Ready to use in your favorite Mexican style recipe, or to just eat plain, these Instant Pot pinto beans are a game changer, with no soaking and a much quicker cook time.
I’m just in love with my Instant Pot! All right, maybe that’s a little over the top, but every day I find new things to love about cooking with my pressure cooker.
Mostly, I love the speediness. When you can take something like dry, hard beans and have them ready to eat in about an hour, I find that truly kind of amazing, don’t you?
And it’s all pretty much hands-off time, so you can be working on other aspects of your dinner, or just taking a break with a cup of coffee and a good book (my preference, for sure!).
The ultimate question is: How do pinto beans taste when they’ve been pressure cooked in an Instant Pot? Delicious! Much more tasty and economical than canned beans.
About these Instant Pot Pinto Beans
An important thing to remember is that dry beans absorb a lot of water. I use 6 cups of water with 1 pound of pinto beans. The beans don’t absorb all 6 cups of the water. You’ll have lots of nice bean broth, which you can eat with the beans. I like to let the beans sit in the cooking liquid while they cool a bit so they can absorb a little more of that delicious broth.
Season the beans liberally with chopped onion, a bay leaf or two, salt and pepper. Put the lid on securely, select Pressure Cook, set the cooking time for 50 minutes, and let the pinto beans cook. When the cooking time is up, natural release for 15 minutes, then quick release any remaining pressure. That’s it! In just over an hour, you have perfectly cooked pinto beans, firm but not crunchy.
I like to use these cooked pinto beans in a variety of recipes. You can make them into refried beans, add them to your favorite chili with ground beef or turkey, make soup or vegetarian stuffed peppers (coming soon!), or use them in a taco salad. One of my favorite pinto bean dishes is frijoles borrachos, or “drunken beans”.
Instant Pot pinto beans are delicious just plain, too. I had a bowl of cooked pinto beans on the counter cooling and my mom and I kept sneaking a taste because they’re kind of addicting.
As I mention above, you don’t need to presoak the beans. However, if you pre-soak the beans for 4-6 hours in water (4 times the volume of the beans), the cooking time will be reduced.
If you have time to presoak the beans, as you can see, the cooking time is cut drastically. Soak or no soak? Decide which way works best in your schedule.
Or maybe slow cooking works best for you, I get that! Check out how to make slow cooker pinto beans.
How do you cook dried beans in an Instant Pot?
You can cook any type of dried beans in your Instant Pot pressure cooker. Water and beans are all you need, seasoning is optional. Check the cookbook that comes with your Instant Pot for guidelines on how long to cook each type of bean. Easy, easy, easy! I love to make Black Bean Soup in my Instant Pot.
How to make this recipe your own
- Add seasonings, like garlic, chili powder, cumin, paprika, and/or cayenne.
- Spice it up a little with a can of green chiles.
- Make them plain. I would definitely add a little salt though.
- Add chopped bacon to the Instant Pot and cook it with the beans.
- Try different varieties of beans.
Reheating and Storage Tips
Cooked pinto beans will keep in the refrigerator for 3-5 days, ready to use in the recipe of your choosing.
For longer storage, freeze pinto beans in freezer containers with their juice, or in freezer bags if they’re drained, for up to 6 months. If you’re adding beans to chili or soups, you can toss them in without thawing. If you’re adding the pinto beans to salads, thaw overnight in the refrigerator for best results.
More Instant Pot Basics
Do you really love your Instant Pot? If you’re still on the fence, try some of these game changing basic recipes, and watch out! You may find yourself falling in love.
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes (this recipe tipped my mom into the love category)
- Instant Pot Applesauce (or maybe it was this one!)
- Instant Pot Brown Rice
- Instant Pot Shredded Chicken (perfect for meal prep)
- Instant Pot Boiled Eggs (easy to peel every time!)
- Instant Pot Pulled Pork
- Instant Pot Quinoa (plain or cilantro lime)
Instant Pot Pinto Beans Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry pinto beans (about 2 cups)
- 6 cups water
- 1 small yellow onion, diced (about ½ cup)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Rinse beans and pick out any stones, pebbles, or non-bean materials. If desired, soak in water overnight to reduce cook time, but this is not necessary.
- Put beans into Instant Pot. Add water, onion, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Stir. Secure lid, turn valve to seal.
- Set pressure cooker to "pressure cook" or "manual" (depending on model), high pressure, for 50 minutes for dry beans (15 minutes for soaked beans). Let pressure release naturally (in other words, leave it alone) for 15 minutes.
