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This Instant Pot Beef Chili is the ultimate comfort food with roasted tomatoes and poblano peppers, smoky chipotle peppers, pinto beans, and of course our favorite BACON. Plus, it's ready in less than an hour in the Instant Pot!
This recipe was originally posted in October 2018. It has been updated for content and photos.
Guys, you NEED this beef chili in your life. It is that good. I could eat this stuff every day. It is truly the ultimate comfort food.
Not only does it have tender delicious ground beef and roasted poblanos, but it also has fresh roasted tomatoes (YUM) and of course BACON. Because what dish is complete without a little bit of bacon?
Serve it with this delicious Homemade Cornbread from Budget Bytes and/or this perfect Green Salad from the Spicy Apron.
And to top it off, we cook it all up in the Instant Pot in about 45 minutes start to finish, with most of that time being hands off so you can catch up on your Netflix. No simmering for hours on the stove to get all those flavors melded.
**If you love chili, you may also want to try this Instant Pot Turkey Chili or this Ultimate Baked Chili Mac Casserole (kinda like chili)**
Jump to:
The Ingredients
Best Beef for Chili
I use 85/15 grass fed ground beef for this recipe. Grassfed isn't required, but I really enjoy the flavor of it. For this recipe, you can use any ground beef, but I recommend 80/20 to 90/10. No fattier or leaner than that.
The ingredients should be fairly easy to get at your local grocery, however, I have included links to purchase some of them here and in the recipe card for convenience (Amazon affiliate links).
- Ground beef - I recommend 85/15, but have also used 80/20 with good results. I don't go much higher than 90/10 because we want that fat flavor in our chili!
- Tomato sauce
- Poblano peppers
- Tomatoes
- Onions
- Pinto beans
- Bacon
- Beer - you can replace the beer with cola if you need to. I don't always have beer in the house, so I replace with cola and have great results.
- Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- Smoked paprika
- Chili powder
- Cumin
- Coconut sugar
Are chipotle peppers in adobo sauce hot?
These peppers can be quite spicy. Chipotle peppers are dried and smoked red jalapenos peppers, which is where their spiciness comes from.
Are roasted poblano peppers hot?
Poblano peppers are generally mild peppers, however, there can be the occasional spicy batch.
How do you peel a poblano pepper?
First you roast the pepper over an open flame or under the broiler until the skin is brown and blistered. Let the pepper cool, then gently peel the skin off:
How long does it take to roast tomatoes?
You can roast tomatoes either on the grill over medium heat, or in the oven at 400 degrees. In both cases, tomatoes are done when skin starts to separate from the tomato, and they become very soft. This usually takes about 15-20 minutes.
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Step By Step Instructions
This whole Instant Pot cooking thing is really awesome. We can get all this stuff cooked in one pot, and lounge around while we wait for it to finish. It's just the best.
Using the saute function (normal setting), brown the ground beef. Make sure to stir regularly because the beef will stick to the bottom of the Instant Pot.
Add the onions and garlic and cook until soft, about 2-3 minutes.
Add all the remaining ingredients and stir well to combine. Set the Instant Pot to pressure cook the beef and bacon chili on high for 20 minutes.
Once done, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then use the quick release to release any remaining pressure.
Serve it with a sprinkling of cheddar cheese, some sliced avocado, sour cream (or Mexican crema as I prefer), and some sliced green onions. The toppings are all optional depending on your preference. But really, what is chili without cheese and sour cream?
Expert Tips
- Roast the poblano peppers and tomatoes in advance to make the recipe even easier to throw together. I like to roast batches of veggies on the weekends and freeze them for future use.
- Make sure to stir the ground beef while it is browning to prevent sticking. If you get a "hot" warning on the Instant Pot, you need to stir it. When you add the remaining ingredients, be sure to stir so any pieces stuck to the bottom will be stirred in.
- For extra spicy chili, add an additional chipotle pepper, add extra chili powder and/or 1-2 sliced jalapenos.
- For a less spicy chili, reduce the amount of chili powder and add only ½ chipotle pepper.
- The chili is awesome the day you make it, but is even more super awesome the next day. Chili is always better the second day because the flavors have had time to meld together.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How long do you cook beef chili in the pressure cooker? Generally, chili should cook between 10-20 minutes in the pressure cooker. I personally prefer to use 20 minutes as it helps the flavors come together.
- How do you thicken Instant Pot chili? Honestly, the best way is to let it sit in the fridge overnight. However, if you're looking to eat it right away, add 1 tbsp. of cornstarch to 1 tbsp. of water in a small dish and mix to make a paste. Add a little of the cornstarch mixture at a time to the chili, stirring constantly, until the desired thickness is reached.
- Is beef chili good for you? Well....not really. The beef and bacon have a high fat content, as does the cheese is you choose to add it. However, beef chili does have a very high protein content and also contains vitamins and minerals.
