This Instant Pot Chili con Carne (also known as beef chili) is an easy recipe for a weeknight dinner. It’s gluten free and simple to make, using ground beef, diced tomatoes, beans, onion, and spices. Top it with shredded cheese and sour cream and add a square of cornbread on the side – the best meal on a cold night!
Do you crave comforting meals as soon as the cold weather starts? If so, this Instant Pot beef and bean chili is going to be right up your alley.
This recipe uses simple ingredients but is big on flavor. It cooks up easily in your Instant Pot so you don’t have to worry about dirtying any other dishes, and is great to feed a hungry family. If you have leftovers, even better because the flavors will continue to mesh together over the next day or two.
You can also make this recipe in the slow cooker, which I’ve listed separately in my crockpot gluten free chili recipe. Whichever way you cook it, it’s going to be a hit. Just don’t forget to make some gluten free cornbread muffins or a baked potato to go with it!
What you’ll love this Instant Pot recipe for chili
- It’s great to use up pantry staples like canned tomatoed, canned beans, and spices.
- Everything cooks up in the Instant Pot so there’s very little clean up.
- It is SO easy to make – brown the beef, cut up the onion, add the ingredients into the pressure cooker and set it all to cook.
Ingredients
- Ground beef – I like to use a leaner cut so I don’t have to drain the fat out.
- Onion – I tend to like a sweet onion, but any onion will do.
- Canned diced tomatoes – regular diced tomatoes are fine, or you can use either fire roasted for a little extra flavor or some that have chiles already added for a little kick.
- Canned beans – this recipe used one can each of white beans, kidney beans, and black beans, but you could also use pinto beans. Just don’t use dry beans as they won’t have long enough to cook.
- Spices – chili powder, ground cumin, garlic powder, kosher salt, and ground black pepper. Make sure they’re fresh to get the best flavor!
I’ve written condensed directions here including pictures so you can see how to make this recipe. The full set of detailed instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Before you scroll through, there is important information throughout this post.
How to make Instant Pot gluten free chili
- Open the cans of beans and pour them into a colander in the sink. Rinse them with water and then let them drain.
- Plug your Instant Pot pressure cooker in and press the Saute button. Add the ground beef and start cooking it. While it’s cooking, dice the onion.
- Once the ground beef is about halfway cooked, add in the diced onion and let it cook while the ground beef cooks all the way through.
- Once the meat is finished cooking, press the Warm/Off button. Add in the remaining ingredients (beans, tomatoes -don’t drain these!-, and spices).
- Stir everything together until well combined, then place the lid on top of the Instant Pot.
- Set the vent on top to Sealing, press the Manual button and set the timer to cook on high for 20 minutes.
- When the time goes off, flip the vent on top to Venting for a manual release of pressure. Once it finishes venting, remove the lid.
- Spoon the chili into bowls and top with your favorite toppings!
What toppings go with chili con carne?
There are lots of great chili topping options – here are just a few!
- shredded cheese
- sour cream
- sliced avocado
- chopped green onion
- diced red onion
- tortilla chips
- sliced jalapeno
- chopped cilantro
FAQ
Check out these answers to commonly asked questions about cooking chili in an Instant Pot
Chili con carne is Spanish for “chili with meat”. In this case the chili is made with ground beef.
To brown the beef in the Instant Pot, press the Saute button to heat the insert then dump the beef in and let it cook.
This recipe cooks chili in the Instant Pot for 20 minutes. You want to cook it long enough for the flavors to meld, but not so long that it turns to complete mush.
Instant Pot chili will last in the fridge for 3-5 days as long as it’s stored in an airtight container.
To freeze this chili first you need to let it cool all the way to room temperature. Next place it in a container (a ziplock bag works just fine). Get as much of the air out as you can, then seal the container and place in the freezer. The chili will keep in the freezer for several months.
