This Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili is packed with tons of healthy summer vegetables! It’s fresh, filling and easy to make!
How many of you have an instant pot? I got mine a few months ago and honestly have only used it 3 times so far, haha. A while ago I asked on my Facebook page if people would be interested in vegetarian instant pot recipes and I got an overwhelming yes, so I’m really trying to deliver!
My husband is convinced that the only reason they created the instant pot was to come up with a way to make pressure cookers cool and I can’t say that I disagree with him 🙂
My goal is to make a lot of non-soup recipes, but I figured I’d start with something easy like chili to get the hang of things. This is no ordinary instant pot vegetarian chili though! It’s packed with summer vegetables like zucchini, squash and corn.
I also used fresh tomatoes instead of canned ones like I usually use in my chili recipes. Truth be told I’m not a huge soup person. I’m not sure if it’s because I live in the desert and it’s hardly ever soup weather here, or if it’s just not my cup of tea. But, chili I can totally get on board with!
Chili is thick and has lots of beans in it and you can eat it with crackers and avocado. I probably eat chili more often in the colder seasons, but I still really enjoy it in summer too. It’s one of my favorite one pot meals and it usually tastes even better the day after you make it.
The instant pot makes this recipe really quick and easy! You do have to spend a little time chopping all the veggies, but once they’re in the instant pot with all the other ingredients, it goes quickly. You just close the steam valve (don’t forget to do this! Trust me, it doesn’t work if you don’t 🙂 ) set it to pressure cook for 8 minutes and you’ve got delicious perfectly cooked chili!
I hope you enjoy this recipe! I’d love to hear from you if you want to see more instant pot recipes on here and let me know if you have any suggestions of recipes you’d like for me to make in it! 🙂
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Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili with Summer Vegetables
Prep Time: 20 mins- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 50 minutes
Yield: 6
Category: Soup, Dinner, Gluten Free, Vegan
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Pin RecipeIngredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium zucchini, diced
- 1 medium yellow squash, diced
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 3 medium tomatoes, diced
- 1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
- 3 cans beans, drained and rinsed (I like to use black, kidney and pinto)
- 2-3 cups vegetable broth, depending on how thick you prefer. I usually use 2 1/2 cups
- 2 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 1/2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
Instructions
- Press the ‘sauté’ button on your instant pot. Add the olive oil and the onion. Cook for 1 minutes and then add the garlic. Cook for another 30 seconds and add the tomatoes, red pepper, zucchini, squash and corn.
- Cook vegetables until slightly softened, 2-3 minutes. Add the beans, broth and all the spices. Stir until combined and add the tomato paste right on top of everything. You don’t need to stir it in. If you do, there is a chance it will be too thick and burn.
- Turn the sauté mode off. Securely fasten the lid on the instant pot and set the pressure valve to closed. Press the ‘pressure cook’ button and set it for 8 minutes.
- Once it’s finished cooking, carefully turn the pressure valve to open and wait for all the steam to be released. Open your instant pot and give the chili a good stir before serving. Add your favorite toppings and enjoy!
Notes
Chili can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
How much corn did you use and when did you add it? Sounds delicious!
Sorry about that, Elizabeth! I just added it in there, thanks for letting me know! I used 1 cup of corn and added it in with the zucchini and squash 🙂 Thanks!
I’ve had an instant pot/pressure cooker for over a year and only used it twice! 🙈 But I definitely want to use it more – I’m so glad you posted this recipe! Did you use fresh or frozen corn and how much, I didn’t see it in the ingredient list. I’ll be checking back for your other instant pot recipes to try, too! 😊🙌🏻
Haha, sounds like me! I was so excited for it and it was a month before I even took it out of the box 🙂 Oops, thanks for letting me know about the corn, it’s in there now! I used fresh, but I think frozen would work great too! I used about a cup. Hopefully I’ll have some more IP recipes up soon haha! Thanks, Kaylee 🙂
Can this be modified for slow cooker?
I think that it definitely could be but I have never made it in a slow cooker myself so unfortunately I can’t give exact directions. I’d suggest looking up a vegetarian slow cooker chili recipe and using those temps and cook times. I hope that helps!
Yes, I have an Instant Pot and yes, I would like more recipes. I think I might have liked this better but all I can taste is the cumin. It overwhelmed everything. I knew it, when I was adding it and should have trusted my instinct. Most likely I will make it again, with about 1/4 as much. Also, since my Instant Pot is small, I had to use my crock pot, which was fine for me since I started early in the day. Thank you Izzy, for a healthy meal.
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Have lots of this chili left over and don’t feel like another bowl? Here’s an easy, fun, filling option my mother used to make which we called “American Enchiladas”. All you need is a few tortillas (maybe 2 per person) and some toppings like onions, cheese, olives and sour cream. Just heat up some chilli, spread some down the center, roll up and pour a little more chili across the two then heat in the microwave for a minute or so. Top with your favorites and enjoy!
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That sounds delicious! I love that idea!
Hi Izzy, new viewer coming over from Pinterest. Do you think the squash and zucchini could be pureed for this? I am madly in love with them but, my husband (who I madly love also), doesn’t like them. Would it be runny?
Hi! I’m glad you’re here! Yeah, I think that would work just fine! If they seem a little runny after you prep them you could just strain some of the watery part off and use the thicker puree to add to the chili 🙂
I am really glad you have this recipe. I live in the heat as well, and we have 2 instant pots. We try very hard not to use canned anything (except tomatoes) so we cook all our rice, beans, chickpeas, and such in the pressure cookers. We can meal prep all weekend long, run both pressure cookers, and not heat up the kitchen. Living in a place where it can get up to 115, there is nothing worse than sweltering in a hot kitchen. I am looking forward to seeing more instant pot recipes for you. We have recently started our journey to being Vegan and I love your recipes. You are my goto site. I love the fact that your recipes are easily adaptable to various lifestyle choices.
I’ve had my instant pot for a while and really want to start using it more! I’ll have to focus on developing more instant post recipes this fall. I agree, when it’s 115 outside you definitely don’t want to heat the kitchen if you can help it! I’m so glad to hear that you enjoy my site!! 🙂
This was great! The fresh tomatoes and minimal spices were perfect. The flavors are so complex though! I ended up having chicken broth laying around so I used that and threw some frozen green beans in that needed to be cleared out of the freezer. I’ve been bringing it for my lunches this week and threw it over rice. I’m a big fan!
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I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Putting it over rice sounds perfect!
Just made this for my fiancé and me. It is a lot more soupy than the Chili I usually eat, but still it is very delicious. I added some cooked jamin rice to my bowl and it was the most comforting meal ever ! My fiancé ate his bowl with a cream cheese bagel (can you guess we are a mixed race couple ? Lol) and he loved it too. I will make this again for sure.
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haha! 🙂 I’m so glad that you both enjoyed it!
Because I’ve used my new Instant Pot a couple of times by now, I realized you might want to bump up the spices a bit, I used 3 cups of homemade chicken stock and it was thick and delicious. My family is oohing and aahing right now! So good!! And so fresh tasting. A quick yummy vegetarian meal
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Thanks for the feedback! I’m glad the family is enjoying it! 🙂