Our Mom's Chili is the perfect fall soup recipe. We would have it for dinner every single Halloween and it's a tradition we've kept with our own families. You can also make this chili on the stove top or slow cooker!
Does your family have any recipes that were staples in your house growing up? This Instant Pot Chilihas been around our family for as long as I can remember.
Every year on Halloween, my mom would whip up a pot of this chili. It would cook all day in the slow cooker and the smell of the chili would fill the entire house.
Don’t have an Instant Pot? Try our Slow Cooker version!
But now, you can make it in the Instant Pot in a matter of minutes.
Even today when I smell chili cooking, it takes me back to my childhood and having a warm, full belly before heading out to go trick-or-treating.
Before we get into the recipe, you’re going to need an Instant Pot! We love the 6 quart Lux or Duo. You can make this in the 8 quart, 6 quart or 3 quart. If you are using the 3 quart, just be sure to half the recipe!
Looking for more Instant Pot soup recipes? Click here for our top100 Instant Pot Soups, Chilis, and Stew recipes!
TRICKS TO MAKING Instant Pot CHILI
If this is your first time making chili, or any soup for that matter in the Instant Pot, we have a few suggestions to make sure it turns out perfect every single time.
- Brown and Flavor Ground Meats
Cooking the meat before throwing it in the slow cooker may not be the case for all soups, but we’d recommend browning ground beef, turkey, or sausage before tossing it in the Instant Pot.
This not only helps with the flavor of your soup, but it also prevents large chunks of meat from cooking together. You’ll have perfectly ground beef in your chili if you take this step.
We love to brown our meat with onions in this recipe, giving the meat great flavor. Other soups may have you throw in some garlic, spices, or even a packet of taco seasoning.
You can also pre cook your ground beef in the Instant Pot. Watch I how cook 3 pounds of frozen meat HERE
2. Drain and Rinse Your Beans
Avoiding this step could be detrimental to your chili! We’ve listed which cans need to be drained in this recipe, but you can almost always assume that beans in any recipe will be drained and oftentimes rinsed (especially black beans!).
Without draining your beans, your chili will be turn out runny and a little too “soupy” to be considered chili. We know it’s an extra step, but it’s definitely worth it.
3. Add Enough Liquids
While draining some ingredients is important, it’s also important to make sure you have enough liquid in your Instant Pot so it will pressurize.
The best part about this Instant Pot Chili is the delicious flavors that combine together. The liquid from the diced tomatoes, the Worcestershire sauce, and the water should be enough to keep those flavors infusing all day long.
Don’t have an Instant Pot? No problem! You can make our Mom’s Chili in the slow cooker and on the stove top! Get the slow cooker recipe HERE. Watch how to make the stove top recipe HERE.
How to make Instant Pot Chili into a Freezer Meal:
Cook the ground beef and onion and place in a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag or other freezer-safe container.
Dump in the remaining ingredients into the bag.
Let the bag cool down (if still hot from the cooked ground beef). Place in the freezer for up to 90 days.
When ready to eat, remove frozen soup from the bag (if it won’t come out, run the bag under hot water so that you can remove/peel off the frozen bag).
Place the frozen soup into your Instant Pot (if it froze in a shape that won’t fit into your Instant Pot, you may need to defrost it for a few minutes or break it into pieces to make it fit).
Add 1/2 cup water or beef broth your Instant Pot.
Place the lid on the top of the Instant Pot. Move the valve to SEALING (not venting).
Press the MANUAL (or PRESSURE COOK) button and set timer for 14 minutes.
When the timer is finished, let the soup do a natural release (this will take about 20 minutes).
Serve and enjoy!
Looking for more freezer meals just like this? Click here for our top100 Instant Pot Freezer Meals!
Wanting more Chili? Try this Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Chili!
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WHAT TO SERVE WITH Instant Pot CHILI
We love to serve our chili with homemade bread and green salad. Here’s a few we’d suggest:
- Olive Garden Breadsticks
- Easy Homemade Rolls
- Seven Layer Green Salad
- Italian Fresh Green Salad
Watch how to make Instant Pot Chili Here:
Did you know we have a Youtube Channel? We post a new Instant Pot Video every single Monday and we share other delicious recipes too!
Serves: 8
The BEST Instant Pot Chili (Dump and Go Recipe)
5 from 2 votes
Our Mom's Chili is the perfect fall soup recipe. We would have it for dinner every single Halloween and it's a tradition we've kept with our own families.
