The #1 question about my Pressure Cooker Ground Beef and Bean Chili recipe? “What if I want to use canned beans instead of dried?”
I dashed off a quick answer in the comments…“five minutes!”…but then it started to nag at me. Was five minutes under pressure enough time for the chili flavors to mingle?
Normally, cooking time is determined by how long it takes to cook all the ingredients through. Ground beef takes almost no time to cook. 4 The cooking time is based entirely on flavor. We don’t want a ground beef, bean, and chili soup, with each a distinct flavor; we want a chili, with all the flavors blended together, something greater than the sum of its parts. Time for some testing!
I bought beef, canned beans, tomatoes, and got out my pressure cookers. 5 The recipe was the same in all three until I locked the lid: sauté the onions and garlic, toast the spices, mix in the beef, then the liquids and the beans. Then I set one cooker to 5 minutes, one to 10, and one to 15 minutes, and let them pressure cook with a natural pressure release.
The results? Ten minutes is the Goldilocks zone. Five minutes is too short. The beans are the best in after five minutes - still having a little bit to them - but the rest of the ingredients don't quite come together, tasting like a beef and tomato and bean soup. Fifteen minutes is too long. I get a thick, chili flavor, but the beans are way overcooked, starting to melt away. Ten minutes is just right, a rich chili with beans that have absorbed the chili flavors. 6
Which brings me to my last two points: One, even the 5 minute chili was good - chili is hard to mess up. Two, chili is better if you make your own beans in the pressure cooker. Make the beans ahead and freeze them in 2 cup containers. That lets you pull beans out of the freezer, and they taste much better than canned. (And yes, I know that contradicts point one. Hey, who says I have to be consistent?)
Video
Note: I took this video while making a version of this recipe scaled up for an 8 quart pressure cooker. I'm including it here because it's the same instructions; just use the ingredient amounts in the recipe on this page if you have a 6 quart pressure cooker.
Pressure Cooker Quick Chili (in an 8 Quart Pressure Cooker) [YouTube]
Recipe: Pressure Cooker Quick Chili with Canned Beans
Equipment
- 6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I love my Instant Pot electric pressure cooker)
Pressure Cooker Quick Chili with Canned Beans
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 servings 1x
Description
Pressure Cooker Quick Chili with Canned Beans recipe. What's the quickest way to get dinner on the table? Pressure cooker chili, of course.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- ½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ¼ cup chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 1 pound ground beef (Preferably 85% lean ground round or 80% lean ground chuck)
- 1 ½ cups water (or homemade chicken broth)
- 4 (14- to 16-ounce) cans of beans, drained (kidney, pinto, black, or a mix of beans)
- (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Sauté the aromatics: Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in the pressure cooker pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onions, garlic, and ½ teaspoon salt to the pressure cooker. Sauté the onions and garlic until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Toast the spices and cook the beef: Make a hole in the center of the onion mix and add the chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Let sit for 30 seconds, then stir into the onions. Add the ground beef and stir to coat with the onions and spices, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the water and cook the beef, stirring often, until the beef just loses its pink color, about 3 minutes.
- Cook the chili: Stir the beans and crushed tomatoes into the pot. Lock the lid on the pressure cooker and cook at high pressure for 10 minutes in an electric PC or 8 minutes in a stove top cooker. Turn off the heat and let the pressure come down naturally, about 15 minutes. (Or, if you’re really in a hurry, high pressure for 12 minutes in an electric PC or 10 minutes in a stovetop, then quick release the pressure.) Remove the lid carefully, opening away from you – even when it’s not under pressure, the steam in the cooker is very hot.
- Season and serve: Stir in the black pepper, then taste and add salt if needed. (Canned beans tend to be salty, so I rarely need to add more salt.)
Notes
Troubleshooting scorching or overheating: I have one pressure cooker that runs hotter than my others, and it had problems with overheating in this recipe. (Overheat usually means the pressure cooker noticed that things are burning on the bottom of the pot.) If you have overheating or scorching in your cooker, add an extra cup of water to the recipe and make sure the bottom of the cooker is scraped well before stirring in the beans.
Homemade beans: If you have leftover pressure cooker beans, this recipe is a great way to use them up. Substitute 6 to 8 cups of cooked homemade beans for the canned beans.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
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Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts
Pressure Cooker Ground Beef and Bean Chili
Pressure Cooker Turkey and Black Bean Chili
Instant Pot White Turkey Chili
Pressure Cooker Beans: Basic Technique
My other Pressure Cooker Recipes
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Rachel G says
Would there be a cooking time difference if I were to do a vegan option of this recipe? Or would I just follow the recipe step by step and skip over the meat portion?
