This recipe combines Kimberley Sneed’s excellent Instant Pot Wendy’s Copycat Chili from anightowlblog.com, with most of the spice blend from Danny Jaye’s Best Damn Chili recipe on allrecipes.com. i skip Danny’s suggestions of adding beer and wine because i don’t drink or cook with alcohol. i find that adding individual spices improves on Kim’s (admittedly faster) tactic of using a prefab spice packet, many of which contain unwanted fillers and don’t taste very exciting. i borrowed a technique from Amy and Jacky at pressurecookrecipes.com that involves straining the meat while browning it.
This recipe uses quick release, because natural release is for suckers.
You can make this chili in a slow cooker or Crock Pot if you don’t have an Instant Pot, but really… go buy an Instant Pot!
The resulting chili is rich, hearty, spicy, and with extremely high yield. It butts right up against the “Max” line on my 5L Instant Pot. 5 litres of chili feeds my family of four at dinnertime on Sunday night, and is good for another 6-8 servings throughout the week for lunches or last-ditch dinners.
Don’t be a dope like i was, and remember to chop your celery all 6 stalks at a time with a big knife. (My first few go-rounds, i inexplicably chopped each individual stalk with my paring knife.) If you want to shorten the prep time, mince the garlic first and chop the rest of the veggies while your meat is browning.
To reheat the chili after it’s been in the fridge, i like to give it 2 minutes on max, an interim stir, and then another 2 minutes on max. Use a cover so it doesn’t splatter everywhere.
Ingredients
Base
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb (0.45 kg) ground beef
- 1 lb (0.45 kg) ground pork
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 2 serrano or small jalapeño peppers, chopped
- 6 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
Liquid Flavouring
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 2 beef bullion cubes (or 2 squirts of concentrated Bovril)
- 1 1/2 tbsp chipotle pepper sauce
Dry Spice Blend
Beans
- 1 14 oz (398 ml) can pinto beans in tomato sauce (not drained)
- 1 19 oz (540 ml) can red kidney beans, drained
Sauce
- 1 19 oz (540 ml) can diced tomatoes with chili accents (ie Aylmer Accents, RoTel)
- 1 28 oz (796 ml) can diced tomatoes
- One or two 5.5 oz (156 ml) cans of tomato paste as desired (for thickening)
Toppings (optional)
- sour cream
- corn chips or tortilla chips
- chopped chives or green onions
Directions
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté and add oil.
- Wait for the Instant Pot display to say “Hot.” Add garlic and sauté until it smells good.
- Add the beef and pork. Blend both meats and cook until browned. Periodically drain the meat juices into a bowl using a strainer, and reserve.
- Add veggies and combine well. Cook until the onions are semi-translucent.
- Add liquid and dry flavouring, along with reserved meat juices. Stir to combine.
- Stir in the beans.
- Pack ingredients down with a spatula (the Instant Pot will be quite full at this point).
- Add diced tomatoes to the top of the mixture. Do not stir. Keep tomato paste on standby for later.
- Press the Keep warm/Cancel button on the Instant Pot and lock the lid into place. Ensure that the steam valve is closed.
- Set the Instant Pot to cook for 10 minutes on manual at High Pressure. (The entire cook will take closer to 25-30 minutes, as the Instant Pot needs time to spool up the steam.)
- When time is up, quick release the steam and remove the lid. Thoroughly stir the chili. Add tomato paste as desired to thicken the chili to your liking (i use both cans, because i prefer thick chili).
