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!
Good recipe. For me, 30 minutes was perfect (with soaked beans). I make these with garlic powder, chili powder, salt and pepper. I feed these to my chickens. Lots of protein and nutrients fir them. We eat them too.
So glad you enjoyed them! Thank you for leaving a review!
Very bad recipe, after 50 minutes plus 15 NR I got a whole bag of mush beans, I was going to use them for chili and now I will have to refry them because they are falling apart.
Do not cook for 50 minutes , half of the bag of beans have disintegrated in the liquid.
Very disappointed and so much waste
Sorry to hear this recipe wasn’t a success for you. I haven’t had this experience, mine always turn out great.
delicious! I added a ham hock though
Can’t go wrong with that move!
Can’t wait to do your recipes.
Thanks so much Dianna!
Just to be clear though, your recipe calls for about as much sodium as one would normally find in the equivalent amount of canned beans. People act horrified when they read it on a label but then go on to add just as much if not more when they cook.
I’m not anti-sodium myself, I just think the argument that these beans will taste better than canned will suffice, and we don’t always have to toss in some dubious health and purity claim.
That’s fair! I also like things on the salty side so I tend to go heavy because I think it tastes better. But if you wanted to reduce sodium, you do have more control over it in this recipe vs a can. But your point is 100% valid and I’m going to revise the text of the post.
I used kelp & dulse instead of salt. 95% less sodium and lots of beneficial minerals. The first time I made this I forgot to close the vent on my instant pot (big oops) and it read BURN by the time I got to them but I was able to salvage them by adding another cup and half of water and pressure cooking for 15 minutes-a bit overcooked but still delicious!
This recipe was absolutely delicious! This time I put, chopped up jalapeño, chopped onion, fresh green chilies,
and leftover grilled chicken breast that I cut into pieces! It was over the top! Thank you for your recipe and it’s so quick and easy to make!
Sounds so good! I’m thinking I need to make a batch when I get home today, you have me craving these beans with your comment!
Rachel, I love my instant pot, I actually have two! So glad I looked at your chili recipe with pinto bean, I had no idea these beans work very well for Chili! Soaking the beans at pressure cook for 50 minutes was perfect….thanks again!
So glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!
Had some pintos to get rid of. Crossing my fingers that it’s a great base recipe – it’s in the pot now. Hoping 50 mins isn’t overkill. The IP manual recommends 30 minutes for dry beans, but we will see. Used 1.5 c of beans because that’s all I had, and there’s only 2 of us. To this I added:
4.5 C water
1-ish TB adobo flavor Better than Bouillon
1 small chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 chopped jalapeño, seeds removed
1 half red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 C minced cilantro, stems and leaves
2 small bay leaves
3/4 – 1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
Ground black pepper
This is mostly how I was taught to make black beans in Costa Rica (gallo pinto) except minus the adobo flavor boullion paste – that’s just because I want these to be smoky, and we do not do ham/meat in this house.
Sounds delicious!
I’ve never been a huge fan of pinto beans… until now. Thank you for this recipe! I followed your recipe, including adding the additional seasonings listed in your notes. I used Reduced Sodium Better Than Bouillon® Roasted Chicken Base to make the 6 cups of liquid, added a can of Rotel and topped it off with a dollop of sour cream. It was absolutely delicious and very filling. I wish I had had some fresh cilantro on hand to top it off with as well. Next time…
When I make it again, and I will, I will probably add some more beans and increase the amount of cayenne pepper. Again, thank you so much! Yum.
So glad you liked the recipe. Thanks for leaving a review!
Nowhere does it say wht temperature to cooki these beans. What an oversight.
Hi, this is an Instant Pot recipe so there isn’t a specific temperature. In step 3 it states, “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.”
Do you have questions beyond that?
I’m a bit confused on how long to cook the soaked beans bc up in the recipe it says for soaked it only takes 5-7 mins & now that I’m reading the comments it says 15 mins with same natural release. I’m cooking them now but I only set it for 7 like I first read. So I guess I’m gonna hafta do it for another 7- 8 mins & then do release? Maybe that needs to be fixed so nobody else has this issue. I’m bout to check mine now after the 1st cook & I guess we will see.
Thank you for the feedback – I’ll make some edits.