Back in the pre-keto days, I used to make a wonderful Texas chili recipe. No tomatoes, no beans, no onions, no nothing other than spices, meat, and beef broth. It won my ex-husband’s workplace chili cookoff, although people said that I cheated by using tenderloin, as if tenderloin would be anything but a dry mess when used in any sort of stew-type preparation. You need the fat from chuck in here. The version I have pictured, we accidentally got “lean” stew meat, and it wasn’t anywhere near as good.
The problem is that my old recipe’s thickener was flour. You’d toss the meat cubes with a few tablespoons of flour before browning it, and that was just enough of a thickener to not make it a soupy broth. For the keto version, I skip the flour and use a bit of xanthan gum at the end. I always tell people to use xanthan gum sparingly and in batches, because if you go too far with it, you end up with slime. Not tasty noms by any stretch. But a little bit gives the chili the slightly thicker mouthfeel that the flour used to, without the added carbs. Plus, if you do gluten-free keto, as I do, you’re getting rid of the gluten too.
I’ve made this recipe in a Dutch Oven several times, but that all changed when I got my Instant Pot. This is a life-altering piece of kitchen equipment. Beef stews that used to take 3-4 hours of stovetop cooking now take 1/3 of the time, and end up tasting just as good. I have had 3 different electric pressure cookers in my lifetime. One was a Cuisinart that I got from Costco, one was a cheap knock-off of the Instant Pot, and then I got a deal on an 8-quart name-brand Instant Pot on Amazon. My old knock-off would always get the valve knocked out of place or the seal loosened, and it would result in the pot not coming up to pressure. The manufacturing alone on the Instant Pot is a good reason to splurge for the real thing. The lid is solid, the valve stays where you want it to, almost every part is dishwasher safe, and it’s foolproof to use. This is not your grandma’s pressure cooker. You’re not going to blow up your kitchen with this, trust me. So if you’re afraid, don’t worry. The instructions are crystal-clear and it’s almost impossible to screw up.
Start off with 3 pounds of chuck stew beef. If you want, get a chuck roast and cut it yourself, but I personally would rather spend the extra dollar or so to not have to do that. Heat your Instant Pot to saute, add 2 tablespoons of avocado oil, and brown the stew beef in batches, sprinkling each with salt and pepper to taste as soon as it gets in the pot. Be careful to not overload the pan. Overloading the pan leads to no good browning, and no good browning leads to no good flavor. Nobody wants that.
Remove each batch of beef to a medium bowl when it’s finished browning. While you’re waiting for the beef to finish, mix together 3 tablespoons of chili powder with 2 teaspoons of cumin, a tablespoon of dried Mexican oregano, a half teaspoon of salt, and black pepper to taste. For the chili powder, I prefer to use a mixture of different types of chiles instead of the standard “chili powder” you find in the grocery store. I like ancho with a bit of chipotle. Don’t use more than 1 tablespoon of chipotle in the mix unless you REALLY like heat. If you prefer mild, use the regular chili powder. It tastes fine no matter what you do.
Once the beef is browned, add a rounded tablespoon of minced garlic to the Instant Pot and cook, stirring constantly, for about a minute. Return the beef and any accumulated juices to the pot, and toss in the spice mixture.
Turn the beef to coat it and let the spices toast for a minute or two, then add 4 cups of beef broth. Stir to loosen the brown bits from the bottom of the pan, then seal the lid and use the Meat/Stew setting to pressure cook. Use the natural release when it’s finished. That should make your meat almost fall-apart tender.
When the pot can be opened, remove the lid and hit the Saute setting again. Bring the chili to a simmer and sprinkle over xanthan gum, 1/4 teaspoon at a time, until it reaches the desired thickness. This isn’t meant to be TOO thick, so around 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon should do it. Taste for seasoning one more time and adjust as needed. Serve with cheese, sour cream, sliced avocado, minced onion, or any other topping you think would be delicious.
Instant Pot Texas Chili
Equipment
- Instant Pot or other pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 3 lbs beef chuck stew meat
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 1.25 tbsp minced garlic
- 3 tbsp chili powder See notes above
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp Mexican oregano
- 1 tsp salt divided
- ground black pepper to taste
- 4 cups beef broth
- 1/2-3/4 tsp xanthan gum
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to saute and add 2 tablespoons of avocado oil. Put the beef in the pot in batches, being careful not to crowd it too much, and sprinkle each batch with a total of 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. As each batch finishes browning, remove it from the pot and place into a medium bowl.
- While the meat browns, mix together the chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, cumin, oregano, and pepper in a small bowl or ramekin. Set aside.
- When all the meat is finished browning, add the garlic to the pot and saute for about a minute. Toss in the meat, any accumulated juices from the bowl, and coat with the spices. Toast the beef in the spices for about two minutes, then add the beef broth, making sure to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Seal the Instant Pot and set for the Meat/Stew setting, allowing for natural release.
- When the pot can be safely opened, remove the lid and set for Saute again. Once the chili begins to simmer, whisk in the xanthan gum, 1/4 teaspoon at a time, until it's as thick as you want it.
- Macros per serving: 429 calories, 2 grams net carbs, 33 grams protein, 31 grams fat.
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