Instant Pot Quick Chili with Canned Beans. What's the quickest way to get dinner on the table? Pressure cooker chili. This is my go-to weeknight chili recipe, when I need a ground beef and bean chili in a hurry.
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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. 1 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. (What? Doesn't everyone own three…four…um…OK, I actually own six pressure cookers right now. I may have a problem.) 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. (The beans are right on the edge of overcooked at 10 minutes. Hey, we're working with canned beans here, it's the best we can do.)
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?)
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- More beef, less beans: I like a bean-heavy chili, but if you want more meat, you can use 2 pounds of ground beef, or cut the beans back to 2 cans instead of four. (Or do both if you like a lot of meat and not many beans.)
- Ground beef: This recipe works best if the ground beef is at least 80% lean and 20% fat - aka "Ground Chuck". (The recipe works with 70% lean "ground beef", but I have had complaints that it can be too greasy.) It works fine with ultra-lean ground beef, too, like 93% Ground sirloin.
- Other ground meat: You can use almost any ground meat in this recipe. Ground chicken, turkey, or pork - even ground buffalo, ground elk, or ground venision - whatever ground meat you have will work here. I have separate recipes posted for Instant Pot Ground Turkey Chili and Instant Pot Ground Pork chili, or just follow the directions in this recipe and substitute the ground meat for the beef.
- Other canned beans: I usually make this recipe with a mix of kidney beans, pinto beans, and/or black beans, but any canned bean will work - use whatever you like.
- Make-ahead beans: Even better than canned beans are dry beans, pressure cooked and frozen. I make lots of different beans in my Instant Pot, and I always make extra so I can freeze some for later. (A 2-cup container of frozen beans replaces a can of beans.) My favorites for this recipe are Instant Pot Small Red Beans, Instant Pot Pinto Beans, or Instant Pot Black Beans.
- Changing the heat level: This is a mild chili - most chili powder blends don't have a lot of heat. I add ground cayenne pepper when I want to increase the heat - a half-teaspoon for medium heat, a full teaspoon for high heat, and 2 teaspoons for 5-alarm chili. (Or, dice up a jalapeno or two and add them with the onions.)
Instant Pot Quick Chili Step-By-Step
In an Instant Pot, Sauté Onion and Garlic, and Toast the Spices
Heat a tablespoon of oil in an Instant Pot, then sauté a diced onion and a few cloves of minced garlic. Make a hole in the onions and add the chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Toast them for 30 seconds, then stir them into the onions.
Cook the beef until it is no longer pink
Stir in the beef to coat it with the onions and spices, then stir in the water. Simmer, stirring often and breaking up the beef, until it loses its pink color.
Everything in the pot
Stir the beans and crushed tomatoes into the pot, and lock the lid
Pressure Cook for 10 minutes
Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes with a Natural Pressure Release (about 20 minutes more)
Season, serve, and enjoy
Unlock the lid, stir in salt and ground pepper, serve with your favorite chili accompaniments, and enjoy!
Tips and Tricks
- 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.
- I'm really in a hurry, and don't want to wait for the Natural Release: Increase the pressure cooking time to 12 minutes at high pressure, then quick release the pressure.
Pressure Cooker Quick Chili with Canned Beans
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 servings 1x
Description
Instant Pot 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 fine sea salt
- ¼ cup chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 pound ground beef (Preferably 85% lean ground round or 80% lean ground chuck)
- 1 ½ cups water (or homemade chicken broth, or low-sodium store-bought 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
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- Sauté the aromatics: Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in an Instant Pot set to sauté mode-high until shimmering. (Use medium heat in a stovetop pressure cooker). Add the onions, garlic, and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of salt. Sauté until the onions soften, about 5 minutes.
- Toast the spices and cook the beef: Make a hole in the center of the onions 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 with a flat-edged wooden spoon. Add the water and cook the beef, stirring often and breaking up any clumps of beef, until the beef just loses its pink color, about 3 minutes.
- Everything in the pot: Scrape the bottom of the pot one last time with the flat-edged wooden spoon to make sure nothing is sticking. Stir the beans and crushed tomatoes into the pot.
- Pressure Cook on High for 10 minutes with a Natural Release: Lock the lid on the pressure cooker. Cook at high pressure for 10 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric PC, or 8 minutes in a stove top pressure cooker. (Use Manual, Pressure Cook, or Pressure Cook-Custom mode in an Instant Pot.) Let the pressure come down naturally, about 20 more minutes. (If you're in a hurry, you can quick release any remaining pressure after 15 minutes.)
- Season and serve: Unlock the lid, and open it away from you to avoid the hot steam. Stir in the black pepper, and ½ teaspoon of salt. Serve and enjoy!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Weeknight Dinner
- Method: Pressure Cooking
- Cuisine: American
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Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 cups of chili
- Calories: 386
- Sugar: 5.6 g
- Sodium: 1375.1 mg
- Fat: 11.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 46.8 g
- Fiber: 18.5 g
- Protein: 25.9 g
- Cholesterol: 38.6 mg
Frequently Asked Questions
I love add-ins to my chili. My defaults are diced raw onion, shredded cheese (usually cheddar or a Mexican blend), sour cream, and some tortilla chips or Fritos. I also pass a bottle of hot sauce at the table so people can increase the heat if they want.
Absolutely not - that's how you get a good chili flavor. Go big or go home is my approach to chili.
If you want to make this recipe in a 3-quart pressure cooker, cut all the ingredients in half - except for the water, cut that back to 1 cup. You can double the recipe in an 8-quart pressure cooker, just double all the ingredients.
What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts
Pressure Cooker Ground Beef and Bean Chili (with dry beans)
Pressure Cooker Turkey and Black Bean Chili
Instant Pot White Turkey Chili
Instant Pot 5 Ingredient Chili
Pressure Cooker Beans: Basic Technique
Instant Pot Cowboy Beans
My other Instant Pot (Pressure Cooker) Recipes
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Lois says
I don't have a pressure cooker or insta pot. Can I cook this on the top of the stove and do you have advice how long to cook it?
Mike Vrobel says
Yes - double the water (or chicken broth) and simmer for 2 hours
Rachel says
Found this recipe a couple years ago and it’s become our go-to, exactly as written! Thank you!!
Mike Vrobel says
You’re welcome!
Leann Collier says
Thanks so much for including the trouble shooting tips. My instapot is new this Christmas and I'm still figuring it out! It never came up to pressure and showed "burn" on the display. I opened it and stirred/scraped the bottom. and now its building up pressure! Yay! I used more or less the same ingredients but added a taco seasoning and ranch seasoning packet (borrowed from Weight Watchers Taco Soup recipe) instead of my own spices as I was out of several things. Thanks for helping me trouble shoot!
A C says
Fantastic easy recipe. My family has asked me to make it the 2nd night in a row. Tastes good over a bed of rice as well.
Ron Reynard says
Very tasty, fast and super easy. I may have used too much liquid though; I was a bit more soupy than chili-like.
PattiAnn says
Thanks Mike for this post & research. I was down to canned kidney beans and wondered how long to cook in IP. Your timing tips are spot on. Also no hamburger so ground up some stew meat that's been in the freezer. Using up everything in my pantry & freezer, which, I guess, is a good thing. Will replenish both when this virus is conquered.
Keep up the good work.
Mike Vrobel says
Thanks!
Laura says
This was so good! I did cut the chili powder down a little bit, but also added a can of diced chiles. My husband is a bit picky, but loved this! Will definitely use this recipe again.
sally danskine says
Thank you for your help . Great recipe.
sheldon lebowitz says
I want to make Quick Chili in a pot or a Microwave. How do I do it?