Award Winning Instant Pot Chili Recipe [+VIDEO]

Instant Pot Chili that is award winning and bringing home cook-off victories across the country. You don’t want to miss diving into a bowl of our best chili!

If you want from scratch, our traditional chili is your answer. It took us 10 years to discover an award winning recipe and this is finally it, plus it’s an instant pot recipe which means it’s all done in less than 1 hour (with instructions for cooking on the stove top or crock pot as well)!! It is full of bacon, ground beef, beans, classic chili spices and all the toppings you want!

Let’s talk about how to make this homemade chili step by step, and discuss what goes well with it, and how to freeze it to eat later. So much to talk about, so let’s get going!

We attended a chili cook-off and brought this awesome Cheesy Ground Beef Enchilada Chili. It was so good, but soooo many arteries were clogged that night. It’s pretty unhealthy, but I heard a rumor that if you don’t eat it alone the calories don’t count.

Pretty sure that’s true.

If you want a healthy chili recipe, you should definitely try our award winning healthy turkey instant pot version, which uses ground turkey instead of beef. And imho, all chili, healthy or not so healthy, should be accompanied with a side of cornbread or our crazy easy 7-Up biscuits!

Chili Cook-Off Idea!

• Muffin Tin Trick

Oh! And listen to this, at the chili cook-off a couple of people brought muffin tins and then placed a sample scoop of each kind in the well so they could try them all and vote without going back or over eating. GENIUS. That’s seriously the smartest thing ever.

Next to figuring out this award winning instant pot chili recipe, right?! 😉

We hurried and made you all a video to help with the questions. Thank you for all of your love and support with making this the #1 chili out there!

Ingredients for Instant Pot Chili

• Meat: Ground Beef and Bacon
• Beans: Kidney Beans, Pinto Beans, and Black Beans
• Tomatoes: Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes and Tomato Paste
• Vegetables: Red Onion, Red Bell Pepper, Garlic, and Jalapeño
• Broth: Beef Broth and Worcestershire Sauce
• Spices: Oregano, Ground Cumin, Kosher Salt, Ground Black Pepper, Smoked Paprika, Chili Powder
• Toppings: Sour Cream,

Three different kinds of beans simmer in the crockpot with plenty of seasonings and hot sauce to make one of the easiest side dishes you can put on the table. These Spicy Baked Beans come together with barely five minutes of effort.

The first time I made these beans, my family devoured them in one meal. Serve them with Beer and Garlic Chicken and Memphis Coleslaw for an easy and tasty weeknight dinner.

Mexican Baked Beans

The inspiration for these Mexican baked beans hit me one day when I wanted to make baked beans, but I didn’t have any bacon in the house and the ground beef was frozen.

My family is full of self-proclaimed meat-loving carnivores and it’s hard enough to get a meatless meal past them, let alone a new variation on a much-loved meat-filled baked beans recipe.

I decided to bump up the flavors in the beans and see if the added spices could compensate for the “missing” meat. Sure enough, with some added Mexican spices and a generous pour of hot sauce, my guys devoured these beans.

If you happen to have bacon on hand, I’m always in favor of adding it to the recipe. But these accidentally-vegetarian beans stand on their own as a terrific side dish for any meal.

Spicy Baked Beans Recipe

You’ll need the following ingredients to make this recipe:

• light red kidney beans
• great northern bea

Roasted potatoes, green chile sauce, and black beans tossed with barely wilted baby spinach make a surprisingly delicious combination in this breakfast hash recipe.

If you’ve been here long, you know that I’m a huge fan of hash for breakfast. I’m here for it, whether it’s a classic sausage hash with cabbage and potatoes, or this roasted sweet potato and spinach hash.

Hash is a simple, yet versatile option, perfect for mornings when you want something delicious and customizable. With endless combinations of meats and veggies, it ensures a tasty breakfast that never gets boring.

