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Instant Pot Turkey Chili is a protein packed chili recipe. This cooks quickly in the pressure cooker and is great for game day and family meals. It also freezes nicely for later. Garnish with your favorite chili toppings!
During the winter months we eat a lot of chili in my house. It really is the best comfort food filled with protein, warm spices and just makes you feel satisfied on those cold days. Today’s Instant Pot Turkey Chili recipe is a turkey chili recipe that I make a lot. You can also make this Slow Cooker Turkey Chili if you prefer that version.
It is such an easy thing to throw together for the perfect meal during the week or game day and also makes great leftovers. It is a meal I often make on the weekends for meal prep. I also really like that chili is loaded with a good dose of protein from the meat and beans and leaves you feeling full. Today’s ground turkey chili takes your favorite stove top or slow cooker chili and makes it in the pressure cooker. One thing I love about the pressure cooker is that it keeps everything in one pot and you can have a meal on the table in no time.
If you like instant pot recipes try this Instant Pot Turkey Taco Pasta, Instant Pot Pork Chili, Instant Pot Taco Soup, Instant Pot White Chicken Chili or this Instant Pot Cauliflower Soup.
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.
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.
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.
Storage Tips
Store the leftover chili in an airtight container for up to 4 days. To reheat you can heat up on the stove or you can microwave.
You also can freeze this chili. Let it cool completely and then freeze in an airtight container, freezer safe container for up to 3 months.
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: If the chili is not thick enough for your liking add more tomato paste or corn starch to thicken it up.
- You can leave the jalapeño out or you can even add more spice but using more jalapeño or adding crushed pepper.
- I drain the diced tomatoes to create a thicker chili. If you prefer it to be thinner you don’t have to drain the tomatoes.
- Make sure to deglaze the pot at step 9. This helps to make sure that you don’t get the burn notification.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
So delicious. Everything was perfect! Thank you.
So glad!
This is the best chili I think we’ve ever had. We made this twice this week. Add cornbread. Chefs kiss 🤌🏻
So glad you enjoyed it!
Where is the nutrition info?
I do not have that on my site yet, hopefully soon. Sorry.
@Julia, thank you!
I make this constantly but never thought to comment til I made it today. Great recipe, thanks for posting it 🙂
That makes me happy! Thanks so much and I am glad you like it.
Delicious! I used Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes with Green Chilis –
We will be making this one again – perfect for a cold winter night!
Thank you
That is a great idea. Thanks for sharing. I am so glad you liked it!
Hello! I’m curious if I were to try and double the quantity (not sure it would fit) how would that impact the pressure cook time? I imagine it should be the same it just might take longer to get to the right pressure?
I think it would take the same time. I would just make sure it fits and it doesn’t go over any type of line on the inside of the Instant Pot that says that is the fill line. I know some have that. You basically want to make sure your Instant Pot is never more than 2/3 full.
Hi Julia,
Thanks for the recipe. I’m going to be trying it out tonight. I would like to add collard greens, and am wondering at what step I should add them? Should I saute with onions and garlic?
Hi there! I have never tried that but I think that you can stir them in when you add all of the ingredients and then they should cook with everything else. Let me know how it goes
Hello, I love trying your recipes. I was going to try the chili but I wasn’t sure about the chili powder amount. It says 3 tablespoons two times within the ingredients. Is that correct? Was it supposed to be teaspoons?
Hi there! Thank you for the kind words. That should just be 3 Tablespoons of chili powder. I changed it. I would say if you aren’t sure you want that much chili powder you could start with 1 Tablespoon and after the chili is done you can taste it and add more to your tastes. Enjoy!!
So good! I had made a different recipe a while back in my instant pot and it was okay. This was so much better!
Well thank you! I make this one a lot too-so glad you enjoyed it.
I would like to see more posts like this. I definitely enjoyed every bit of it and I have you bookmarked to see new information on your blog.
Glad you liked it.