Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili

By Melissa

on Feb 15, 2018, Updated Feb 14, 2024

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A healthy and flavorful Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili recipe made with dried beans, vegetables, spices, and a secret ingredient. This is an easy, one-pot meatless meal your whole family will love.

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Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili

I love this meatless vegetarian chili recipe and I know you are going to love it, too. I think it’s fun to use dried beans, cooked in the Instant Pot. Dried beans are fun to use and inexpensive. I’m working with Hurst’s Beans today and I used their slow cooker chili dried bean mix for this recipe. I love their mixed dried beans because you get a good variety of beans all in one bag. This chili mix contains Pinto, black, small red, and kidney beans all in one bag. The best part is you DO NOT have to soak these beans before cooking them. You literally toss them in the pot and let them cook. They turn out awesome every time.

Healthy and flavorful Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili recipe made with a mix of dried beans, vegetables, spices, and a secret ingredient. A healthy one pot meatless meal your whole family will love.

Other things that I love about this recipe are that it has a heavy hand of vegetables in it, but you don’t know it. They kind of cook into nothing and just add flavor and great texture. It also contains a hidden vegetable that I love to sneak into chili… pumpkin! Adding pumpkin thickens the chili and adds a pleasant sweetness that offsets the acidic tomatoes nicely. Trust me on this one, no one will know that your chili has pumpkin in it. I can’t wait for you to try this veggie-filled chili and be sure to read the tips and tricks on how to make it in the slow cooker if you don’t have an Instant Pot and how to make substitutions to fit your preferences.Healthy and flavorful Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili recipe made with a mix of dried beans, vegetables, spices, and a secret ingredient. A healthy one pot meatless meal your whole family will love.

Here’s why I’m excited to be working with Hurst’s Beans today. Hurst’s is a 4th generation family-owned company that is based out of Indiana (I was raised in Indiana and consider myself a Hoosier through and through), and they’ve been a brand that has been in my cupboard, my mom’s cupboard, and my grandma’s cupboard for years and years. I grew up loving the 15 Bean Soup Mix, and their products are ones I use and know well. I’m so excited to be working with them today. They grow their beans in the US and Canada (yay!), and the flavor packets really are just seasonings in a convenient little package. They are gluten-free and vegan and have no added MSG. This is a great brand, and I can’t wait for you to bring them into your own kitchen if you haven’t already.

What size Instant Pot do you have?

I got an 8-quart Instant Pot in November and I love it! I’m shocked at how much I use it. It’s great for all kinds of soups, Cajun beans and rice, “boiled eggs”, homemade chicken stock, and more. I think you need one 🙂

Can I substitute chicken stock for vegetable broth?

You have a lot of flexibility here. Feel free to use chicken stock if you’re not concerned about it being vegetarian. You can also use fire-roasted tomatoes if you like, and you can use 2 small cans of diced green chilis in place of the salsa. Use what you have, Friends!

Can I use a slow cooker instead of the Instant Pot?

Yes! You can make this in the slow cooker by sauteing the veggies in a pan and then adding the beans and cooked veggies into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 4-6 hours. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for another hour or until the beans are tender. Adjust seasoning to taste and enjoy.

What do I serve with Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili?

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Healthy and flavorful Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili recipe made with a mix of dried beans, vegetables, spices, and a secret ingredient. A healthy, one-pot meatless meal your whole family will love.

Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

4.8 from 8 reviews

  • Author: Melissa Griffiths – Bless this Mess
  • Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 8–10 1x
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Description

A healthy and flavorful Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili recipe made with dried beans, vegetables, spices, and a secret ingredient. This is an easy, one-pot meatless meal your whole family will love.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
  • 1 cup celery, diced (about 2 ribs)
  • 1 bag Hurst Slow Cooker Dried Chili Bean Mix (15.5 ounces)
  • 5 cups vegetable broth
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic, about 6 cloves
  • 1 cup green salsa
  • 2 cans petite diced tomatoes (14.5 ounce)
  • 1 and 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Additional salt, pepper, and cumin to taste

Instructions

  1. Select browning/saute to preheat the pressure cooker. Add the olive oil, onion, bell pepper, and celery and saute, stirring often, until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes.
  2. Stir in the dry beans and the vegetable broth.
  3. Lock the lid in place, make sure the vent is set to seal, and select high pressure and 30 minute cook time.
  4. When the cooking time ends, use the quick pressure release. When the valve drops, remove the lid carefully.
  5. Add the garlic, green salsa, diced tomatoes, pumpkin puree, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, and salt. Stir to combine.
  6. Place the lid on the pressure cooker again, making sure the vent is set to seal. Select high pressure and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
  7. When the cooking time ends, use the quick pressure release. When the valve drops, remove the lid carefully.
  8. Adjust salt, pepper, and cumin to taste and serve hot.

