Chicken and Black Bean Chili {Pressure Cooker}

This pressure cooker chicken and black bean chili is fast, simple, so tasty…and it freezes amazingly well.

In the long list of recipes to convert people over to pressure cooking forever, this chicken and black bean chili should rank very, very high.

It’s one of the best things I’ve made throughout years of pressure cooking. Granted, I heart chicken chili in a big way, but regardless of my starting bias, this stuff is good.

And not only that, it’s ridiculously fast – even using dried beans.

I don’t know about you, but I just want to give my pressure cooker a big ol’ squeeze every time I’m able to crank out a crazy delicious dinner like this in less than an hour (waaaay less than an hour, actually, and most of that time is spent twiddling my thumbs waiting for the pressure cooker to cool off) when under normal circumstances it would take at least half a day.

There’s no precooking here (unless you forgot to soak the beans overnight) and not a lot of advance prep, either – dump in all the ingredients and let the pressure cooker go to town.

Because I know some of you may ask, yes, you probably can make this in the slow cooker (I adapted it to be pressure-cooker friendly from a slow cooker version, after all) but I haven’t actually tried it like that yet because it’s too irresistible (and did I mention speedy?) in the pressure cooker.

Fast, simple, so tasty…and it freezes amazingly well. If you can’t tell, there’s not a whole lot to dislike here.

New to pressure cooking? Here’s a good starting place to figure out your feelings on the subject (hint: I think you’ll fall in love).

As I’ve mentioned before, I have a 6-quart InstantPot and a 7-quart stovetop pressure cooker; I’ve included directions in the recipe below for either electric or stovetop models.

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Pressure Cooker Chicken and Black Bean Chili

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 8 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 22 minutes mins

Total Time: 8 hours hrs 28 minutes mins

4.76 stars (45 ratings)

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Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cup (283 g) dried pinto beans
• 1 ¼ cup (283 g) dried black beans
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• ½ cup chopped yellow or white onion
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 ½ tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Toppings: sour cream, grated cheese, diced avocados, tortilla chips, fresh lime wedges

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Instructions 

• Combine the dried beans in a bowl and cover with cool water by 2- to 3-inches. Soak overnight (8-12 hours). Drain and rinse. Read the note above the recipe for a quick-soak option if you haven’t soaked the beans overnight.
• In a 6-quart or larger pressure cooker, combine the beans, crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, onion, garlic, cumin, chili powder, oregano, salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Nestle the chicken in the liquid.
• Close and lock the lid of the pressure cooker. For electric pressure cookers, cook on high pressure for 22 minutes (for the InstantPot hit manual –> 20 minutes). For stovetop pressure cookers, cook on high pressure for about 19-20 minutes (start timing once high pressure is reached).
• Let the pressure cooker naturally release pressure for 10-15 minutes before releasing the rest under quick pressure. If it starts foaming/bubbling as you let out pressure, wait a few more minutes or just release in short bursts (for stovetop models, run cold water around the sides of the pressure cooker for a non-bubbling quick release).
• If for some reason the beans are not tender enough to your liking when you open the pressure cooker, take out the chicken and simply bring the pressure cooker back to high pressure (this will happen fast since the ingredients are piping hot) for a few more minutes. Release pressure the same way as described above.
• Shred the chicken breasts into pieces and stir back into the chili. Add additional salt and pepper to taste (very important!). Serve with toppings: sour cream, grated cheese, diced avocados, tortilla chips, fresh lime wedges.

Notes

Nutrition Facts: the nutrition facts for this recipe were calculated based on the chili, but do not include the toppings as those are based on personal preference. 

Soaking the Beans: the jury’s out whether or not soaking beans is necessary but from my experience with this chili, soaking definitely helps make for a more tender, less crunchy bean in the finished chili.

Quick Soaking: if you haven’t planned ahead (story of my life!) and soaked the beans overnight, the pressure cooker can do a mean job of “quick soaking” the beans. I usually throw 4 cups of water for every 1 cup of beans in the pressure cooker (don’t fill the pressure cooker more than halfway) and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes (in an electric pressure cooker) or 4 minutes in a stovetop pressure cooker. Naturally release for 10-15 minutes before quick releasing the rest of the pressure (if it bubbles and foams through the vent while releasing pressure, wait a few more minutes or release in quick bursts). Drain and rinse the beans before using in the recipe.

Freezing: this chili freezes superbly well.

Author: Mel

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Method: Instant Pot

Serving: 1 Serving, Calories: 492kcal, Carbohydrates: 65g, Protein: 47g, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 73mg, Sodium: 783mg, Fiber: 16g, Sugar: 8g

Recommended Products

6-quart Instant Pot

Two Sided Measuring Spoons

8-Inch Chef’s Knife

Recipe Source: adapted from this recipe at Smitten Kitchen (converted it from slow cooker to pressure cooker, varying some of the ingredients)

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