- Quick release any remaining pressure by turning valve to “vent.” Remove lid.
- Carefully remove bay leaf. Beans can be drained, or you can scoop beans out with a slotted spoon, or enjoy them with the cooking broth. It’s delicious!
- Serve, garnished with chopped cilantro, if desired.
Notes
- Makes about 5 cups after liquid is drained.
- Want to keep it basic? This recipe will work just fine with water and beans, but I recommend adding salt at the very least.
- Want to kick it up a notch? Try cooking with chicken broth instead of water, and/or adding 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin, and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper.
- For another twist, try adding a can of diced green chiles.
- To use as “refried” beans: Drain beans, reserving liquid. Blend with an immersion blender or a potato masher, adding liquid as needed.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
I just made the dried Pinto Beans….Time was 50 minutes with 6 cups of water. They turned out awesome….Thank you
Also made your mashed potatoes…..using peeled potatoes, cut into large chunks. I cooked them for 10 minutes. Awesome with Ribbed chicken breast on the grill. WOW! an awesome meal in less than an hour….
Thank you very much, Dianne
You’re so welcome! Thanks for leaving a comment!
Oh my lawd absolutely delicious! This poor East Tennessee gal missed the class for cooking pintos all day in the stove but in my instant pot…I’m a bonafide southern cook!! This recipe needed nothing changed! I might add more onion next time just to prove some whiny people wrong but it absolutely perfect just as written. Thank you!!
Hahaha I love it! So glad you liked this recipe…I was just thinking about making some of these today. Thanks for the comment!
Made these last night…added diced jalapenos. Big hit, we’re mexican and they were better than my mom’s.
Oh my gosh, what high praise! Thank you so much! I’m glad they were a hit!
Made this today with a 20 oz package of Hurst Pinto beans. Added ham flavoring that came with the beans, onions, and salt, pepper per the recipe. Also added 2 tbsp of taco seasoning. Very good! Had to add sla little additional salt. Beans were perfect!
Sounds delicious! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
If you would like a richer flavor, I used homemade chicken stock, and wrap a smoked turkey leg in cheesecloth ( to contain the bones, that will splinter off ). Then kosher salt, pepper, and chopped onion. Serve up with cornbread and slaw, and you have a perfect dinner.
Sounds amazing! I agree, chicken broth adds a lot of flavor…and your other additions sound delicious too!
This recipe is more onion than bean. I just made a big pot of onion soup and its disgusting. Good job, internet, you saved the day and now I don’t have to eat dinner.
This recipe calls for 1/2 cup of diced onion, and 2 cups of dried beans which will yield about 6 cups of cooked beans. Did you maybe measure something wrong?
I double the onion and can’t taste it at all. Additionally, I season the beans further once cooked. I’d recommend that people simply try this recipe and then adjust as needed – my guess is most people will be adding to the flavor, not reducing it. (I’m not knocking you, though, my father has the ability to taste even an ounce of garlic and he hates it!!). :)
Thanks for the comment and the support! I agree, this recipe is definitely more of a building-block type of recipe. I always add a bunch of chili powder, cumin, and smoked paprika when I make them. :)
Lol what did you do?! No offense but this sounds like user error.
I tried this recipe, and it was outstanding. I used oven-baked garlic shrimp and added all the garlic sauce from the pan. Big hit!
Oh yum, that sounds fantastic! I’m so glad you liked it, thanks for leaving a comment!
I made this recipe and it was delicious. I did make 2 substitutions. I have a recipe for Baharat and used 3/4 tsp instead of the black pepper and a I substituted the kosher salt with 1 tsp of my lightly spiced salt. These two changes gave it a very slight mediterranean taste.
I’m so glad you liked it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
I made this, and it was amazeballs. I cooked the onion and the beans first, with the addition of the recommended spices, using beef broth instead of water, for about 45 minutes and then released the pressure. I then added a lb of mostly cooked ground wild pork, and 4 large peeled russet potatoes, diced about an inch, then cooked an additional 20 minutes. The flavor was absolutely off the charts and it was such a comfort food on a nasty, rainy day. Love my instapot and love this recipe.
Oh yum…I want to eat dinner at your house!
I followed this recipe as written then made Chili with the beans. It was delicious. I added 20 oz bison, a chopped onion, 3 bay leaves, garlic salt, cumin, red chilis, and chili powder to season along with about 3 lbs. canned tomatoes and juice. It was so-ooo good!
So happy to hear you liked it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!