HAPPY NEW YEAR! I cannot believe we have entered a new decade. Also, I can’t believe it’s winter…according to the calendar. LOL It seems like Houston did not get the memo! 🤦🏾♀️ Every Houstonian can join me in saying, “Get it together, sis!” 😂 Anyway, I am almost positive it is cold where you are and you are trying to find recipes that will keep you and your family toasty. Now, fair warning, this Instant Pot Texas Chili is BOLD and packs a punch that is going to leave your taste buds tingling. This Instant Pot Texas Chili is full of chunky cuts of chuck roast as well as coarsely ground chuck roast that are stewed in a homemade chili paste, beef bone broth, spices like cumin, Mexican oregano, smoked and hot paprika, diced tomatoes with green chilies, tomato sauce, and my secret weapon, whiskey.
Why use whiskey in this Instant Pot Texas Chili?
I love the spicy flavor that the whiskey lends to the recipe. Houston has a local, small-batch whiskey distillery named Yellow Rose Distilling and I’ve been using their Blended Whiskey in my cooking and baking recipes for about 5 years now. This particular whiskey has a sweet note with very little oak-y flavor to it. It’s very smooth and has notes of cinnamon, allspice, and caramel. These notes pair so well with this chili that I wouldn’t suggest skipping it. The alcohol cooks out so you shouldn’t have any worries about feeding this to kids.
The whiskey also helps to deglaze the pot after the beef has seared so you can scrape up all of that delicious flavor that’s settled at the bottom of the pot. You’ll see a lot of Texas chili recipes use beer in them. The beer or whiskey just adds more depth of flavor to the chili. If I wasn’t eating gluten-free right now to heal up my leaky gut I would’ve used beer. If you’re like me and avoiding gluten then whiskey is a really good substitution! Just use your favorite brand of whiskey if you don’t want to or can’t find Yellow Rose Blended Whiskey.
Some people would argue that Texas Chili doesn’t use tomatoes, but I’ve always grown up with Texas chili having tomatoes because that’s how my dad grew up too! Keeping the family tradition alive is the mission! LOL Now, there is ONE thing all Texans can agree about when it comes to Texas chili and that is NO BEANS! Don’t you do it! Don’t you grab a can of beans and throw it into this pot and parade around telling your guests that this is Texas chili. We like our chili to be meaty with not much fiber. 😆 Save the beans for any other region’s chili.
Tips for the Perfect Instant Pot Texas Chili
The biggest tip I have to give to make this the most perfect Instant Pot Texas Chili is to make your chili paste ahead of time! I adapted a homemade chili paste recipe from Striped Spatula. Amanda says you can make the recipe and refrigerate it for up to 5 days or you can freeze for up to 6 months. It takes almost an hour to make the chili paste, albeit the time isn’t active cooking time, but when you are in a rush it’s not the fastest process.
My chili paste adaptation is enough to make 5 pounds of chili, it fills up the Instant Pot to the max fill line. In this household, we love to make a huge amount of chili to freeze in several bags to make several future meals. If you don’t want to make this amount of chili, then you could cut the chili paste recipe by half and also cut the chili recipe by half.
One other major tip I have for this Instant Pot Texas Chili is controlling the level of spice with the use of tomatoes. If you would like for this chili to slap you in the face with heat, then, by all means, leave out the tomatoes or use half the amount of tomatoes. If you want balanced heat, then use the tomatoes.
If you didn’t know, chili tastes better the next day so that’s one good reason to make it a day before you are ready to serve it!
If you don’t own an Instant Pot or another brand of electric pressure cooker, you could easily make this chili on the stove or in a slow cooker. You can cook it for 1-1.5 hours on the stove or it can cook in a slow cooker on low heat for 5-6 hours. Do whatever works best for you.
Do me a favor and save this recipe by using the share buttons at the top, side, or bottom of this post! Also, be sure to tag me on social media (Twitter and IG: @brittsliladvice) with your pictures. You guys know I LOVE to see your pictures of my dishes! I sure hope the holidays have been good to you.
This Instant Pot Texas Chili is BOLD and best of all tastes like it's been simmering for hours but cooked in over half the time.
