I’ve finally created an effin good chili recipe for the Instant Pot. I lost my family recipe years ago and have had a hard time finding a chili recipe — either stove top or Instant Pot — that I find edible. Finally, I found a recipe that most closely resembled the family recipe. It was a stove top recipe but with a few modifications, I’ve adapted it for the Instant Pot. Not only did I modify the directions, but I also modified the ingredients.
Prep time is 15 – 20 minutes. Cook time is 30 minutes. Add 15 – 20 minutes for the Instant Pot to reach pressure and for natural release. Tips on how to shorten times to reach pressure and release pressure are included in the directions.
Makes 9 3-ladle-full servings or 6.5 Jules-sized servings (4 ladles per serving).
Heat index: Medium but I’m not the best judge because I grew up eating spicy food and what some consider medium, I consider no heat. Tips for adaptions included in the directions.
Without further ado, I present to you Instant Pot Effin Good Chili!
Instant Pot Effin Good Chili Needed Items
- One 6 quart or 8 quart Instant Pot
- Cutting board
- Knife
- Small stainless-steel bowl – chilled
- Food processor or food chopper attachment for your immersion blender
- Garlic press
- Measuring spoons and cups
*A lot of these items can be found in my shop if you want to know what I use. Or check out 11 Essential Items for a Disability-Friendly Kitchen.
Disabled Kitchen Recipe: Instant Pot Effin Good Chili
Ingredients
Effin Good Chili
- 0.907 kg extra lean ground beef
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 chopped onion Every second Saturday, I use the food chopper attachment for my immersion blender and chop a bunch of onion, freezing them in sizes used for most of my recipes. This saves a bunch of prep time when it's time to cook
- 1 large chopped red bell pepper
- 2 pepper chopped green jalapeno pepper removing seeds from one
- 1 pepper chopped Serrano pepper seeded
- 4 cloves minced garlic I use an entire head of garlic, roughly 12 cloves
- 2 cube crumbled beef bouillon cubes
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cup water OR 1 can of light beer and 125 ml (1/2 cup) of white wine
- 796 ml can crushed San Marzano tomatoes
- 398 ml can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 156 ml can tomato paste
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 2 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp chipotle pepper sauce
- 2 1/2 tsp dried basil or 25 ml (5 tsp) fresh chopped basil
- 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika or regular paprika if you don't like a definite smoke flavour
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano or 5 ml (1 tsp) fresh chopped oregano
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 796 ml can dark red kidney beans drained
Sour Cream Topping (Optional)
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
Effin Good Chili
- Turn the Instant Pot on to saute.
- When hot, add the olive oil. Let it heat for a minute.
- Add chopped onions, chopped peppers and minced garlic. Saute until soft. About 1 minute. Tip: If you think this will be too spicy for you, omit the Serrano pepper and thoroughly seed the jalapenos. If you want it extra spicy, leave the seeds in for all of the hot peppers.
- Add the ground beef, Worcestershire sauce and crumbled beef bouillon cubes. Saute for 3 - 5 minutes, just enough to make sure all the ground beef is separated. You don't need to thoroughly brown it. Watch the video about the Maillard reaction and why it's not necessary to pre-brown meat, found in my Instant Pot Resources.
- Add San Marzano tomatoes, fine-roasted tomatoes, tomato paste, kidney beans, chili powder, first quantity of cumin, brown sugar, chipolte pepper sauce, basil, paprika, salt, oregano, pepper and water (or beer and wine if you are going that route). Make sure to scrape anything off the bottom of the Instant Pot that may have formed during steps 1 - 5, otherwise your Instant Pot won't reach pressure. Tip: If you want the Instant Pot to reach pressure within 5 minutes, bring the mixture to a slight bubble, taking extra care to scrape the bottom of the pot before placing the lid.
- Place and seal the lid. Make sure the steam release valve is closed. Set to High Pressure for 20 minutes. You can set it for as low as 10 minutes, but setting it for 20 minutes gives it a bit more time for all the flavours to set.
- Allow the Instant Pot to naturally release all of the pressure. Do not do a quick release unless you want chili boiling onto the lid and in/out of the steam valve. Tip: To speed up natural release time, place cold wet dish clothes on the metal parts of the lid. You'll probably have to wet them a second or even a third time, as all of the water will evaporate.
- Remove the lid. If you made your chili with alcohol, turn the Instant Pot back on to saute and let it boil for 5 - 10 minutes to burn off the alcohol. If you made your chili with water, you may want to do the same to boil off any excess water. Stir every few minutes so that it doesn't burn to the bottom of the pot.
Notes
Nutrition
I hope you enjoy this recipe! It makes a heck of a lot of chili! What we don’t eat for dinner, we freeze in portion-sized quantities.
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ Huh, I hadn’t thought of that method to speed up natural release! Good to know - especially as I don’t think my pot actually *does* a natural release in its own. Every time I’ve tried waiting the 5-10 min for it to cool, I’ve had to go use the valve release anyway and it was still bubbling when I got it open. I’m not sure what I’m missing there.