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Instant Pot Beans: How to Cook Dried Beans in a Pressure Cooker with No Pre-Soaking Required: The EASIEST, FASTEST way to cook dried beans with success.
Do you guys have an Instant Pot?
No?!!!
Well, you need to get on it and get one ASAP!! I mean, like yesterday! I was skeptical of these magical pressure cooking pots, but I figured that since I am looking for answers on all things food-related, I owed it to you all to get one and see if all the buzz was true.
It was.
The number one reason to fall in love with your pressure cooker is when you make Instant Pot Dried Beans!
If beans aren't your thing, check out my collection of Easy Healthy Instant Pot Recipes.
These pressure cookers are the BEST thing ever for a person who is busy but wants to cook home-cooked meals. I was hooked the first time I used my Instant Pot--which by the way was when I tried to make my 5 Ingredient Pot Roast with a frozen chuck roast and it was ready in less than an hour!! Crazy--right?!!
My latest obsession is making my dried beans in the Instant Pot.
I use beans in so many dishes like Black Bean Tacos, Minestrone, and Tuscan White Bean Pasta, that to be able to make beans quickly without pre-soaking, is a dream come true for me.
And in seriously a matter of 5 minutes prep and less than an hour, I have cooked dried beans that are ready to use. Not to mention, pressure cooking the beans results in the most tender beans I have EVER had! They have a better texture than canned beans.
Instant Pot Beans
Okay, let's break cooking dried beans without soaking them down for you.
YES, you can cook dried beans WITHOUT soaking first. I know, mind-blowing!
How To Make Instant Pot Beans
- Rinse and sort your dried beans--just look over your dried beans to be sure there are no rocks that have snuck in!
- Place 1 pound of dried beans with 8 cups water in your Instant Pot.
- Cook on high pressure for the directed time.
- Once cook time has released, let the pressure release naturally for at least 20 minutes before trying to do a quick release of pressure.
- Once the beans have finished cooking, add in a splash of apple cider vinegar and salt. The salt flavors the beans and the vinegar helps make the beans easier to digest.
- I do like to store cooked beans in a bit of the cooking liquid to keep them moist and tender while they sit in the fridge, this is not necessary, but suggested.
Instant Pot Bean Cook Time
- Black Beans--30 Minutes on High Pressure
- Chickpeas--40 Minutes on High Pressure
- Kidney Beans--35 Minutes on High Pressure
- Pinto Beans--25 Minutes on High Pressure
- Navy Beans--25 Minutes on High Pressure
- Great Northern Beans-- on 35 Minutes High Pressure
How to Flavor Beans
Instead of just cooking dried beans in water alone, I like to add a little flavor to my beans. This step of course is optional but highly encouraged.
- Along with beans and water, add half an onion and bay leaf.
- You will want to add salt or homemade taco seasoning AFTER your beans have been cooked. Adding salt BEFORE cooking dried beans can make it harder for your beans to break down and soften properly.
How do I know how much dried beans to cook for a recipe?
- First of all, let me start by saying that one pound of dried beans is equivalent to about 2 cups of measured dried beans. Therefore, if you don't have a one-pound bag of dried beans, just measure out 2 cups of beans for this recipe.
- Dried beans will triple in quantity when cooked. So for 1 pound, or 2 cups, of dried beans, you will have 6 cups of cooked beans.
- Most recipes call for 15-ounce cans of beans. This is about 2 cups of COOKED beans.
- Therefore this recipe for dried beans makes 6 cups cooked beans or the equivalent to 3 cans of beans.
How do I store leftover cooked beans?
You can cook extra beans in your pressure cooker to have on hand for recipes.
- Store leftover cooked beans in the refrigerator for 5 days. I keep the beans with a bit of the cooking liquid (much like you see in canned beans to keep them moist.) Just drain before serving.
- Or freeze prepared beans in 1 to 2 cup portions in freezer-safe bags/containers in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can add a bit of cooking liquid to the beans you plan to freeze as well.
A Few Hints For Cooking Instant Pot Dried Beans
- If you like your beans SUPER soft, without a bite left to them, cook for an additional 10 minutes under high pressure.
- If you have pre-soaked your beans, reduce the cooking time by 10 minutes.
- Never fill the inner pot of your pressure cooker more than ½ full when cooking beans.
- It is best to let the pressure release naturally for beans to retain shape. However, you may do a rapid release after 10 minutes, by putting on oven mitts and pushing the steam valve to release. Just be careful not to stand too close--that steam can burn your face!
- If you find beans to be hard on your stomach or make you gassy, either pre-soak beans overnight first and/or add ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar after cooking.
- You will most likely have liquid left after cooking the beans in the instant pot, just drain off the liquid before using it in recipes.
Recipes to Use Cooked Beans
- Healthy Black Bean Baked Tacos
- Sweet Potato Black Bean Burritos
- Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup
- Vegetarian Lentil Chili
- Vegetarian Butternut Squash Chili
Let's Make Instant Pot Beans
Instant Pot Dried Beans
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried beans, rinsed and sorted (this is equal to 2 measuring cups full of dried beans)
- 8 cups water
- 1 bay leaf, optional
- 1 medium onion, sliced, optional
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar, optional
Instructions
- Place beans, water, onion, and bay leaf if using in the inner pot of a pressure cooker.
- Place lid on Instant Pot and close valve to "seal."
