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Instant Pot Texas Chili

You are here: Home / Dinner Accomplished / Instant Pot Texas Chili

January 17, 2018 by //  by Holly 12 Comments

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Last updated on January 1st, 2019 at 11:18 pm

This is the second best chili recipe I’ve ever made.

The best pot of chili I’ve ever made was 20 years ago. Read to the end if you want to see a really sweet story about that special pot of chili.

Note: There’s lots of debate about different types of chili. The conventional wisdom is that Texas Chili has no beans. But we really like the beans in ours. And we’re from Texas. So it’s still Texas Chili. 🤠

On a more practical note, adding beans makes it about $3 cheaper per batch (depending on ground beef prices in your area.) That amount adds up over a few meals.

And if you want a version that has no beans, this is easily adapted. Simply add an extra pound of ground beef plus a cup of water in place of the dried beans. This also makes it Keto Texas Chili.

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • 1 large onion, diced (about 2 cups)
  • 1 bell pepper, diced (about 1 cup)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 6-8 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 Tablespoons (1/4 cup) ground cumin
  • 4 Tablespoons (1/4 cup) chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 2 teaspoons brown sugar (regular sugar can be substituted)
  • 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 (14-15 oz.) cans diced tomatoes (undrained)
  • 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes (undrained)
  • Beans: You have several great options: small red beans, black beans, pinto beans, or kidney beans. I usually base that decision on what I have in my pantry at the time, but the small red ones are my favorite for chili.
  • 8 oz. (1 1/4 cups) dried beans of your choice (sorted and rinsed) PLUS 3 cups of water
  • OR if you have canned beans, 2 (15 oz.) cans beans (which yields 3 cups cooked, drained, rinsed beans) and only one additional cup of water

This should fill the 6 qt Instant Pot to its pressure cooking capacity of 2/3 full or 4 quarts. Make sure you don’t go over that line!

Instructions

Instant Pot With Dried Beans

25-35 Minutes High Pressure/Natural Release:

  1. Turn Instant Pot on <Sauté>. Ensure your sauté setting is not on <high>. This will help keep the beef from sticking to the bottom, which could keep your IP from coming to pressure.
  2. Brown ground beef with onions and bell peppers.
  3. Add first can of tomatoes to deglaze any remaining browning on bottom of pot.
  4. Add remaining ingredients. Stir well.
  5. Close lid. Check valve to make sure it is set on <Sealing>.
  6. Set Instant Pot to <Bean/Chili> program and adjust the time to 25 to 35 minutes at <High> pressure (25 for small beans like red beans, 30 minutes for medium beans like pintos, 35 minutes for large beans like kidneys).
  7. When pressure cooking time is finished, allow pressure cooker to Natural Release (NR) for at least 15 minutes. Then Quick Release remaining pressure.
Canned Beans Instant Pot Instructions

9 Minutes High Pressure/Natural Release:

  1. Turn Instant Pot on <Sauté>. Ensure your sauté setting is not on <high>. This will help keep the beef from sticking to the bottom, which could keep your IP from coming to pressure.
  2. Brown ground beef with onions and bell peppers.
  3. Add first can of tomatoes to deglaze any remaining browning on bottom of pot.
  4. Add remaining ingredients. Stir well.
  5. Close lid. Check valve to make sure it is set on <Sealing>.
  6. Set Instant Pot to <Bean/Chili> program and adjust the time to 9 minutes at <High> pressure.
  7. When pressure cooking time is finished, allow pressure cooker to Natural Release (NR) for at least 5 minutes. Then Quick Release remaining pressure.
Stove Top Instructions:
  1. Brown ground beef, onions, and bell peppers.
  2. Add garlic, cumin, chili powder, and oregano and stir well for one minute.
  3. Mix in beans (cooked, drained, and rinsed).
  4. Stir in tomatoes and 2 cups of water.
  5. Add brown sugar, salt, and worchestershire sauce.
  6. Simmer on stove top for at least 20 minutes, but it’s better the longer it simmers.
Slow-Cooker Instructions:
  1. Brown ground beef, onions, and bell peppers.
  2. Add garlic, cumin, chili powder, and oregano and stir well for one minute.
  3. Transfer this mixture to Slow Cooker insert.
  4. Add brown sugar, salt, worchestershire sauce, beans and tomatoes. Stir to combine. With a slow-cooker, you likely will want to soak your beans overnight.
  5. Set on High for 4-6 hours or Low for 8-10 hours.

Serving Options

One of the best things about this fabulous, nutritious comfort food is there are so many different ways to serve it!

Traditional Chili: Serve as a soup, with saltine crackers and cheddar cheese.

Chili Over Rice: Serve chili over rice with sour cream, shredded cheese, and green onions.

