Instant Pot Vegan Chili (in Minutes!)

There is nothing better to warm you up on a cold day than a big bowl of hearty chili, and it’s even better when it can be ready and on the table in minutes without any fuss in the kitchen. This Instant Pot Vegan Chili is easy to make and chock full of healthy wholesome ingredients.

Chili is such a comfort food with its warm spices, convenient can beans, and filling grain like bulgur, quinoa, or brown rice. It’s inexpensive to make and can feed a crowd.

If you don’t have an Instant Pot or would just rather allow it to cook while you’re at work, there’s even a Crockpot Chili recipe that’s perfect for a slow cook method.

Ingredients in chili

One of the greatest things about vegetarian chili is that it’s so versatile. I’ve seen recipes add all kinds of different things like sweet potatoes, bell peppers, and even quinoa. These are the ingredients that are most common and that are always in my pot.

• Beans- Use just one kind of bean or a blend of different types which is what I like to do. Some of my favorites are red kidney beans, black beans, and white cannellini beans.
• Onion & Garlic- Always a must to get that amazing flavor.
• Tomatoes- Fresh tomatoes can be used or canned. One thing I do to add even more flavor is to use fire roasted tomatoes and their juice.
• Vegetable Broth- Some people might use water for the liquid, but I much prefer vegetable broth for the flavor. Low-sodium is best and, if you want to make your own from vegetable scraps, it’s great too.
• Ketchup- Some folks might want to use tomato sauce instead, but ketchup adds more flavor in my opinion, and you can even make your own homemade ketchup if you like.
• Grain- Adding a grain helps bulk up vegan chili to keep it filling without any meat. I love to use wheat bulgur because it has a crumbly texture that mimicks ground beef, and it soaks up all the warm spices. Other options to make this chili gluten-free are buckwheat groats that also has a nice crumbly texture, brown rice, or quinoa.
• Spices- My favorite spices to use are chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder and season salt.

The recipe card at the bottom of the page has the full list of ingredients with measurements and instructions.

This meatless chili recipe is so healthy and good for you with its powerhouse of wholesome ingredients like beans, grains, and vegetables!

How to make Vegan Instant Pot Chili

For this recipe, you will need to begin with completely cooked beans which you can make yourself or use can beans. Personally, I use can beans so that I have a variety of different kinds of beans and just keep it simple with precooked beans.

If using canned beans, remember to drain the liquid and rinse them to remove most of the preservatives and salt. To do this, I dump them into a colander and rinse them.

Dice up the onion and garlic and add them to your Instant Pot. Press the SAUTE button and allow them to begin cooking in the dry pan. Watch closely, and when they begin to turn a little brown, add 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable broth and stir to let them caramelize a little bit.

Add the cooked beans and all of the other ingredients EXCEPT the fire-roasted tomatoes. Stir everything together well. Next, spread the fire-roasted tomatoes across the top of the mixture but DO NOT STIR. This is because tomato-based products that touch the bottom of the Instant Pot cause them to burn.

Place the lid on your Instant Pot, lock it down, and turn the vent to SEAL. Set to MANUAL and allow the chili to cook for 6 minutes. It will take about 10 minutes to come to pressure and then the timer will begin to count down the cooking time.

When the timer beeps once the cooking has stopped, do a quick release of the vent. You may want to use a spoon or dish towel to do this if there is much steam coming out.

Remove the lid and serve. Some great topping options are my  Tofu Sour Cream and fresh chives or jalapenos.

If you’re looking for more IP recipes, take a look at these 25 BEST Vegan Instant Pot Recipes.

What to serve with chili

• Country Cornbread
• Crusty bread like sourdough
• Homemade Tortilla Chips
• Vegan Cheese
• Fresh cilantro
• Lime wedges

Tips, variations, and substitutions

• To make this recipe gluten-free, simply replace the bulgur wheat with another grain such as buckwheat groats, brown rice, quinoa, or another GF variety.
• Tomato sauce can be used in place of the ketchup if desired.
• Use 4.5 cups of any single type of bean or use a variety like I do.
• Great bean options include kidney beans (red, dark red, white, etc), black beans, pintos, navy beans, northern beans, and others.

More vegan chili recipes

I love chili so much that there are variations of it on my website and include a Vegan Chili Category so you might want to check some of them out.

• Vegan Chili Cheese Fries
• White Bean Chili
• One Pot Mac and Chili
• Yes-You-Can Chili
• Chili for Burgers and Carrot Dogs
• Crockpot Chili

For those of you new to the whole food plant-based lifestyle, we’ve created a FREE 7-Day Plant-Based Menu Planner to help you get started!

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure here.

If you try this recipe, please let us know how you like it by rating it and leaving a comment. We love to hear from you!