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 10 minutes mins
Total Time 20 minutes mins
PrintPin
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 onion diced
- 28 ounces diced tomatoes 2 (14 ounce cans)
- 8 ounces tomato sauce 1 can
- ⅓ cup ketchup or chili sauce
- ½ cup water
- 15 ounces dark red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
- 1.25 ounces chili seasoning mix 1 packet
- 3 stalks celery chopped
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1½ cups shredded cheddar cheese optional topping
- 9.25 ounces Fritos Corn Chips optional topping
Instructions
Push the Saute Button on your Instant Pot. Put in your ground beef with chopped onion and cook until no longer pink. As it cooks, use a wooden spoon or Chop-n-Stir to break up your ground beef. Drain grease well and leave the meat in the Instant Pot.
Put in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, ketchup, water, kidney beans, chili seasoning mix, chopped celery, Worcestershire sauce, and sugar. Stir together.
Put the lid on and made sure the knob is on sealing. Push the Manual or Pressure Cook button on your Instant Pot. Set the timer for 10 minutes.
When the timer is done, you can let it release on its own or do quick release. Do do a quick release, just turn the knob to venting)
Top with shredded cheese and Frito's corn chips. Serve while hot.
Video
Notes
- The total time does not include the time it takes for the meal to come to pressure.
How to turn this into a freezer meal:
- Cook the ground beef and onion and place in a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag or other freezer-safe container.
- Dump in the remaining ingredients (excluding optional toppings) into the bag.
- Let the bag cool down (if still hot from the cooked ground beef). Place in the freezer for up to 90 days.
- When ready to eat, remove frozen soup from the bag (if it won’t come out, run the bag under hot water so that you can remove/peel off the frozen bag).
- Place the frozen soup into your Instant Pot (if it froze in a shape that won’t fit into your Instant Pot, you may need to defrost it for a few minutes or break it into pieces to make it fit).
- Add 1/2 cup water or beef broth your Instant Pot.
- Place the lid on the top of the Instant Pot. Move the valve to SEALING (not venting).
- Press the MANUAL (or PRESSURE COOK) button and set timer for 14 minutes. When the timer is finished, let the soup do a natural release (this will take about 20 minutes). Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Calories: 465 kcal · Carbohydrates: 48 g · Protein: 26 g · Fat: 20 g · Saturated Fat: 7 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 6 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 6 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 57 mg · Sodium: 656 mg · Potassium: 981 mg · Fiber: 9 g · Sugar: 10 g · Vitamin A: 2755 IU · Vitamin C: 14 mg · Calcium: 287 mg · Iron: 6 mg
Equipment
Instant Pot
Wooden Spoon
Recipe Details
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
This post was included in our 15 Minute Soups Video – for more inexpensive and delicious recipes like this one, click here to check it out!
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Join The Discussion
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Cookie says:
THeres no recipe!! WHERE IS IS THE RECIPE??
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Mt says:
There is no recipe here!!!!!!!
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CeeCee says:
Click on the link in the paragraph.
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CeeCee says:
https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipe/moms-slow-cook
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Karen Daniels says:
Click on the green rectangle that says “Print Friendly”. I struggled finding it too.
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Joanne VanMeter says:
First time here and no recipe
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Jean Oldham says:
I can’t find the recipe either. There seems to be one for slow cookers and for stove top. So where do I look?
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Cyd says:
We are having problems with our site. The recipe will be up hopefully by Friday night. Thanks for your patience.
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Cyd says:
We are having problems with our site. Hoping we can get it fixed soon.
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Jodi Pearson says:
No recipe here. I really want to print the recipe. How do I do that?
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Cyd says:
We are having some computer coding problems with this recipe. We will try to fix it. But the recipe is down the side. Sorry about that.
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Tyrissa says:
Try adding diced red and yellow peppers. You won’t be sorry.
See AlsoCaramel Apple Jello Salad Recipe -
Linda says:
I just received an instant pot for Christmas. I'm a little confused about the timing. Your chili you said to set timer for 10 minutes. But it also says it takes about 10-20 minutes to pressurize. So do I set timer for 20 minutes, or still just set for 10 minutes?
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Marian Campbell says:
I have a good question- just found this recipe to make for tonight to go with nachos. But you didn’t state the amount of time for the sauté. I put 20 min but wasn’t sure
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Caroline Wilson says:
Is there any way to cook the chilli and the rice in the instant pot at the same time? I don’t use meat I throw in soya mince.
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Elizabeth Wilmouth says:
I made this recipe tonight and it was awesome! I’m new to the Instant Pot craze so this was super simple and super delicious!
