Instant Pot Dr. Pepper Chili–a slightly sweet and slightly spicy chili that comes together quickly with the help of your Instant Pot. It’s the perfect supper for a chilly evening or for watching football. Don’t forget all your favorite toppings!
You can also make this chili in the slow cooker. The instructions are listed in the recipe card below.
Instant Pot Dr. Pepper Chili
I think you’re really going to love Dr. Pepper Chili! It’s slightly sweet because of the Dr. Pepper and slightly spicy because of chipotle peppers. It’s a nice thick, meaty chili with beans and it has a fun surprise ingredient of shredded carrots! They carrots add a tiny bit of sweetness. We super loved this chili at our house!
Make a chili bar for dinner tonight! Have your toppings lined up in bowls and everyone can make their own individualized bowl of chili. Some topping ideas are shredded cheese, green onions, sour cream, Fritos, tortilla chips, cilantro, tomatoes, avocados, pico de gallo, diced white or red onions, cooked spaghetti, crumbled queso fresco, hot sauce, lime wedges and pickled jalapenos or banana peppers.
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Lean ground beef–or ground turkey
- Carrots–this is a fun twist. The carrots add some bulk, some nutrition, some texture and a bit of sweetness.
- Onion–fresh or frozen
- Chili powder
- Dried oregano
- Cumin
- Kosher salt
- Garlic powder
- Dr. Pepper–I used regular Dr. Pepper but you can also use diet. Although I think the artificial sweeteners won’t taste as good as the real thing. Another choice is to use Coke or Pepsi.
- Kidney beans–You can also use another type of beans, like pinto or navy beans.
- Crushed tomatoes–I like the consistency of crushed tomatoes best for chili. In a pinch you could pulse diced tomatoes in a blender and use that instead.
- Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce–you can typically find chiles in adobo in the International aisle of the supermarket, along with other Latin ingredients. I like to freeze the leftovers in a Ziplock freezer bag and then whenever you need one or two peppers they are there for you. Rarely would you use a whole can in one recipe…way too hot!
- Cornmeal–this is used as a thickener. I like it because it adds a subtle earthy flavor to the chili in addition to thickening it up.
Steps
Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When displays says HOT add in the beef and break it up. Add in the carrots and and onions and cook for 5 minutes. Drain off excess grease.
Stir in the chili powder, oregano, cumin, kosher salt and garlic powder to coat the meat. Pour in the Dr. Pepper and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Dump in the beans, tomatoes, chipotle peppers and cornmeal. Don’t stir. By layering the ingredients and not stirring you will prevent the burn error message.
Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 10 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
Stir well. Salt to taste (I added a pinch). Ladle into bowls and serve topped with shredded cheese, green onions, sour cream and Fritos.
Notes/Tips
- Serve topped with Fritos, shredded cheese, green onions and a dollop of sour cream. I like to serve cornbread on the side with honey butter. If you’d like to round out the meal with some veg than make a green salad.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- You can easily double this recipe. Simply double all the ingredients and keep the cooking time the same.
- This chili can be gluten-free if you use gluten-free chipotle peppers.
- This recipe can be dairy free if you forego using cheese on top.
- Other recipes you can make with Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce are Instant Pot Southwest Tavern Sandwiches, Instant Pot Chipotle Beef Burrito Bowls, Instant Pot Down Home Chili and Instant Pot Smoky Mountain Casserole.
More Instant Pot Chili Recipes…
Instant Pot Killer White Chili
This Instant Pot killer white chili is full of tender pieces of chicken, along with dried navy beans, onions, garlic, cumin, oregano, cream cheese and a special ingredient that gives it tons of flavor–salsa verde. It’s an excellent, intensely flavored white chili that’s great for a party.
Instant Pot Texas Roadhouse Chili
Easy ground beef chili with lots of flavor and very little work. Make this copycat recipe at home in your Instant Pot or Crockpot.
Instant Pot Wendy’s Chili
An easy copycat version of Wendy’s chili that you can make in the Instant Pot or the Crockpot.
Instant Pot Crack Chicken Chili
Addictive and delicious creamy chicken chili with bacon!
Instant Pot Hillbilly Chili
A flavorful and easy chili recipe with spaghetti noodles in it! Make it fast in your Instant Pot!
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.
Instant Pot Dr. Pepper Chili
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
A slightly sweet and slightly spicy chili that comes together quickly with the help of your Instant Pot. It’s the perfect supper for a chilly evening or for watching football. Don’t forget all your favorite toppings!
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 3 carrots, peeled and grated (about 1 to 1.5 cups)
- 1 medium onion diced (about 1 to 1.5 cups)
- 1 Tbsp chili powder
- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 cup Dr. Pepper
- 1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped (more if you like spicy)
- 2 Tbsp cornmeal
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When displays says HOT add in the beef and break it up. Add in the carrots and and onions and cook for 5 minutes. Drain off excess grease.
- Stir in the chili powder, oregano, cumin, kosher salt and garlic powder to coat the meat.
- Pour in the Dr. Pepper and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking.
- Dump in the beans, tomatoes, chipotle peppers and cornmeal. Don’t stir.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 10 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir well. Salt to taste (I added a pinch). Ladle into bowls and serve topped with shredded cheese, green onions, sour cream and Fritos.
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Heat a pan over medium high heat. Add in the beef and break it up. Add in the carrots and and onions and cook for 5 minutes. Drain off excess grease.
- Stir in the chili powder, oregano, cumin, kosher salt and garlic powder to coat the meat. Transfer mixture to the slow cooker.
- Add in the Dr. Pepper, beans, tomatoes, chipotle peppers and cornmeal. Stir.
- Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
- Stir well. Salt to taste (I added a pinch). Ladle into bowls and serve topped with shredded cheese, green onions, sour cream and Fritos.
- Category: Beef
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
I made this chili and I think it’s the best chili recipe I ever made. I left out the carrots and only used one chipotle chili. My wife thought it was spicy enough but I’ll go for two next time. This was really good.
So glad to hear it! Thank you Frank!
I just made this the other day for my family. They loved it!!! I am sensitive to spicy things though and it was a little hot for me. I had doubled the recipe and used 3 of the Chipotle peppers. Maybe next time I’ll use 2 and see if I can eat it then😅but everyone else loved it!!!
★★★★★
Yes I would use less peppers next time!!
can you use fresh kidney beans? how would you do that?
Yes you could cook them separately and then add them in as if they were canned. I would cook in plenty of water for 25 minutes for unsoaked beans or 15 minutes for soaked beans.
What is the purpose of the corn meal? What can be used instead of it?
this is used as a thickener. I like it because it adds a subtle earthy flavor to the chili in addition to thickening it up. You can leave it out and the chili won’t be as thick.