Thank you to USA Pulses & Pulse Canada for sponsoring this post!
My life has changed drastically since buying a pressure cooker. I’m constantly amazed by how quickly it cooks ingredients with traditionally long cooking times. This recipe for Instant Pot Chili is made with dry kidney beans, but only takes 15 minutes of actual cooking time! It’s packed with warm and velvety flavors from a mixture of awesome spices, including cocoa powder (trust me, it works). Since the bulk is made from dry beans, it’s super inexpensive to make and much healthier than a majority meat chili.
I plan on making this weekly to get me through the winter. It’s like eating a big bowl of cozy- it’s so hearty and satisfying and warms you to the core. Mmm, mmm.
I got an Instant Pot for Christmas, and I’ll admit: it took me a while before I felt confident using it. There is a bit of a learning curve associated with it, as with any new cooking technique or kitchen gadget. But after only a few uses, I can officially say that I’M OBSESSED. It’s amazing for cooking tough cuts of meat to perfect juicy tenderness (think: pulled pork or pot roast). But I have to say, I like using it to cook pulses the best.
Have you heard of the term “pulses” before? Pulses are the superfood group made up of beans, chickpeas, dry peas and lentils.
They are high in fiber and low in fat. They have tons of protein and nutrients. And my favorite part: they are CHEAP. Having a half cup of cooked pulses three times a week can be super beneficial for your health- you can sign up for the half-cup habit challenge here!
This Instant Pot chili recipe is a delicious, easy, and cheap way to get a hearty serving of pulses. I used dried kidney beans for this recipe, and they came out perfectly cooked. They held their shape and didn’t turn mushy, but weren’t too firm either. Here’s how I did it:
- I soaked the beans before cooking them. There are recipes out there that instruct you to cook the dry beans immediately without soaking, but I always find that it’s hard to gauge cooking time and that the beans are a bit more difficult to digest without soaking them. It takes almost no hands-on time, just a little bit of planning. Sort through the beans to make sure there aren’t any rocks or debris, then cover with double the amount of water in a container or bowl, and leave to soak in your fridge overnight (12-24 hours). Then, when you are ready to use them, drain and rinse well.
- I finished salting/seasoning the chili after it was fully cooked. Adding too much salt to the cooking liquid of beans can affect their texture. There is a little bit of salt added to the veggies and ground beef in the beginning, but the rest is added after the chili is completely done.
There’s so much to love about this recipe.
First of all, it’s CHEAP. Dry beans are one of the least expensive, most nutritious foods you can buy, and because they make up the bulk of this chili, you’ll be able to spend more on high quality, lean ground beef, which makes the entire recipe healthy. I definitely recommend using lean beef for this recipe because you sauté it directly in the pot without draining the fat- the chili might be a bit too greasy otherwise.
Furthermore, this recipe makes a TON. One batch will feed 8-10 people- it’s extremely hearty and filling. And since it’s freezable, you can save some for an easy meal (or two) later.
So. You have three tasks in front of you:
- Get yourself an Instant Pot!
- MAKE THIS CHILI IMMEDIATELY.
- Learn more about healthy pulses and how to make a habit of having a half-cup three times a week! Your waistline (and your wallet) will thank you.
Other Pressure Cooker Soups and Stews
- Instant Pot Split Pea Soup
- Instant Pot Fish Stew
- Pressure Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup
- Instant Pot Black Eyed Pea Soup
- Instant Pot Pumpkin Chili
Check out all my Instant Pot Recipes here!
Here’s the printable recipe for this Instant Pot Chili made with dry beans and ground beef. Finally, if you don’t have a pressure cooker, don’t fret- I included instructions for a slow cooker as well :-)
Instant Pot Chili with Ground Beef and Dry Kidney Beans
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb. dry kidney beans soaked for 12-24 hrs., drained, and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 bell peppers any color, seeded and diced (about 1.5 cups)
- 1 onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 4 tablespoons chili powder (1/4 cup)
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1.5 lbs. lean ground beef
- 3.5 cups water (see notes)
- 28 oz. canned diced tomatoes
- kosher salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, hot sauce, chopped green or red onion, fresh herbs, etc. for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to "sauté," and cook the peppers, onions, and garlic in the olive oil (1 tablespoon) and 1 teaspoon kosher salt for about 5 minutes, or until softened.
