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This recipe for Instant Pot Beans walks you through how to cook a variety of dried beans with or without soaking. I've included cook times for 11 kinds, plus the small details that decide whether you get tender beans or mush.
While I love Instant Pot for family meals, like Instant Pot Pot Roast, it really earns it keep with basics like these dried beans, Instant Pot Baked Potatoes, Instant Pot hard-boiled eggs, and Instant Pot yogurt.
Instant Pot Beans at a Glance
- Prep: Less than 5 minutes
- Types of Beans: Tested timing provided for 11 varieties of beans
- No Soaking Needed: But timing provided for soaked beans
- Money-Saver: A 15-ounce can costs about the same as (or slightly more than) a pound of dried beans, and one pound makes the equivalent of 3 to 4 cans.
Kristen's Keys for Cooking Dried Beans in the Instant Pot
Believe it or not, dried beans were the recipe that convinced me the Instant Pot was worth it. Since 2017, I've cooked more pounds of beans this way than I could possibly count. Here are the little things I've found make the biggest difference:
- Yes, you can skip soaking. The Instant Pot handles softening the dried beans beautifully. But I have included timing for soaked beans as well.
- Wait to add salt. There are different schools of thought on salting beans before cooking, but in all of my Instant Pot testing, I've had the most consistent results seasoning them after pressure cooking.
- Natural release matters. This helps the beans stay intact and creamy instead of splitting.
- Don't overfill the pot. Beans expand as they cook; keep the inner pot no more than ½ full.
- Check the expiration date. Older beans take much longer to soften and sometimes never fully tenderize.
Happy Cooking! xo Kristen
How To Make Instant Pot Beans
Let me walk you through the basic step-by-step process of making dried beans using the Instant Pot.
- Rinse and sort your dried beans. I also recommend quickly checking for any rocks that may have snuck in; it has happened to me a time or two.
- Add beans, water, and optional aromatics to inner pot. Add the rinsed beans and 8 cups of cold tap water to the inner pot. If desired, add in garlic, onion, and a dried bay leaf for additional flavor.
- Pressure cook. Secure the lid, set the valve to "sealing," and cook on high pressure for the time directed for the type of beans you are cooking (see list below).
- Let pressure release naturally. Once the cook time has elapsed, let the pressure release naturally for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, you can do a quick release of any remaining pressure or allow pressure to continue to release naturally. Short on time? 10 minutes works, but the texture may not be as good.
- Season. Season with salt and, if desired, add a splash of apple cider vinegar for brightness.
- Serve or store. At this point, you can strain off the cooking liquid and use as desired or store cooked beans in a bit of the cooking liquid to keep them moist and tender.
Instant Pot Bean Cook Time
The following cook times are for unsoaked beans on high pressure.
- Baby Lima Beans: 18 Minutes
- Large Lima Beans: 22 Minutes
- Pinto Beans: 25 Minutes
- Navy Beans: 25 Minutes*
- Red Beans: 30 Minutes
- Black Beans: 30 Minutes
- Kidney Beans: 35 Minutes
- Great Northern Beans: 35 Minutes
- Cannellini Beans: 35 Minutes
- Butter Beans: 40 Minutes
- Chickpeas: 40 Minutes
If you like really soft beans, cook for an additional 10 minutes under high pressure.
For soaked beans, soak for 8-12 hours, drain, add to the inner pot with 5 cups of fresh water, and reduce the cooking time by 10 minutes.
*A note on navy beans: They are the one variety of beans that can get mushy if you don't pre-soak them. For Instant Pot baked beans, or anything you want to hold its shape, soak them in cold water for 8 to 12 hours, drain, and cook with 5 cups of water for 15 minutes on high pressure with natural pressure release.
How Many Beans?
You may be wondering how to use Instant Pot beans in a recipe calling for canned beans or how much this recipe makes. This will help.
- 1 pound of dried beans is about 2 cups of dried beans
- 2 cups of dried beans will make 5 to 7 cups of cooked beans, depending on the type of bean
- 1 (15-ounce) can of beans (drained) equals about 1-¾ cups cooked beans
- ½ cup dried beans makes about 1-¼ to 1-¾ cups cooked, close to 1 can
- 1 pound of dried beans is equivalent to about 3 to 4 cans of beans (drained)
How to Store Cooked Beans
- Refrigerate: Store the beans, with a bit of the cooking liquid, in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freeze: Portion out 1-2 cups of the beans and place in a freezer-safe container, with a bit of the cooking liquid. Freeze for up to 3 months and defrost in the refrigerator as needed.
Instant Pot Dried Beans FAQs
Because beans expand as they cook, never fill the inner pot more than half full. A 6-quart is too small to double. However, you can double this recipe if you have an 8-quart Instant Pot. Use 2 pounds of beans, 10 cups of water, and keep the cook time the same.
Yes, you can halve this recipe for any Instant Pot size, and you'll need to if you're using a 3-quart. Use ½ pound of dried beans and 4 cups of cold tap water, and keep the cook times the same.
