Instant Pot Chili Con Carne, Blue Ribbon Recipe (2024)

Instant Pot Chili Con Carne with a complex “all day simmered flavor” will win you a blue ribbon and make you a star with your family and friends.

Wait, what? Chili on the table in under 30 minutes! Yep!This Instant Pot Chili Con Carne is going to make you toss out all your other chili recipes.

My Instant Pot Chili is a pure comfort meal and this is a recipe which you will call “a keeper” for years to come. Whether you cook chili in cast iron on the stove or use your Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker, there is never not a good time for chili.

My Instant Pot Chili Con Carne is a perfect recipe for a chili cook-off! Bring home the blue ribbon!

Ingredients for Instant Pot Chili Con Carne

• Ground Beef
• Garlic, Onion, Red Bell and Jalapeno Peppers
• Spice Mix including Ground Cumin, Chili Powder, Oregano, Salt and Pepper
• Whole Tomatoes
• Three Kinds of Beans
• Secret Flavor Boosters!

Pro Tip: Making your own spice mix is so easy and you know exactly what’s in it!

Always make sure to heat your cooking pot fully prior to adding any kind of oil. This will help to make a stainless steel Instant Pot non stick. Deglazing will be a breeze.

Any time you are sautéing, heating the pot is recommended. Instant Pot Korean Beef Bowls is another incredible ground beef recipe and here you can see how to deglaze the pot.

Chili is such a comfort food and one of my favorites from childhood. Delicious Corny Cornbread pairs so well.

Pro Tip: Try adding my Basic Polenta Cornmeal Topper on top of the chili and pop it in the oven for a fantastic chili casserole.

What is Chili?

• Chili is a spicy stew with ground meat, tomato products, chili peppers and beans. If you don’t want beans in your chili, ask for chili no beans.

Tidbit: San Antonio helped to popularize Texas style chili con carne and the name chili con carne is commonly known all over the United States.

Browning Ground Beef for Instant Pot Chili

• When using the Instant Pot, you don’t have to worry about browning the ground beef.
• Just a few minutes will add delicious extra flavor and ensure the beef remain nice and juicy.

Pro Tip: This Meat Chopper/Masher makes quick work of breaking up the ground beef!

Can Ground Turkey Be Used?

• Just as you can change up individual spices to your personal palette, other ground meat can be used. Bison, chicken, turkey, lamb or even a combination of any ground meat.
• My Instant Pot Turkey Meatloaf was changed up from my regular meatloaf recipe and for those who prefer to limit red meat, try myTex-Mex Turkey Chili recipe. It is seriously just as wonderful.

Pro Tip: If using ground turkey instead of ground beef, add an extra Tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce. Worcestershire Sauce will “beef” up the flavor of a normally drier turkey.

When sautéing veggies, make sure you use a spatula which can withstand higher temperatures. I recommend this di Oro Living Silicone Spatulas Set. You can sauté as much as you like the the tips won’t turn black and melt or burn!

Seasoning Flavor Boosters

• Worcestershire Sauce
• Three Crabs Brand Fish Sauce – this is an Asian fish sauce which is wonderful. It adds great flavor and takes chili to another flavor level. Don’t worry, with the small amount used, there is zero fish taste. Seriously and literally, zero.
• Cocoa Powder adds a slight sweetness.
• Espresso Powder adds a very complex flavor.
• Ground Cinnamon really takes beef flavors to another level.

These are incredible flavor enhancers and give chili a bit of an “earthy” flavor. They are wonderful, but only use in small amounts as they are potent!

Pro Tip: Make a double batch of Instant Pot Chili and freeze so that you can have it on a moments notice.

Does Real Chili Have Beans in it?

• Well, all chili is real. 🙂 Texans might disagree however. Con carne means “with beef.” The origins of chili are from Southern Texas/Northern Mexico and did not include beans. Chili is simply a spicy beef stew and it was simply called chili.
• Even though beans were not an ingredient originally, they have been included for so long that chili with beans is now considered authentic and is referred to as chili con carne.

Pro Tip: Feel free to change up the beans and use any type you like.

Another fantastic chili recipe isInstant Pot Wendy’s Chili. My recipe is a copycat and tastes every bit as good. For a not so mainstream chili, try my Instant Pot Sweet & Spicy Bison & Beer Chili

How to Freeze Instant Pot Chili

• After you have let the chili completely cool, divide the chili into portions. For bring chili to work for lunch, divide the chili into individual lunch size portions. Make sure to use a freezer safe container, ziplock baggie or Food Saver Vacuum Sealing System and leave about 1/2 inch of empty space at the top.
• The chili will expand during freezing and you want to make sure the bag or container will not burst in the freezer.

To reheat the frozen chili, simply add a cup of water to your pressure cooker cooking pot and place a trivet inside. Then open the container of chili and place into a stainless steal bowl or pan and put that right on top of the trivet. Lock on your lid and set the timer to about 5 minutes. That’s it. After the pressure has released, it is time to enjoy a bowl of chili.

This recipe is found in my This Old Gal Instant Pot Cookbook, along with a bunch of other recipes, which are NOT on the blog!

Are you in the soupier chili or thicker chili category? For me, it depends on what I am having with my chili. If I have it over a baked potato I might want the chili nice and thick. If I plan to eat it with cornbread, then I might want a soupier texture for dunking. If eating Instant Pot Chili Con Carne with my Instant Pot Rice, then soupier is the way to go. Speaking of rice, did you know you can make rice in your Instant Pot at the same time as chili? Use myPressure Cooker Perfectly Cooked Pot In Pot Rice recipe!

Consistency of Chili

For Soupier Chili

• Increase the liquid ingredients until you get the soupiness you like. You would also need to increase the seasonings.

For Thicker Chili

• After the chili has been cooked, remove the lid and select “Sauté.” Let the chili simmer until it gets as thick as you like!

Toppings for Chili

• Cheddar Cheese
• Diced Avocado
• A big dollop of sour cream is wonderful. My Instant Pot Greek Yogurt can be subbed for sour cream.
• Instant Pot White Rice – you can make some right on top of the chili.

Try some Cornbread on the side. That is always so wonderful!

More Instant Pot Classic Comfort Food Recipes to Make:

• Instant Pot Classic Pot Roast is another delicious comfort food
• Instant Pot Macaroni and Cheese
• Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
• Instant Pot Chinese Simmered Chicken– a blast from the past

So, now you have some classic recipes to cook. Have fun cooking and scroll just a bit more to find the full recipe below.

Kitchen Equipment and Essentials

• Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker
• J.A. Henckels Classic 8 inch Chef’s Knife
• Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
• Simply Gourmet (Dry) Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
• Anchor Hocking Glass (Liquid) Measuring Cups
• Rachael Ray Stoneware EVOO Oil Dispensing Bottle
• Porcelain & Bamboo Salt Box with Spoon
• Gravity Electric Salt and Pepper Grinder
• My FANTASTIC Teak Cutting & Charcuterie Board
• Meat Masher for Breaking up Ground Meat

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Here is the handy printable recipe:

PIN this Instant Pot Chili Con Carne!