Chicken Chilli {Gluten-Free} – Includes Instant Pot Version + Slow Cooker Version

Yesterday I posted a White Chicken Chili recipe, so naturally today I must post a regular Chicken Chilli (Chicken Chili) recipe because the more chilli, the better, right?? I made this chilli on the same snowy day as the White Chicken Chilli and my helpful kitchen mini chefs declared each recipe ‘very very good.’

‘Very very good’ is the mini chef’s version of a Michelin 3-star rating, so you know this is a gooood chilli recipe.

Whilst I love a good beef chilli recipe, I admit my favourite chillis are those made with chicken (or turkey, which you can sub in this recipe). I love the light, fresh flavour of a chicken-based chilli. It has all the good flavours of a beef-based chilli but feels a bit lighter on the stomach. (Freddy is a hardcore carnivore who will always choose beef over chicken, but even he loves chicken chilli.)

Why You’ll Love This Chicken Chilli (Chicken Chili) Recipe

• You can make it on the cooker, in the Instant Pot or in the slow cooker. It is sooo versatile.
• It uses common store cupboard staples. No hard-to-find ingredients in this chilli, nope.
• You can use chicken or turkey. Not a fan of chicken? You can use turkey instead.
• It can be made into a low carb chilli. See the ‘How to Make Low Carb Chicken Chilli’ section below for details.
• It is ZERO WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS. Yeap, that fact deserves capital letters. If you use a calorie-controlled cooking spray instead of vegetable oil, the recipe is 0 Weight Watchers Freestyle Points.

Chicken Chilli Tools

How to Make Chicken Chilli – Step-by-Step Tutorial

For the Instant Pot and Slow Cooker versions, keep reading.

Step 1. Heat oil in a pot over medium heat, add the onion and pepper and sauté for 5 mins until softened.

Step 2. Stir in the garlic followed by the ground chicken and brown it making sure to break it up.

Step 3. Then add in the beans, spices, chopped tomatoes, chicken stock and balsamic vinegar and salt, stir everything well.

Tips: You can add more heat if you prefer. You can also substitute the kidney beans with black-eyed beans, borlotti beans (cranberry beans), etc.

Step 4. Cover (leaving slightly ajar) and simmer for 25 mins until slightly thicker and reduced.

When done, garnish and serve.

How to Make Instant Pot Chicken Chili – Step-by-Step Tutorial

Instant Pot lovers, I have got you covered with an Instant Pot version. Follow the Instant Pot instructions  on the recipe card to successfully make Instant Pot Chicken Chili. (No Instant Pot yet? Try the Instant Pot DUO Plus 6 Qt 9-in-1 Pressure Cooker.)

Step 1. Set your Instant Pot to Sauté and add in the vegetable oil until hot.

Step 2. Add the onion and pepper and sauté for 5 mins until softened.

Step 3. Stir in the garlic followed by the chicken and brown it making sure to break it up. Please remove ANY excess water from the chicken using a scoop. You want the chicken to be dry as it is cooking so that it caramelises a little bit (for that awesome chilli flavour we all love).

Step 4. Add in the stock and quickly deglaze the inner pot (by scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon) in case anything is stuck on.

Step 5. Then add in the remaining ingredients ending with chopped tomatoes and beans on top. Do NOT stir.

Step 6. Cover your Instant Pot, set the vent to seal, select the manual setting and set the timer to 15 mins, and let the chilli cook under high pressure until done.

Step 7. When done let the pressure release naturally. When the chilli is ready, stir it thoroughly before garnishing and serving. 

Chicken Chili Slow Cooker Version

To make the Chicken Chilli slow cooker version, follow the recipe until the end of step 2. Then transfer everything to your slow cooker and cook for 4 hrs on high or 8 hrs on low.

WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS IN CHICKEN CHILLI

There are 0 Freestyle points per serving in Chicken Chilli if you replace the 1 tbsp vegetable oil with a calorie-controlled cooking spray.

How to Make Low Carb Chicken Chilli

To make low carb Chicken Chilli, substitute the high-carb beans with a low carb vegetable such as cauliflower or courgette. Use 215g (2 cups) chopped vegetables instead of the beans.

You can also replace the beans in the recipe with black soy beans which are naturally low in carbs.

Toppings for Chicken Chilli

Need topping ideas for your yummy Chicken Chilli? Try these:

• Tortilla chips
• Sour cream
• Grated cheese
• Chopped spring onions
• Avocado

What to Serve with Easy Chicken Chilli

How about one of these…

• Instant Pot Brown Rice
• Spring Onion and Bacon Cornbread (folks, this recipe is sooooo good)
• Instant Pot Sweet Potato
• Polenta Chips

And a nice big glass of ice cold Ginger Beer of course. Enjoy your awesome chilli meal.

Oh and for a different take on chicken and chilli, you can try this Easy Chilli Chicken recipe.

The Ultimate Guide to the Instant Pot

For everything you need to know about the Instant Pot, check out my post, Instant Pot Review – The Ultimate Guide to the Instant Pot.

And don’t forget to visit The Ultimate List of Easy Instant Pot Recipes.

Thank you for reading my easy chicken chili recipe post. And please come visit again as I continue dreaming up recipes, traditional African recipes, African fusion recipes, Sierra Leone recipes, travel plans and much more for you.

**This post contains affiliate links.

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Print Recipe

5 from 4 votes

Chicken Chilli

This flavourful chilli is awesome and gluten-free.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Total Time40 mins

Course: Main

Servings: 6

Calories: 249kcal

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion finely diced
• 1 red bell pepper, deseeded and finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 450 g (1 lb) mince lean chicken (or turkey)
• 400 g tin (14.5 oz can) of kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander optional
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 0.5 tsp chilli powder
• 0.5 tsp smoked paprika
• 400 g (14.5 oz) chopped tomatoes
• 3 tbsp chicken stock
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• Salt

Instructions

Regular version:

• Heat oil in pan over medium heat, add the onion and pepper and sauté for 5 mins until softened
• Stir in the garlic followed by the ground chicken (or turkey) and brown it making sure to break it up.
• Then add in the beans, spices, chopped tomatoes, chicken stock and balsamic vinegar and salt, stir everything well.
• Cover (leaving slightly ajar) and simmer for 25 mins until slightly thicker and reduced.
• Serve with rice, cornbread, etc.

Instant Pot version:

• Set your Instant Pot to Sauté and add in the vegetable oil until hot.
• Add the onion and pepper and sauté for 5 mins until softened.
• Stir in the garlic followed by the chicken and brown it making sure to break it up. Please remove ANY excess water from the chicken using a scoop. You want the chicken to be dry as it is cooking so that it caramelises a little bit (for the awesome chilli flavour that we know and love).
• Add in the stock and quickly deglaze the inner pot (by scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon) in case anything is stuck on.
• Then add in the remaining ingredients ending with chopped tomatoes and beans on top. Do NOT stir.
• Cover your Instant Pot, set the vent to seal, select the manual setting and set the timer to 15 mins, and let the chilli cook under high pressure until done.
• When done let the pressure release naturally. When the chilli is ready, stir it thoroughly before serving (with rice, cornbread, etc.)

Notes

Please use really thick and good quality tinned tomatoes for this. Avoid watery tomatoes, please.

Instant Pot users: Please note 15 mins is the time it cooks under pressure in the Instant Pot. This does not take into account the time it takes to come to pressure or the time it takes to release the pressure.

Nutrition

Calories: 249kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 64mg | Sodium: 160mg | Potassium: 879mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 17.2% | Vitamin C: 41.9% | Calcium: 6.2% | Iron: 23.3%