Are you looking for a chili recipe that doesn’t require soaking beans? This instant pot chili with dried beans is a frugal meal that feeds a crowd (or makes lots of leftovers!)
Chili is a family favorite around here. It’s hearty and filling- and easy. It’s the perfect meal for our large family. This instant pot chili fills up almost the entire pot which makes it great for a crowd.
This site contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of these links, I may earn a commission. Please see my disclosure page for more information about cookies collected and our privacy policy.
It is perfect for a large dinner party, a large family, or made as freezer meals to reheat for quick on-the-go lunches or dinners. And best of all it uses DRY beans with no need to precook or soak the beans!
Instant Pot Chili with Dried Beans- No Soaking Needed!
Instant Pot Chili Ingredients:
1-2 lbs ground beef
1 onion
3-4 cloves garlic
1 16-oz bag dry red kidney beans
4 cups broth
3 T chili powder
1-2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cumin- optional
6 cups diced tomatoes (2 large cans or grow your own)
2-3 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
How to Make Instant Pot Chili
Place the 4 cups of broth and the dry kidney beans into the pot of your Instant Pot ( I have the 7-in-1 6 quart pot).
Add 2 T of chili powder and salt and pepper
Place the lid on your Instant Pot and press the bean/chili setting. The timer should read 30 minutes. Allow it to come to pressure and cook.
*If your Instant Pot doesn’t have a Chili/Bean stetting, or you’re using a different pressure cooker, simply set the pot to high pressure for 30 minutes.
While the beans are cooking, saute beef with onion and garlic
When the timer beeps, do a quick release and open up the pot
Add the meat, tomatoes, water, oregano, cumin, and the additional 1T of chili powder and stir well.
At this point your pot should be quite full. Close up the Instant Pot again and hit the chili/beans button once more. Allow it to come to pressure and cook.
Do a quick release when the chili has finished cooking
This instant pot chili will take TWO 30 minute cycles. One with beans only and one with all the ingredients together.
If you are not using dried beans, you can skip the first cycle and simply add all of the ingredients to the pot and cook for 30 minutes at high pressure.
Serve with cheese, chips, crackers or plain- what ever you like to put on your chili!
I like to make this big pot and it serves us dinner and then lunch for a few days. It also freezes well for easy reheated lunches or dinners.
Quit printing out the same recipe over and over or searching online for that favorite you made last week. Check out my new Blank Recipe Journal! The perfect place to write down all those favorite recipes you find online!
If you liked this Instant Pot Chili recipe, check out my other Instant Pot recipes: Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Tacos and Instant Pot Mac N Cheese!
No-Soak Instant Pot Chili
Hearty chili made in the instant pot using dry beans- no soaking necessary!
Ingredients
- 1-2 lbs ground beef
- 1 16-oz bag dried red kidney beans
- 1 onion
- 3-4 cloves garlic
- 4 cups broth
- 3 T chili powder
- 1-2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp cumin, optional
- 6 cups diced tomatoes
- 2-3 cups water
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the 4 cups of broth and the dry kidney beans into the pot of your Instant Pot
- Add 2 T of chili powder and salt and pepper
- Place the lid on your pot and press the beans/chili button. The timer should read 30 minutes. Allow it to come to pressure and cook.
- While the beans are cooking, saute beef with onion and garlic
- When the timer beeps, do a quick release and open up the pot
- Add the meat, tomatoes, water, oregano, cumin, and the additional 1T of chili powder and stir well.
- At this point your pot should be quite full. Close up the Instant Pot again and hit the chili/beans button once more. Allow it to come to pressure and cook.
- Do a quick release when the chili has finished cooking.
- Serve with cheese, chips, crackers or plain- what ever you like to put on your chili!
You May Also Like:
I like chili. It is getting close to winter, and we will be making some. Thank you for posting your recipe. Here is Texas, there is a big debate on “beans or no beans.” I like it either way!
Think I could mix dry black, pinto and kidney beans and do recipe as written?
I can’t see why not. They all cook about at the same rate
Thank you for sharing
Tried this recipe today. It turned out very well. Flavor was good and the beans were cooked perfectly. Started at the beginning of a football game and we were eating chili at halftime!
Chicken or beef broth
Any type you like- I used vegetable or chicken since that’s what I usually have on hand
If using canned beans how would the recipe change? I messed up a chilli recipe once already trying to convert on my own.