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Roses62 says:
It took my I.P. about 15 minutes to get up to pressure. You set it for only 10 minutes cook time. That does not include any time it takes to pressurize, that's separate. Then you will need time for the pressure to release on its own after the 10 minutes cook time, or do a quick release, which I did.
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DJ says:
Is it me or the video just missed chili seasoning mix?
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Cyd says:
Just add in the Chili Seasoning mix.
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J. Vance Primm says:
Any thoughts about a recipe for canned chili. Since you can, can with your instapot. Put your chili in pint or quart jars and process. When you want to eat. Take it off the shelf and warm up.
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Tammy says:
Twice I have received the word B urn on my instant pot, yet I have followed the recipe to a T. What did I do wrong?
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Cyd Adamson says:
Usually the Burn notice is from not enough liquid. I'm so sorry. We have never had a burn notice on the chili.
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Cathy says:
We love this recipe! We love it so much, can I safely double the recipe in my instapot? I have an 8 quart.
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Lily Y. says:
So easy! I also added 2 cups frozen cauliflower rice before closing the lid. Came out great. *****
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Glenda Fazekas says:
I am new to IP. I just found your You Tube and website. What size IP do you use for all of your recipes?
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Momma Cyd says:
We use the 6 quart duo most of the time.
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Melissa M says:
I was wondering the same thing! It's amazing !
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Ted Denman says:
I just made this chili, for the third time. It was delicious all three times. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
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Momma Cyd says:
We are so glad to hear that you like it!
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AG says:
I'm making this for the 2nd time this week! It came out amazing.I'm using the 6qt instant pot and I'd like to double the recipe. Is it big enough to fit in the 6qt?
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Momma Cyd says:
You are probably ok to double. Did you pay attention to how high the single recipe of chili got to the fill line?
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AG says:
Unfortunately I didn't pay attention to that. I'm not sure how close it was.
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AG says:
I tried it and it just didn't work out. The pot was too full. I separated some out into another batch and pressure cooked 2/3 of the pot. For whatever reason despite evenly mixing it didn't come out well. The flavor is somehow different.
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Katie says:
This was my first six sisters recipe to try and it kept burning! I've never had this problem with any soup etc I've ever used my instant pot for so I don't know what's up with it...
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Momma Cyd says:
Did you get the burn notice? You might just need to add in about 1/2 cup liquid (water). We have not had a problem with this chili.
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Andrea C says:
I love the ingredients but I got a food burn message twice on my instant pot. I didn’t stir in the beans after the other ingredients because I’ve gotten the burn message from beans before. Is there something I can prevent this?.
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Lori says:
My family really loved this chili! Our new favorite chili 😋 I made a double batch and got the burn notice, which is rare for me. After stirring really well it gave the burn notice again. Something was slightly clinging to the bottom. I wonder if it's the beans ? We just turned it warming since everything's already cooked. It was amazing! I've added it to our cookbook and see us having it on the regular! Thanks for sharing!
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Dorin says:
Hello! I’m prepping this meal for the freezer to cook in the instant pot later. In the freezer instructions it states to dump the ingredients other than optional toppings into the bag before freezing. The 1/2 cup water is listed in the ingredient list. It then says that when you’re ready to cook, to add 1/2 cup water or broth after thawing out the chili. Is that fresh 1/2 in addition to the frozen 1/2 cup to end up with 1 full cup water, or should I leave the 1/2 cup water out of the freezer bag and only add it when I’m cooking? Thank you!
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Momma Cyd says:
You can add in the 1/2 cup of water or beef broth as suggested when ready to cook. This will help you avoid the burn notice, and 1/2 cup isn't going to make any difference in the chili.
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Matthew Peterson says:
Can you substitute ground turkey for the ground beef? If so any tips on cooking it in the instant pot?
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Momma Cyd says:
Yes, you can use ground turkey in place of the ground beef. Just follow same cooking directions.
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Kellie Noles says:
I have three different chili recipes I work through and this one is by far my favorite and I keep coming back to it. I love this recipe. This is in my repeat box of meals I create for lunches or dinner on any given week. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us!
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Douglas says:
I was printing this out to cook in the future and saw that it was for 8 servings. I wanted only 4 servings as I am single. As I adjusted the serving size the ingredient list also adjusted...I was amazed...Thank you so much for having this little feature...I love it!!!
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Jessica Gregory says:
We LOVE this chili! It won our churches chili cook off this year! I add just a pinch of brown sugar. Love love love!
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Momma Cyd says:
We love to hear this! Congratulations on your win!!!
About The Author:
Kristen Hills
Kristen lives in northern Utah with her husband, Ammon, and her four daughters. She’s the blog’s YouTube guru and she loves running in her spare time.
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