Instant Pot Turkey Chili with Small Red Beans

Instant Pot Turkey Chili with Small Red Beans. Small red beans, pressure cooked from dried, are the backbone of this ground turkey chili.

Canned beans are an add-on to bulk up chili. Homemade beans, cooked from dried, are the main ingredient, giving this turkey chili backbone and depth.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• How to make Instant Pot Turkey Chili with Red Beans
• Substitutions
• Equipment
• Scaling
• Storage
• Soaking the beans
• 💡Tips and Tricks
• What to Serve with Instant Pot Turkey Chili
• Instant Pot Turkey Chili with Small Red Beans
• Related Posts
• 💬 Comments

(Now, I'm not a purist. I make quick chilis with canned beans when I have a severe time crunch. Chili is always better than no chili. But all I need is the foresight to start soaking beans the night before or the extra hour to do a quick soak right before cooking.)

I call this wimpy chili; it has turkey and beans in it. But it does have a kick from the peppers in the two cans of Rotel tomatoes. I have difficulty answering the "How hot is it?" question because everyone's heat tolerance differs. (And, when I'm asked, it's usually coming from someone sensitive to spicy food.) My heat level of "hmm…I think it's a little spicy?" is their "Hot," and what I think of as "Hot" makes them turn red, break out in a sweat, and lunge for a glass of water.

(An aside for the Texans currently lighting up the comments with "Turkey? Beans?!? What in tarnation do you think you're doing?" You can make a nice bowl of pressure cooked Texas Red and serve the beans on the side. Or skip them if you are genuinely anti-bean.)

Ingredients

• Dry small red beans
• Water
• Fine sea salt
• Onion
• Garlic
• Ground turkey
• Chili powder
• Ground cumin
• Dried oregano (Mexican oregano if you can find it)
• Cocoa powder
• Cinnamon
• Allspice
• Chicken broth (homemade chicken broth or store-bought low sodium)
• Diced tomatoes with chiles (aka Rotel tomatoes)
• Brown sugar
• Fresh ground black pepper

See the recipe card for quantities

How to make Instant Pot Turkey Chili with Red Beans

Sort and rinse the beans

Sort the small red beans, discarding any stones, dirt, or broken beans. Rinse the beans, then do an overnight or a quick soak.

Overnight soak

Cover the beans with 8 cups of water, and sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of salt. Leave the beans to soak for at least 8 hours or overnight. Drain and discard the soaking liquid.

OR: Pressure Quick Soak for 1 minute with a 30-minute rest

Put the beans and 8 cups of water in an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of salt. Pressure cook at high pressure for 1 minute ("Manual" or "Pressure Cook" mode in an Instant Pot for 1 minute), then quick release the pressure. Let the beans soak in the pot for 30 minutes, then drain the beans and discard the soaking liquid.

Sauté the aromatics

Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in the Instant Pot using sauté mode until the oil is shimmering. (medium heat in a stovetop PC). Add the onion and garlic to the pot, then sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt. Sauté, stirring and scraping occasionally with a flat-edged wooden spoon, until the onions start to soften, about 5 minutes.

Toast the spices and break up the turkey

Make a hole in the center of the onions and add the chili powder, cumin, oregano, cocoa, cinnamon, and allspice. Let the spices sit until you smell them toasting, about 1 minute, then stir into the onions. Add the turkey and stir to coat with the onions and spices. Cook, stirring often and breaking up any clumps, until the turkey loses its pink color, about 5 minutes.

Everything in the pot

Stir in the soaked and drained beans, chicken broth, 1 teaspoon of salt (or ½ teaspoon of salt if using store-bought low sodium broth), and diced tomatoes with chilies,

Pressure cook the chili for 10 minutes with a Natural Release

Lock the lid on the Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. (8 minutes in a stovetop PC). Let the pressure come down naturally, about 20 minutes. (If you're in a hurry, you can quick release any remaining pressure after 15 minutes of natural release.)

Season and serve

Remove the lid carefully, opening it away from you – even when it's not under pressure, the steam in the cooker is scalding. Stir in the brown sugar and black pepper. Serve and enjoy!

