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
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 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-- on 35 Minutes High Pressure
- Allow to naturally release until pressure subsides, or at least 20 minutes before doing a quick release.
- 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 Needed
Notes
- For incredibly soft beans without much structure left, add 10 minutes to cook time.
- 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.
Phil
You made this ‘guy’ ez - Thanks!!! 😁
Kristen Chidsey
YAY! Love that is this is so easy for you. It is a game-changer for me personally!
Jo Novak
Tried a pot of black soy beans today. They are not the same as black beans. Found out the water to beans ratio was way off. Apparently black soy beans don't absorb as much! Other than an excess of liquid, they came out great. Thanks!
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Jo! I am glad the recipe turned out for you. I personally have not experienced with black soy beans myself.
Lani
These are such easy, brilliant instructions, thank you! To use a 3qt Instant Pot Mini, would I simply halve the recipe?
Kristen Chidsey
For this recipe Lani, yes 🙂 For other recipes, just be sure you have at least 3/4 cup of liquid and keep the cook time the same 🙂
Christine
Used this recipe to make kidney beans and they were perfect!
Kristen Chidsey
So glad you had success Christine!
Richard
Kristen,
I just cooked a batch of pinto beans in an instant pot using your recipe. I feared that 25 minutes under pressure was too long for the beans so I cut the cook time back to 20. Also, i vented the beans immediately instead of allowing them to vent naturally. The result? My beans we’re cooked to oblivion; completely falling apart. Any ideas why this happened? FYI, I did not presoak the beans
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Richard! I am sorry that your beans were not to your liking. Doing a quick release causes the texture of the beans to burst so that may actually have been more of your issue. I would certainly let it do a natural pressure release in the future regardless of the cook time. Hope that helps.
Jeannie
I tried this and followed it exactly. Beans were still very undercooked when finished. Going to try putting them in for a second round to see if that helps, but this would double the cooking time.
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Jeannie. I am sorry your beans weren't cooked to your liking. I would suggest checking to be sure your pressure cooker was set to high not low pressure. That is a super easy mistake to make.
Jeffery
How do you set the instant pot to cook pinto beans?
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Jeffery. Pinto beans need to be cooked for 25 minutes on high pressure for soft, 20 for firm.
Melaney
I am using a desktop computer and can't get your Search button at the top right corner to work. Help........
Kristen Chidsey
I just tested and it worked for me. Be sure to hit enter after you enter the word you are looking for. I will also send in a support ticket to see of they can see/fix the issue. Let me know of thw browser you are using Chrome, Firefox, etc.
Melaney
What happens is that I try to click on the word Search and nothing happens?? Doesn't open to even put in a search word.
Kristen Chidsey
When you click on the word search, nothing should open up. Simply type in what you would like to search for and hit enter. I hope that helps to clarify. I can also help you find a recipe if needed.
Melaney
Thanks Kristen, that works. Yours is a different search tool than I have been used to. Maybe this will help someone else too. Thanks again!
LaDonna Mills
I dont have an instant pot but still watch videos of what people cook in it.Maybe some day I will be able to afford to buy one
Melaney
In the top part of this page you state to cook Chickpeas for 40 minutes but new the end of this page you state to cook them for 35 minutes. Which is it?
Kristen Chidsey
I would cook for 40 minutes. I will be sure to fix that 🙂
Melaney
Thanks for your quick response Kristen. I'm very new to your site (since 2 days ago) and am very interested in trying several of your recipes with my wonderful Instant Pot. So glad I came across your site!! Melaney
James Letson
What would cause uneven cooking of Northern beans? Some were so soft they turned to mush and some were still hard and undercooked.
Kristen Chidsey
Hi James, it sounds like your beans were not fully submerged in the water possibly.
Hillary
If I’m cooking 2 lbs of beans should I double the water?
Kristen Chidsey
Yes, as the beans absorb water as they cook. Enjoy!
Bob
35 minutes pressure cooking made the kidney beans much to soft (not pre-soaked). I’m going to toss this batch and go for 18 to 20 minutes instead. Need a much firmer texture to use in my recipes.
Rosanne M Dorsey
Love how easy it is to have beans in so short of a time! Thanks for the help!
Kristen Chidsey
Glad this helps save you time Rosanne! I love that about this recipe!
Brooke
If I want to make only a third of this recipe to use in another instant pot recipe, do I third the cooking time and water porportions. I only want to get 2 cups of cooked beans in the end for my recipe. Thanks!
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Brooke! Keep the cooking time to same but cut the amount of beans and water in thirds.
Brooke
Thank you!
Beth Andre
The beauty of the instant pot - mine is by Crockpot but it's the same - is that you can go from pressure cooking to slow cooking and vice versa in a second. Or any other of the functions. I pressure cooked my Great Northern beans for 20 minutes, then drained them and added canned tomatoes, bacon, sugar, onion & garlic and seasonings and set it on slow cook for 2 hours. Added sausage and had a great dinner. I've also slowcooked meat that didn't get tender enough so I just switched it to pressure for 15 minutes or so and voila! melt in your mouth.
Tonna
Kristen,
If I add 1 cup of dried lentils, 3 carrots and 3 celery stalks to this recipe would there be a change in water or cook time? Thank you!
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Tonna! Lentils have a cook time of just 9 minutes and need an additional 1.5 cups of water for every 1 cup of lentils. So I would not cook with the beans as the lentils may turn to mush in that time.
Tonna
Thank you so much!
Wanda
Can u add bacon or ham to your beans while cooking
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Wanda! You can, but the salt from the ham/bacon may interfere with cooking the beans IF the beans are older. I have done with this with newer beans with no issue.
Therese
Great instructions, thanks.
Katharine Church
Thank you so much for these instructions!!! I have not had great success with preparing dried beans the pre-soak and boil way but this is so easy. And home cooked beans taste SOOO MUCH BETTER than canned beans!!! Since discovering this method I have made so much more chili, hummus, bean soup, bean everything. As a vegetarian, this is a game changer!
Kristen Chidsey
It is a game-changer! Glad you enjoyed!