- Add the chili powder (4 tablespoons), cumin (1 tablespoon), coriander (1 tablespoon), oregano (1 tablespoon), and cocoa powder (1 tablespoon). Stir and continue sautéing for about 30 seconds to a minute- just enough time for the spices to become slightly toasted.
- Add the ground beef and continue cooking until browned.
- Add the water, tomatoes, drained and rinsed beans. Stir. Turn "sauté" setting off, cover the Instant Pot and set the pressure to manual/high for 15 minutes.
- Allow the pressure to release naturally for 15-20 minutes. If it hasn't released fully at this point, you can unseal the valve manually. Open once the float valve has depressed.
- Season with more kosher salt and black pepper to taste.
- If the chili seems too thin, turn Instant Pot to "sauté" setting and allow to simmer uncovered until it reaches desired consistency. Alternatively, you can use a potato masher to mash some of the chili/beans, which will help thicken it.
- The chili is ready! Serve with sour cream, grated cheddar cheese, chopped green or red onions, hot sauce, or any other fixings you desire :-)
Notes
- For a richer flavor: Instead of water, chicken or beef broth can be used, alone or in combination with dark beer.
- Slow cooker instructions: Sauté the peppers, onions, and garlic in a skillet as directed. Add the spices and beef as directed. Transfer to slow cooker and add the water, tomatoes, and drained/rinsed beans. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Spice it up! I purposefully made this chili mild tasting since I was feeding it to my one-year-old daughter and wanted it to be family friendly. If you like tons of spice, feel free to add more chili powder, some cayenne pepper, or even a fresh jalapeño pepper in with the other peppers.
- I made this recipe in my 6 qt. Instant pot. It should work the same in an 8 qt., but you may need to cut the ingredients in half for a 3 qt. mini.
-
The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Jasmyn
We very much enjoyed this recipe. I added a habanero pepper and a spoon of honey for kick and balancing. Next time I would either decrease to beans of increase the beef, I would that the ratio was off. I will also add mushrooms next time because I love them
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! Thanks for the suggestions.
Tom Litt
(Retired male experienced cook.) Great stuff here, loved it! I truly wish that I had followed directions and soaked the beans overnight, but I was in a hurry, so….. I ended up boiling them a bit and covering them for an hour, then I doubled the cook time and used natural release. They were just a bit hard, but still edible! Next time that I am in a hurry, I will use drained canned beans or plan ahead to soak them adequately.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! I’m a big fan of soaking beans overnight, but your quick soaking method should have worked in theory. That said, beans can also vary in cooking length depending on how old they are – sometimes they sit on the shelf for a while after harvesting, either in your own pantry or on the shelves in the grocery store, so sometimes people find that different brands are more reliably “fresher” or that if they use an old bag of beans from their pantry they have different results. That also could have been a factor here. Hope that helps!
Dani
Why does your instructions say “soak it overnight” but in your comments responding to people, you say 24 hours? That seems like a pretty big difference.
Also in terms of the burning; there are two reasons why this is happening in addition to not enough liquid.
1. When you are sautéing you need to be super careful and deglaze a little at a time when frying up the onions and then the meat. If it sticks to the bottom and it gets too hot, and is not deglazed properly, it will burn once you close the lid to pressure cook.
2. I also allow the pot to cool down a bit between sautéing and then closing the lid. Again if it’s way too hot, once the pressure cooking begins, there is a higher chance of the food sticking to the bottom and burning.
But also when this happens I found a pretty good way to deal. Just take out everything in the pot and then deglaze the bottom of the pan by going back to sauté function until all the burnt bits come off. Then add everything back in. Let it all cool down a bit and try pressure cooking again!
Elizabeth Lindemann
Great catch- I’m going to change my wording to “12-24 hours” to help clarify! And thanks very much for the tips for preventing burning.
