Instant Pot Lean Protein Chili with Thai Chili Peppers

Instant Pot lean protein chili with Thai Chili Peppers is a great way to get your protein and veggies.  It's relatively easy and you can push your spice to the edge of your comfortable limits.  It's also a fantastic way to cook something on Sunday that will last for the better part of the week.  I spent $36 getting most of the ingredients for this recipe, so it's a little pricey but makes a lot of servings, so not so bad in the long run.  It also made our apartment smell really good, which lasted a few days.

Instant Pot Lean Protein Chili with Thai Chili Peppers

The lean protein can be whatever you want.  If your vegetarian, you can use a soy based protein or whatever you want.  I used ground chicken breast because it is so packed with protein and I lift weights so I need that.

The Thai Element

It kind of bugs me how many fusion recipes I come up with for our blog.  We do our recipes based on what sounds good to us though, so there are probably a lot of others who want the same.  The main purpose of our blog is to make Thai flavors that also make you feel good about your choices.  I think we do that better when we make what we crave.  I used Thai peppers, Thai seasoning sauce and homemade Thai chili powder to give it Thai DNA.  It's definitely like our marriage and pantry though and a mix of her and my roots.

Making it Healthier

To make it healthier I made several changes to typical Texas style chili.

First, I went for a leaner protein like ground chicken breast but as I mentioned above, there are lots of other healthier proteins you can use.

Second, I used lower sodium version of the traditional ingredients.  Almost everything that tends to have high sodium has a lower sodium version now days.  I found decreased sodium canned beans and Asian seasoning sauces.  I also found a lower sodium chicken stock.  Again, there are different types of broth you can use if you don't want to go the chicken route.  I also went in for turkey bacon which took some trial and error to get crispy.

I know it's a lot of adjusting on the sodium but imagine all the sodium from each ingredient combined without modifying it.  And we wonder why our country has more high blood pressure than less industrialized countries.  We eat a lot of salt!

Toppings

Instant Pot Lean Protein Chili with Thai Chili Peppers Close Up

You can also go for a lower fat sour cream and a 2% milk cheese for the toppings to lower the calorie count.   You can use chives, shallots, different kinds of shredded cheese, lime slices, cilantro, Thai basil or whole grain chips crumbled on top.  I always save the crumbs of  our chips and crackers for this and it's so delicious.

Adjusting the Spice/Heat Levels

My wife always panics when she sees me adding Thai peppers and asks how many I am putting in.  Next I hear, That's Going To Be TOO HOT!  Knowing that, I did my cooking while she was gone this time.  I like my food so spicy that I am woken up by it but not so spicy that I can't handle it.  It's like a life affirming rock climbing adventure.  Of course, you can adjust based on your preferences.  Any Thai restaurant you go to will tend to use a scale from 1 to 5.  I think I figured out where a 5 is because it was too spicy for Mod but not for me.  We use our own, homemade crushed dry Thai peppers, but you can buy Thai chili powder.  It's just hard to find.  Use a whatever crushed red peppers you find if you can't get or make the Thai kind.

Homemade Thai Chili Powder (พริกป่น)

Adjustments

When I made our first trial run at this, I found it perfect.  Really spicy but not too spicy.  Mod said too spicy.  Surprise surprise, the white guy can handle more Thai chilies than the Thai lady.   I am getting older though to be fair and you need spicier food the older you get typically.

I cut 4 Thai peppers into tiny little pieces and just mixed them in.  If you want to play it more safely you could slice up 4 peppers very finely and add them in, one at a time at the end.  Mix them in thoroughly, taste and repeat until it's just right.  Adding sour cream as a topping also neutralizes the heat a bit.

Instant Pot Lean Protein Chili with Thai Chili Peppers Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 1 package of turkey bacon (as lean and low sodium as you can find, about 8 strips or more if you love bacon.)
• 2 pounds of ground chicken (or whatever protein floats your boat.)
• 1 and ½ cup of chopped onions (I don't care which kind.)
• 3 15 oz cans of low sodium beans (variety gives more color.)
• 1 15 oz. package of crushed, fire roasted tomatoes (or whatever your store has if not crushed.)
• 1 and ½ cup diced bell peppers (different colors for more color.)
• 1 can, no salt if you can find it*, of No Salt Rotel
• 2 cups low sodium broth
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoon salt substitute
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 2 tbsps Thai chili powder
• 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce (or other Thai seasoning sauce)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic

Toppings

• Light sour cream, the squeezable kind is my favorite
• Chives
• Shredded cheese
• Optionally, you can hold back the Thai peppers and use them as a topping and garnish.

Instructions:

1. Turn the instant pot to sauté and add the bacon.  I had to turn the saute back on several times to get it to the point where it was crispy enough.  I also had to cut it into smaller pieces to speed things up.  You may be better just doing it in a skillet for turkey bacon. sauté until crispy.
2. Remove the turkey bacon and place on a plate with a paper towel.
3. Add the onions and peppers and optionally the Thai peppers and cook for a minute or two until soft.
4. Add the protein and cook until it's browned, or light brown if it's chicken breast.
5.  Drain the grease optionally, depending on what protein you use.  For chicken I didn't because I was adding chicken stock anyways.
6. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir including half the turkey bacon.
7. Turn the pot to chili or use manual setting for 20 minutes and be careful when you vent it at the end!
8.  Serve with whatever toppings do it for you.
9. If you go full 5 alarm like I did be ready for the ol' ring of fire the following day.   Just a fair warning, it's sometimes easy to climb a tree and realize you hadn't thought about how to climb down lol!.  ;p  I speak from experience here. lol!!

Instant Pot Chili with Thai Chilies

Printable recipe below

Special thanks to Ohsweetbasil.com for the recipe we used for inspiration for this.

As always, we make our healthy Thai recipes as healthy as we can.  If you have concerns or special needs check it out with a doctor or appropriate specialist first.  Your situation is fact dependent and what is healthy for one is not healthy for all.

If you like Thai chilies you might dig one of these recipes.

Copycat Chili’s Mango-Chili Chicken with Thai Chili

Super Easy Blackened Thai Chili Tuna Steaks

Prik Glua, A Healthy Thai Chili Fruit Dip

Turkey Chili with Thai Chili’s for When The Weather is, well….. Chili,

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