Vegan Instant Pot Chili

by lacey.dumler

This simple vegan chili is an Instant Pot version of my 3 Bean Chili recipe of yore. It’s awesome because you can go from no chili to mass amounts of chili in under an hour with no advanced preparation. This recipe uses dry beans, not canned, and there’s no need to soak your beans in advance. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, head on over to the chili recipe linked above.

A quick note on spice: This is a kid friendly recipe. I feed a five year old on the daily so I don’t often make dishes that are spicy in the pot. I spice them up in my bowl with hot sauce, chili garlic sauce, pickled peppers, etc. If you prefer a chili that punches you in the mouth straight out of the pot, it’s gonna be on you to add some spicy peppers here.

Also, this makes a big ass batch. I have an 8 quart instant pot and this fills the pot to the pressure cooking max line, which is 5 1/3 quarts. If you have a smaller pot, you can cut the recipe in half. Otherwise, this is a great batch-cooking recipe. After it has completely cooled, freeze some for later.

Yield: 5 1/3 quarts Prep time: 15 minutes Pressure cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 medium carrots, scrubbed and chopped
  • 1 large red onion, medium dice
  • 6-8 large cloves of garlic (or more if you like!) minced
  • 4 Tbsp chili powder
  • 1 Tbsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 2, 28 ounce cans of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 small can of tomato paste
  • 3 cups mixed, dried beans – picked and rinsed (I used 50/50 black beans and red kidney beans)
  • 1 cup brown or green lentils – picked and rinsed
  • 2 Tbsp maple syrup (optional)
  • 7 cups of water or veggie stock of your choice (I used a Tbsp of “Better Than Bouillon seasoned vegetable base”

Method

  • Select the “sauté” function on the Instant Pot and add the carrots, onions, and a splash of water. Sauté for 4-5 minutes,
  • Add the garlic, sauté for about 2 more minutes
  • Add all of the spices and the bay leaves and sauté for a final minute or two – just enough to toast the spices a bit
  • Now add the rest of the ingredients. I use the tomato cans to measure the water – fill each one to the top with water (including the tomato paste can) and you’re good to go.
  • Put on the lid, with the steam valve in the “seal” position.
  • Select “Bean/Chili” (high pressure) and set the timer for 25 minutes.
  • When the 25 minutes are over, you can allow to release naturally, or do a quick release if you’re HANGRY.
  • Check taste and adjust seasoning. Enjoy!

Serve with…

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