Frito Pie: Place Fritos in a bowl. Ladle Chili over Fritos. Top with Sour Cream and shredded cheddar cheese..

Cincinnati Chili 5-way: Serve chili over cooked spaghetti, with diced onions, and shredded cheddar cheese.

Chili Baked Potato: Serve over a baked potato with sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, and sliced green onions.

Quinoa Superfood Chili: Stir in some cooked quinoa and cubed, cooked sweet potato.

Tools Used:
  • Large 18 x 14 Bamboo Cutting Board
  • OXO Large Chopper
  • OXO Measuring Beakers
  • Instant Pot DUO 6 Qt
  • Wüsthof 7” Santoku Knife
  • Kuhn 5” Santoku Knife
  • Kids Cut Glove
  • Adult Cut Glove
  • OXO 14” Beechwood Turner

How to get your kids cooking:

Little ones (ages 2-6)
  • Help sort and rinse beans
  • Help carry cans and other ingredients like spices from the pantry
Medium kiddos (ages 6-9)
  • Brown ground beef
  • Pour in ingredients
  • Help measure spices into pot
  • Chop garlic in a chopper
  • Open cans with a can opener
Older children (ages 10+)
  • Dice onions and bell peppers
  • Measure spices independently
  • Follow recipe from start to finish
  • Plan meal, including toppings and sides

The Amazing Back-Story to this Recipe

In a small college town in Kentucky in 1998, a legendary storm dropped several feet of snow on the ground. This closed down the college for 3 days and provided lots of free time for me and my future husband. We hadn’t started “officially” dating yet, but we really wanted to, we just hadn’t told each other yet.

We spent those snow days together, playing in the snow and taking photos of the beautiful winter scenes (with a film camera!). On a whim, we decided to make a pot of homemade chili from scratch, the way we made it growing up on my Indiana farm.

We walked together to the local grocery and gathered the ingredients. As we got to the register, we pooled our resources to pay.

Between the two of us, and I am not making this up, we had the exact amount needed to buy the ingredients.

$11.83.

That was a magnificent pot of chili. It led to marrying the love of my life, and there are 7 kids who are pretty happy we cooked chili that day also.

We hope you love this chili recipe as much as we do. We’ve been perfecting it for 20 years. And if you’re single, we can’t guarantee you’ll find a spouse with it, but it can’t hurt to try!

Instant Pot Texas Chili

Holly
A hearty recipe that makes a delicious meal, with beans or without!
5 from 1 vote
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Ingredients
  

  • 1.5 lb. ground beef
  • 1 large onion diced (about 2 cups)
  • 1 bell pepper diced (about 1 cup)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 6-8 cloves garlic minced
  • 4 Tablespoons 1/4 cup ground cumin
  • 4 Tablespoons 1/4 cup chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 2 teaspoons brown sugar regular sugar can be substituted
  • 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 14-15 oz. cans diced tomatoes (undrained)
  • 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (undrained)

Beans: You have several great options: small red beans, black beans, pinto beans, or kidney beans. I usually base that decision on what I have in my pantry at the time, but the small red ones are my favorite for chili.

  • 8 oz. 1 1/4 cups dried beans of your choice (sorted and rinsed) PLUS 3 cups of water

OR if you have canned beans

  • 2 (15 oz.) cans beans (which yields 3 cups cooked, drained, rinsed beans) and only one additional cup of water

Instructions
 

Instant Pot With Dried Beans

  • 25-35 Minutes High Pressure/Natural Release:
  • Turn Instant Pot on <Saute>.
  • Ensure your sauté setting is on <Medium> or <Low>. This will help keep the beef from sticking to the bottom, which could keep your IP from coming to pressure.
  • Brown ground beef with onions and bell peppers.
  • Add first can of tomatoes and stir, scraping the bottom of the pot to deglaze any remaining browning on bottom of pot.
  • Add remaining ingredients. Stir well.
  • Close lid. Check valve to make sure it is set on <Sealing>.
  • Set Instant Pot to <Bean/Chili> program and adjust the time to 25 to 35 minutes at <High> pressure (25 for small beans like red beans, 30 minutes for medium beans like pintos, 35 minutes for large beans like kidneys).
  • When pressure cooking time is finished, allow pressure cooker to Natural Release (NR) for at least 15 minutes. Then Quick Release remaining pressure.