I have never made this recipe using canned beans, but if I were to I would start at the second cooking cycle. I would probably replace the water in that step with the chicken broth called for in the first cooking cycle and add in the 2T of chili powder called for then as well.
The thing with canned beans is you are really just heating them up, not cooking them. This would almost be better on the slow cooker setting so that you are just heating it up and cooking the flavor into the beans.
How long is the second cooking cycle? I can’t imagine that I would cook it for another 30 minutes once the beef and other ingredients are added. Thanks!
I made this recipe today. It is very good. I do have a question. I didn’t drain the tomatoes and added the 3 cups water and the 4 cups broth. When it was done there was more liquid than chili. It was good but did I do something wrong? Maybe next time I will omit the water.
I guess it would depend on your tastes. I make our chili a little more watery than most both preference and it stretches the servings a tiny bit. Just tweak the water amount until it’s to your liking.
To make a thicker consistency I always use Arrow Root. Take several spoonfulls of arrow root flour into a glass and add just a small amount of cold water in and mix thoroughly to remove any lumps. Pour this into the hot Chili (or whatever food you are thickening) and stir. Repeat until you get the desired consistency. Arrow root is very fine, and will not add any gritty texture or flavor.
If it ends up to watery, you can always used to “saute” button to simmer it to the thickness you desire.
Hello there, did u soak the dry kidney beans overnight? Thank you.
Nope! Just put them in the pot dry for the first cooking cycle
I like it, I used turkey instead of beef and it tastes great. I only used 2 cups of water and it still came out more soup like than I would have liked, but the flavors are so good!
Loved it, but since I do not eat meat, I added mushrooms and red peppers …. also used three kinds of beans and only one cup of water. This is how I will make chili from now on! Thank you for sharing!!!
I’m new to pressure cooking and I have a question. You say that this almost fills the pot, but IP directions say to never fill the pot more than 2/3 full. Does this cause a problem?
I’m curious about this as well…it seems if I fill the pot a lot it sputters a lot of liquid out on the quick release.
This is our favorite chili recipe. Going to be making a big pot this morning for a chilly rainy day. Thanks!
Wow. Just wow. This recipe is just about the best chili that is quick and easy. I followed it precisely and only changed the meat to ground turkey. It appears you can use whatever broth you have but I chose a beef broth for this go around. I notice people mentioned too much juice but the instant pot needs that to cook the beans properly. I am blown away by how good this chili is. I have saved this as one of my favorites as I will be making a lot more this winter. Thank you for this recipe. Bravo!
Added just 2 cups of water during second stage. I think I would try one cup next time. Also used tomatoes from my garden and one pound ground beef and one pound ground sausage.
Letting it sit on warm for a bit. Smells yummy
I am new to using an Instant Pot. I notice in your directions, no indication was made as to how long the second cycle should be. So how for the second cooking cycle?
When you hit the bean/chili button it will default to 30 minutes. Use this cooking time.
Mine does not default to :0 minutes so I think it’s critical to add that to your recipe. I’m in the middle of making it and had to read through all the comments to get the answer. Looks yummy!
30 that is
My instant pot does not have a chili bean button
I would like to brown the onions and meat and then add the beans and cook- what do you think?
I browned the meat 1st and then added the rest. jw
I added 1/2 tsp of Postum, Pero, a can of Sprite, and 1/4 c. Molasses.
Simply magnifico!
Made this chili for my coworkers yesterday – they all LOVED it! (And I got to introduce the Instant Pot to those who hadn’t heard of it). I browned the meat & onions, added everything else in (used 1 C water), set for chili/beans 40 minutes and then NPR. Delish!! (Tip- I added extra spices at the end as some spices are less flavorful under pressure.)
Made this and thought it was excellent. Made a few minor changes: I used two kinds of dried beans (kidney and pinto). Also at the first stage I added a diced green pepper and a few stalks of celery, diced. I added them at the first stage with the idea they would disintegrate I to the sauce, which is what they did. For meat I used half beef, half pork. Probably due to the additional vegetables, there was less room for tomatoes in the end. Excellent results, will definitely make it again.