Recipe tips and substitutions
- Make sure NOT to drain your diced tomatoes! You’ll want the extra juice to help meld the chili together.
- If you can’t find diced tomato, you can use crushed tomato instead. Or you can use whole peeled tomato and just give them a couple of pulses in a blender to mash them up a bit. I would not use tomato sauce.
- The amount of ground beef is listed as 1 and ⅓ pounds. You can use between 1 and 1.5 pounds of ground beef for this recipe, depending on how meaty you like your chili.
- Try a different type of meat! Replace the ground beef with ground vension, ground bison, or ground turkey (ground venison is my favorite).
- Add a little heat! You can add some cayenne pepper with the other spices and/or a small can of diced green chiles at the same time as the diced tomatoes.
Check out these other Instant Pot dinner recipe ideas
- Instant Pot Chicken Thighs & Rice
- Instant Pot Ground Beef Tacos
- Insant Pot Greek Chicken
- Easy Instant Pot Beef Stew
- Instant Pot Bacon Corn Chowder
Click here to save this Insant Pot recipe for chili to Pinterest!
Or try one of these gluten free dinner recipes
- Weeknight Paleo Ground Beef Stroganoff (my most popular recipe!)
- Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas
- Quick & Easy Meat Sauce
- Easy Sheet Pan Dinner with Sausage & Veggies
You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more good to eat gluten free food.
If you try this Instant Pot chili recipe (or any others) then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how it went in the comments below. It totally makes my day to hear how a recipe worked out for you!
Instant Pot Chili Con Carne (Gluten Free)
Equipment
- A can opener
- A colander
Ingredients
Chili:
- 1 ⅓ pounds ground beef
- ½ large yellow onion
- 2 cans diced tomatoes 14.5 oz each undrained
- 1 can white beans 14.5 oz
- 1 can kidney beans 14.5 oz
- 1 can black beans 14.5 oz
Seasoning:
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- ½ tablespoons ground cumin
- ½ tablespoons garlic powder
- 1.5 teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Optional toppings:
- Shredded Cheese
- Sour Cream
- Avocado
Instructions
- Using a can opening, open the beans and pour them into the colander in a sink. Rinse them with water and let sit to drain.
- Plus in your Instant Pot and press the Saute button. Add the ground beef in it to cook. Use a wooden spatula to separate the ground beef into small pieces.
- While the ground beef is cooking, dice the onion with a large sharp knife on a cutting board. After 2 or 3 minutes, pour in the diced onion to cook along with the ground beef.
- Once the ground beef is cooked through and no longer pink, pour in the drained beans. Open the diced tomatoes with the can opener and pour those into the Instant Pot as well.
- With the measuring spoons, measure out the spices and pour them into the instant pot as well. Mix all the ingredients together until well combined.
- Place the lid on the Instant Pot and make sure the top valve is set to Sealing. Hit the Manual button and set the timer to cook on High for 20 minutes.
- Once the timer goes off, do a manual pressure release by turning the top valve to Venting. Once the pressure has been released, remove the lid and dish the chili in bowls to serve with your desired toppings.
Notes
- Make sure NOT to drain your diced tomatoes! You’ll want the extra juice to help meld the chili together.
- If you can’t find diced tomato, you can use crushed tomato instead. Or you can use whole peeled tomato and just give them a couple of pulses in a blender to mash them up a bit. I would not use tomato sauce.
- The amount of ground beef is listed as 1 and ⅓ pounds. You can use between 1 and 1.5 pounds of ground beef for this recipe, depending on how meaty you like your chili.
- Try a different type of meat! Replace the ground beef with ground vension, ground bison, or ground turkey (ground venison is my favorite).
- Add a little heat! You can add some cayenne pepper with the other spices and/or a small can of diced green chiles at the same time as the diced tomatoes.
Heidi
Made this tonight. Used sausage instead of hamburger and added liquid smoke. Turned out great and had great flavor! Thank you
Taryn Solie
So glad you liked it!