Instant Pot Steak Chili. Chili with bite-sized cubes of chuck, ready in about an hour thanks to pressure cooking.
When I make Chili, I go big or go ground. My Texas Red Chili uses big chunks of beef - 1½-inch to 2-inch cubes. Or, I use ground beef for wimpy weeknight chili with beans.1. This Instant Pot Steak chili splits the difference, with small cubes of beef.
I got the idea from Chef Michael Ollier, when I visited Certified Angus Beef® Brand to make chili for their Facebook Live channel. Much to my surprise, Chef Michael uses small, ½-inch cubes of beef in his Game Day Steak Chili. I filed the idea away for later…and promptly forgot about it.
The idea came back while I planned my annual work ChiliFest potluck lunch. (I mix in a new chili every year.) I The smaller pieces cook quickly and evenly under pressure in my Instant Pot. Also, the shorter cooking time lets me mix in a can or two of beans while I’m cooking the chili, without the beans turning to mush. (Yes, I add beans to this chili. If this offends you, don’t go any further - check out my bowl of Texas Red recipe instead. Look away! Turn back! Beans ahead!) Now, I didn’t cut my beef quite as small as Chef Michael does - my knife skills aren’t quite good enough to cut beef cubes that small - so I went with ¾-inch cubes.
Other than the smaller cut of beef, this is my standard Instant Pot chili technique. If you’ve been following along at home, it will look very familiar.
Adapted from: Game Day Steak Chili - CertifiedAngusBeef.com by Michael Ollier
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Instant Pot Steak Chili
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 quarts of chili 1x
Description
Instant Pot Steak Chili. Pressure cooker chili, made with bite-sized cubes of chuck, ready in about an hour thanks to pressure cooking. Adapted from Game Day Steak Chili, Chef Michael Ollier, CertifiedAngusBeef.com
Ingredients
- 3 pounds chuck roast, trimmed and cut into ¾-inch cubes
- 1½ teaspoons fine sea salt
- ¾ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and diced
- ¼ cup chili powder
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 cup beef broth or water (homemade is best, but expensive)
- 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed (or 2 cups homemade beans)
- 4-ounce can chopped green chiles
- 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
- ½ to 1½ teaspoons fine sea salt (depending on the beef broth)
Cornstarch slurry (optional)
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
Accompaniments
- shredded cheddar cheese
- diced scallions
- sour cream
Instructions
- Sear the beef in three batches: Heat the vegetable oil in the Instant Pot over Sauté mode set to high until the oil shimmers (medium-high heat in a stovetop pressure cooker). While the oil heats, sprinkle the beef cubes with 1½ teaspoons salt and ¾ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper. Add a third of the beef in a loose single layer and sear until well browned on one side, about 3 minutes. (Don’t crowd the pot or the beef will steam, not brown). Transfer the browned beef to a bowl, add half of the remaining beef to the pot, and sear until browned on one side, about 3 more minutes. Transfer the browned beef to the bowl. Add the rest of the beef to the pot and sear until browned on one side, about 3 more minutes. Transfer the browned beef to the bowl.
- Sauté the aromatics, toast the spices, deglaze the pan with broth: Add the onion, garlic, and jalapeño to the pot, and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt. Sauté until the onions soften, about 5 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pot occasionally to loosen any browned bits of beef. Make a hole in the middle of the onions and add the chili powder, cumin, oregano, and brown sugar. Cook for one minute, or until you smell the chili powder toasting, then stir the spices into the onions. Add the beef broth to the pot, bring to a simmer, and simmer for 1 minute. Scrape the bottom of the pot again to release any browned onions or spices.
- Stir everything into the pot: Add the beef and any juices in the bowl to the Instant Pot, then stir to coat the beef with the spices. Stir in the black beans and chopped green chilies. Spread the diced tomatoes over the top of the stew, but don’t stir.
- Pressure cook the chili for 12 minutes with a natural pressure release: Lock the lid on the pressure cooker. Cook at high pressure for 12 minutes in an electric pressure cooker (“Manual” or “Pressure Cook” mode in an Instant Pot), or for 10 minutes in a stovetop PC. Let the pressure come down naturally, about 30 more minutes. (If you’re in a hurry, you can quick release any remaining pressure after 20 minutes.) Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to avoid the hot steam.