I used ground chicken and 3 types of beans (red kidney, white kidney and navy). Total amount of beans came to about 18 oz. I didn’t have canned tomatoes – instead I used 2 hothouse tomatoes and a can of spaghetti sauce with one cup of water (instead of 2 cups). Only problem was during the 2nd stage, I got a “burn” warning and had to clear it. I was afraid it would burn again, so put it on low pressure for another 20 minutes. Has anyone else had the problem with burning on Bean/Chili mode? Could it be because I used spaghetti sauce and only 1 cup of water (also used the 4 cups of chicken stock)? I thought that was plenty of liquid in addition to the cup of water already in the pot from the ground chicken I cooked from frozen earlier. Came out really nice although some red kidney beans weren’t as tender as the others. I’ve put it back on the bean/chili mode for 15 minutes – fingers crossed it doesn’t burn and the beans are tender.
Update – burn warning came on again in Bean/Chili mode. Also with manual pressure cook mode and red kidney beans towards the top aren’t tender. Was bubbling when I opened it so definitely enough liquid.
Ive never once gotten a burn warning. Did you do it in 2 cycles? Stirring the beans/contents in between?
The IP Ultra has adjustable time for Beans/Chili. Instructions don’t tell you how long to cook after adding meat, etc. It’s another 30 mins. My beans cooked but as per Crockpot instructions, don’t add salt when cooking beans. It completely hinders rehydration and they won’t cook as per a previous comment. Add salt after everything is cooked if you wish. Chili doesn’t need it. It was liquidy so I added a cup of texturized vegetable protein. It thickened up and added more protein. I used twice as much Chili powder and cumin. Tasty!
I’m not trying to be a know-it-all, but, I’ve been cooking beans for over 50 years both traditionally on a stove, in a Crock Pot and with a pressure cooker (stove top and electric)! My Crock Pot’s recipe book doesn’t mention to avoid salt during cooking, in fact, it says to add 1/2 teaspoon.
It’s utterly a myth that salt interferes with rehydration or that it’s the enemy of the dry bean (rice too, btw) when doing an overnight soak. I have always brined my overnight-soaked beans as did my mother and her mother before her. Brine water is safer too since it helps to kill bacteria as the beans are often left unrefrigerated in the kitchen or pantry for eight or more hours! My beans have never been too tough or took longer than unsalted beans to soften. The ‘no salt’ reasoning is now considered an ‘old wives tale’ by professional cooks (whom might have also originally perpetuated the myth after learning it from their mothers, etc.). Rehydration of the beans (and rice) is determined MORE by how OLD they are rather than any added salt. Think about it…. Some dried beans might sit in a warehouse or on the store shelf for an indeterminate amount of time, then sit in your pantry for X amount of time, so the beans could be several years old by the time they are cooked. That’s why some people complain that their beans won’t soften.
Professional cooks now believe that brined beans are actually more flavorful. The salt doesn’t completely penetrate the bean while soaking so when you rinse them before cooking most of the saltiness goes down the drain. You may want to add a little bit to the cooking pot — or not, especially if adding any salted ingredients later. Also, as a side bar, in the past soaking was thought to help remove some of the ‘gas’ from the bean which is scientifically untrue as any gas created in the gut depends solely on the individual’s digestive processes. As humans, we’re all different, our bodies all react differently to the fiber in our diets. But too old beans might not entirely soften and may remain al dente no matter how long they cook — with or without salt!
How would you adjust the receipe for a 10qt instapot pressure cooker to feed a household of 12.
I have a different pressure cooker that doesn’t have a bean/chili button. Any guesses on the equivalent (I realize I will have to tweak the time probably, just need to get an idea of high pressure or low pressure, etc.)?
How many people does this serve?
are we talking 6 cups of fresh diced tomato or canned diced tomatoes?
Either would work fine
What is the time on the second cook?
Another 30 mins.?
Yes- another 30 min
Made this tonight with turkey burger. It was fantastic! The beans made the dish!
I made this today. So good and so quick. I have the same pot you do and am just learning to use it, so I especially appreciate this recipe! I used beef broth, hamburger, and white northern beans — what I had in the pantry. I wasn’t sure whether to drain the canned diced tomatoes, so I measured the liquid and added it to the specified amount of liquid. Actually, when it came time to add more liquid, I looked at how close it was already to the fill line, and made sure I didn’t go beyond that. We’re eating the chili with grated cheese and a bit of sour cream — excellent! Thank you so much!
Family loved this chili! I added a few more ingredients but I followed your directions and it was soot in!
Thanks
Made this chili tonight but I changed a few things. It was very, very good and the family loved it. I turned this into a one pot meal and I used organic canned kidney beans. I added garlic powder, Italian herbs, and extra chili powder. Also, I used a vegetable based broth instead of a meat based broth. I will definitely be making this again :)
How many servings is this for?