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This Instant Pot Turkey Chili is thick, hearty, and packed with 25 grams of protein per serving, ready in about 50 minutes with just 15 minutes at high pressure. Lean ground turkey, black beans, kidney beans, corn and warm chili spices cook together into a chili that tastes like it simmered for hours. It’s perfect for weeknight dinners, game day, or freezer-friendly meal prep. Garnish with your favorite toppings and serve warm.
I make this Instant Pot Turkey Chili all winter long, it’s the kind of meal that comes together fast but still tastes like it simmered for hours. It’s an easy weeknight dinner, a reliable pot for game day, and it makes great leftovers, plus it’s one I turn to often for weekend meal prep. If you’d rather use the stovetop or slow cooker, this Slow Cooker Turkey Chili is a great alternative, but the Instant Pot version is my go-to when I want a one-pot meal on the table without babysitting it.
If you like Instant Pot recipes, try this Instant Pot Turkey Taco Pasta for a fun weeknight twist, Instant Pot Pork Chiliif you want to switch up the protein, or Instant Pot Taco Soup when you’re craving something a little brothier. Instant Pot White Chicken Chili is a great lighter option for milder palates, and this Instant Pot Cauliflower Soup is perfect on nights you want something warm but a little lighter than chili. The pressure cooker makes all of these come together in a fraction of the time it would take on the stovetop, without losing any of that slow-simmered flavor.
Why This Recipe Works
Deglazing the pot after sautéing is what prevents the Instant Pot’s Burn notice, any browned bits stuck to the bottom will scorch under pressure if they’re not scraped up first. Layering the remaining ingredients on top without stirring, rather than mixing everything together, keeps the beans and tomatoes from sitting directly against the hot bottom of the pot, which is the other main cause of burn errors in chili-style pressure cooker recipes. The 15-minute pressure cook time is long enough to fully meld the spices without turning the turkey rubbery.
Recipe Ingredients
For exact ingredient amounts and instructions, see the full recipe card below.
- Turkey: I used lean ground turkey in this recipe but you can easily swap out ground beef, ground chicken or ground pork.
- Red Bell Pepper: When I make chili I love using red bell pepper because of the sweetness it adds. You can use green bell pepper or any color you have on hand. Poblanos would also be a great option.
- Jalapeño: Jalapeño isn’t necessary but it adds a spicy kick to the chili. You can leave it out if you want.
- Spices: Chili Powder, Cumin, Paprika, Oregano, Cayenne Red Pepper: This spice mixture is my favorite in chili. You can use more or less to your liking. If you don’t like spice leave out the cayenne red pepper.
- Beans: Black Beans, Kidney Beans: The beans I used are black beans and red kidney beans. You can swap those out for other beans like white beans, red beans, chickpeas or pinto beans.
- Tomato Paste and Diced Tomatoes: The tomato paste and diced tomatoes help bulk up the chili and add that tomato flavor to the chili.
- Corn: I added canned corn to the chili which you can leave out. You also could swap for hominy or leftover cooked sweet corn.
Ways to Modify this Recipe
- Beans: Add a variety of beans. Some of my favorites in chili are white beans, pinto beans, chickpeas or navy beans.
- Hominy: If you have a can of hominy in the pantry throw that in. We love the texture it adds to chili.
- Spicy: For the spicy chili lovers, chop up a jalapeño and throw that in. You can also add hot sauce and extra cayenne pepper. If you have a chili seasoning that often will add extra heat.
- Poblanos: If you love the flavor of poblanos you can easily add a chopped poblano when you are cooking your bell pepper and onion.
- Garnishes: When it comes to toppings I love setting out a variety for people to pick from. Some ideas are green onions, red onion, cilantro, sour cream, cheese, diced tomatoes, jalapeños, salsa, hot sauce, pickled onions, pickled vegetables, guacamole and salsa verde.
How Do You Make Chili in the Instant Pot?
A couple of months ago I shared a recipe for Easy Instant Pot Beef Chili, which my family loved. I feel like I perfected that chili recipe in the pressure cooker which made this recipe easy to make following those instructions. You will start by using the sauté mode on your pressure cooker. Turn it to the high setting and let it heat up. Once it is heated add the olive oil.