- Season, thicken, and serve: Season with more salt: If you used store-bought beef broth, add ½ teaspoon of fine sea salt; if you used homemade beef broth or water, add 1½ teaspoons of fine sea salt. Whisk the water into the cornstarch to make a cornstarch slurry, and then stir the slurry into the chili to thicken. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Bottom Round is also a good cut of beef for this recipe; it cooks the same as chuck roast.
If you have the patience to cut ½-inch cubes, or can get your butcher to do the work, cut the cooking time to 10 minutes at high pressure; everything else is the same.
Don’t want beans? That’s OK. You can leave them out. Want more beans, like my bean-loving son? Go ahead and throw in another can or two. I’m easy.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Weeknight Dinner
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Instant Pot Steak Chili, Pressure Cooker Steak Chili,
What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
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My other Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker Recipes
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- I say “wimpy” with love - ground beef and bean chili is what I grew up with. ↩
Stacy says
By far the best chili I have ever made! My husband and sons devoured it. Made some sweet cornbread to go with it. Will be making this again soon. Thanks for sharing this recipe!!
★★★★★
Mike Vrobel says
You're welcome!
Rick says
Recipe was great. I didn’t have jalapeños so I used a can of rotel and a regular can of tomatoes.
★★★★★
Roxanne says
Made this last night because I needed to use up a chuck roast. My husband typically whips up the regular batches of chili for the household using ground beef but I thought I would try this recipe out. I understand the great reviews. It is a terrific chili. The base recipe is really flexible:
- Tossed in a large can of rinsed black bean
- Didn't have chilis or jalapeños, added two diced bell peppers
- Added cocoa powder like other reviews mentioned
- Tossed in a bunch of frozen corn at the end and brought back to temp using sauté function
Definitely a keeper. This was a great recipe!
Mike Vrobel says
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Michelle C says
We've been making a single chili recipe for over 20 years (Perini Ranch Chili) and never strayed. Until this recipe, which I was reminded of in a recent recipe revisit entry (and funny - I see where I asked about your preferred chili powder when you first posted the recipe).
I've been wanting to do a steak chili, but had never found one that sounded good before. This one, with a solid dose of chili powder (I use Penzey's medium hot) and 2 Tablespoons of ground cumin (love, love, love cumin in chili) sounded like what I might be after.
In a nutshell, I'm sorry Tom Perini. It's been a good run, but we found our new favorite chili. Mike, the tweaks you made to the inspiration recipe - more seasonings, much less onion, are spot-on. This stuff is so good!
★★★★★
Stephen B. says
I'm a huge chili fan. My usual recipe is done in a Dutch oven on the stove and cooks for at least a couple hours to get the beef tender. This cuts the time to less than half and is hands down just as good, if not better. My only addition was some cayenne for heat and Chipotle for smokiness. And I threw in 2 bay leaves.
Kudos...this is now my favorite!
★★★★★
Mike Vrobel says
Thank you!
Hungry Roses says
I’m not one to write many reviews but I felt like I would be doing everyone who scrolls reviews to decide what they’re going to cook a disservice by not leaving my two cents. This. Chili. Is. Fantastic. The meat is so tender and the broth so flavorful. I very much prefer steak to ground beef. The first time I made it I made it exactly as written. It was awesome but a little too soupy and a little too spicy for the smallest members of my family. The second time I added a scoop of unsweetened cocoa powder, used MILD green chiles only a half can, subbed bell peppers for the jalapeño, and added a half bag of frozen sweet corn. It was everything I’d ever want from chili! I will likely never use another chili recipe ever again because it was such a hit my 8 year old asked for it again for breakfast the next day. This recipe is well thought out, easily executed, and easily customizable to accommodate your family’s palate. Thank you thank you for FINALLY ending my search for the perfect chili! #nailedit
Also, I popped the meat in the freezer for 10 mins or so to make it easier to slice, which really helped.
★★★★★
Mike Vrobel says
Thanks!