Instant Pot Turkey Chili Recipe

Name: Instant Pot Turkey Chili
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1 pound lean ground turkey; 2 teaspoons olive oil; 1 medium yellow onion (diced); 1 jalapeno pepper (minced, more or less to taste); 4 cloves garlic (minced); 2 tablespoons chili powder; 2 teaspoons cumin; 2 teaspoons smoked paprika; 2 teaspoons salt; 1 cup beef broth; 1 teaspoon cocoa powder; 3 tablespoons tomato paste; 15 ounces canned diced tomatoes; 15 ounces canned kidney beans (drained); 8 ounces canned tomato sauce; 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

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Our Instant Pot Turkey Chili is a rich, hearty chili that’s made in just 45 minutes, but it tastes like it simmered all day! The secret ingredient adds the perfect balance to this turkey chili and the turkey and beans are so tender!

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Making turkey chili in the Instant Pot is so simple, but you won’t believe how rich and flavorful it turns out. The Instant Pot makes it taste like the chili was simmering on the stove all day!

It takes about 45-50 minutes from start to finish, with only about 10 minutes of that being hands on time.

Our crockpot turkey chili recipe is delicious as well, but I love this version because it’s ready so much faster and I don’t have to plan ahead quite as much.

You could easily use the leftovers of this in our Chili Mac recipe and get two meals for the price of one. Love that!

Table of Contents

Is Turkey Chili A Good Choice?

My Instant Pot ground turkey chili recipe has less fat and calories than a traditional beef chili and is packed with protein.

There are loads of nutrients from the tomato sauce and canned tomatoes. The turkey is also nutrient rich with lean protein.

The beans add fiber, but if you’re eating a more low carb diet, feel free to leave them out.

If you’re trying to eat healthy keep in mind that adding toppings like cheese, crackers, or sour cream can make a difference too!

What We Love About This GROUND TURKEY CHILI Recipe:

Lean Meat: We’ve been eating less red meat and replacing it with a leaner protein these days. I thought I’d miss the beef, but this turkey chili is just as rich and hearty as chili made with beef. The key is in amping up the seasoning and cooking it properly.
Easy: The Instant Pot makes quick work of just about any recipe and that’s no different with this turkey chili! We like slow cooker chili recipes too but sometimes you just don’t have the time.
Versatile: You can easily adjust this recipe by leaving out the beans for a low carb version, adding extra veggies for more nutrients (try some shredded carrots for a sweet pop!), and making it as spicy or as mild as you like.

Ingredient Notes:

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Ingredients for Instant Pot turkey chili on counter.

Ground Turkey – We’re using lean ground turkey to make this chili. You could easily swap it out with another ground meat like chicken or beef if you want to switch things up.

Garlic, Jalapeno, & Onion – A must in any chili recipe, if you ask me. We remove the ribs and seeds from the peppers to the turkey chili has just a nice, balanced hint of spice to it. If you like more heat, add more peppers.

Seasoning – You’ll need some pretty standard chili seasoning ingredients including chili powder, cumin, salt, and smoked paprika. We love the smoky flavor that the paprika adds!

Beef Broth – Use a good quality broth to get the best flavor.

Cocoa Powder – This sounds like a strange ingredient, and it is optional, but unsweetened cocoa powder is a great way to enhance the flavors in the chili! It adds a rich, earthy flavor and will not make your chili taste like chocolate. This is our secret ingredient!

Tomato – We’re using tomato paste, which is basically concentrated tomato flavor, plus some canned diced tomatoes and canned tomato sauce!

Kidney Beans – We’re keeping things easy and using canned, drained kidney beans. Use the light or dark variety – both are great! Pinto or black beans can be used as well.

Apple Cider Vinegar – This helps balance all the flavors. It won’t make your chili sour.

My Favorite Instant Pot!

I absolutely love my Instant Pot! It’s great for recipes like this turkey chili or to cook perfect rice, cook chicken to shred (the best!), and so much more.

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How To Make Instant Pot Turkey Chili:

Collage showing how to make turkey chili in the INstant Pot.

Sauté: To begin you’ll sauté the turkey along with the diced onion, jalapeno, and some garlic using the saute feature on your Instant Pot.

Seasoning: Add the chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, and salt to the Instant Pot and continue sauteing for about 3 to 5 minutes or until the spices are fragrant. Be sure to let those spices cook a bit so that they release their flavors. This step is important!

Broth: & Tomatoes: Pour in the beef broth and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any of the stuck bits on the bottom of the pot. This will prevent a burn error while pressure cooking, plus those scraped up bits add flavor! You can now add the remaining ingredients including the tomato paste, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, vinegar, and cocoa powder. Stir all that up until the mixture is well combined.

Pressure Cook: To start pressure cooking place the lid on the Instant Pot and set the vent to sealing. Cook on high pressure for 15 minutes, letting the pressure release naturally. It’ll take around 10 minutes to come to pressure and around 15 minutes to release pressure.

Serve: When it has finished cooking remove the lid and stir it up well to combine and add additional salt if necessary. We like to serve this ground turkey chili recipe topped with sour cream, cheddar cheese, and corn chips or oyster crackers!

Turkey chili on spoon over the Instant Pot.

What To Serve With Turkey Chili:

Aside from all your favorite toppings like crackers, cheese, or sour cream serve this turkey chili up with my sweet cornbread recipe! My savory, spicy jalapeno cheddar cornbread would work well here too.

Would you believe that in Nebraska people serve cinnamon rolls with their chili? It’s true! We tried it when we lived there for a year and it’s actually really good.

Of course, grilled cheese sandwiches are always popular and many people even eat their turkey chili with peanut butter sandwiches!

Leftover Hack!

You can use leftover chili in so many ways! Use it to make chili dogs or chili cheese nachos! Cook up some macaroni or other pasta and combine to make a simple chili mac recipe. It’s great on baked potatoes too!

Storage & Freezing:

This turkey chili will keep in a covered dish in the fridge for 4-5 days. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove when ready to serve.

To freeze this turkey chili, let it cool completely before transferring to a freezer safe zip top bag. Freeze flat and then store in the freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.

FAQ’s:

How long will this turkey chili recipe keep in the fridge?

You can keep this ground turkey chili recipe in the fridge, tightly covered, for 4-5 days. It reheats beautifully and the flavor improves as it sits.

Can you freeze turkey chili?

Sure! Most chili recipes freeze well and this one isn’t any different. Let it cool completely before transferring to a freezer safe bag or container. You can freeze for up to a few months.

Is this chili very spicy?

The jalapeno does add a nice kick to our turkey chili, but we don’t find this recipe overly spicy at all. We serve this up to kids with no issues, but you can easily reduce the heat by using less jalapeno or skipping it altogether.

Instant Pot Turkey Chili