Step 1. Cook Turkey: Once the pressure cooker heats the oil add turkey to the bottom of the pot and let it sit for a few minutes and brown on the bottom.
From there you will break the meat apart and continue to sauté until the meat is browned. Drain the meat of any fat and discard and set the meat aside.
Step 2. Saute the Vegetables: Put 1 additional Tablespoon of olive oil in the pressure cooker and add the garlic and onion and cook for 1 minute. Add the bell pepper and jalapeño and all of the spices and continue to sauté until the bell pepper is tender. Put the ground turkey back in and 1/2 a cup of the broth.
Step 3. Deglaze the Pot: Use your spoon to deglaze the Instant Pot, making sure to scrape away all of the browned bits of food. This helps to ensure that your food doesn’t burn during the pressure cooking phase.
Step 4. Add Remaining Ingredients: Add the broth, beans, the tomatoes, tomato sauce, corn and seal the lid. Make sure not to stir as you want the tomatoes and beans on the top.
Step 5. Pressure Cook: Close lid and pressure cook on Manual at High Pressure for 15 minutes, followed by quick release when time is up. Carefully open the lid and give it a stir. If you want to release more flavor you can natural release for 5 minutes and then quick release.
Step 6. Serve Soup: Serve with tortilla chips and your favorite toppings like cheddar cheese.
How to Thicken the Chili: If you want it to thicken the chili up more you can put the lid back on and let it sit for a couple of minutes. You can also use 1 Tablespoon cornstarch and 1 Tablespoon water and mix those two together and then add it to the chili to thicken or add additional tomato paste to the chili and stir.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Skipping the deglaze step. This is the single most common cause of the Burn notice. Always scrape the bottom of the pot clean after sautéing, before sealing the lid.
- Stirring after layering. Once the turkey, beans, tomatoes and corn go in, leave them layered. Stirring can push food against the hot bottom of the pot and trigger a burn error.
- Using fatty ground turkey. Excess fat can interfere with pressure buildup. Drain the turkey well after browning.
- Overfilling the pot. Stay under the max fill line, chili with beans expands slightly under pressure.
- Releasing pressure too fast if you want deeper flavor. Quick release works fine, but a 5-minute natural release first lets the flavors meld a bit more before venting.
Storage Tips
- Store leftover chili in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat on the stove over medium heat, stirring occasionally, or in the microwave until warmed through.
- To freeze, let the chili cool completely, then store in an airtight, freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating, or reheat gently from frozen on the stove, stirring occasionally as it warms.
Recipe FAQ
Deglaze the pot thoroughly after sautéing the turkey and vegetables, scraping up every browned bit before adding the remaining ingredients. Then layer the beans, tomatoes, tomato paste and corn on top without stirring. Both steps keep food from scorching against the bottom of the pot under pressure.
As written, it has a mild kick from the jalapeño and cayenne, both of which are optional. Leave them out entirely for a kid-friendly version, or add extra jalapeño, cayenne, or hot sauce if you want more heat.
Yes. Swap the black beans or kidney beans for pinto beans, white beans, navy beans or chickpeas in equal amounts.
Yes, either works as a direct swap for the ground turkey in the same amount.
More Chili Recipes
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Instant Pot Turkey Chili
Video
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 to 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 cup diced sweet onion
- 1 large red pepper bell pepper, seeds removed, chopped
- 1 jalapeño, seeds removed, chopped {optional for spice}
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne red pepper {optional for spice}
- 1- 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 – 15 ounce cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 – 15 ounce cans of diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 – 6 ounce tomato paste
- 1 cup chicken broth {divided-you will use 1/2 cup of the broth to deglaze the pot then you will add the 1/2 cup later in the recipe}
- 1 – 15 ounce can of corn, drained and rinsed
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Set a pressure cooker or Instant Pot to the normal sauté setting. Let it heat before adding the olive oil. Once heated add 2 Tablespoons olive oil and let the oil heat for about 20 seconds making sure the oil is covering the whole bottom of the Instant Pot.
- Add the ground turkey to the Instant Pot along with a dash of salt and pepper and cook for about 2 minutes not stirring it {you want to create a layer of browning on the meat}.
