The Best Instant Pot Chili

Warm, comforting Instant Pot Chili is the perfect cool weather meal.  Packed with fiber, nutrients and covered in cheese and sour cream, just the way I like it!

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This recipe was first published in 2017.  I've updated the recipe, images, and text to make it even better!

I really hesitate to call any of my recipes “The Best.”  It feels like I'm putting a challenge out there and heaven knows, I AM NOT a competitive person.

Don't tell my younger sisters, but I used to silently cheer when the opposing team made points at their volleyball competitions because that meant we could leave sooner.  Feels so good to confess that!

I also recall faking a rolled ankle as a 13-year-old so I could go home and read a book I was really excited about.

So yeah, don't bother to compete with me, I'll probably just hand you the trophy.

By calling this amazing, deep, rich, flavorful, silky chili THE BEST, I'm simply saying it is THE BEST CHILI I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!  No restaurant or chili potluck has ever made me as happy as this bowl of chili right here!

WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS AWARD WINNING CHILI (THE MARCI TIDBITS AWARD, THAT IS)

• No crazy, weird ingredients here.  I didn't add bacon, balsamic vinegar, quinoa, or any other nontraditional ingredients to this beauty.  Not saying all of those don't have potential, I'm just saying if you want glorious, traditional, feel-good chili, this is your baby
• Toppings!  I theorize that it is the lack of toppings that kept me from trying chili as a kid.  What kid would see chips, cheese, and sour cream piled high in their bowl, and say, “Oh don't even think I'm eating that!”
• And of course, the awesome trio that makes you feel good about eating to your heart's content, Healthy, Wholesome, Pretty.  Yep, I said pretty.  Food should be pretty

HOW TO MAKE INSTANT POT HOMEMADE CHILI, QUICK AND EASY

• Brown meat and spices directly in the Instant Pot using the saute function on HIGH (love a meat chopper for this task)
• Dump in the rest of your ingredients
• Stir, Pressure Cook, then Eat and let chili take away all your problems

TIPS TO MAKING THE WORLD'S BEST CHILI

I'm VERY picky about what goes into making a chili I call “THE BEST”.  While these are all my opinions, keep in my mind, I'm always right.  Just ask my husband . . . just don't ask him behind my back

• Heavily season the meat!  All the spices are going right in alongside the meat while it gets browned.  This will ensure the meat has flavor and will season the rest of the chili while it pressure cooks
• Use 93/7 ground turkey.  Don't worry, no one will ever know you didn't use beef.  I much prefer the texture of ground turkey and the lower fat content means your chili won't have a greasy film throughout
• Don't chop the meat too small.  Do you want tiny pea-sized pieces of meat all through your chili that are hardly recognizable as meat?  I THINK NOT!  Leave your chunks a bit larger so you can enjoy each tender, flavorful bite
• Use a variety of beans.  My favorite combo is kidney, cannellini, and pinto.  You'll get a variety of bite and creaminess with each kind
• Speaking of beans, you're going to think I'm crazy when you see that the recipe doesn't call for draining the beans.  I'm not just being lazy.  That extra starch in the cans is what keeps your chili from going watery, as soups/stew/chilis tend to do in the pressure cooker
• Use the Best Chili Toppings, and yes, the order matters:
  • First -Diced cheese (so it can get all melty and gooey), then pickled jalapenos (for crunch and briny heat), then sour cream (on top, not stirred in), and finally crushed corn chips right on top so they don't go all soggy.  Perfection!
• Serve it with cornbread.  Anyone else agree this is a must?  Our family's favorite is this Zucchini Cornbread from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  I make a few changes – I use white whole wheat flour, 1 cup flour to 1 cup cornmeal, and 1/4 cup sugar, It's amazing!

Get this chili in your menu plan ASAP!  Don't worry about your personal “Best” chili feeling betrayed.  As I endlessly tell my children when they ask who drew “the best picture” or “folded laundry the best,” we can all be the best, have the best, feel the best as long as we let those around us be their “best” too.  Hopefully one day they'll figure out what that means.

Enjoy!

EXTRA TIDBITS: HOW TO FREEZE CHILI

This makes a big pot of chili, which is great because chili freezes perfectly.  I like to freeze it in gallon size freezer safe ziplock bags, push out all the air, then freeze flat.  The flat part is important here because it will take up less room in your freezer and also thaw more quickly.

CHILI VARIATIONS

Don't feel like eating out of a bowl or have a husband that stubbornly still says, “soup is not a meal”?  Here are some great options:

• Serve the chili over a plate of chips and cover it with Butternut Nacho Cheese Sauce – HEAVEN!
• Serve over “baked” potatoes or sweet potatoes (so easy to do in the Instant Pot)
• Scoop it directly out of the pot with corn chips.  Exception: any and all children who double dip, cough, or laugh over the big pot of chili

MORE SOUPS WITH EXCESSIVE TOPPINGS TO TRY

• White Chicken Chili
• Creamy Chicken Enchilada Soup

TOOLS USED TO MAKE INSTANT POT CHILI

• Instant Pot
• Meat Chopper
• Trader Joe's Corn Chips – LOVE THESE!

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