instant Pot and it was delicious! My only changes were to add fresh peppers (jalapeno and serrano) into the pot and also to remove chili powder and sub in dried habanero powder. Mine had a great kick and everyone loved it! Thank you for the recipe!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Bobby, thank you for sharing your adaptation. Oh, yeah – habanero would give it a kick! I use chipotle peppers sometimes.
Carie
I would like to use kidney beans/black beans instead of pinto beans. How does this change the timing?
Thanks
Paint the Kitchen Red
I think you can keep the cook time the same for kidney beans and be fine. You might be able to decrease the black beans cooking time by 5 minutes.
James Anderson
If I made day before, how best to reheat and serve the next day in pressure cooker?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hiya James – thanks for your question. I would reheat it using the Pot in Pot method. Get an oven-safe dish that will fit in the Instant Pot without being a tight fit. Put 1 cup water in the inner pot, put a trivet in the water, put your chili in the oven-safe dish, cover with foil (optional), pressure cook for about 3 minutes.
Nesa
Any idea on how long to cook for if omitting beans? Sadly I am the only one in my family who like them. Thanks!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Nesa – oh, yes those persnickety family members – I have some too 🙂 Without the meat, you should be able to cook it it 8 to 10 minutes. You’ll definitely want to reduce the broth quantity. Thanks for visiting!
Linda
So delicious! We used some leftover beef roast and fresh cubed pork loin instead of ground beef.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thank you, Linda! Oh, I’m sure it was super tasty with cubed beef and pork!
Eric
This was the very first recipe I made with my Instapot and it was wonderful! I may have had better chili in the past, but I don’t remember when!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Eric, thanks for your comment – such a nice compliment! Hope you enjoy your new Instant Pot.
GH
I made this with a combination of hot pork sausage and ground beef. Also added a large can of crushed tomatoes. Fantastic!!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks for sharing your modification; so glad you like the recipe. One of my faves.
Robin
I have tried 3 or 4 other Instant Pot chili recipes and this is by far the best. The masa harina thickens the chili just perfectly. I add another 1/2 cup beans as personal preference, otherwise follow the recipe exactly. Thank you Neena!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Awesome, Robin! Thank you – that means a lot to me. I love this recipe too!
Kathryn Roosa
Excellent chili! I added a little more heat because I like SPICY!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks, Kathryn! If my kids aren’t eating, I do the same. They’re wimps 🙂
Gabrielle
This was my first instant pot chili and really good. It had a kick, but all 4 of my kids still enjoyed it.
I only had dried kidney beans on hand and used those without changing anything and it came out great. Thanks for the recipe!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks, Gabrielle, for commenting, and for letting us know that regular kidney beans worked fine for you.
Lorraine
Great chili! Thanks for sharing!
Lorraine
Great chili! So easy too, thanks
Alicia
I used my stovetop pressure cooker, & the chili was delicious! My husband said it was the best chili he’s ever had!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Awesome, Alicia! I used to make this on the stovetop, but not pressure cooker. Glad you liked it, and that’s a great compliment from your husband!
Lance Mertz
I really liked this recipe. I was making it for a large group at a potluck birthday party. I used a red bell pepper, a jalapeno and a carrot to add some veggies. The masa really thickened it up and had to pour a bottle of beer in to loosen it up and then some water when I reheated it. It was a hit all around. I cooked it in a pot for over 4 hours instead of the instant pot as my wife decided she needed the pot. it worked great.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks for your comment, Lance. The Instant Pot loses minimal liquid from evaporation. So when you cooked it on the stovetop, the final result before adding masa harina was probably already thicker than it would be after pressure cooking. Next time just add some more liquid during the initial cooking period.
Joan Bitterman
I love this recipe! I’ve made it several times already to universal acclaim.
Since there are a fair number of vegans among us, I use soy crumbles instead of beef, and I use minced jalapeños and some little peppers from our local Indian grocery instead of cayenne powder. At the end, after cooking, I add sauteed zucchini chunks and frozen corn. The masa harina not only thickens, but it also adds a lovely soft flavor. I use a large can of tomato sauce and Better Than Boullion vegetable flavor for the stock. Thanks for a great, crown pleasing, fun recipe.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks, Joan, for giving us your modifications to make the recipe vegan. Good to know that soy crumbles work well. I used soy crumbles in the stove-top version of this recipe sometimes but never have in the Instant Pot. Good to know.