- Use a large wooden spoon to break apart the turkey and continue to sauté until the turkey is browned, about 4-5 minutes.
- Remove the turkey from the pot and drain the fat from the ground turkey and set aside in a bowl to discard {there won't be much fat with the turkey since it is pretty lean}.
- Add the remaining 1 Tablespoons olive oil to the InstaPot on the sauté mode still. Add the garlic and onion and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the bell pepper, jalapeño, chili powder, cumin, paprika, oregano, cayenne pepper and continue to sauté until the bell pepper is tender, about 2 to 3 minutes and the spices start to release their fragrance.
- Add 1/2 of a cup of the chicken broth to help deglze your pot and allow all the food to release from the bottom of the pot.
- Use your spoon to deglaze the pan by scraping away all of the browned bits of food {THIS STEP IS IMPORTANT}.
- Add the ground turkey, beans, remaining 1/2 cup of the chicken broth, diced tomatoes, tomato paste and corn in that order {DO NOT MIX} and seal the pot. Cancel the sauté function.
- Close lid and pressure cook on Manual at High Pressure for 15 minutes, followed by quick release when time is up {if you want more flavor do a 5 minute natural release then quick release}. Turn off your Instant Pot and carefully open your lid. Stir in fresh cilantro and a dash of salt and pepper.
- Serve warm with your favorite garnishes like sour cream, cheese, cilantro and crushed chips.
Notes
- To thicken, add more tomato paste or a cornstarch slurry (1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water).
- Leave the jalapeño out for a milder chili, or add more jalapeño or crushed red pepper for extra heat.
- Draining the diced tomatoes gives a thicker chili. Skip draining if you prefer it thinner.
- Deglazing the pot at step 7 is essential, it’s what prevents the Burn notice.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
My family loved this!
I am so glad!
I’ve tried twice and the instant pot doesn’t seal.
Your instant pot doesn’t seal? You might have to buy a new one then. Not sure why it wouldn’t seal. There should be a valve that you turn to seal it.
My family loved this! The only thing I added to it was celery.
Love the addition of celery!
This is my absolute favorite chili and I’ve come back time after time for the recipe. I can’t seem to find the portions this time I’ve visited, am I missing it?
I have no idea how that disappeared. I just added it back in- hopefully that doesn’t happen again! Glad you like this chili!
Thank you so much! I pretty much had it memorized, that’s how many times I’ve made it. 🙂
I am so happy to hear that
I love the recipe but your method always burns the bottom of the instant pot and my pressure cooker won’t start up.
That is a problem some have if they don’t layer properly and make sure to get the bits off the bottom of the instant pot. I find that steps 8 and 9 are really important to ensuring the burn notice doesn’t come on. Make sure to add 1/2 of a cup of the chicken broth to help deglze your pot and allow all the food to release from the bottom of the pot. Use your spoon to deglaze the pan by scraping away all of the browned bits of food {This step is important}. I hope this helps and it comes out good!
This came out perfectly and was incredibly delicious. Thank you for sharing!
I am so glad you liked it!
Loved this recipe! I combined it with my texas chili recipe which calls for 8 pieces of cooked bacon. Not as healthy as just the turkey but delicious. Your recipe is fantastic! I will definately be keeping this one.
Love the idea of adding bacon! So glad you enjoyed this one!
Any tips for a 8 qt instant pot?
It should work the same as mine which is a 6qt. using the same ingredients.
I used your recipe for a cub scout chili cooking contest and it won first place! All the kids and parents loved it and now they want “mom’s award winning chili”. Everyone asked for the recipe so I posted your link in our group and told them I didn’t change a thing to your recipe because it was absolutely perfect! Thank you for sharing it!!!
That is amazing! Thanks for sharing and I am so glad they all liked it. 🙂
This is our “go to” chili recipe! We struggle with the burn notice, even after totally deglazing and layering as instructed. We usually wind up stirring and scraping until that wonderful 5 minutes pops up. I’m heading over to the Instant Pot right now to deal with the 3rd burn notice for tonight.
I am glad you like it. That is weird that you get a burn notice! I honestly have not had that happen. I wonder why the deglazing isn’t helping…so sorry about that.