- Cook on High Pressure for Following Times:Black Beans--30 Minutes on High Pressure Chickpeas--40 Minutes on High Pressure Kidney Beans--35 Minutes on High Pressure Pinto Beans--25 Minutes on High Pressure Navy Beans**--25 Minutes on High Pressure Butter Beans--40 Minutes on High Pressure Great Northern Beans --35 Minutes on High PressureCannellini Beans --35 Minutes on High PressureLarge Lima Beans -- 22 Minutes on High PressureBaby Lima Beans -- 18 Minutes High PressureRed Beans: -- 30 Minutes on High Pressure
- Allow pressure to naturally release until pressure subsides, or at least 20 minutes before doing a quick release of the remaining pressure.
- Once beans have finished cooking, stir in salt and vinegar if using. Store cooked beans in a bit of the cooking liquid to keep them moist and tender while they sit in fridge, this is not necessary, but suggested.
Equipment
- Electric Pressure Cooker (6 or 8 quart) (this is the least expensive, most reliable model)
Notes
- For pre-soaked beans, decrease cook time by 10 minutes and decrease the water to 5 cups.
- For every additional pound of dried beans, add 2 cups of water for pressure cooking.
- Note on Navy Beans: Navy beans can get mushy if not pre-soaked. So if preparing them for baked beans or something you want to hold its shape, it is best to soak them for 8-12 hours in cold water and then drain and cook for 15 minutes on high pressure with natural pressure release.
- For cooking in your pressure cooker at a higher altitude, keep in mind these Instant Pot Altitude Conversions.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this recipe putting all ingredients in the pot at the start because I didn't pay enough attention to the recipe. The flavor is pleasant and not too salty, which is surprising. I think Instapot recipes
call for a load of sodium. But the broth is abundant and the beans are still a tad crisp. I dropped a chopped up pork chop and it's juices back into the pot and added 10 more minutes on high pressure. This resulted in a savory flavor but still more broth than I would have preferred. It might be a great soup base this way. I am not sure by how much I can either reduce water or increase beans to get closer to the thickness I prefer. This recipe is a solid launching pad for finding my own recipe. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Kristen,
Thank you for this helpful video.
What size instant pot do you use?
I am new to using an instant pot and normally cook 2 pounds of dry beans in a large pot.
Thanks again.
Hi Annette! I have both the 6 quart and 8 quart--you can use either with success. Just be sure to do a natural pressure release as the inner pot will be quite full.
This recipe came out perfect and flavorful. I used pre-soaked beans (4 cups pre-soaked) to 8 cups of water. Added 1/2 of a minced onion and minced garlic (4 cloves) and bay leaves (about 3-4). Bay leaves add so much flavor. 🙂 I didn’t drain out all the liquid as I like to add some of the flavored liquid to my rice when eating them together. This was the first time that I prepared beans this well. Thank you for your thoughtful recipe and notes. It made all the difference in my day! Looking forward to trying more of your recipes. Bless you! Cheers!
Wonderful!! So glad you enjoyed and I hope you find many more recipes to enjoy here.
I have been making your pinto beans to the T weekly and they are delicious I have an 8 qt.
If I need to make 2 # how much water and time, please
Hi Sara! I am so glad this has become a staple at your house. Double the beans, seasonings, but only increase the water by 2 cups. And keep the cook time the same.
I got an Instant pot for Christmas. Never used one before. I notice that it has a "Bean" program. Can I just use that using the same recipe?
Hi John! I don't recommend using any of the pre-set programs. They are not specific to what you are cooking--only pre-programed guesses. It is best to manually adjust yourself. You can read more of my reasoning over at Instant Pot Functions. 🙂
Certainly simple enough. I don't think the liquid quantity is correct though. Since we're empty-nesters, I tend to cut recipes in half. In this case, I used one cup of dried black beans and 4 cups of liquid. Unfortunately, I had made bone broth which I used in some soup recipes and this. I ran the Instant Pot at high for 35 minutes which produced a texture between firm and mushy (the way I prefer beans), but I was left with about 2 1/4 cups of liquid at the end. As you may know, bone broth requires a bit of effort. Even using an Instant Pot, you need to "prepare" it twice to get the depth of flavor you'd expect from the all day, stove top version. It pained me greatly to have to pour off 2 cups of excess liquid at the end. When I make the other half of these dried beans, I think I'm going to go with about 2 1/2 cups of liquid. I'll let you know if that works.
Hi John! I don't recommend using broth for this recipe because of the added sodium and the amount of liquid needed. To cut the liquid down, would result in a significant change in cook time and if the liquid is all absorbed first, you can get a burn notice. If you try it though, keep us posted.
I love Your step by step instructions with good hints adding Apple cider vinegar to the cooked beans for easy digestion etc. I love beans but I can not digest it properly. I will definitely try your way. Thank you so much. Looking forward to see more tips. God bless you.
God Bless you as well Kay! I hope the apple cider tip helps you out!
If I cut the recipe in half, will that affect cooking time?
Hi Amanda! No, the cooking time remains the same if doubling or halving a recipe--but the amount of time it takes to come to pressure will vary.
Finally! All things dried beans + InstantPot in one place. This is a super handy guide, will reference it often. Love your tips and tricks. Making chili as I write this. Thank you!
You are so welcome Lori! Happy to help and enjoy the chili!
Your tips are great.