Angelique M Cejka
This chili was a real hit with the family! However, I did make some alterations to accommodate my 6-quart Instant Pot. I soaked 1/2 c. each of dried pinto, black and kidney beans for 24 hrs. This came out to approx. 6 c of beans and less than the 1 lb of dried the recipe called for. After adding the beans to the pot, I realized that there wasn’t enough room for the broth and canned tomatoes. So I pulled out about 2.5 cups of beans to make way for the broth, tomatoes and I added a can of tomato paste. I only added 2.5 cups of broth and it turned out to be just the right consistency and amount for my 6-quart Instant Pot. Garnished with fresh cilantro and grated feta cheese. Will definitely make this again, thanks for the delicious recipe, Elizabeth. As a footnote, I think the original recipe would be just great for an 8-qt size.
Elizabeth
So happy you and your family liked it! Thanks so much for the notes on how you accommodated for a 6 qt.
Amanda
Thanks for the recipe, Elizabeth! Who doesn’t love a good pot of chili? Is the recipe listed in your post for an 8qt. pot? I am new to the IP and I have a 6 qt. Just wondering if I need to make accommodations based on Angelique’s comments above. Thanks so much!
Elizabeth
I made mine in my 6 quart IP! Hope that helps, and hope you like it :-)
Betsy Molter
Sooo good! Used a bottle of session ale in the liquid portion and a can of fire roasted rotel tomatoes as a portion of the tomatoes. First time I have ever started with dry kidney beans instead of canned and it was perfect. My new chili recipe from now on!
Elizabeth
Yay! So happy you liked it!
TERI
I made this recipe but soaked the beans overnight and rinsed them and when doing the recipe I did everything then when I added the beans my instant pot built up the pressure then went right to burn and it wouldn’t do anything not sure what I did wrong, thought I didn’t have to cook the beans ahead of time. HELP
Elizabeth
This is strange. You are the second person to comment that this happened. I’ve never gotten a burn warning on my IP, and I double checked the recipe to make sure I wrote it correctly. I’m going to definitely have to try to make this again so I can hopefully pinpoint the exact problem! In the mean time, I think adding more liquid will help. I’m going to change the 2.5 cups to 3.5 cups, with a recommendation for thickening it if it comes out too thin. Thanks for the heads up, and so sorry this happened to you!
diana
I used pre-soaked dry kidney beans but after 15 minutes at high pressure and another 15 minutes for the NPR, the beans were not soft or creamy enough. I tried to put it back into the pressure mode, but it gave me a “burn” warning. Any suggestions? The beans were organic and hadn’t expired and I’m in a low altitude.
Elizabeth
Hm. That’s never happened to me before, but after a bit of searching around on the internet, I *think* that there may not be enough liquid. You may want to try adding a cup more of water to it, in addition to the 2.5 cups recommended. Also, did you soak the beans for enough time? I soaked mine for 24 hours- if you did less time there is a possibility they needed more liquid. That’s the only thing I can think of… hope this helps!
Elizabeth
I’m nervous about putting the tomatoes in while the beans cook. That goes against every dry bean cooking recipe I’ve ever made. Of course, this is my first time cooking them in an instant pot.
Elizabeth
If you’re nervous about it, you can definitely just stir the tomatoes in after cooking and let them heat up for a few minutes, since canned tomatoes don’t need any extra cooking! It didn’t affect the texture of the beans for me. Hope you like it!
Lacey
This looks tasty. I was wondering if the cooking time would need to be adjusted if using pinto beans or great northern beans instead of kidney beans. We don’t care for the flavor of kidney beans. Thanks!
Elizabeth
Oooo good question. Different beans do take different times to cook in a pressure cooker, and if you aren’t careful, you may end up with beans that are too mushy or too hard. This Instant Pot cooking times chart is super helpful. I increased the cooking time from this chart because I had other things in there, but it does look like pinto and great northern fall under the same time frame as kidney, so it shouldn’t change these recipe instructions. Hope that’s helpful!