- Avocado oil
- 7 pounds chuck roast
- Sea salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- 2 large yellow onions diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 poblano diced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 5 tablespoons whiskey
- 1.5 cups homemade chili paste full batch
- 2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon hot paprika
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1-8 ounce can tomato sauce
- 1-10 ounce can medium diced tomatoes and green chilies
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups beef bone broth or beef broth
- 4 tablespoons masa harina
- 7 tablespoons water
- 2 ounces dried Guajillo chilies
- 1.5 ounces dried Ancho chilies
- 3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 2 tablespoons adobo sauce
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons raw honey
- 1 cup room temperature chili water or purified water
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In a large skillet set over medium-high heat, heat the dried chilies for 2 minutes per side, or until they are fragrant. Do not allow the chilies to char!
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In a large bowl, add the toasted chilies and cover them with enough boiling water for them to hydrate. Cover the bowl with a towel or food wrap to keep in the heat and steam. Let the chilies soak for 30 minutes, turning the chilies at the halfway mark.
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Remove the chilies from the water. Taste the chili water; if it doesn’t taste burnt then reserve 1 cup of the chili water then discard the remaining water.
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Cut the chilies in half, then remove and discard the stems and seeds. If you REALLY like a lot of heat then you can keep in some of the stems and seeds.
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Place the chilies in a blender or food processor with the remaining ingredients and blend on high until a smooth paste forms. Scrape down the sides of the container. If the paste isn’t smooth enough, add in another tablespoon of plain water.
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Transfer the chili paste to a storage bowl and tightly cover it. You can freeze the chili paste for up to 6 months or you can store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. If you are making the chili the same day, then proceed to the next part of this recipe.
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Cut half of the chuck roast into 1.5 inch cubed pieces. Place the cubed pieces into a large bowl. Cut the other half of the chuck roast into large chunks. Using a food processor, pulse the chunks into a coarse grind. Transfer the coarse ground chuck roast into a large bowl.
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Season the cubed chuck roast pieces and coarsely ground chuck roast with salt and black pepper. Take a few tablespoons of the homemade chili paste and rub the chili paste onto the cubed pieces. Set aside.
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Add avocado oil to your multi-cooker insert of the Instant Pot and set the Sauté function to high. Once the oil is hot, sear the cubed chuck roast pieces in batches (remove each batch from the insert and place it into a bowl). After all of the cubed chuck roast pieces have been seared, brown the coarse ground chuck roast. After the coarse ground chuck roast has browned, remove from the multi-cooker insert and place into the same bowl as the seared cubed chuck roast pieces.
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Add the diced onions, diced red bell pepper, and diced poblano pepper to the insert. Season with salt and pepper and sauté until the onions, and peppers begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the minced garlic and cook for about 1 minute.
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Deglaze the insert with the whiskey and allow the mixture to simmer for about 4-5 minutes, then stir in the homemade chili paste, beef broth, water, and cooked meat.
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Stir in the Mexican oregano, ground cumin, cayenne pepper, hot paprika, bay leaves, tomato sauce, and tomato paste. Place the lid onto the Instant Pot and lock it into place with the vent in the sealing position.
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Switch to the Bean/Chili function and cook for 30 minutes or switch to the pressure cooker function and set it to High Pressure for 30 minutes. Once the chili has finished cooking allow the steam to naturally release for 10 minutes, and then quick release the remaining pressure.
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Remove the lid and turn the Sauté function back on. Skim as much of the oil off of the top of the chili as you can. In a small cup, mix the masa harina with the 7 tablespoons of water. Stir the hydrated masa harina into the chili until it is fully incorporated and simmer the chili until it’s thickened. Stir gently because you do not want to break up the chunks of beef. Season to taste with additional salt if needed. Remove the bay leaves.
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Serve the chili hot with your choice of toppings such as sour cream, diced red onions, shredded cheese, chopped cilantro, sliced jalapeños, and lime wedges. You can also serve the chili on top of a bed of rice (a tradition in our family) and with a slice of cornbread if you wish.
Notes: This makes a ton of chili, about 5 pounds to be exact so you will want to store the chili in freezer bags and freeze for future meals. It can keep in the freezer for about 4-6 months. Chili paste adapted from Striped Spatula.
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