Canned Beans Instant Pot Instructions

  • 9 Minutes High Pressure/Natural Release:
  • Turn Instant Pot on <Sauté>.
  • Ensure your sauté setting is on <Medium> or <Low>. This will help keep the beef from sticking to the bottom, which could keep your IP from coming to pressure.
  • Brown ground beef with onions and bell peppers.
  • Add first can of tomatoes and stir, scraping the bottom of the pot to deglaze any remaining browning on bottom of pot.
  • Add remaining ingredients. Stir well.
  • Close lid. Check valve to make sure it is set on <Sealing>.
  • Set Instant Pot to <Bean/Chili> program and adjust the time to 9 minutes at <High> pressure.
  • When pressure cooking time is finished, allow pressure cooker to Natural Release (NR) for at least 5 minutes. Then Quick Release remaining pressure.

Stove Top Instructions:

  • Brown ground beef, onions, and bell peppers.
  • Add garlic, cumin, chili powder, and oregano and stir well for one minute.
  • Mix in beans (cooked, drained, and rinsed).
  • Stir in tomatoes and 2 cups of water.
  • Simmer on stove top for at least 20 minutes, but it’s better the longer it simmers.

Slow-Cooker Instructions:

  • Brown ground beef, onions, and bell peppers.
  • Add garlic, cumin, chili powder, and oregano and stir well for one minute.
  • Transfer this mixture to Slow Cooker insert.
  • Add beans and tomatoes. Stir to combine. With a slow-cooker, you likely will want to soak your beans overnight.
  • Set on High for 4-6 hours or Low for 8-10 hours.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Filed Under: Dinner Accomplished, Freezer Meal, Gluten Free, Instant Pot, Keto, Kids in the Kitchen, Kitchen Survival, Kitchen Tools, Recipes, Soup Tagged With: Cooking, Dinner, family, family dinner, Freezer Meal, Gluten Free, Instant Pot, Kids, Kitchen Tools, Meal, pressure cooker, recipe, Soup, Super Easy

About Holly

Holly is a mother of 8 and oversees 210 meals per week! She loves to share her experience with others and see families enjoying meals together.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jennifer

    January 21, 2018 at 12:45 PM

    This chili was a huge success in my household. I made the all meat, no beans version. Utilized 2 1/2 tablespoons of cumin instead of the recommended 4. I also added a tablespoon of cocoa powder. Chili was just to our liking. Made so much chili we froze the leftovers for another day! Thank you!!
    ~Jennifer from Texas 🙂

    Reply
    • Holly

      January 21, 2018 at 2:38 PM

      Thank you for making our chili and reporting your results, Jennifer from Texas! Sounds really delicious, I’ll have to give the cocoa powder a try. Do you find it adds a bit of richness to it? Have you always added cocoa powder?

      Reply
  2. Lisa

    February 4, 2018 at 10:59 AM

    This looks delicious and I loved watching your beautiful family cook together. I am in Texas also, and have two teenagers. There’s only four of us and eight of you – I am surprised that 1 pound of meat is enough to feed the whole family!

    Reply
    • Holly

      February 4, 2018 at 11:03 AM

      Thanks for watching, Lisa! When we cook in the 6 quart Instant Pot, we usually only get one meal out of it. As they get bigger I’m sure we’ll be using the 8 quart more often, or even two 6 quarts! 😳

      Reply
  3. Kimberly

    December 31, 2018 at 3:31 PM

    Hi Jennifer,
    With the slow cooker option, when are the brown sugar, salt, and Worchestershire sauce added it in? I don’t see them listed in that version of the recipe, but they are listed as include ingredients above…
    Thank you!
    Kimberly

    Reply
    • Holly

      December 31, 2018 at 5:13 PM

      Hi Kimberly,

      Good catch! I would add those ingredients with the beans and tomatoes in Step 4. And I’ll update the recipe. Thanks for the heads up!

      Reply
      • Kimberly

        December 31, 2018 at 5:18 PM

        Oh awesome, thank you! I think the stove top one was missing that are too.
        I looked too quickly and thought your name was Jennifer, sorry Holly!! Lol
        Oops, so I added them in with the seasonings that are added to the ground beef, onions and bell peppers…currently cooking, we’ll see how it turns out! 🤞🏻

        Reply
        • Holly

          December 31, 2018 at 6:56 PM

          I don’t think it will hurt anything to do it that way. Hope it turns out great! Happy New Year!

          Reply
  4. Lynn Watson

    January 7, 2019 at 7:51 AM

    Hi Holly!

    This is my first time on your website, drawn here by a Facebook post from Amy. I’m so inspired that I’m going out to buy an IP!! Can’t wait to try the chili and your other recipes!

    Love your writing!
    Loved your Chili Story! 💘
    Love your blog!
    Love your sweet family.
    Love you!

    Lynn

    Reply
    • Holly

      January 7, 2019 at 10:33 PM

      Thank you so much for your precious words of encouragement, Lynn! You brought me to tears! I look forward to hearing how it goes! Happy cooking! 🥘 And we love you too! ❤️ Holly

      Reply
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