Try cooking for an additional 10 minutes on high pressure with natural pressure release. Keep in mind that expired dried beans may never fully soften.
A quick release can cause beans to split and become mushy, so it is best to allow the pressure to release naturally for at least 10 minutes (20 is even better). If you you still end up with mushy beans, cut the cook time by 10 minutes. Instant Pots run differently, and how much bite you like matters too.
Start with cold water and make sure the beans are fully covered. After cooking, let the pressure release naturally for at least 20 minutes before releasing any remaining pressure.
Unless each variety has a similar cook time, I don't recommend it, as some beans may become mushy while another variety cooks. If you do opt to cook mixed beans together, select the LONGEST cook time.
Yes! Follow my Instant Pot Altitude guidelines for the appropriate adjustments.
More Instant Pot Recipes Using Dried Beans
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Instant Pot Dried Beans
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Ingredients
- 1 pound dried beans, rinsed and sorted (this is equal to 2 cups of dried beans)
- 8 cups cold tap water, *see note
- 1 medium onion, sliced, optional
- 2-4 cloves garlic, peeled, optional
- 1-2 bay leaves, optional
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar, optional
Instructions
- Add the rinsed, sorted beans and water to the inner pot of your pressure cooker. If using, add the onion, garlic cloves, and bay leaves.
- Secure the lid on the Instant Pot and ensure the valve is in the sealed or locked position.
- Using the pressure cook or manual function, set to cook on High Pressure using the following times: Baby Lima Beans: 18 Minutes on High PressureLarge Lima Beans: 22 Minutes on High PressurePinto Beans: 25 Minutes on High Pressure Navy Beans: 25 Minutes on High Pressure**Black Beans: 30 Minutes on High PressureRed Beans: 30 Minutes on High PressureGreat Northern Beans: 35 Minutes on High PressureCannellini Beans: 35 Minutes on High PressureKidney Beans: 35 Minutes on High Pressure Chickpeas: 40 Minutes on High Pressure Butter Beans: 40 Minutes on High Pressure
- Once the cook time has elapsed, let the pressure release naturally for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, you can do a quick release of any remaining pressure or allow the pressure to continue to release naturally. If you are short on time, allow for at least 10 minutes of natural pressure release, but note that the texture may not be as good.
- Once beans have finished cooking, stir in salt and vinegar if using.
- After cooking, let them cool, then store the beans in an airtight container in the fridge with a little cooking liquid for up to 5 days. The cooking liquid will help keep the beans from drying out.
Equipment
- Electric Pressure Cooker (6 or 8 quart) (this is the least expensive, most reliable model)
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
You don't need to cover the beans with water. I cook two pounds of dryed beans in two cups of water and they turn out fine. I soak the beans first. The pot heats up faster that way because you're not heating up all that water and you safe energy.
Hi Jeff! If you pre-soak your beans, that would be true. If you do not soak the beans, you would want to cover with water for this method to work 🙂
Followed the recipe. Beans came out like mush. Bean pieces came out when I released the pressure. Yikes
Hi Barbara! I am sorry this happened to you. However, you are supposed to allow for pressure to release naturally for at least 20 minutes after the cooking time has passed. It sounds like you did a quick release of pressure since beans were coming out of the vent knob. This would also change the structure of the beans.
Made some great northern beans for some soup I was making and they turned out great! I followed the time you said for that type of bean and I think it may have been a little longer than they needed but I like my beans to be quite soft so it worked out great for me! Thank you so much!
You are so welcome!
Thank you! My beans turned out perfect. I didn't realize that the beans were supposed to be drained so mine were a bit soupy. That was fine by me!
I added chopped carrots and celery to the onions and browned some ground sausage before adding the water and beans. I was going to serve it with steamed spinach but on a whim decided to add it to the pot, too. We ate it over brown rice with a dash of hot sauce.
Serving with spinach over rice sounds DELISH to me!
Can you use any vinegar other than apple cider? All I have right now is citrus champagne vinegar, red wine, and white wine.
I would use white wine vinegar 🙂
A recipe I’m making for white chicken chili calls for canned beans but I prefer dried beans. Being as I am adding the beans back into another Instant Pot recipe and further pressure cooking them, would you cut the cook time short on the beans alone so they don’t turn to mush?
Hi Scott! It would depend on how long the cooking time for your next recipe is. Most recipes account for pre-cooked beans. That said, you can reduce the cooking time by 5 minutes to ensure your beans don't become overcooked. Remember to do a natural pressure release for BOTH recipes to keep the texture of the beans.
I bought a bag of dried beans from Costco that is all different kinds of beans. How long do I cook them?
Hi Terry! You will want to determine the variety of beans in the bag and set the cooking time for the LONGEST cooking time. For example, if you had a combination of chickpeas, black beans, and kidney beans, you would cook for 40 minutes, as the longest cooking time is 40 minutes for the chickpeas.
Perfect recipe! Thank you!