You are going to love this Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice! It is the EASIEST way to prepare red beans and rice! Made with brown rice, dried beans, and a perfect combination of seasonings this pressure cooker Mexican Rice and Beans is a perfect vegetarian entree, filling for a burrito, or side dish.
Looking for more great instant pot recipes? Be sure to check out Instant Pot Ribs, Instant Pot Risotto, Instant Pot Baked Potatoes, and Instant Pot Honey Baked Ham.
This post may contain affiliate links, for full disclosure policy, please see privacy policy.
Instant Pot Rice and Beans
Rice and Beans make the perfect side dish to any Mexican or Tex Mex meal. In fact, I often find myself making a meal out of my rice and beans.
And thanks to the Instant Pot, rice and beans just got a whole lot easier to make!
Plus, you can use DRIED BEANS for this recipe–which makes this meal INCREDIBLY economical.
The trick to cooking dried beans with rice is to season the dish AFTER it pressure cooks. Salt can inhibit dried beans ability to soften, so by seasoning after cook time, the beans will soften perfectly in the time it takes for the rice to cook.
Ingredients for Rice and Beans
- Rice
- Pinto or Red Beans–dried or canned beans (that have been rinsed and drained)
- Peppers
- Onions
- Olive Oil
- Water–or unsalted chicken/vegetable stock
- Taco Seasoning–or use Cajun Seasoning for a Cajun spin on rice and beans.
- Salsa
Pro Tip: You can pre-soak your dried beans overnight before making rice and beans, but that is completely not necessary. I like that with the pressure cooker, you don’t need to soak the beans and they still cook perfectly. However, if you like your beans very, very soft, you may want to pre-soak dried beans overnight.
How to Make Instant Pot Rice and Beans
Step One: Saute Onions and Peppers
- Turn instant pot to saute and allow to heat.
- Add in 1-2 teaspoons olive oil and heat.
- Add in onions, and peppers saute for 2-3 minutes or until onions begin to soften.
- Turn Instant Pot OFF.
Pro Tip: If you have picky eaters, just omit this step and make rice and beans without peppers and onions!
Step Two: Add in Liquid
- Pour in water or stock into Instant Pot and scrape up any browned bits off the bottom of the inner pot.
Step Three: Cook Rice and Beans
- Add in dried beans to inner pot.
- Next add in rinsed rice. RINSING your rice before adding the pressure cooker helps the rice to not stick to bottom or pressure cooker and fluff up correctly.
- Gently push down rice until just submerged in the liquid.
- Close instant pot and be sure vent knob is sealed.
- Cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 24 minutes. Do NOT use the Rice function, as it typically defaults to low pressure.
- Let pressure release naturally–CRITICAL for the rice and beans to be done and to absorb all the liquid.
Step Four: Add in seasonings
- Add salsa and taco seasoning to the rice and beans and fluff with a fork to combine.
- Put lid back on pressure cooker and let the mixture warm through.
- Serve as desired.
Modifications for Instant Pot Beans and Rice
Brown Rice and Canned Beans
- Saute the peppers and onions as directed.
- Decrease the liquid to 2 cups, and add in the taco seasoning, and rice to the sauteed onions and peppers.
- Cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 24 minutes.
- Let pressure release naturally.
- Add 30 ounces of canned beans (two 15 ounce cans) that have been rinsed and drained well and salsa to the cooked rice and fluff with a fork to combine.
- Place the lid back on the Instant Pot to warm the ingredients through.
White Rice and Canned Beans
You can certainly use white rice for this Pressure Cooker Mexican Beans and Rice recipe, but you MUST used canned beans instead of dried beans.Dried beans take much longer than white rice requires to pressure cook. The cook time is just too drastically different try to cook white rice and dried beans together.
- Saute the peppers and onions as directed.
- Decrease the liquid to 2 cups and add in the taco seasoning, 30 ounces of rinsed and drained beans, and rice to the sauteed onions and peppers.
- Add in the taco seasoning at this time as well.
- Let pressure release naturally.
- Fluff with a fork and stir in the salsa.
- Place the lid back on the Instant Pot to warm the ingredients through.
How to Serve Rice and Beans
Mexican Rice and Beans makes an obvious side dish for main entrees like Pork Carnitas, Steak Fajitas, Honey Lime Fajitas or Shrimp Tacos, but it also great served in the following ways:
- As a Meatless/Vegetarian Main Course
- Rolled Up in a Burrito
- As the base of a Burrito Bowl
- Served with fried eggs for a Mexican Style Breakfast
- Tossed with chopped romaine, fresh tomatoes, and avocado slices for a quick Taco Salad.
More Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice
- Instant Pot Beef Stew
- Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Instant Pot Yogurt
Instant Pot Rice and Beans
Ingredients
- 1/2 tablespoon avocado oil or olive/canola oil
- 1 onion diced
- 1 yellow, green, or red pepper diced
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 cups short grain brown rice rinsed well and drained
- 1 cup dried red beans or pinto beans
- 4 cups water or unsalted vegetable/chicken stock
- 1 cup salsa
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
- cheese, sour cream, cilantro for serving
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute mode on high and allow to heat up.
- Once heated, add in oil, onions, and peppers and saute for 2-3 minutes until just beginning to soften up. Add in garlic and saute for 1 minute longer. Turn Instant Pot to OFF.
- Add in stock and be sure to scrape up any browned bits off bottom of inner pot.
- Add in beans and stir. Then add rice and gently push down with spoon to just submerge rice. DO NOT STIR! Put lid on Instant Pot. Cancel saute function and set to high pressure on manual (or pressure cook function) and set timer for 24 minutes.
- Let pressure release naturally, open lid and use a fork to fluff the rice. Stir in taco seasoning and salsa. Place lid back on pressure cooker to let ingredients warm through. Serve with desired toppings.
Notes
- Be sure to use short grain brown rice (not instant rice or white rice) for this recipe if using dried beans, and rinse your rice!
- Rice and beans will keep in your fridge 4-5 days. To reheat, add a splash of water or stock and heat in microwave for 1-2 minutes per serving or use pot in pot method and reheat on high pressure for 2 minutes.
Kristen Chidsey
Latest posts by Kristen Chidsey (see all)
- The Best Ratatouille Recipe - July 18, 2019
- Gluten Free Banana Oat Pancakes - July 17, 2019
- Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Bread - July 16, 2019
Hi! Can you make it with Basmati rice and if so, how should I adjust the time for cooking? Also, if I soak the beans then should I reduce my cooking time and liquid? I have pinto and kidney on hand ( I think they are kidney, but they can be red – I can’t tell them apart despite googling) Thanks
Hi Olga! Basmati white rice takes 3 minutes on high pressure so you definitely want to use with canned beans. Or cook your dried beans first then cook rice and beans together. If you soak your beans, I find you can take off 10 minutes of the cook time. Sometimes half the cook time, but personally I find 10 minutes off total time is best. Hope that helps
Hi, I have a quick question. How much liquid would you recommend if I am using canned beans and brown rice? I know you said 2 cups with canned beans and white rice. Does this change if I have brown rice? Thanks! Can’t wait to try this in burrito bowls!
Hi Shruti! The amount of water does not change, just the timing. I find it takes 24 minutes to cook brown rice and 10-15 minutes for pressure to release. I hope you enjoy!
Made this and it was the best rice and beans we’ve ever had. I used long grain brown rice (rinsed it) and I soaked black beans for 6 hours and it came out perfect following all the other directions with the 25 minutes on regular high pressure in an Instant Pot.
Oh I love hearing how much you enjoyed this recipe Cameron! I hope you find more recipes to enjoy here. Take care.
I only had white rice on hand so I decided to cook it separately. Even though I reduced the liquid I still had a lot of extra in the pot. I am going to use that to make a bean soup today for lunch with the leftover beans and a can of beans.
Soaking beans is an important step for the nutrition of them. All seeds are naturally coated with phytonutrients. They prevent sprouting in storage but are an antinutrient. Soaking beans, rice etc. Breaks them down and also makes them more nutritious. It is an important step for those reasons.
I will be adding this recipe to my rotation as it is delicious and diverse. My nephue was over for supper. He said “I don’t like beans but I will take a little.” He had seconds.
Hi Debbie! I am glad you and your nephew enjoyed. If you already soaked your beans, you won’t need as much liquid–hence your extra liquid. I would only use 2 cups stock.
Oh my gosh is this recipe delicious!! We just got done eating it. We started by putting it in tortillas but it was so delicious that we ended up eating it was forks. I didn’t have salsa so I used a can of diced tomatoes. Also didn’t add the onion (one in our household hates onions) in with the rice and beans and instead whoever likes onions just sprinkled them raw across the top. I also had made some homemade cooked salsa which we drizzled across the top. Fabulous.
I am so glad you and your family enjoyed! And thank you for sharing your modifications–I love when you can take a recipe and make it your own!
Hi! Thank you for the recipe. I needed a quick rice a and beans recipe and found this. I used your instructions for the white rice, canned beans. I used 1 can pinto, 1 can black, 1 can fire roasted. I served it as a bowl with toppings. This made a quick dinner and yummy dinner for my husband and I with what I had on hand. With enough for leftovers to take for lunch. Will make again!
YAY! I love hearing that! So glad you shared your success.
