Our Instant Pot Low Carb Beef Chili Recipe (Beanless Chili) is perfect football food for game day, and it’s hearty for a fall or winter dinner. Leftovers reheat well, and this also freezes well!
Similar to BBQ sauce and different kinds of pizza, chili is one of those dishes that has a ton of regional variations around the US.
A few different varieties include: Chili Con Carne (no beans), Vegan Chili (no beef), White Chili (made with chicken and white beans), and Cincinnati Chili (chili meat sauce served on a bed of spaghetti and optionally topped with cheese, onions, and beans).
To keep the carbs down in our Low Carb Beef Chili Recipe, we skip the beans (you won’t even miss them!). We use a combination of ground beef and ground sausage to pack a ton of flavor. And we don’t skimp on the vegetables!
Our low carb chili has garlic, celery, onion, and tomato paste. We use our own perfect “chili blend” of spices: chili powder, dried oregano, cumin, turmeric, and black pepper.
PRO TIP: If you want to bump up the heat level, feel free to add cayenne pepper or your favorite hot sauce to taste.
Beef Chili
Some beef chili recipes call for stew meat, which basically results in a beef stew that’s chili flavored. These types of chili are sometimes referred to as Chili Con Carne, Texas Chili, or Steak Chili.
However, the most common type of beef chili uses ground beef in combination with some kind of beans, usually kidney beans, black beans, or pinto beans. This kind of chili usually has a tomato-based sauce that is spiced with chili powder and cumin, as well as other spices.
We wanted a low carb chili, so we skipped the beans…but our version isn’t lacking in flavor!
Low Carb Chili Recipe
Our Low Carb Beef Chili Recipe (Beanless Chili) uses both ground beef and sausage to bump up the flavor. However, we passed on the beans to keep this dish keto-friendly! With a few different vegetables and lots of spices for depth of flavor, we think this will easily become your new favorite chili recipe.
How to Make Chili
Beef chili has a fairly simple ingredient list, and it’s easy to make! In fact, it’s so easy to whip up, it’s a great meal to start with if you want to get your kids more involved with cooking. (Just remember to supervise them, especially when they’re using a knife, if they’re handling raw meat, or if they’re around the heat source.)
Low Carb Chili Ingredients:
- Avocado oil
- 85% lean ground beef
- Italian sausage
- Garlic
- Celery
- Yellow Onion
- Beef bone broth
- Tomato paste
- Chili powder
- Dried oregano
- Cumin
- Turmeric
- Black pepper
- Fresh cilantro
Chili Seasoning
Chili seasoning blends can vary by brand (if you’re buying store-bought) and recipe (if you’re making homemade). Most have a combination of the following spices:
- Chili powder
- Cumin
- Oregano
- Cayenne pepper or crushed red pepper flakes (to bump up the heat)
- And sometimes the following: paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper
PRO TIP: If you buy a store bought chili seasoning packet, read the ingredients list! Some of them may have added carbs in the form of flour, corn starch or dextrose.
Methods to Make Chili
Chili is one of those easy-to-make really forgiving recipes that turns out equally delicious when it’s made on the stovetop, in a slow cooker, or in a pressure cooker.
Stovetop Chili – Using Our Ingredient List Below
- Heat the oil in a 5-quart pot over medium-high to high heat. Add the beef, sausage, celery, and onion, and cook until the meat is browned and the vegetables are staring to soften, about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally to break up the meat. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more, stirring constantly.
- Stir in the broth, tomato paste, chili powder, oregano, cumin, turmeric, and black pepper. Bring up to a boil, and then cover the pot and turn the heat down to simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Serve garnished with fresh cilantro if desired.
Crockpot Chili (Slow Cooker Chili) – Using Our Ingredient List Below
- Heat the oil in a large skillet on the stovetop over medium-high to high heat. Add the beef, sausage, celery, and onion, and cook until the meat is browned and the vegetables are staring to soften, about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally to break up the meat. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more, stirring constantly. Transfer the meat and vegetable mixture to a slow cooker.
- Stir in the broth, tomato paste, chili powder, oregano, cumin, turmeric, and black pepper. Cook on LOW for 5 to 6 hours, or on HIGH for 3 hours.
- Serve garnished with fresh cilantro if desired.
Instant Pot Chili (Pressure Cooker Chili)
Please see our Low Carb Beef Chili Recipe card plugin below for full instructions on how to make chili in an Instant Pot.
More Low Carb Football Food Recipes with Beef that are Also Perfect for Autumn or Winter Dinners:
- Cheese-Stuffed Italian Meatball Recipe from The Keto Queens
- Slow Cooker Beef Carnitas from One Lovely Life (look for low carb wraps at the store, or serve the beef on our Keto Wrap-Style Soft Tortilla Flatbread)
- Cheesy Beef-Stuffed Poblano Peppers from An Edible Mosaic
If you love this low carb beanless chili recipe, then you’ll love this post we created with our favorite keto chili recipes!
Low Carb Beef Chili Recipe (Beanless Chili)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 1 lb 85% lean ground beef
- 1 lb Italian sausage (hot or mild; bulk or removed from casing)
- 6 large cloves garlic crushed
- 6 large stalks celery chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 5 cups beef bone broth
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Fresh cilantro for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Turn pressure cooker on, press “Sauté”, and wait 2 minutes for the pot to heat up. Add the oil, beef, and sausage, and cook until browned, about 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to break up the meat. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more, stirring constantly. Press “Cancel” to stop sautéing.
- Stir in the celery, onion, broth, tomato paste, chili powder, oregano, cumin, turmeric, and black pepper. Turn the pot on Manual, High Pressure for 5 minutes and then do a quick release.
- Serve garnished with fresh cilantro if desired.
Notes
- If you buy a store bought chili seasoning packet, read the ingredients list! Some of them may have added carbs in the form of flour, corn starch or dextrose.
- If you want to bump up the heat level, feel free to add cayenne pepper or your favorite hot sauce to taste.
Leslie says
I think there’s a typo in this recipe, when you say to cook the meat on high pressure for 5 minutes. Don’t you mean 35 (as in your excellent beef stew recipe) or auto? Thank you for your work; love your recipes!
Faith Gorsky says
Leslie, Thank you so much for your kind words about our recipes – that means so much to us!
Nope, there’s no typo here, I triple checked just now just to make sure. 🙂 The meat gets browned on the “Saute” function for 3 to 5 minutes, and then the other ingredients are added and are cooked for 5 minutes on “Manual, High Pressure”. The meat used here is ground meat and cooks much faster than the meat used to make beef stew. Please let us know if you have other questions, and thank you again – you made our day!
Hilary says
What’s the serving size? Says for 8 people, but is that a cup, etc?
Brenda says
Can I increase meat amount to 4 lbs in 6 qrt instapot?
Lara says
You should be able to as long as it doesn’t go above the fill line.
Tara says
This didn’t turn out to be chili, but a good beef and celery soup. I know there are many ways to make chili so maybe this is how some people know it. As for me I am used to more chili, tomato and peppers.
Faith Gorsky says
Tara, This is a keto version of chili. You can definitely increase the spice level to suit your tastes, but we deliberately reduced the higher-carb ingredients (e.g. tomato, bell pepper) and omitted the beans to make it something that people following a ketogenic way of eating can fit into their macros. With that being said, the consistency (as shown in the pictures) is definitely not soup-like. If yours was thin like soup, it could be one of two things: 1) there was too much water added or 2) it needed to cook longer. I hope this helps!