This Instant Pot Turkey Chili recipe is full of delicious flavor with warm spices, hearty beans, sautéed vegetables and lots of lean ground turkey meat! And the best part is it’s ALL made in the Instant Pot! It's a classic one-pot chili recipe that's easy to make and perfect any day of the week!
Ingredients Needed
Chili recipes are extremely versatile and can be made in lots of different ways. For your typical recipe you only really need a few standard ingredients and really good chili spices for great flavor!
Ground Turkey - I like using ground turkey meat, but you can certainly use ground beef or ground chicken instead.
Beans - Beans are definitely a star ingredient in chili. I like using canned kidney beans and pinto beans, but you can use any combination of beans you like.
Vegetables - A few chopped veggies, sauteed and simmered will give the chili great flavor.
Tomatoes - I like using 2 types of tomatoes in my chili, but one can of tomatoes will certainly do.
Warm spices - A homemade chili seasoning mix is what really makes this chili so good. I like using chili powder, cumin and a few other dried spices listed below.
How to make Instant Pot Chili
Full instructions are included in the recipe card below, but here’s a quick overview:
Step One: Turn your Instant Pot on the saute function and add a little olive oil. Add your chopped veggies to the instant pot and saute for a few minutes.
Step Two: Crumble and cook the ground turkey or ground beef in the instant pot with the vegetables. Once fully brown, carefully drain any excess fat.
Step Three: Add all the warm, smoky spices to the instant pot and stir. Then add the rest of the ingredients including the chicken broth.
Step Four: Pressure cook the chili on high pressure for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes has passed, allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes, then quick release the remaining pressure. Enjoy this hearty, yummy, chili with your favorite toppings!
Which Instant Pot Should You Use?
This is similar to the Instant Pot that I have. I've had it for two years and I love it! It is a 7-in-1 appliance and I use the pressure cooker, saute function and rice cooker the most. My favorite things to cook in my Instant Pot are chili and soup recipes like my White Chicken Chili, Sweet potatoes and Russet potatoes, Rice and pasta dishes because the pasta cooks in hardly no time! It really is a game changer for cooking delicious recipes quickly and easily!
Can I Make This Chili Recipe On The Stovetop?
Absolutely! When making my stovetop turkey chili recipe I use the same ingredients, but I use a different measurement for my liquid and I adjust the cook time. You can get the stovetop chili recipe here!
Recipe Tips for Success
- Measure and combine your chili spices before you start cooking. Add all of them to a small bowl and set it aside. When it’s time to dump the spices into your pot you won’t have time to measure each ingredient.
- It’s actually best to prep all of your ingredients ahead of time. This includes draining and rinsing your beans, chopping your vegetables, and measuring your liquid. As you will see in my video below all of my ingredients are measured and prepped ahead of time.
- Use chicken or beef broth as your liquid instead of water. Although water works just fine to help cook and simmer the chili, using a chicken, beef or even vegetable broth gives the chili a lot more flavor!
Chili Toppings
You really can’t go wrong with any toppings, but below are some of my favorites!
- Shredded cheese
- Sour cream
- Chopped green onions
- Ripe avocado chunks (I recently started adding this as a topping and I love it!)
- Frito Lays chips (I mean who doesn’t love a classic old school chili pie)
More Easy Instant Pot Recipes!
Here are a few more reader favorites to make in your Instant Pot!
Instant Pot White Chicken Chili
Instant Pot Baked Sweet Potatoes
Instant Pot Southwest Lentils and Brown Rice Bowl
Instant Pot Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
Full Step-By-Step Recipe Video
Instant Pot Turkey Chili
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
This Instant Pot Turkey Chili is full of delicious flavor with warm spices, hearty beans, sautéed vegetables and lots of lean ground turkey meat all made easily in the Instant Pot!
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey meat
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 small red bell pepper, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 - 15oz can red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
- 1 - 15oz can can pinto beans, drained & rinsed
- 1 - 14.5oz can fire-roasted tomatoes
- 1 - 10oz can diced tomatoes with green chiles OR a 4oz can of just green chiles
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 1/4 cups chicken broth (or substitute vegetable broth or water)
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Instructions
- Turn the Instant Pot to the Saute function. Heat 1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil inside the instant pot.
- Add your diced onion and bell pepper to the pot and saute for 2 minutes. Next add the minced garlic and saute for an additional 30 seconds.
- Add your ground turkey to the instant pot with your vegetables. Crumble and cook until no longer pink. This will take approximately 7 minutes. Drain any excess fat or grease.
- Next add your chili powder, cumin, oregano, smoked paprika, salt and pepper to the instant pot. Stir the spices with the cooked ground turkey and vegetables.
- Now stir in the tomato paste with 2 tablespoons of water. You can go ahead and turn the saute function off at this point.
- Add in the canned kidney and pinto beans that have been drained and rinsed.
- Then add your canned tomatoes and green chiles.
- Now pour the chicken broth into the instant pot and stir everything together.
- Close the lid on the instant pot and make sure the steam release knob, if you have one, is turned to sealing not venting.
- Pressure cook for 15 minutes on high pressure. Allow steam to naturally release for 10 minutes then quick release the remaining pressure.
- Remove the lid, stir and enjoy with your favorite toppings.
Notes
Cook time does not include the time it takes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 30 min
- Category: Lunch, Dinner
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Instant Pot Chili, Chili Recipe, How to cook chili, How to cook chili in the Instant Pot
Dr. Michael A. Cross
Outstanding Recipe! I made this chili about 1 hour ago and had a bowl to eat. Yes, I know it's 5:00 AM, but it's 28° here in Albuquerque, and I wanted something to warm my bosom. Now I have a nice pot of chili to last me a few days. The only thing I added was a Tbs of Brown Sugar. I do like my chili a little sweet, like my pasta sauce. Thanks for a great chili recipe.
★★★★★
Julie
This was so flavorful and hearty! This was my first time making chili *and* using my instant pot, but it turned out so well! I watched your YouTube video before coming to your written recipe, and both were easy to follow.
Things I did differently: I added a chopped jalepeno, so it was a little extra spicy in a good way. Used black beans instead.
Thank you for sharing your recipes!
★★★★★
adessa
Just made this and it was soooo good - thank you!
★★★★★