PC
Instant Pot
GF
Gluten-Free
DF
Dairy-Free
FF
Freezer Friendly
VG
Vegetarian
5I
5 ingredients or less
Instant Pot Pinto Beans (no soaking needed!)
Posted: 02/03/2020
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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, and without all the sodium.
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. I really like this quinoa salad with pinto beans and avocado dressing. 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.
Do you need to soak the beans before they are cooked in a pressure cooker?
As I mention above, you don’t need to presoak the beans. However, according to the recipe booklet that comes with your Instant Pot, 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 to 7-9 minutes.
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 Instant Pot 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.
Other basics that will make you fall in love with your Instant Pot:
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)
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
cups, drained
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.
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
- 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.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 0.5cup, Calories: 160kcal, Carbohydrates: 29g, Protein: 10g, Fat: 1g, Sodium: 223mg, Fiber: 7g, Sugar: 1g
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Jon' H says
Came here looking for the timing to make a pot of beans without soaking last night.
I used the 1# dried pinto beans, 6 cups of water (equivalent of 2 c bouillon was part of this), frozen onions, can of Rotel, Knorr chicken bouillon, garlic powder, smidge of cumin, cayenne, dash of oregano, sliced smoked sausage, and a bay leaf. Taste for s/p once done.
Forgot that I had fresh jalapenos that could’ve used. I did not drain the beans. The broth is very good.
DON’T forget to seal the pot. I made the rookie error that I’m always worried about and still manage to forget so had a NoPR error. Which meant the beans had been steaming w no pressure for 50 min. I put the lid back in the sealing position for 30 min and let it naturally release for 15.
Will definitely use this again! I tried to mess them up and they were still quite good. =D
Jon' H says
Edit: 2 tsp of chicken bouillon to make the equivalent of 2 cups of broth.
Rachel Gurk says
Thanks for the detailed comment! Agree that the broth is one of the best parts!
Nikki says
I had to repeat the process three times. Beans were still hard after the first two 50 minute rounds. Very odd… After the third round, they were great! Amazing flavor as I added two árbol chilies, 1/2 tsp cumin, 3 pressed cloves of garlic, 1Tbs caldo de pollo, 2 bay leaves, onion, cilantro, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp black pepper, and some bacon grease. Just disappointed that they still took 2.5 hours to cook.
Rachel Gurk says
Hmm, that doesn’t sound right! Was your rubber ring firmly in place? If you have an older Instant Pot, was the valve turned to “seal?” Sometimes the beans do take slightly longer (especially if the beans are really old), but they shouldn’t take 2.5 hours if they’re properly under pressure.
Annette Story Leuthauser says
Very good I did use way more of each spice, especially cumin. Cumin is a big flavor in ALL Mexican food!
Rachel Gurk says
I always end up doing the same, but I like people to be able to add more spice rather than have it too spicy for some palates right off the bat. Glad you liked the recipe!
Laura Jones says
My beans were mush. I even tried again reducing the time to 35 minutes and some were mush and some were firm. I will never cook pinto beans in an instant pot again. 2 ruined batches. I will cook them the old school way!!! The way I have been doing it for 30 years
Rachel Gurk says
They were? Did you soak them or used canned beans? Mine have never ever been mushy this way. Was the rubber ring securely in place?