Best Easy Instant Pot Chili is simple to make with a mouthwatering combination of beef and beans!  You can have a bowl of cozy chili that tastes like it simmered for hours ready in about 30 minutes!

instant pot chili with canned beans topped with cheese and sour cream

I have been wanting to try chili in my Instant Pot for months now!  We are currently having a very cold start to spring, and there was no better time to give it a try.

My instant pot chili is made virtually the same way that I make my chili in a traditional slow cooker.  I have a very specific assortment of beans that I like to use for MAX flavor.

Typically, I don’t post pictures of a particular brand of ingredient unless the post is sponsored.  This post is NOT sponsored, however, the picture below is to show you what “Ranch Style Beans” are, just in case you aren’t familiar with them.

Ranch style beans for instant pot chili

I am able to find this style of beans at any grocery store I go to.  They are just pinto beans, but I happen to adore the spices that they use.  They pack some seriously amazing flavor that takes chili to another level.

If you are unable to find them, you can simply use extra chili beans instead.  I prefer this to plain kidney beans, again because chili beans are packed in a flavorful sauce and kidney beans are not.

Easy instant pot chili with beef and beans

 

Instant Pot Chili:

Chili is really easy to make in the Instant Pot.  I tend to use VERY lean ground beef so that I don’t even have to drain any grease, and I can just keep on cooking.

For this recipe, you will brown your beef using the saute feature in a small amount of olive oil along with some chopped onions and seasonings.  When your beef is no longer pink use your best judgment and/or preference on whether you need to drain any grease from the pot or not.

Then, you can simply add in your four cans of beans, tomato sauce, and beef broth and let the Instant Pot do all of the work!  This will take about 10 minutes to come to pressure.  Then, you will allow it to cook on manual for 20 minutes.

After your 20 minutes is up, allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes then you can do a quick release.  The next step is to add a cornstarch and water “slurry” to the chili to let it thicken.  This step is optional, but it doesn’t affect the flavor at all and makes for a much thicker and hearty chili.

Chili in the instant pot

A couple of other tips and recommendations.

If you don’t have beef broth and/or like a nice strong tomato flavor in your chili, you can replace the broth with tomato juice!

This recipe has been tested as is in a 6 quart and 8 quart instant pot.  You can double the recipe in an 8 quart.

The best instant pot chili with beef and beans topped with cheese

Enjoy!

~Nichole

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4.89 from 130 votes

Best Easy Instant Pot Chili

Best Easy Instant Pot Chili is simple to make with a mouthwatering combination of beef and beans!  You can have a bowl of cozy chili that tastes like it simmered for hours ready in about 30 minutes!
Prep 5 minutes
Cook 25 minutes
Natural Release 10 minutes
Total 30 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients 

Instructions 

  • Turn instant pot to saute and add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the ground beef, onion, and seasonings and cook until meat is no longer pink.
  • Drain any excess grease if necessary.
  • Turn the Instant Pot off and add the remaining ingredients. Stir to combine.
  • Set the instant pot to manual, high pressure for 25 minutes.
  • Allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then quick release.
  • OPTIONAL:  In a small bowl mix together the cornstarch and water until smooth and immediately whisk into hot chili.  Allow to thicken for 5 minutes before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 243kcal, Carbohydrates: 5g, Protein: 14g, Fat: 18g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Cholesterol: 53mg, Sodium: 609mg, Potassium: 342mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 790IU, Vitamin C: 1.9mg, Calcium: 36mg, Iron: 2.5mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
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Hey! Nice to meet you! I'm Nichole!

Welcome to The Salty Marshmallow! I'm a mom, animal lover, photographer, & kitchen mess-maker. Here you will find the result of my decades-long passion for chasing the best flavors in the kitchen, all meant to be cooked by regular people with busy lives just like you and me.

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150 Comments

  1. 3 stars
    Good flavor, but way too soupy for me. Even after adding the corn starch slurry. Next time I’ll add only half of the beef broth.

  2. 5 stars
    I made this last night and my husband loved it. That’s a high compliment! Just finished another bowl of leftovers for lunch and I think it was even better than the first time around. Super easy and delicious. I did add the cornstarch at the end to keep it from being too soupy and it tightened it up perfectly. This will be my new go-to recipe!

  3. 5 stars
    It smells so good in my kitchen right now!! Easiest chili recipe even though I didn’t have any RSBs, I just used pinto beans and more seasonings to balance it out, and also added a tablespoon of Better than Bouillon Chili base. If it tastes even half as good as it smells, it will be our new go-to recipe! Thank you!

  4. 5 stars
    I made this for dinner tonight and it did not disappoint! Great flavor and it couldn’t be any easier. It was fairly soupy, so if you don’t like soupy chili maybe back the broth to 1 cup instead of two but I wouldn’t change a thing, myself. Thanks for the great recipe!

  5. 4 stars
    I recently got an Instant Pot so am looking for new recipes to try in it. I made this chili last night and the flavor was delicious, but as with some other Instant Pot recipes I’ve tried the final product had too much liquid and was closer to a soup consistency than to chili. I did add in the cornstarch/water paste but the chili was so soupy that it hardly made a difference. I know a certain amount of liquid is necessary for the whole pressure-cooking process to work, but I think next time I will leave out the beef broth entirely and see how that works. A chopped jalapeño or two might give it a little more spice, too. Thanks for the recipe. I’ll be sure to look up some other Instant Pot ideas from your site.

    1. 5 stars
      Laura,
      I did just that but by accident…I am new to the whole Instant Pot movement and that along with not being used to adding broth to my regular chili I forgot it. Oops! I worried as it was cooking that the tomato sauce, liquid from the beans and diced tomato would not be enough and I would find a dried out brick when I lifted the lid. Much to my surprise it had plenty of liquid and the consistency was perfect. So I will make this recipe again as it was excellent but I will omit the broth as it turned out fine without it.

    2. I made this again last night and omitted the beef broth. Winner! Much more like chili than soup and the flavors were still great. I did spice it up by using hot chili beans and adding two chopped jalapeños. If you like spicy food that gives it a little zing but isn’t overpowering.

  6. 5 stars
    Just made this and it was DELICIOUS!! So easy to make. Will definitely make this again and again!

      1. 5 stars
        I accidently put the corn starch in beforr cooking! Whats going to happen? Did i ruin my chili?

      2. Hi Tom! Unfortunately, I haven’t added the cornstarch before cooking so I’m not sure how it will turn out for you. It may end up getting too thick for the pot, but, again it’s hard to say without having tried it myself. Fingers crossed that it turns out and you enjoy it!

  7. This recipe makes me want to buy an instant pot! It looks perfect and I can’t believe how quick it is!