Quick Chili? Doesn't chili take hours and hours of simmering to develop those flavors? Not anymore! You can make Quick Chili in the Ninja Foodi that tastes like it simmered for hours... in under 30 minutes!
Still not convinced? Give me a chance, please. I know there are chili gurus out there that pride themselves on taking 2 and 3 days to make a good batch of chili. I was one. Seriously, I was.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking your time to develop flavors and spending weeks, months, and even years perfecting that winning pot of chili. I have done this too many times to count during my brief time of entering local chili cook-offs.
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Now, I was not going to big events or nationally recognized competitions, but I did compete against some folks that were VERY serious about their chili!
I'm very proud to say that my recipe for Thai Curry Chili came in first place in two competitions and second in another.
Since I have only competed in four competitions, this is a pretty good track record.
I pride myself on chili making and this recipe for Quick Chili is no exception. It's good. Really Good.
Do I have to have a Ninja Foodi to make this recipe?
No, you don't. You can make this recipe for Quick Chili on the stove or in an Instant Pot. If you don't have a Ninja Foodi and are interested in learning more about it, this post on How to use the Ninja Foodi. In this article, I go over the various functions and various models of the Ninja Foodi.
Even if you have been cooking in a pressure cooker for years, you might find this post on Pressure Cooking 101 interesting. I know I learned a lot doing research for it!
Stove top: In a large stockpot, sauté the meat, onions, and seasoning for 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Add in the rest of the ingredients and simmer on low for 1-2 hours or until the sirloin is the desired texture.
Instant Pot: Follow the same instructions as for the Ninja Foodi.
Is this a Dump and Cook Recipe?
Pretty much, yes. The only thing that I don't add in until after the pressure cooking time is the canned beans. You probably can add them in and I did in this recipe for Instant Pot Chili, but I decided to add them in at the end this time and they were perfect.
I do sauté the meats with the onions and garlic for a few minutes, but after that it is a dump and cook. Super easy, super delicious, and super quick!
Can I use Different Meats in this Quick Chili?
Yes, absolutely! When choosing the type of meat you want to use remember to adjust the pressure cooking time for that type of meat.
You can probably get away with decreasing the time to 5 minutes or even increasing it to 20 or more minutes. Of course longer than 10 minutes will take away the "quick" in this chili.
Here are my cook time recommendations for different meats:
All Ground Beef: You will not need to change anything in the recipe if you want to use all ground beef. The only thing you may want to do is drain the fat after sautéing for a few minutes.
Brisket: Cut the brisket into bite-size pieces and sauté for a few minutes. Set the pressure cooker for 20-30 minutes. Brisket takes longer than other cuts of beef.
Ground Chicken or Turkey: After sautéing the ground chicken/turkey until it is ½-3/4 of the way done, you can set the pressure cooker to 5 minutes.
Chicken Breasts: Cut into bite-size pieces and sauté for a few minutes. Set the pressure cooker for 5 minutes.
Already Cooked and Shredded Meat: If the meat is already cooked, set the pressure cooker for 2-5 minutes.
Is this Quick Chili Spicy?
That is a hard question to answer because everyone's tolerance for spice is different. Some would consider this a spicy chili and some would consider it mild. I love spice, but not overwhelmingly hot, so I consider this Quick Chili to be perfectly spiced.
If you like your chili super spicy, double or triple the ground chipotle and the Cholula.
If you like your chili mild, omit the chipotle and jalepeno pepper. Or you can try this version of Instant Pot Chili, which is very mild and kid friendly. If you are cooking this in the Ninja Foodi, you can follow the Instant Pot directions without any changes.
So, Let's get to making this Quick Chili!
If you prefer to watch me make this chili, you can watch this video on YouTube for Quick Chili in the Ninja Foodi or at the end of the recipe.
First (and I say this a lot), prep your ingredients. This makes any recipe flow very smoothly and avoids surprises. I can't tell you how many times, I've gotten to the middle of a recipe and realized that I didn't have something.
Measure out all of your spices and make the chili seasoning. Of course you can also use your favorite chili seasoning or even a packet, but I do recommend giving this blend a try. I like to make my own spice blends because I can control the salt content and the spice level.
Trim and cube the sirloin into ½" pieces. Dice the onions and peppers. Mince the garlic.
Turn the Ninja Foodi on High Sauté and add in ground beef. Add the sirloin to the inner pot with onions and seasonings. Sauté for 5 minutes.
Add in the garlic and sauté for 2 minutes or until the ground beef is 50%-75% cooked.
Add in the peppers. If using a jalepeno pepper, it is a good idea to try a small bite to see how spicy it is because they vary in heat. Then you can decide if you want to add more or less or if you want to add the seeds/membrane. Most of the heat is in the seeds and the membrane.
Pour in the 3 cups of beef stock and the Cholula. Use a plastic or wood utensil to scrape along the bottom of the pan to remove any pieces that might be stuck. This will avoid them burning during the pressure cooking process and giving you that dreaded "water" notice.
Add in the fire roasted tomatoes and top with the tomato paste. DO NOT STIR.
Put on the pressure lid and make sure the black valve is on seal. Set the Ninja Foodi to high pressure for 10 minutes. Allow to natural release for 3 minutes, then manually release the remaining pressure.
Remove the lid. Add the kidney beans and stir. Close the TenderCrisp lid and allow to sit with the Ninja Foodi off for 5 minutes.
