Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili

Instant Pot vegetarian chili is hearty and flavorful! With pantry staples like sweet potatoes, black beans, corn and Tex-Mex spices, it's a 'dump and go' recipe that cuts way down on the cook time.

We love our Instant Pot all year round, but come fall, it really shines. From hearty Instant Pot Tuscan chicken stew to spicy chickpea chili, it's a great hands off and convenient way to cook your favorite soups and stews.

This vegetarian Instant Pot chili is another hands off recipe that you can easily make in the pressure cooker: no sauteeing means you can get it cooking quickly!

Made with pantry staples like sweet potatoes, canned black beans, diced tomatoes and southwestern spices, it's got robust flavor and is so easy to make.

Recipe video

Wondering exactly how to make Instant Pot vegetarian chili? Watch this 1-minute video for step by step instructions! You can find more recipe videos on my YouTube channel.

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Ingredient notes

• Chili powder- this is a chili powder blend, not to be confused with pure powdered chilies. Here's a good looking recipe if you cannot find a blend at the grocery store.
• Sweet potatoes- they break down and add body and thickness to the chili as they cook, adding a subtle sweetness. Do not omit!
• Black beans- feel free to swap for canned pinto or kidney beans; add an extra can if you want to increase the protein
• Tomato sauce- this refers to canned pureed tomatoes, and may be called passata in other countries. Not to be confused with ketchup!
• Tomato products- make sure you add them last (more on that below!)

Step by step instructions

(Scroll down to the recipe card for ingredients + instructions)

1. Start by adding the sweet potato cubes, onion, corn, black beans, cumin, ground coriander, chili powder and salt to the stainless steel insert of your Instant Pot. Basically: everything except for the tomatoes!
2. Next, add the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce to the top. Do not stir in!
3. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and set the steam release handle to 'sealing'. Pressure cook on high pressure for 5 minutes.
4. Allow for a 10 minute natural pressure release before releasing the remaining pressure.
5. Stir the chili up and enjoy!

Add the tomatoes last

Tomato products are thick and notorious for creating a burn warning, which occurs when food gets burnt on the bottom of the Instant Pot. To avoid this problem, we place the sweet potatoes in first, followed by the remaining ingredients, and ending with the tomato products last. Do not be tempted to stir up your chili before cooking!

10 minute natural pressure release

For this recipe, we are doing a partial natural pressure release. What this means is that when the cooking cycle has completed, we will let the Instant Pot sit for 10 minutes before releasing the remaining pressure.

When cooking high volume recipes like soups, stews and chili, I prefer to let the pot naturally depressurize for ten minutes to avoid any liquid sputtering out through the steam release valve.

If you'd like to learn more about quick versus natural pressure release, check out Instant Pot 101.

Total cook time

While this recipe has a 5 minute cook time and a 10 minute natural pressure release, expect it to take between 20-30 minutes to come to pressure. So while this recipe won't cook 'instantly', it is a lot quicker than cooking it on the stove top, and has the benefit of not needing to be babysat or stirred.

Instant Pot models that work

I tested this recipe in both a 6 quart Instant Pot and an 8 quart Instant Pot and it came to pressure properly in both models without giving a burn warning.

If you are planning to cook it in an Instant Pot mini, you will likely need to cut the recipe in half (pull on the recipe serving number on the recipe card to change measurements). Let us know in the comments below if you give it a try!

Meal prep and storage

Vegetarian chili works great for meal prep, and can be prepped ahead in one of two ways:

Freezer packs

Freezer backs are assembled ahead and frozen before cooking. This means on cook day, you simply dump the bag into the Instant Pot, no prep required!

1. Assemble all ingredients in a freezer bag or meal prep container- place the tomato sauce + diced tomatoes in first, so that when you dump it out, they come out on the top.
2. Squeeze out air and freeze flat. Freeze for up to 3 months.
3. Thaw completely before dumping into the Instant Pot and cooking as directed.

Find my favorite freezer containers here!

Reheat meals

You can also portion the chili out for easy meals through the week. Here's how to store:

• fridge- store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days
• freezer- portion out into meal prep containers and freeze for up to 3 months
• reheat- heat in the microwave until steaming hot, or on the stove top, adding additional water as needed as you heat

Find my favorite meal prep containers here!

Top your chili with

• avocado (see how to an cut avocado without cutting your hand)
• cheese
• cilantro
• a squeeze of lime
• tortilla chips
• sour cream

More vegetarian Instant Pot recipes

• Instant Pot Enchilada Quinoa Casserole
• Instant Pot Fiesta Rice Bowls
• Instant Pot Cauliflower Korma
• Instant Pot Carrot Ginger Soup
• Instant Pot Lentil Soup
• Moroccan Instant Pot Lentils
• Instant Pot Chickpea Curry