Instant Pot Bean and Beef Chili

by MargenauMaker in Cooking > Main Course

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Instant Pot Bean and Beef Chili

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DISCLAIMER - If you think of chili and a certain Johnny Cash song comes to mind, this is not the recipe for you (at least as written).

Chili for me, has always been built around things I have on hand that can be added to the slow cooker. The base is always several cans of beans with meat (ground beef, beef chunks, ground pork and beef) mixed in. I am not a purist. The end goal is always to create something that will bring the family together at dinner time and that my kids and wife will not find too spicy. I can always make it spicier for my own tastes. We normally serve it over rice with crushed tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and sour cream.

For this recipe, I wanted to take my standard slow cooker chili and turn it into a true one pot meal using the Instant Pot.

Total time: < 1 hour

A one-page pdf is attached for printing.

Supplies

Pressure cooker - I used an Instant Pot Duo 6L

Ingredients:

1 lb - Ground beef (could be cubed beef or a mix of pork and beef or even chicken/turkey)

1 medium onion - chopped

2-3 cloves of garlic - chopped

1.5 - 2 Cups of tomato sauce (if you are using canned tomatoes you can skip this)

4-5 cans of beans (I use a mix of kidney, black, chickpeas, cannellini or whatever is available)

1 large can of diced tomatoes or 5ish fresh roma tomatoes diced (about 2-3 cups)

1 can tomato paste

1 Tbsp - Chili powder

1 Tbsp - Paprika

1 tsp - Cumin

1 tsp - ground black pepper

1 tsp - salt

0.5 - 1 Cup - water or broth (to create enough steam to prevent burn warning)

Condiments:

Rice

Shredded cheese

Sour cream

Browning the Beef and Frying Oninons and Garlic

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Set the pressure cooker to the "Sauté" setting and add the ground beef.

Season the beef with black pepper and paprika to your preference. I don't usually add chili powder at this stage as my kids say it ends up too spicy.

Once the beef is browned, remove it to a bowl and add the diced onions and garlic to the pressure cooker. I use some of the juice left over from the beef to cook the onions and garlic. Normally I would dice the onions by hand but since I was using fresh tomatoes this time, I used the dicing box thing we got as a gift a few years ago (Thanks mom!).

Once the onions are translucent with a bit of brown and the garlic is a bit browned, remove both to the same bowl as the beef (fewer dishes to wash).

Remove the inner pot and scrub it clean. This helps to prevent the "food burn" warning on the pressure cooker. Make sure you turn off the pressure cooker for the time being.

Throw It All Together

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With the clean inner pot back in pressure cooker add the tomato sauce, drained beans, diced or canned tomatoes, tomato paste and spices. Depending on your need for hot you can change the proportions of spices to meet your needs.

At this point you can also add other ingredients. Mushrooms, celery, carrots, various red/green/yellow peppers or whatever you feel like. As I said, I am not a purist. My kids are not keen on mushrooms and peppers, so I kept it simple this time.

Add the beef, onions, and garlic on top. Give it all a stir to mix things up.

Here is where a bit of guess work comes into things. If the chili looks dry add a whole cup of water or broth. If you are using canned tomatoes or didn't drain your beans you might not need this step as the liquid already present will be enough. The goal here is to avoid the "food burn" alert when cooking.

Crank Up the Pressure!

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The trick, I am learning, is to get enough liquid on the bottom of the pressure cooker to prevent food from sticking to it. If food sticks, the pressure cooker senses this and issues the dreaded "food burn" warning and stops cooking. It's a safety mechanism (I appreciate safety) and hugely annoying.

Once you are confident that the chili is ready to go, attach the pressure lid, set the valve to "sealing", and turn the pressure cooker to "high pressure" and set for 10 minutes.

If everything is ok you should have nothing more to do until it is done. If the "food burn" warning comes on you will need to cancel the cook, do a quick venting of the steam and once it is safe to open, pop the top off the pressure cooker. At this point two things need to happen. First, add some more water or broth. Probably about 1/2 cup. Too much and you will have soup, not chili at the end. Not enough and the warning will come back. Second, after you have added the liquid, give everything a stir and try to see what is happening at the bottom of the pot. Make sure everything is free and there is no evidence of food being stuck.

Put the lid back on, make sure the vent is again set to "sealing" and cook it up for another 10 minutes.

Let's Eat!

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When the pressure cooker is done it will go to the "keep warm" stage. This will last for up to 10 hours! but I don't recommend that. Give the steam 5 - 10 minutes to vent naturally then do a quick venting.

Stir everything up to make sure it is nice and mixed and then either serve right away or put the lid back on and leave it to stay warm till you are ready. Chili, I think, gets better with time. So, leaving it in the "keep warm" setting will help the flavors to soak in.

As mentioned, we normally eat it with a base of rice with crumbled tortilla chips, shredded cheddar and sour cream. It is just as good on its own though.

Leftovers can be frozen and reheated. My mother would argue that chili should be made the day before and then refrigerated and reheated the next night for dinner. I'm not going to argue with her, but we normally eat it the day it's made and then as leftovers a day or two later.

Remember, all food should make you happy. Chili is about bringing good things together to share with family and friends. Use this recipe as a base and make your own amazing creations!