Notes

  • You have a lot of flexibility here. Feel free to use chicken stock if you’re not concerned about it being vegetarian. You can use fire-roasted tomatoes if you like, and you can use 2 small cans of diced green chilis in place of the salsa.
  • You can make this in the slow cooker by sauteing the veggies in a pan, then adding the beans and cooked veggies into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 4-6 hours. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for another hour. Adjust seasoning to taste and enjoy.
  • If the chili tastes a little too acidic in the end, feel free to add 1 tablespoon of white sugar. Tomatoes vary a lot and if it’s too acidic my kids don’t like it.
  • Prep Time: 15 min
  • Cook Time: 1 hour
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Instant Pot
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 8-10
  • Calories: 202
  • Sugar: 6.9g
  • Fat: 15.7g
  • Carbohydrates: 13.1g
  • Protein: 3.7g
  • Cholesterol: 14.8mg

Here are a few other simple recipes I think you’ll love:

I hope that you love this easy Instant Pot Vegetarian Chilias much as we did. It’s got great flavor and texture and you can’t beat how quickly an Instant Pot can cook dried beans!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Hurst’s Beans. Thank you for supporting the brands that help make Bless this Mess possible.

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34 Comments

  1. I’ve made this vegetarian chili twice now, and it is a huge hit, even with my meat-loving husband and son! They’ve both asked me to make it many more times.



    Reply

    1. I love hearing that! Thank you for coming back to a leave a review, I’ve fed this to so many meat-lovers and people don’t even notice until you point out that it’s meatless. I’m glad they love it!

  2. This looks so good! I have the Hurst cajun beans and looked and no store around me carries the chili ones. Do you know if what I have will work if I don’t use the cajun packet? I don’t know how close their different products are…

    Reply

  3. I found out right after setting the first pressure cooking time that my cans of diced tomatoes were bad. Fortunately my neglected garden had nearly enough tomatoes to fill the void. This was absolutely delicious.

    This was my 2nd time using an instant pot (first being just corn on the cob) Your instructions were very simple to follow. Thank you for the recipe.



    Reply

  4. Wow! My family just raved about this dinner! Thank you so much for a yummy addition to our dinner rotation!



    Reply

    1. So glad you loved it! And thank you for coming back to leave a 5-star review, that means a lot to me. This is one we eat over and over again too and always love.

  5. I know you said you own an 8-quart Instant Pot. I have a 6-quart—will all of the ingredients in this recipe fit in a 6-quart Instant Pot? Would I need to make any adjustments in the cooking time?

    Thank you!

    Reply

    1. You can use any squash puree and sometimes I’ll even do just cubed sweet potato (raw and let it cook in the pot) or you can skip it all together!

  7. Just found your recipe…looks great…going to try tomorrow…One question? Do you use the flavor packet that comes in the bag of chili beans? or leave out and just use the spices you describe…appreciate your help!!!

    Reply

    2. Pumpkin was out of stock when I got my ingredients so I omitted it and it still tastes great!



  8. I dehydrated this yumminess….then I rehydrated it….amazing….guess what gets to go backpacking with me now!!!!! Next….figure out how to dh and rh your cornbread!

    Reply

  9. I need to leave this cooking in the kitchen at a teacher appreciation meal I cannot attend. Do you think I could put all the ingredients in the IP after sauteing and set it on the bean/chili setting? It will have plenty of time to cook, but I won’t be able to come back and add the garlic, tomatoes, etc.

    Reply

    1. I would add everything BUT the tomatoes and just stir those in in the end. Some people say that dry beans don’t cook as well when an acid like tomatoes are present while cooking. Get petite diced and no one will know they didn’t cook with everything else.

  10. The carnivore walked around the whole time these were cooking….”chili con carne without the con carne.” Once the chili was done, he whined, sniveled and whimpered….then he ate two bowls full. He gives your recipe an A, it would have been an A+ if it had big chunks of burger….MEN…grrrr……I sauted without the oil, just a wee bit of water instead. Now I can dehydrate this yumminess for camp meals! Love the different textures of the beans in the mix too! I have finally found my go to chili recipe..YEA! Thanks!!

    Reply