And, it’s great for using up those last few handfuls of spinach before it gets lost in the back of your refrigerator. I also like this spinach and potato hash for that, with garlic and onion. And, this spinach quiche looks amazing too.

Breakfast Hash

To get the crispiest potatoes in your hash, make sure they are dry when you drizzle them with oil and roast them. Excess moisture steams the diced potatoes.

This tip holds true for any crispy potato recipe, whether it’s roasted red potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, or even these roasted potatoes and green beans. I added green beans to my grocery list, after seeing that last recipe again.

Hash is a frequently requested meal at our house. Often it is breakfast, but of late, it has also been in the dinner rotation. How could it not be, with something as savory as this cabbage and corned beef hash

Slow Cooker Baked Beans are chock-full of bacon and beef, sweetened with molasses and then simmered until thick and sweet.

If you’ve been reading this blog for long at all, you might notice that I very rarely name anything “the best.”

Best Baked Beans Ever

There are many foods that we love and that we make over and over, but for something to be labeled the best baked beans ever, I feel like it needs to be a “wow” food.

You might be thinking that these are just crockpot baked beans, how amazing can they be, right? Well, they are pretty darn amazing as it turns out.

Three different beans with ground beef and bacon are simmered and slowly cooked until thick and sweet. The flavors and textures in this recipe for baked beans are just perfect.

Slow Cooker Baked Beans

Our friend, Tony, brought these beans to a barbecue at our house two years ago and they blew me away.

These beans are so tasty, so full of meat, so sweet and hearty, I  might have “accidentally” tucked a container of Tony’s leftovers deep into my fridge and then forgotten to give them to him at the end of the night.

Later, I asked him if he’d please send me the recipe. And lucky for all of us, he was happy to share it. I’m a believer in baked beans with meat now and I’m confident that you will be as well, just as soon as you taste them.

Baked Beans with Ground Beef

There’s something extra special about a simmering pot of baked beans when there is plenty of meat in the mix. Hearty enough to be a meal on their own, these baked beans with meat make for a spectacularly memorable side dish at any barbecue.

You’ll need the following ingredients to make this recipe:

• ground beef
• bacon
• bacon drippings
• kidney beans
• white beans
• Pork & Beans
• onion
• light brown sugar
• ketchup
• molasses
• yellow mustard

Read more

Taco Stew

This taco stew is the recipe most requested by anyone who knows my mom and now you can try it too! It’s like taco soup but thicker like a chili.

Taco stew is an easy weeknight dinner recipe that the whole family loves. We love to top it with our favorite taco toppings and everyone can totally customize their own bowl. 

So I call this a stew because I add potatoes, carrots and peas to it. That totally qualifies as stew, right?! It’s a little more hearty and chunky than our Instant Pot taco soup or even our taco ground beef chili.

Ok, back to the toppings…there’s something about the Fritos and the soup. I’m serious. I never, and I mean never, think to buy Fritos, but they are a total necessity for topping off the taco stew. I think it’s that crunchy corn taste that works so well with everything.

Ingredients for Taco Stew

I love that this recipe is mostly a pantry meal. It is so nice when you’re on a tight budget or just don’t have time to get to the store. It also cannot be easier! Here is what you will need:

• Yukon Gold Potatoes: yukons have the best flavor and keep the best texture when added to a soup or stew – you could also use red potatoes as a substitute
• Carrots: peeled and cut into bite size pieces
• Onion: just a yellow onion works great
• Hamburger: 80/20 or 85/15 works great – if you want to go a little healthier, try ground turkey or chicken
• Frozen Peas: just toss them in frozen, and they’ll be heated through in no time
• Diced Tomatoes: you can use any brand you want
• Tomato Sauce: any brand works great
• Taco Seasoning: you can use a store bought packet or make your own
• Corn: just open a can of corn and toss it in, no need to drain
• Chili Beans: pinto beans or black beans also will work great, undrained
• Kidney Beans: no need to drain these either

The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe at the end of the post. 

Read more