- Can I freeze chili? Chili is awesome left over, and perfect for the freezer. I recommend freezing in single portions so it can be thawed out and eaten 1 portion at a time. Thaw it in the fridge overnight and reheat in the microwave.
If you want to make chili in the slow cooker, check out this Slow Cooker Beef Chili recipe from Cooking Classy.
And for a more traditional chili, try this Homemade Beef Chili from Natasha's Kitchen.
More Chili Recipes
- Instant Pot Turkey Chili;
- White Chicken Chili from the Chunky Chef;
- Pulled Pork Chili from the Salty Marshmallow;
- New Mexico Red Pork Chili from Jessica Gavin.
Reader's Favorite Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Pork Ribs;
- Instant Pot Ramen;
- Instant Pot Chicken Paprika;
- Instant Pot Short Ribs;
- Browse ALL the Instant Pot Recipes!!
Don't forget to sign up for the email list (don't worry, it's only one a week and it's packed full with AMAZING recipes!) and get your FREE Instant Pot Cookbook!!
Did you make this Instant Pot beef chili? Leave a comment below and let me know how it turned out!
Recipe
Instant Pot Beef and Bean Chili
Ingredients
- 1 lbs. ground beef
- 4-6 oz. bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 4 poblano peppers, roasted and chopped
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 tomatoes, roasted, peeled and crushed
- 1 can tomato sauce
- 2 cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup beer
- 1 chipotle pepper
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1-2 tbsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. pepper
- Sour cream (garnish)
- Cheddar cheese (garnish)
- Green onions (garnish)
- Avocado (garnish)
Instructions
- Brown the beef in the Instant Pot using the saute function on normal.
- Add the onions and garlic and cook until soft, about 2-3 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients.
- Switch the Instant Pot to pressure cook on normal (high) for 20 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then release the remaining pressure using the quick release.
- Serve with sliced avocado, grated cheddar cheese, sour cream and chopped green onions (optional but recommended).
Expert Tips:
- Roast the poblano peppers and tomatoes in advance to make the recipe even easier to throw together. I like to roast batches of veggies on the weekends and freeze them for future use.
- Make sure to stir the ground beef while it is browning to prevent sticking. If you get a "hot" warning on the Instant Pot, you need to stir it. When you add the remaining ingredients, be sure to stir so any pieces stuck to the bottom will be stirred in.
- For extra spicy chili, add an additional chipotle pepper, add extra chili powder and/or 1-2 sliced jalapenos.
- For a less spicy chili, reduce the amount of chili powder and add only ½ chipotle pepper.
- The chili is awesome the day you make it, but is even more super awesome the next day. Chili is always better the second day because the flavors have had time to meld together.
Cate
Love this chili! This is our go to recipe now. It has just the right amount of spice and the smokiness if awesome. We do just add a 14 oz can of diced fire roasted tomatoes instead of roasting our own, turns out great.
Danielle
I'm so happy to hear that!
Kathie
Can you add hot sausage to the beef far an extra kick?
Danielle
You sure can!
David
Yum! Love the chili with the smoky flavor.
Danielle
Thanks David!
Dannii
We are obsessed with our instant pot at the moment. It makes life so much easier.
Danielle
It totally does!
Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes)
Chili is my spirit animal. I love it when the weather cools down. Looks delicious!
Danielle
LOL right? Love chili on a cool day 🙂
Gloria
I do not have an Instant Pot, but I do love chili. Will adapt this for my pressure cooker, or slow cooker. I will also pass this along to my daughter who does have an Instant Pot. They love chili too.
Danielle
It would work great in either!
Romina
This sounds delicious, those poblano peppers look like they added some serious flavour!
Danielle
They really do - thanks Romina!
Carrie | Clean Eating Kitchen
This chili looks so delicious and full of flavor! Love the use of the poblano peppers - so yummy!
Danielle
Thanks Carrie!
fiona saluk
those photos look AMAZING and I absolutely love the idea of a recipe that has 45 minutes of Netflix watching time built into it 😉 What a beautiful presentation for something traditionally not so photogenic - I'm truly impressed!
Danielle
LOL right? We gotta get Netflix time whenever we can 🙂 Thanks Fiona!
Kelly Anthony
I can't wait to try this chili. We love to make different types of chili and this looks like the perfect one.
Danielle
It's so fun to experiment with chili!
Caroline
This looks so comforting and perfect for colder days. Love the smoky flavors.
Danielle
Thanks Caroline!
rebecca
ohhhhh this looks amazing! and the roasted poblanos make it look even more amazing! totally have to try this!
Danielle
Thanks Rebecca! I looooove using roasted poblanos 🙂
Demeter
This would be so great for game day too! So easy using the instant pot!
Danielle
The Instant Pot is the best!