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Instant Pot Jalapeno Popper Chicken Chili

chicken chili in a white bowl with avocado, bacon, cheese, and jalapenos and a side of chips
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5 from 2 reviews

Ultra creamy Instant Pot Jalapeno Popper Chicken Chili – filling and healthy!

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup chopped sweet or yellow onion
  • 3 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped (seeded if you don’t want the spiciness)
  • 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons oregano
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
  • 12 oz dried white navy beans or Great Northern beans (see note)
  • 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into strips or chicken tenderloins
  • 4 oz whipped cream cheese (see note)
  • 1 cup corn kernels, canned or frozen

For serving:  cooked, crumbled bacon, diced avocado, shredded pepper jack cheese, crushed tortilla chips, pickled jalapenos, sour cream

Instructions

  1. Cover beans with water and let soak at least 6 hours or up to overnight (see note if you want to skip this step).  Rinse and drain beans and set aside.
  2. Add onion, jalapenos, red bell pepper, spices, can of diced tomatoes, and chicken broth to the pressure cooker pot and stir.
  3. Add beans; stir.  Add the chicken last so it’s on top of the beans.  This will help to keep the beans well submerged so they cook evenly.
  4. Secure the lid and turn pressure release knob to a sealed position.  Cook at high pressure for 20 minutes. 
  5. When cooking is complete, let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes, then release any remaining pressure.  
  6. Remove chicken and shred into bite-size pieces; set aside.  
  7. Ladle 3 – 4 scoops of soup into a blender.  Add the cream cheese and blend until smooth.  Pour back into the pot.
  8. Stir in chicken and corn.
  9. Taste and season with extra salt if desired.
  10. Serve hot topped with cheese, avocado, bacon, crushed tortilla chips, sour cream, and/or jalapenos.

Notes

  • It’s possible to skip the bean soaking step if you use small white navy beans.  The issue with not soaking them is that some may be fully cooked while others are more firm.  If this doesn’t bother you, you can skip the soak.
  • Using dried beans makes the soup thicker and creamier without the need to add a lot of cream cheese.  If you prefer to use canned beans, decrease the cook time to 7 minutes and stir the beans into the pot after the soup is cooked.
  • Blending a few ladles of the soup makes it naturally creamier and also helps the cream cheese to be better incorporated.  If you’d like to skip the blending step, simply stir the cream cheese into the pot.  The cream cheese may look a little grainy, but it won’t affect the taste.
  • I like to use Whipped Cream Cheese because it melts and blends into the soup easier.  If you can’t find it, use regular cream cheese.
  • As written, this chili is mildly spicy.  You can decrease the spice level further by decreasing the number of jalapenos and halving the chili powder.  If you want it spicier, leave the jalapeno seeds in and add ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper.

Find it online: https://instafreshmeals.com/instant-pot-jalapeno-popper-chicken-chili/