Instant Pot Beef and Bean Chili

This instant pot beef and bean chili is the ultimate comfort food with roasted tomatoes and poblano peppers, smoky chipotle peppers, pinto beans, and of course our favorite BACON. Plus, it's ready in less than an hour in the Instant Pot!

Not only does this instant pot chili have tender delicious ground beef and roasted poblanos, but it also has fresh roasted tomatoes (YUM), creamy beans and of course BACON. Because what dish is complete without a little bit of bacon?

Serve this favorite chili with air fryer cornbread, instant pot cornbread, or spoon it over this amazing cornbread pudding. This is the best chili to bring to your next chili cook-off!

And to top it off, we cook this electric pressure cooker chili up in the Instant Pot in about 45 minutes start to finish, with most of that time being hands off so you can catch up on your Netflix. No simmering for hours on the stove to get all those flavors melded.

Why this instant pot chili recipe works

• Using a pressure cooker to make this recipe gives the chili the "simmering all day" flavor, while only taking less than an hour of cook time to prepare, like this pressure cooker turkey chili.
• Poblano peppers add an amazing flavor and texture to the chili, without excessive amounts of spice.
• Salty, porky bacon just adds a another layer of flavor to this already easy-to-make flavor packed chili.
• Chili is super forgiving, meaning you can make adjustments to it to make it your own.

The ingredients

Best beef for this beef and bean chili recipe

I make chili with 85/15 ground beef. For this recipe, you can use ground beef with any fat to meat ratio, but I recommend 80/20 to 90/10. No fattier or leaner than that.

Poblano peppers are a must! They are generally mild peppers, but can occasionally pack some heat depending on how/where they are grown. We LOVE using them in lots of things, especially these cheesy stuffed poblano peppers.

We use canned beans for the pinto beans in this chili, but you can substitute black beans, red kidney beans, red beans, white beans, chili beans or any other bean you prefer. I don't recommend using dried beans for this recipe as the cook time and amount of liquid changes significantly.

Bacon adds a smoky, porky flavor to the chili, and while it can be omitted if needed, I LOVE the flavor it adds.

A mixture of ground spices like cumin, paprika and chili powder are used to add a spicy, smoky flavor to the chili, along with the canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (see below).

Are chipotle peppers in adobo sauce hot?

These peppers can be quite spicy. Chipotle peppers are dried and smoked red jalapenos peppers, which is where their spiciness comes from.

Variations and substitutions

• You can replace the beer with cola if you need to. I don't always have beer in the house, so I replace with cola and have great results.
• For extra spicy chili, add an additional chipotle pepper, add extra chili powder and/or 1-2 sliced jalapenos.
• For a less spicy chili, reduce the amount of chili powder and add only ½ chipotle pepper, or omit it all together.
• Substitute black beans, red beans, white beans, chili beans or any other bean for the pinto beans.

How to peel poblano peppers

First you roast the pepper over an open flame or under the broiler until the skin is brown and blistered. Let the pepper cool, then gently peel the skin off:

Step by step instructions to cook chili in an instant pot

1. Using the sauté function (normal setting), brown the ground beef. Make sure to stir regularly because the beef will stick to the bottom of the Instant Pot.

2. Add the onions and garlic and cook until soft, about 2-3 minutes, scraping any bits off the bottom of the pot.

3. Add all the remaining ingredients and stir well to combine. Set the Instant Pot to pressure cook the beef and bacon chili on high pressure for 20 minutes.

4. Once done, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then use the quick release to release any remaining pressure.

Serve this easy instant pot homemade chili with a sprinkling of cheddar cheese, some sliced avocado, sour cream (or Mexican crema as I prefer), and some sliced green onions. The toppings are all optional depending on your preference. But really, what is chili without cheese and sour cream?

We also love this air fryer garlic bread dipped right into the classic chili!

Expert tips

1. Roast the poblano peppers and tomatoes in advance to make the recipe even easier to throw together. I like to roast batches of veggies on the weekends and freeze them for future use.
2. Make sure to stir the ground beef while it is browning to prevent sticking. If you get a "hot" warning on the Instant Pot, you need to stir it. When you add the remaining ingredients, be sure to stir so any pieces stuck to the bottom will be stirred in.
3. Use a spoon to break up the ground meat in small pieces so you're chili doesn't have big chunks in it.
4. The chili is awesome the day you make it, but is even more super awesome the next day. Chili is always better the second day because the flavors have had time to meld together.
5. If your chili is too thin, add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to 1 tablespoon of water in a small dish and mix to make a cornstarch slurry. Add a little of the cornstarch mixture at a time to the chili, stirring constantly while it simmers, until the desired thickness is reached.

Frequently asked questions

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