Smokey Turkey and Bacon Chili (in the Instant Pot!)

My very smart brother-in-law got me an Instant Pot for Christmas, and man, let me tell you, it is the gift that keeps on giving! In the few short weeks I've had it, it has definitely reduced my food prep time, which is, of course amazing. If you don't know about this magical gadget, I highly suggest you google "instant pot" and learn all about its amazingness.

As you can imagine, I've spent a lot of time poking around the interwebs, checking out Instant Pot recipes from many sources, including some of my favorite bloggers as well as many boards on Pinterest (there are MANY Instant Pot themed boards, FYI). There is no shortage of material to gain inspiration from out there.

It just so happened that Juli from PaoleOMG also recently started cooking with an Instant Pot. When she posted a recipe for Smokey Bacon Chili the other day, I pinned that shit right away and knew it would be on my menu this weekend. Chili that tastes like it simmered all day but actually is ready in under an hour? Sign me up!

I made some modifications to Juli's recipe so I'll post my interpretation below, but, I must give credit where credit is due, so head on over to her blog for the original recipe.

Smokey Turkey and Bacon Chili (in the Instant Pot!)

What you'll need:

• 1lb ground turkey breast (feel free to use beef, I just am on a non-beef kick at the moment)
• 1 - 14oz can of petite diced fire roasted tomatoes
• 18oz of ground peeled tomatoes
• 8 slices of bacon, chopped
• 2 red bell peppers, diced
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• dash (or more) of cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper to taste

What you'll do:

1. Turn your Instant Pot to "Sautee" mode, and add the chopped bacon. Cook the bacon until crispy, and then remove bacon and set aside. Keep the bacon fat in the bottom of the pot.
2. While the bacon is cooking, chop your veggies.
3. Once the bacon is finished cooking and you have removed it from the pot, add the peppers, onions and garlic and stir to combine. Sautee veggies until the onions are just about translucent.
4. Add the ground turkey and the spices to the pot and stir to combine. Cook for about 5 minutes, breaking up the turkey into crumbles.
5. Once your turkey is at your preferred crumbliness, add the diced tomatoes and the crushed tomatoes, and stir to combine.
6. Add the bacon and stir to combine.
7. Now time for the IP (I'm tired of typing Instant Pot) magic! Put your lid on and hit "cancel". Make sure the pressure valve is set to "sealing", and hit the "Chili/Bean" button. Once the IP has come to pressure, this will cook for 30 minutes.
8. Do something else while you wait (like make a spiralized sweet potato noodle pizza crust like I did!).
9. Once the IP starts beeping at you because it's done, hit "cancel". At this point, if you're not in a rush, you can let the pressure release naturally by doing nothing. Or, if you need to eat, like, now, you can quick release the pressure by toggling the pressure value to "venting". Seriously, be careful. Because that steam comes out hot and fast. If you're an IP newbie, please, please read the manual :-)
10. Once the pressure has released, remove the cover. Serve directly from the pot or ladle into your handy Pyrex for storage.