Serve and Enjoy!
Quick Chili in the Ninja Foodi
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb top sirloin
- 1 ½ lb ground beef
- 1 onion
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced. About 1-2 tsp.
- 1 green pepper
- 1 jalepeno pepper
- 2 cups beef stock
- 29 ounces fire roasted tomatoes 2 14.5 oz cans
- 1 tablespoon Cholula
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 32 ounces kidney beans canned and drained
Seasoning Blend
- 2 tablespoon Chili Powder
- 2 tablespoon Cumin
- 1 tablespoon Sea Salt
- 1 tablespoon Smoked Paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoon Black Pepper
- ½ teaspoon Chipotle
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Instructions
- Dice up onion, jalapeno pepper, and green pepper. Mince garlic. Combine seasonings in a medium bowl.
- Turn the Ninja Foodi on High Saute and add in ground beef. Trim and cube the sirloin into ½" pieces. Add to the inner pot with onions and seasonings. Saute for 5 minutes.
- Add in the minced garlic and saute for 2 minutes or until the ground beef is 50%-75% done.
- Add in the green pepper, jalapeno pepper, Cholula, and beef broth. Use a plastic scraper to scrape along the bottom of the pot to make sure nothing has stuck to it.
- Add in the fire roasted tomatoes and do not stir. Place the tomato paste on top and do not stir. Put on the pressure cooker lid and make sure the valve is to seal. Set the pressure to high for 10 minutes.
- Allow to natural release for 3 minutes and then manually release the remaining pressure. Remove the lid and add in the drained kidney beans. Stir to incorporate. Now is a good time to give it a little taste to see if you want to add any more spice or seasoning. Close the TenderCrisp lid and allow to sit for 5 minutes to thicken. If you are not serving it right away, you can turn on the keep warm button with the pressure lid on vent.
- Serve and top with your choice of toppings. Enjoy!
Brian Tomeo says
If cutting down the recipe to just 1lb of ground beef and no sirloin would I significantly cut down on the liquid from approximately 3 cups to 1? Even using 2.5lbs of ground beef it comes out extremely watery.
Louise says
thanks for the feedback! I think the ground beef gives off more juices than the sirloin, so that makes sense to decrease the liquid. I would add some more tomato paste and it will thicken if you let it simmer or even slow cook. It also thickens in the fridge. I hope you still enjoyed it!
Christine says
Oh Louise! I've made chili before in the crockpot, but first time in my Foodi! My family LOVED it. This is a keeper for sure. Can't wait to make soups for the first time this fall using your delicious easy to understand recipes. Thank you Louise!
Louise says
YAY! It's it easy!
Elbridge T Price says
So I made this tonight starting at 5:20 pm and was eating it at 7 p.m. So it was not 30 minutes, but still, reasonable time. I had to dig ingredients out (where the heck is my chili pepper?) and do prep. I bought a top sirloin steak and followed your ideas and trimmed it up. Sirloin is NOT my favorite cut of beef, but then again, I have never removed all the fat and silvering. Used about 2 lbs of ground chuck. I have a mandolin with a dicer attachment, and that's what I used for the onion, dicing it very small. I decided to reduce the beef stock/broth (I used broth) to 2 1/4 cups instead of 3 cups. And no heat. Think Wendy's chili, heat-wise. But OMG! Wendy's chili bit the dust compared to this! WOW! the bits of steak are so tender! I only had one can of kidney beans, but I had another of black beans so I threw 'em together. Often, I have fresh-made pinto beans, but not today. Next time, maybe. Anyway, this was an epic gormet/gormand chili experience! Whoowee!
Louise says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Aleja says
Hi Louise,
First of all I want to say how amazing ALL your recipes are. My family and I have loved everyone we have tried. You are my go to person whenever I want to use my ninja Foodi.
I have made this recipe a couple of times now and the flavour is out of this world!! 🤤🤤however both times it has come out quite watery and not as thick and I’m not too sure what I am doing wrong 🤔 I’m having to convert to metric so maybe my calcs are a bit off, or maybe am I using the wrong kind of stock or too much? I use the cubes that you dissolve in hot water.
I have managed to make it thicken up a bit by living longer than 5minutes with the crisper life on, but was wondering if there is anything else I could do or add?
Once again thank you So much for all your recipes, delicious. EVERY.SINGLE.ONE 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
XX
Louise says
Hi and thank you so much for the kind words! I would try decreasing the thin liquid by about 1/2 cup. The only thing I can think of right off the bat is using hot water (with bouillon) would cause the pot to come under pressure quicker and less evaporation would happen in the beginning. That could be a small part, but it would be very small. Perhaps it's the conversions, let me update this recipe with the metric and you can compare your calculations to mine. Right where the recipe card is, you should see US Customary Metric. When you click metric, the amounts will be there for you. They are auto calculated, but I try to look them over for accuracy.
Darren Horne says
love this recibe , but i didnt used canned beans , I used the fresh ones , came out beautiful , ok maybe i beefed up on the heat
Louise says
I'm so glad you liked it!
Crystal Rodgers-Key says
Making this recipe right now with all sirloin + pinto beans I cooked in the Foodie. I'm an so excited for this recipe. It's a good thing this is a quick chili recipe, it smells irresistible!
Louise says
I hope you love it!