Simple Instant Pot Chicken Chili
The inspiration for this Simple Instant Pot Chicken Chili originally came from Rachel Cruze (Dave Ramsey’s daughter). She shares her budget-friendly White Chicken Chili Recipe here as part of a roundup of family meal ideas that are easy on the wallet.
Rachel makes this family favorite in a slow cooker, which would absolutely work, but in this post, I’m sharing how this yummy meal can be an easy Instant Pot meal.
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I’m wild about easy recipes, and this has most definitely become one of my favorite Instant Pot recipes.
This Simple Instant Pot Chicken Chili is pretty versatile and can be changed up a bit each time you make it!
First things first, start warming up your Instant Pot! Sometimes I forget how long it takes to pre-heat my IP, and if I get it started while I’m adding ingredients to the pot, it saves me lots of time later.
Simple Instant Pot Chicken Chili Recipe
I always start with some variety of white beans:
- Navy Beans
- Great Northern Beans
- Cannellini Beans
- White Kidney Beans
Sometimes I toss in a can of black beans just for fun. You do whatever you’re in the mood to do, but no matter your choice of beans, you need at least two cans. You may prefer to cook with dry beans.
Next up, the Rotel! You can go mild, original, hot – or a mixture! Your decision here depends on how much heat your family enjoys.
For this chicken chili recipe, I don’t drain any of these canned items, but some people prefer to always drain their beans.
Now for the chicken broth! We like these reduced sodium boxed broths, and I usually dump one entire carton of chicken stock into the Instant Pot.
Next up, sometimes I add in a jar of our favorite salsa. This is what takes my version of this recipe from being a White Chicken Chili to one with a bit more of a tomato base. You can go mild or spicy here as well. We usually go mild, because when it comes to spicy food, we’re wimps.
See how easy this recipe is?
I’m about tell you my favorite simple steps. Toss in a bag of frozen chopped onions and a batch of chicken. We’ve used a variety of different options here:
- frozen rotisserie chicken
- frozen shredded chicken
- fresh chicken tenderloins
- frozen chicken tenderloins
- leftover cooked chicken from a meal we had that same week
Our local Walmart store carries a couple of different kinds of frozen chopped onions, and I like to keep my freezer stocked with several bags of these. They make soup-making super simple.
I’ve also found containers of shredded rotisserie chicken at our Walmart, but most of the time, our chicken like this comes from Costco. I share it here as one of our Costco Favorites. I like to keep my freezer stocked with this chicken as well.
- Creamy Chicken Tortilla Chip Casserole
- Salsa Chicken and Risotto
- Tuscan Chicken Pasta
- Chicken Enchiladas
- BBQ Chicken Pizza
- One Dish Chicken Bake
No need to thaw these items – just toss them in your Instant Pot!
Your kids can help put this simple meal together!
Recipes like this are the perfect opportunity for getting your kiddos in the kitchen with you.
Like a little extra onion? These Freeze-Dried Red Onions from Litehouse also make for easy soup-making. A scoop of these is a nice addition to this recipe.
Or maybe you’d just prefer to add a dash of onion powder.
In addition to a little extra onion flavor, I typically toss in a fresh garlic clove (another frozen staple I like to keep stocked, but garlic powder works, too) and a pinch or two of pepper.
You may also like to add a dash of chili powder.
I don’t typically add any additional salt, but you can if you want!
After 20 minutes on high pressure in the Instant Pot, this soup is perfection! If the pieces of chicken are too large for your liking, grab a couple of forks or some kitchen scissors and break them up a bit. It will be such tender chicken!
Now for my favorite part – the toppings!
Some of our favorite toppings include:
- sliced avocado
- fresh green onion
- diced red onion (Yes, more onion!)
- shredded cheese (Cheddar cheese is always delicious, but Pepper Jack is especially yummy atop this chili!)
- Fritos (Yes, I said it! ha!) or Tortilla Chips
- a dollop of sour cream
This Simple Chicken Chili is perfect if you’re looking for a comforting meal to deliver to a friend or loved one. My whole family loves this recipe, and it doesn’t take much time to put together. How about making it for a delicious dinner tonight?
This chicken chili tastes even better the next day and also freezes well if you want to add it to your list of freezer meal ideas!
Simple Instant Pot Chicken Chili Recipe
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 Cans Beans
- 2 Cans Rotel
- 1 Carton Low Sodium Chicken Broth
- 1 Jar Salsa
- 1 Bag Frozen Diced Onions
- 1 Container Shredded Rotisserie Chicken
- 1 Clove Garlic Optional
- 1 Scoop Red Onion Optional
- 1 Pinch Black Pepper Optional
Instructions
- Toss all of your ingredients into your Instant Pot.
- Cook for approximately 20 minutes.
- Serve into bowls and add your favorite variety of toppings!