Thanks!
Mike Vrobel says
Same timings - just skip the meat.
JR says
Excellent! Really enjoyed it, thanks.
Allison says
This is my go to recipe for chili! My kids won’t eat anything with even a hint of spice and this recipe is packed full of flavor without any of the spice! They even ask for seconds! I don’t change any part of the recipe or add anything other than a little hot sauce to my bowl cause I like a little kick!
Jules Platt says
Simple and delicious - thanks! The first time my daughter ate seconds 🙂
jules
SandyToes says
Tonight I used this recipe as a guide to convert my own chili to the Instant Pot, and it was a resounding success. On the stovetop I follow the same steps you do, right down to toasting the spices and using 4 cans of beans, so it seemed a good fit. The only big difference is that I use a small can of tomato paste (added and toasted after the spices) instead of crushed tomatoes. I add 2 (15-oz) cans of water, so did the same tonight, since I figured I'd need more water than you use. I ended up with more liquid than usual, but a few minutes on Low Sauté took care of that.
10 minutes was perfect, thanks for testing that! The chili was every bit as delicious as the stovetop one that I always let simmer for 2 hours, this one was on the table in under an hour, from prep to bowls. Thanks, Mike, for helping me convert another recipe to the IP.
Mike Vrobel says
You're welcome!
Sandy myers says
Making my second one, I’m thinking of doIng 5 min pressure then switch to regular lid and slow cook for a bit, have you tried that?
Mike Vrobel says
No, I have not.
Jane Truitt says
This is the second time I've made your chili. GREAT receipt and notes. When I made it today I needed some thing easy and tasty. (I am fighting pneumonia, bronchitis, and the flu). It smells really good in here. I did add my own touch but your recipes was the base. Thanks for your recipes.I will definitely try another one of yours. PEACE ?
Susan says
I'd like to use dry beans. Should additional stock be added?
Mike Vrobel says
Yes. Use the instructions here: https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/pressure-cooker-ground-beef-and-bean-chili/
Christin says
Thanks for this! I'm not a good cook and don't have much time nor experience with my IP. But, this has saved my bacon several times for potlucks. Quick, easy, stuff I usually have on hand, and always tasty. I usually use ground elk meat or occasionally ground venison as we are avid hunters and don't have beef on hand. Comes out delicious!
Lee Anne says
So quick and delicious. Very flavorful. Thanks.
Annie says
Awesome recipe that was easy peasy to make. Grateful for the quickness of it and the ingredients easily found in the cupboard. We're all stranded here today with an ice storm.
Dalayna Mullins says
This is the 3rd time I’ve made this recipe. I always use deer burger! We rarely have to eat beef because I have some amazing hunters (husband,son,daughter)! Tonight I had some tenderloin thawed out from the other night so I sautéed that instead! Let’s just say we are dying to open that pot!!! It is almost time so gotta go! Thanks for all you do!!!
crazyworkin'mom says
Santa just brought me an 8Q InstantPot. I'm curious about using chicken broth vs beef - does beef broth overwhelm other flavors? I realize I can substitute water if I'm out of chicken broth.
Mike Vrobel says
I recommend chicken broth because you should use homemade broth, and homemade beef broth is expensive. (You can use it if you have it available).
If you're not using homemade broth, use water. Store-bought broth (chicken or beef) does not have enough flavor to make much difference in the final result - other than salt, which store-bought broth has a lot of. I use water and add my own salt - it's cheaper, and tastes the same. (Again, if you have store-bought broth already, you can use it - it won't matter. Just watch out when seasoning at the end, and don't add more salt until you're sure you need to.)
SandyToes says
Hi Mike,
I've used your pressure cooker turkey stock recipe to make our Thanksgiving gravy for 2 years running and my family is nuts for it. I figured it was time to subscribe.
One question about the chili, will it fit in the 3qt IP Mini?
Mike Vrobel says
It won't fit in the 3 quart; it's too small. (I think it will just barely fit in the 5-quart - but I don't have one, so I've never tried. If uou try it in the 5 quart, add the beans gradually - if you get to the max fill line, stop adding beans.)
Lisa Saunders says
Wow. This turned out fabulous. The flavor was so good. I swapped out the real beef for Morningstar Recipe crumbles and it was outstanding. This is my new go to chili recipe. Thank you so much.