I feel like an idiot but if I’m using white rice and canned beans you say to only cook for 3 minutes on high pressure instead of 35 min with brown rice and dry beans. Am I reading that correctly? I’m not very good at using the instant pot and still understand NOTHING about it. Thanks!
You are NOT an idiot–the Instant Pot can be overwhelming. You may want to read my Instant Pot 101 for some tips to help! But you did the recipe correctly, for white rice and canned beans it is 3 minutes on high pressure.
Which is an amazing super fast nutritious meal.
I have only one cup of brown rice, Do you have recommendations for downsizing this recipe?
Hi there! Simply cut the recipe in half and enjoy
Red beans are kidney beans! 🙁 I already put kidney beans in by the time I got to the bottom of the recipe where you clarify not to use kidney beans! Please include the types of beans that are acceptable in the recipe ingredients themselves please 🙂
Hi Annalisa, I am sorry for the confusion, but red beans are not the same as kidney beans. Red beans are smaller, but kidney beans will work–you may an extra 1/2 cup water and 10 minutes longer. I hope you can still enjoy!
I have a 3qt instapot and am totally new to it. Do I just Cut this in recipe in half? Also for the canned tomatoes with chili’s instead of salsa, what amount is that?
Hi Beth! It is typically not as easy as cutting recipes in half. You need to be sure that the recipe has at least 3/4 cup-1 cup liquid for your 3 quart instant pot. This recipe though can be cut in half. For the canned tomatoes, use a 10 ounce can.
Delicious and easy. I stuffed the rice/beans into peppers and baked.
Oh what a great idea to stuff peppers with this rice and beans! Thanks for the idea Niru!
I’m pretty new to the IP. Can I double this recipe in an 8qt pressure cooker and it work the same and need the same amount of time? Thank you!
Hi Meg! Yes, that will work. Just keep in mind it may take a bit longer to come to pressure. Enjoy!
Hi there! Is there any way to add chicken in while this is cooking without messing up the cook on the rice and beans?
Hi Lexi! You can certainly add in chicken, just remember chicken cooks much faster than dried beans and brown rice. So I would use white rice, canned beans, and cubed chicken and cook for 3 minutes on high pressure. Enjoy!
I have made this 3 times in 3 weeks, with a bit of adjusting each time. For whatever reason, the dried pinto beans were still a bit tough after 25 min, so I soaked them first. Perfect. I also added either a frozen hambone or 2-3 frozen thin pork chops. They both worked great! Thank you for this cheap but super delicious addition to my meal plan!
Hi Sally, thank you for sharing your modifications. Pinto beans in the instant pot are firmer than canned beans, but the soaking tip is great. And love the idea of adding meat to it.
Hello!
Delicious recipe, but I got impatient after 17 minutes of natural release, so the beans were still a little chewy. How long is “naturally”?
Thanks!
HA! I understand impatience Ryan! Rice and Beans take the longest for pressure to release in the Instant Pot. It may take up to 25-30 minutes. My NPR is about 20 minutes for this recipe for me. If you want your beans SUPER soft, you can soak prior to cooking this recipe or add an additional 1/2 cup liquid and extra 5 minutes of cook time.
I love rice and beans and this seems like such a simple and delicious way to prepare them! Can’t wait to try it!
Thanks Nellie! It is super fast and a family favorite.
Wow! I think this Instant Pot Rice and Beans sounds and LOOKS amazing! I think even my kids will love it!
It is picky kid approved for sure Kasey 🙂
Definitely not enough liquid. After reading the assurances that the liquid levels were fine, I made this exactly as written. It was so dry!!! I did a natural pressure release, and when I opened the lid there was no moisture. The rice was dry and the beans were mostly hard. I liked the idea and the seasonings were fine, but it definitely needs more liquid!!
I am so sorry Jeni that this was dry for you. I have made this many times and we love it. The beans and rice are drier, but full of flavor and cooked perfectly. I hope you try it again, but next time increase the liquid by 1 cup.
Thank you! I am definitely going to give this another try with more liquid, because it is easy, healthy, and the seasonings were great.
2 Questions:
Is long grain brown rice an equivalent substitute?
I have made brown rice with a 1:1.25 ratio of rice to liquid, so is the additional liquid enough for the beans?
Thanks!
Hi Cheryl! I always use a 1:1 ratio of water to rice in my IP, so I find the liquid to be more than enough. However, if you like your rice really moist–add in 1/2 cup to 1 cup more liquid Hope that helps!
This sounded SO good that I immediately went in my kitchen and started a pot for my lunches for the next few days! I have never before done that – usually I just file those recipes away for future use; but, your recipes are always so practical, tasty, inexpensive, and healthy! Thank you!
Oh Susan that makes me so happy! I love hearing that you are inspired by my recipes! Enjoy!