Instant Pot Ground Beef Chili

This small batch beef chili recipe has all the classic mouthwatering flavors you expect in a traditional chili. Since it's made in an Instant Pot you get a bowl of chili that tastes like it simmered for hours, ready in less than an hour. So chunky, cozy and comforting this chili will become a weeknight favorite in no time! 

If you want to include this chili as part of a game day party menu, I'd serve it with this Cold Spinach Dip in a Bread Bowl and these Lemongrass Beef Asian Wonton Nachos.

If you just want to serve this for lunch and dinner, a simple green salad and some of these Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread Bites make great sides.

This post may contain sales affiliate links. Please see my full Disclosure Policy for details.

Cooking for yourself and others can be a way to find joy and inspiration. This chunky, hearty chili is a great dish for days when you are getting a group of friends together and is also just the right warmer for dinner on a cold winter night.

The inspiration for this recipe comes from a Cooking Light magazine recipe that is many, many years old. I decided to adopt the recipe for an Instant Pot because it's a great way to make chili that involves mostly hands-off cooking time! Since an instant pot has a setting for chili, other than browning the meat there is not much you need to do besides add the rest of the ingredients and let your pressure cooker do it's thing!

Contents:

• Ingredient Notes
• How to make chili in an Instant Pot
• Freezing chili
• Recommended tools
• More chili recipes
• Instant Pot Ground Beef Chili

How to make chili in an Instant Pot

The full printable recipe card is below, but let’s walk through the details before you get started.

Step 1 | Brown the meat. You’ll start by pressing the sauté button on the instant pot. Once you can feel the heat, add the oil to the instant pot liner and then add the pork. The pork has more fat than the ground beef, so adding it first will help to keep the ground beef from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Once the pork has cooked for a minute or two, add the ground beef. Use a non-metal spoon to stir and crumble the ground beef. You want nice small pieces in your chili. Continue to cook the mixture until both the pork and ground beef are no longer pink.

Step 2 | Saute and deglaze. Once the beef is cooked through add the onions, garlic and green pepper and quickly sauté them as well.  Then you’ll add the wine and deglaze the pot by using your spoon to scrape any stuck-on bits off the bottom of the pan. 

Step 3 | Pressure cook the chili. Then toss in the rest of the ingredients. Use the chili/beans setting to cook for 20 minutes. This should automatically give you high pressure.  Once the chili is done cooking let the pressure release naturally for 20 minutes.

Step 4 | Serve. Ladle the chili into bowls and top with sour cream/greek yogurt and shredded cheese. 

Instant Pot Burn Notice

The first time I tested this chili in my Instant Pot was the first time I'd ever gotten the dreaded burn notice on my Instant Pot. I had to do a little research to learn more, so here's the scoop. I've only gotten the burn notice one time and I've made this and other chilis in the instant pot successfully many times since then!

• The burn noticed is generally caused by something at the bottom of the liner burning or getting too warm.  When you sauté the beef you may end up with little bits stuck to the pot, causing the pot to think something is burning.
• To start, always make sure your liner is really clean.  If you have food residue on the bottom from a previous use you are much more likely to get a burn notice. I use a little bit of baking soda to remove any stubborn, stuck-on bits.
• Be sure you use oil and add the pork to the pot first. This will help to keep anything from sticking.
• The deglazing step is also key.  If you scrape the bottom of the liner well after you add the wine it will help prevent anything from sticking.

If you do get a burn notice try the following:

• Hit cancel to turn the pot completely off. Manually release the pressure, being careful not to place your hand directly over the valve. Let the pot depressurize.
• Once the pot has depressurized open the lid and use a silicone spatula to stir the chili and scrape off anything that is stuck to the bottom of the pot.
• Start the cooking process again. You can guestimate how long the chili had been cooking at set the time accordingly. If you cook it a little longer than 20 minutes don't worry,  the longer it cooks the more flavorful it will get.

If you continue to get a burn notice you may need to dump the chili out of the pot and fully clean the liner. If this happens, I recommend cooking it the rest of the way on the stovetop, unless of course, you have a second liner!

Freezing chili

Since there is no dairy involved,  chili is really easy to freeze. Cool your chili completely and store it in either Ziploc bags or a freezer-safe container. If you use freezer bags be sure that you press all the air out of the bags to avoid freezer burn. To reheat I usually defrost the chili in the refrigerator first then either add it to a pot on the stovetop or microwave it to heat it.

More chili recipes

If you are looking for other small batch chili recipes, give my Creamy White Chicken Chili or this Amber Turkey Chili a try.

---

This post was originally published in January 2019. It was updated in February 2024 with some new information and photos. No changes were made to the original recipe.