Hearty and warming. The perfect comfort food!
Recipe: Cozy Pantry Chilli (Instant Pot recipe)
Chilli – warming, comforting, meaty and hearty!
Not exactly what comes to mind during Spring time…but hey, the world is in a funny place right now, we’ve been having our fair share of rainy days and it snowed just this week in Toronto! So I thought heck, why not whip up a batch?!
It’s actually the perfect thing to cook up right now because:
- It’s made with pantry staples
- It’s an easy, no-fuss meal
- Leftovers can easily be frozen and saved for when you really need it!
- It’s jam packed with immunity boosting veggies
The best part about freezer friendly foods are that once you have enough of a stock pile in your freezer it’s basically like pulling out a TV dinner when you need it. The best way to do this is to batch cook a few meals so that after each meal you cook, you’ll be able to freeze a portion of it and by the end of 1-2 weeks you should have a good number of frozen, ready-to-eat meals! It’s so simple but such an amazing little trick.
I find batch cooking so much easier than a full Sunday meal prep and it works with crazy schedules especially those like mine that are often fluid and can change each week. Sometimes with a full Sunday meal prep you might find yourself not home one night resulting in a back log of meals and potentially more food waste.
So I hope you give this recipe a try to fill your tummy, warm your soul and fill your freezer! Please comment below to let me know if you’ve given this one a try, or tag me on instagram at #happyhealthcc.
I’d love to see your creations!
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Recipe: Cozy Pantry Chilli
Instant Pot & Gluten-free
Serves 8
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes (includes IP warm up time)
Yields 1 instant pot liner
Ingredients:
1 package organic ground pork
1 large onion (or 2 small)
2 garlic cloves (crushed)
3 tbsp of your favourite taco seasoning*
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp pink Himalayan salt
2 cups vegetable stock
2 cups sweet potato (diced to 1 cm cubes)
1 red pepper (diced)
2-3 carrots (diced)
28 oz can kidney beans
28 oz can unsalted crushed tomatoes
3 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (divided)
To Cook:
- Heat the instant pot on the sauté setting to medium heat and add 1 tbsp of EVOO oil.
- Add the ground pork to the pot and sauté until just cooked (juices/oils should be clear).
- Remove the liner and drain any excess fat from the pot. Remove the cooked pork and set aside.
- Keeping the medium heat sauté setting, place the instant pot liner back on the element. Add the remaining EVOO then add the onion and garlic.
- Stir the onions and garlic then place the lid loosely on top. Check every few minutes and stir allowing the onions/garlic to brown and become translucent. (this is very important for flavour!).
- Add in the all spices including the Mexican spice mix, chilli powder, cayenne pepper and pink salt. Stir to combine.
- Add in the remaining ingredients starting with the veggie broth then carrots, peppers, kidney beans, sweet potato, cooked pork, tomato paste and crushed tomato. Loosely stir to combine.
- Lock the lid and pressure cook on high for 8 minutes.
- When done, natural release for 2 mins then do a quick release.
- Serve and top with some chopped avocado and a splash of hot sauce. Enjoy!!
*Notes: I like to make this spice mix by Live Love Nourish in advance or mix 2 1/2 tsp of ground cumin, 2 tsp each of paprika and garlic powder and 1 tsp each of dried oregano and onion powder. Ready to use in your chilli!