Substitutions

• Other meats: You can substitute ground pork, ground beef, or ground chicken for the turkey in this recipe; they all cook the same. (Or check out my Pressure Cooker Ground Beef and Bean Chili, Instant Pot White Chili with Ground Chicken and Navy Beans, or Instant Pot Ground Pork and Bean Chili recipes.)
• Simple spices: The spices are listed in order of importance to the recipe. If all you have is chili powder, substitute chili powder for all the other spices (cumin, oregano, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and allspice). You can do the same thing as you work your way down the spice list. If you don't have a spice, replace it with more chili powder. (If you don't have chili powder, you can still make the recipe, but at that point, it's a turkey and bean stew and not chili.)
• Heat Level: This is a mild chili; the heat comes from the diced chilies in the tomatoes. If you want to cut the heat, replace the diced tomatoes and chilies with straight diced tomatoes. (No chilies in the can). Add ½ teaspoon of ground cayenne or ground chipotle with the chili powder if you want to up the heat.
• Use water instead of broth: If you don't have broth, use water instead. It won't be as rich, but the beans make their own broth, so it will still be a good chili.
• Canned beans: Don't want to use dried beans? Substitute 3 15-ounce cans of small red beans (aka Chili Beans), drained and rinsed, and cut the cooking time under pressure to 8 minutes so you don't turn the beans to mush. (For more details, see this recipe: Pressure Cooker Quick Chili with Canned Beans). Or, if you have leftover cooked beans (from my small red bean, pinto bean,  black beans  recipes), thaw out 4 to 6 cups of the beans (and again, cut the cooking time to 10 minutes).

Equipment

A 6-quart pressure cooker

Scaling

To double this recipe, you need an 8-quart pressure cooker; it is already right up against the max fill line on a 6-quart pressure cooker. Cut all the ingredients in half, and this recipe will fit in a 3-quart pressure cooker. The cooking time does not change; it takes the same time to cook the beans, no matter how many are in the pot.

Storage

Store the chili in 2-cup containers. They can refrigerate for a few days or freeze for up to 6 months. 2-cup containers of frozen chili are my favorite leftovers; I love having extra lunches later in the week.

Soaking the beans

Now, if you're a regular reader, you'll know that I don't soak the beans in my Instant Pot Small Red Beans Recipe. I soak them in this recipe to avoid overcooking the ground meat. If you completely forget to soak your beans, you can cook them from dry. Increase your pressure cooking time to 25 minutes (with a natural release). The turkey will be a bit overcooked, but this chili has enough going on that it won't be a big deal.

💡Tips and Tricks

• Tough beans: If your beans are still tough when the cooking time is over, especially any "floaters" at the top of the pot, stir the beans, lock the lid, and pressure cook for another five minutes. Older beans take longer to cook, and if the beans have been sitting on the shelf at your store for a while, they may need extra time. The overnight soak, salt, and baking soda will help, but sometimes old beans are too dried out.
• Simmer to thicken: Pressure cookers are sealed, so there is no evaporation. If you have the time and want a thicker chili, simmer the chili for 10 to 20 minutes after pressure cooking. I set my Instant Pot to Sauté mode, adjust it to low heat, set the timer to 10 minutes, and simmer with the lid off until the chili thickens to my liking.

What to Serve with Instant Pot Turkey Chili

I love all sorts of chili toppings. My favorites are minced green onions or diced onions, shredded cheddar cheese, tortilla chips, and sour cream. I also put bottles of hot sauce on the table because my family has a wide range of heat preferences.

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What do you think?

Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

Related Posts

• Instant Pot White Turkey Chili Recipe (With Dried White Beans)
• Pressure Cooker Ground Beef and Bean Chili
• Pressure Cooker 15 Bean Chili
• Pressure Cooker Turkey and Black Bean Chili
• Instant Pot Quick Turkey Chili with Canned Beans
• Instant Pot Venison Chili
• Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice
• My other Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Recipes

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