Instant Pot Hillbilly Chili–a flavorful and easy chili recipe with spaghetti noodles in it! Make it fast in your Instant Pot!
Instant Pot Hillbilly Chili
Your going to love this easy chili dinner. Hillbilly chili is different because it has spaghetti in it. You might have a raised eyebrow right now as you read this but I can tell you it is so good! I loved this dinner. I really loved serving it topped with sour cream and Fritos (we had honey BBQ Fritos on hand so that’s what we used).
Don’t confuse hillbilly chili with Cincinnati chili. Although both have spaghetti involved cincinnati chili has Greek seasonings while hillbilly chili is just a normal chili but with some spaghetti in it. Both are good but they taste completely different.
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Chili powder
- Ground beef–or ground turkey
- Onion–yellow or white
- Tomato juice–or vegetable juice
- Uncooked spaghetti–whole wheat is fine. You can also use angel hair.
- Chili beans–these are pinto or kidney beans in a flavorful sauce
- Sugar–just a little sugar cuts the acidity and rounds out the flavors
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- Smoked paprika
- Garlic powder
- Toppings: shredded cheddar, corn chips, sour cream and diced green onions
Steps
- Bloom the chili powder: Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the chili powder and stir to keep it from scorching. Heat for about 10-15 seconds until it is very fragrant.
- Brown the beef: Add in the beef and onions. Break up the beef. Stir to coat the beef in the chili powder. Brown for about 5 minutes. Drain off excess grease.
- Deglaze the pot: Pour in the tomato juice and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking.
- Layer in the spaghetti: Add in the spaghetti in a criss cross pattern.
- Layer in the ingredients: Dump the beans on top. Add in the sugar, salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder. Don’t stir. This will prevent the burn error message.
- Pressure cook: Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 3 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Serve: Stir well. Scoop into bowls and top with desired toppings.
Notes/Tips
- Serve with cornbread and honey butter. Some people like to eat chili with cinnamon rolls.
- 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.
- Other recipes you can make with the rest of your box of spaghetti are Monterey Spaghetti or Instant Pot Easy Does It Spaghetti.
Try these other Instant Pot Chili Recipes…
Instant Pot Chilighetti
A delicious mash up of spaghetti and chili. Make this easy one pot meal in minutes with your Instant Pot.
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 Honey BBQ Fritos Chili Bake
Twisty, crunchy Honey BBQ Fritos and shredded cheese top a steaming bowl of 2-bean and ground turkey chili that has a slight sweetness from barbecue sauce and honey.
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 Reese Witherspoon’s Chili Pie
Flavorful chili with beans, corn and tomatoes topped with cornbread. You can make this all in your Instant Pot if you have an air fryer lid (or you can use your oven).
Instant Pot Wendy’s Chili
An easy copycat version of Wendy’s chili that you can make in the Instant Pot or the Crockpot.
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 Hillbilly Chili
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 23 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
A flavorful and easy chili recipe with spaghetti noodles in it! Make it fast in your Instant Pot!
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp chili powder
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 cup diced onion
- 3 cups tomato or vegetable juice
- 4 ounces spaghetti, broken into thirds
- 1 (15.5 oz) can chili beans, undrained
- 1 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- Toppings: shredded cheddar, corn chips, sour cream and diced green onions
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the chili powder and stir to keep it from scorching. Heat for about 10-15 seconds until it is very fragrant.
- Add in the beef and onions. Break up the beef. Stir to coat the beef in the chili powder. Brown for about 5 minutes. Drain off excess grease.
- Pour in the tomato juice and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking.
- Add in the spaghetti in a criss cross pattern.
- Dump the beans on top. Add in the sugar, salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder. Don’t stir.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 3 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir well. Scoop into bowls and top with desired toppings.
- Category: Beef
- Method: Instant Pot
*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.
What kind of pasta did you use, Karen. I know it wasn’t spaghetti.
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Spaghetti is used. The corkscrew looking things are corn curls. That confused me at first too.
Oh yes, the other reader is right. It is spaghetti and that is fritos on top
This is “guy food” par excellence, a big hit with my husband and our grown son. The recipe came together and cooked very quickly. I used farfalle from my pantry; worked great. Had Bush’s Chili Beans, medium pinto, on hand. Browning the chili powder is a great pro tip. We added chopped avocado to the toppings. Thanks for this easy, hearty dinner that warmed us up on a cold, rainy night.
★★★★★
chopped avocado!!! YESSSS
I was raised on this kind of chili as well. Mom’s recipe always had elbow macaroni in it – does the short cooking time of the Instant Pot allow enough time for a thicker noodle like Mac or rigatoni to become tender? Also wondering if crushed tomatoes would work in place of the tomato juice?
I would use the same cooking time of 3 minutes, maybe 4 minutes for macaroni. The tomato juice is the liquid in this recipe so you’re likely to get the burn error message if you use crushed tomatoes instead.
Another amazing recipe. I grew up eating chili on pasta so this is comfort food for me. I did not have tomato juice so I took a can of tomato paste and mixed the can of paste with three cans of tap water in a pitcher. It turned out perfectly. I had some saltine crackers with it. Thank you for another wonderful recipe!
And it was super easy to do…I picked up one kid from school and had the thing cooking under pressure by the time I had to return to get my other kid from an extracurricular activity. No way I could manage to have hot comfort food on the table without you!
★★★★★
I’m so glad to hear it! I love that the IP is helping you feed your family! Good work 👏👏👏
I’m from Kentucky, and the only Chili my Mom ever made had spaghetti in it. I did not know that was “odd” till my California husband and I moved to his home town in Southern CA.
I haven’t had spaghetti Chili for ages, so will have to try this recipe soon. Thanks for sharing it.
Oh how fun. Thank you for sharing Joyce! I think you’ll really like it!
Thanks Lori ….. where I live we get Ranch Beans so will use them ……
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What do you mean by “1 (15.5 oz) can chili beans, undrained” ? Do you mean a can of already prepared chili or do you mean red kidney beans in a can?
Chili beans are seasoned beans in a chili sauce. In my grocery store they’re in the regular canned bean section. Sometimes they’re kidney beans, sometimes pinto, sometimes a mixture. I believe if you can’t find chili beans that ranch beans work too.
Where I live we get Ranch Beans …. Have never seen Chili Beans …… I’ll just use what I can get …….. thanks for responding!
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I like the Bush’s brand. It’s beans in a chili sauce. You can also use ranch style beans.
Thanks Karen!
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