When Instant Pot asked me to come up with two recipes to promote their new pressure cooker model this year, I wanted to make a popular recipe with a healthy twist. But, healthy should not mean use a gazillion ingredients that require a ton of prep and result in something so light that you’re hungry again just an hour after eating it.
This chili is light on the fat but heavy on the flavor and satisfaction because although we use a very lean meat it’s paired with very flavorful beans (not the usual white beans). Three ingredients do double-duty as we add cumin two ways, reinforce the chopped tomatoes with tomato paste, and add two different kinds of “peppers” to give this chili a mix of heat. The added beauty of this recipe is that in the time it takes for the beans to be cooked the turkey breast meat is tender enough to break-up into beautiful strands.
Here’s is the video I did with Instant Pot to show you how to make this recipe:
| Pressure Cooker | Accessories | Pr. Cook Time | Pr. Level | Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 L or larger | none | 20-25 min. | High(2) | 10-Minute Natural |
(per serving)
- Serves: 4-6
- Serving size: ⅙th
- Calories: 323.5
- TOTAL Fat: 6.8g
- Saturated fat: 1.7g
- TOTAL Carbs: 19.6g
- Sugar Carbs: 1.5g
- Sodium: 599.4mg
- Fiber Carbs: 6.5g
- Protein: 44.4g
- Cholesterol: 86.3
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ turkey breast (about 1½ - 2 pounds or750g - 1k), sliced into 1" pieces
- 1 medium red onion, chopped
- 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
- 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 2 cups (340g) dry red kidney beans (also known as Cranberry Beans), soaked or quick-soaked
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup chopped tomatoes
- 2 cups salt-free homade stock or bone broth
- 1½ teaspoons salt (do not add salt if using commercial stock)
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- Parsley or fresh coriander for garnish (optional)
- In the pre-heated pressure cooker add oil and brown the turkey pieces on two sides - working in batches if needed (about 5 to 10 minutes).
- Remove the turkey pieces and set aside, in the empty pressure cooker add the onion and green pepper. Saute' stirring infrequently until the onions have softened (about 3 minutes).
- Toss in the cumin and red pepper flakes and saute' for another 30 seconds.
- Next, add the browned turkey, thyme sprigs, beans, tomato paste, chopped tomatoes and stock and stir well.
- Close and lock the lid of the pressure cooker.
- For electric pressure cookers: Cook for 25 minutes at high pressure.
For stove top pressure cookers: Turn the heat up to high and when the cooker indicates it has reached high pressure, lower to the heat to maintain it and begin counting 20 minutes pressure cooking time. - When time is up, open the cooker by releasing the pressure very slowly. If the pressure release speed cannot be regulated by your cooker's valve, simply release pressure in short bursts. If anything other than steam comes out of the valve, stop and count to 10 before releasing the pressure slowly (or in small bursts), again.
- Mix-in the salt, white pepper and cumin powder and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally until the desired consistency is reached (about 5 minutes).
- While the contents are simmering, use the spoon/spatula to fish out the pieces of turkey and press them against the side of the cooker to break them up a little.
- Portion and sprinkle with garnish before serving.
Hello, I am pretty new to pressure cooking but so far love it. Sure wish I knew about this before. I have tried 2 other recipes from this website and they came our wonderful. My question is for this recipe. I have the Instant Pot IP-DUO60. When turning the pressure cooker on to the beans/rice setting, should I adjust it to high or leave it at normal and then of course adjust to 25 mins. Thank you.
All of the Instant Pot models have pre-programmed buttons that function the same way (only “rice” was changed for the SMART). You can follow the directions as given for the SMART with the DUO without making any changes.
Ciao,
L
Will turkey thighs work okay in this recipe?
Made this last night, and it was so easy and delicious. And it smelled amazing while it was cooking, as well! My only changes were adding a can of green chilis and using a can of tomatoes instead of fresh, since I didn’t have the tomatoes on hand.
This site has been so valuable to me as a relative newcomer to pressure cookers. Thanks for all the wonderful recipes.
Hi! I enjoy your site. I tried for the first time to cook beans in my Power Cooker. I cooked UN-soaked kidney beans in a recipe for Red Beans, Cajun style with ham and sausage. Recipe called for one pound beans with 51/2 cups water. I cooked them for 1 hour on high with a natural release. Half of the beans were too hard/uncooked and the other were cooked fine. I don’t know what I did wrong. Was it because they were not pre-soaked? Some recipes say it isn’t necessary to pre-soak-??
Thanks,
J
In general, yes, I recommend soaking or quick-soaking beans before pressure cooking. This ensures that they are all evenly cooked – and also removes a large part of the indigestible sugars (that cause gas).
I am one of the few pressure cooker experts that recommends AGAINST using dried beans directly.
Just because you can, it doesn’t mean you should.
Ciao and Welcome!
L
When do you add the beans?
They are in step 4 with the browned turkey. Easy to miss. I did twice reading through. Then found them in the photos and went bCk and read more carefully.
Thanks, Greg! : )
Ciao,
L
Really enjoyed this dish! I’ve never cooked with whole turkey breast before, I’ve always used ground. It had a great consistency and flavor. Hubby thought there were too many beans, so I’ll cut those back a bit next time. Topped with cilantro and it was divine! Thanks for sharing.
Planning to make this tomorrow, after my turkey thaws, but wanted to say:
Kidney beans (red or otherwise) are not Cranberry beans! Cranberry beans are more like large Great Northern beans in flavor and texture, where red kidneys are their own thing. Notably, red kidneys are toxic if improperly cooked, though the pressure cooker makes it hard to cook them wrong. :)
Made this for dinner tonight, though used 85/15 ground turkey instead of turkey breast, and about half the recommended beans (used 2c of soaked beans, rather than soaking 2c of dry beans).
Overall, a solid chili, in far less time than chili normally takes! I’d have liked to see a bit more flavor-wise (maybe chili powder instead of red chili flakes), but that’s a matter of seasonings, and always needs to be adjusted to taste anyway. More importantly, the turkey turned out tender, and the red kidney beans were perfectly cooked, so the mechanics of this method are sound.
Used: Power Pressure Cooker XL, 6qt, beans/lentils setting, 25 min w/ natural release.
Forgot to say: If i made it again, I wouldn’t cut the beans short (was an accident this time). I may yet make up a small batch of beans to add to the leftovers.
Hi Laura,
I love this recipe! I like to add a little splash of red wine vinegar at the end. Mmmm :-)
If I’m not in a hurry can I let the pressure come down naturally before finishing the chili with the white pepper etc? Or will that overcook it? This is something I’m still not sure about with the mechanics of pressure cooking.
Thanks!
Don’t worry LT, you can’t overcook this chili.
Ciao,
L
Can I use chicken breast instead of turkey? Just a flavor preferrence
Cooked this tonight using ground extra lean turkey. I added cilantro to finish. Wife and daughter loved it. Next time, I’m sure it’ll be even better with the recommended turkey breast. This one’s a keeper. Thanks, Laura.