Instant Pot Pumpkin Chili (gluten-free, dairy-free, Whole30)

This is one of our go-to meals now! We absolutely love it, and while you could make this in a crock pot, I love how intense the flavor is in the instant pot, and in such a short amount of time. This also makes a great freezer meal! This recipe is for a double batch, so if you have two IPs, you can split it and make it all at once, or you can put half in a bowl to make later, or freeze, or make the second batch right after the first, or however you like. We’ve done a variety of different things, depending on how much food we need, and if we need a freezer meal. =)

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground beef and/or ground turkey (we’ve done one or the other, or mixed the two. Our favorite is mixed)

2 orange sweet bell peppers, diced

2 red sweet bell peppers, diced

2 sweet onions, diced

1/8 cup minced garlic

1 7 oz can green chiles

2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes (be sure to check ingredients to ensure Whole30 compliance if on Whole30)

1 30 oz can pumpkin purée 

2 Tbsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

4 tsp chili powder

2 tsp garlic powder

1 Tbsp cinnamon

2 tsp smoked paprika

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

Small amount ghee/clarified butter

6 Tbsp tapioca flour

Directions:

1. Sauté onions, garlic, chiles, and bell peppers in ghee (or olive oil). You can use the IP, and then set these aside when done, or just use a separate skillet. 


2. Set IP on sauté (or use skillet) and brown meat. 

3. Place all ingredients (only half in each IP) in IP and stir.

4. Cook on manual setting for 10 minutes and let naturally release. 

5. Mix tapioca flour in small amount cold water (only half per batch)

6. Add tapioca mixture to cooked batch, and stir. Chili will thicken. 

We like ours over some mashed baked potatoes =D

Absolutely delish!! 

I hope you enjoy this recipe! Like I said, I usually cook 2 batches, and freeze one in containers that can easily be thawed and reheated for meals later. It’s absolutely a lifesaver, AND it’s a healthy freezer meal! =D

Whole30 update!

Well, we have done a sort of Whole30 for a month now (if you missed it, the first few weeks were a set back, because we discovered a product we had been told was sugar-free was indeed not sugar free. ? And then my husband was on a big house fire and needed Powerade for electrolytes, and I decided to go ahead and indulge on some treats a sweet friend had sent me before they went bad, so we decided to start over with the 30 days), and both of us have lost 10 pounds or more (ok, he lost more lol). I still need to get some progress pics for him, but as embarrassing as these are, check out the little bit of progress you can already see! It’s definitely encouraging to me, because it’s so much work to eat this way, fresh and from scratch…there’s zero room for “I don’t feel like cooking, let’s have something pre-made.”? Seeing the progress, wearing clothes that were too small before…it keeps me going! ?

The jeans in the middle are a size down, and the ones on the right are my “old” size… you can see they’re loose lol! I need to find where I packed away the jeans I grew out of! ?


So exciting! Now that we are completely for sure 100% sugar free, I anticipate seeing even more changes!

Stay tuned!