Instant Pot Masala Turkey Chili is a spiced up quick version of your regular chili.This healthy and wholesome ground turkey chili cooks in under 30 minutes in the Instant Pot while packing in a good amount of flavor from the spices. It freezes really well and is a breeze to reheat.
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Fall and winter months are for making all the cozy and comforting meals of casseroles, soups, stews and chilis. These kinds of meals are always very welcome in our Pacific Northwest household during all the rain and gray sky seasons.
While soups and stews are comforting and nourishing, there is something about chili that is also very wholesome and filling. All that protein in it from the meat and the beans (especially so in a vegetarian chili) ensures that it is a complete meal in itself. If you are looking for a vegetarian chili recipe, try my Instant Pot Butternut Squash Chili.
What I love about Instant Pot is that it gets most meals done in about 30 mins or so and is almost always a one-pot meal dinner situation. The only thing you need to wash at the end of the just the Instant Pot.
This Instant Pot Ground Turkey Chili is
- Wholesome and delicious
- Made in under 30 mins
- A versatile recipe where you can swap out the meat, beans and spices for anything else of your choice.
- A one pot meal
Why cook chili in the Instant Pot?
Chili as you know tastes best when it has been cooking for a long time and all the flavors have concentrated and infused well together. There are three ways to achieve that concentrated power packed flavor. One is the traditional way of simmering it on the stove top for many hours. This means you have to be available physically next to the stove to keep an eye on it.
The second method is the Slow Cooker method, which is also a favorite of mine as you get the same deep flavors without being present all the time to achieve it. But, it takes time. Which means, you have to remember to do it ahead of time and all that.
The third is the magical pressure cooker or in this case, the Instant Pot. In Indian cooking, the pressure cooker is a staple in all households to quickly pack in those flavors in curries and to cook lentils and beans really quickly. The Instant Pot does the same to this Masala Turkey Chili. You get all the beautiful flavors in a matter of just several minutes.
What size Instant Pot do you need to make this masala turkey chili?
I have and used the 6 qt Instant Pot for this. You may need to halve the quantity for a 3 qt Instant Pot.
Ingredients for masala ground turkey chili
- Ground turkey – Use a lean ground meat for this. Ground turkey is a great healthy option for this chili. If you are not a big fan of ground turkey, you can swap it out for ground beef or ground chicken. I will not recommend frozen ground meat for this recipe, as you need to brown it a little with the aromatics for it to stay intact while pressure cooking. If you have frozen meat, thaw in the refrigerator overnight before you use it in this recipe.
- Vegetables – While making a meat chili, I like the meat to shine throughout. The vegetables in this chili, the onions and the peppers are there to complement the flavors of the turkey meat while also providing some well needed nutrition.
- Beans – I love using a blend of beans whenever I can. Kidney beans and Pinto beans are my two favorites to use in chilis. Feel free to use any favorite.
- Spices – I took the liberty of adding some Indian spices to this Instant Pot ground turkey chili to add some depth to the chili while making it a little bit curry-like. All you chili purists, feel free to leave this post at this point. Apart from the usual spices for a chili like ground cumin, smoked paprika and chili powder, I used Curry Masala for meat ( this is very different from Curry Powder and you can find it on Amazon or at any Indian store near you) and cayenne.
- Canned Tomatoes – I love using fire roasted tomatoes for chili as it adds an extra layer of smokiness to it.
- Chicken stock – to help cook the meat and veggies and provide the liquid for the chili.
How to cook/ make ground turkey chili in Instant pot?
- Set the Instant Pot to SAUTE mode and heat the olive oil in it. Sauté the vegetables and brown the ground turkey.
- Now add the rest of the ingredients to the Instant Pot and give it a quick mix.
- Set it to pressure cook on MANUAL mode for 15 mins.
- Five minutes after it is done cooking, quick release the pressure by turning the knob to VENT.
- Serve hot with your favorite chili toppings.
Serving suggestions
Serve chili while it is still hot with your favorite toppings. Some of our favorite chili toppings are:
- Sour cream or Greek yogurt
- Cheese – grated cheddar or Mexican blend
- Sliced jalapenos
- Crushed tortilla chips
- Sliced or cubed avocado
- Minced cilantro
How to store, freeze and reheat chili?
- Refrigerate – This ground turkey chili can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freeze – For freezing, fill in a glass container leaving some gap on top for the liquid to expand and freeze for up to three months.
- Reheat – Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat on the stovetop.
You will love these Instant Pot recipes as well
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Instant Pot Masala Turkey Chili
Ingredients
- ½ yellow onion diced
- 1 jalapeno diced, remove the seeds and membrane if you don't want it too hot.
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 lb ground turkey (16 oz)
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tbsp chili powder (not red chili powder / cayenne used in Indian cooking)
- 1 tbsp curry masala not curry powder but the Curry Masala for Meat. MDH brand has one.
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne
- salt to taste
- 16 oz chicken broth about 2 cups
- 1 can red kidney beans 15.5 oz
- 1 can pinto beans 15.5 oz
- 1 can fire roasted tomatoes 14.5 oz
- grated cheddar, jalapeno slices, diced red onion, minced cilantro, tortilla chips etc to garnish optional to have all
Instructions
- In sauté mode, add the oil to the Instant Pot inner pot. Add in the onion, jalapeno and garlic and sauté till onions are soft and translucent.
- Add the ground turkey and break it with a wooden spoon. Sauté the meat till it browns a little.
- Add the red pepper and mix well.
- Add in all the spice powders and sauté for 2 mins or so. Add salt.
- Pour in the chicken broth and deglaze the pan by scraping the bottom with your ladle. This is to loosen up any stuck up particles from the meat or veggies, so the Instant Pot does not accidentally give a BURN warning while pressure cooking.
- Add the kidney beans, pinto beans and tomatoes and mix well.
- Hit CANCEL / KEEP WARM to get out of the SAUTE mode.
- Close the Instant Pot lid and set to Pressure Cook or MANUAL mode for 15 mins. Make sure the knob on top is set to sealing mode.
- Once done cooking, let it naturally release pressure for about 10 mins and then do a quick release by carefully moving the sealing knob to vent position.
- Once the little pin next to the knob goes down, it is safe to open your Instant Pot.
- Open, give the the chili a quick stir and taste check for salt or more of anything else you may need.
- If you want your chili thicker, let it cook in SAUTE mode for another 5-10 mins till the desired consistency is achieved.
- Divide into bowls, top with your favorite toppings and serve hot.
- Makes about 8-10 cups
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