How To Cook Black Beans In Instant Pot

How To Cook Beans In The Instant Pot

Once you’ve got your timetable picked out and you know how long your bean is going to take, it’s time to get cooking.

All you need to do to cook beans in the instant pot is add them into your pot, followed by 2 3x that amount of water. So if you’re using 1 cup of dried beans , you’d follow that with about 2 3 cups of water.

Basically, you want the beans to be fully submerged or else they won’t cook evenly.

From there, just pop on your lid, make sure your vent is sealed, choose your time and TURN OFF the keep warm setting! I’ve found this to be a really helpful trick to avoid mushy beans as the keep warm setting continues to cook them.

Once your Instant Pot has come to pressure, let it do its thing until the timer runs out. Then let the pressure naturally release we’ve also included those times in the free guide and you’re done.

See how simple? It’s seriously a game changer!

More Ways To Use Instant Pot Black Beans

• Instant Pot Black Beans and Rice: CLASSIC! Mix with brown rice for a simple meal. You can also top with chicken, a fried or poached egg, and avocado or salsa.
• Add to a tofu or egg scramble.
• Mash with avocado and spread on toasted bread for next-level avocado toast .
• Fill burritos, quesadillas, enchiladas, tacosand all other good things involving tortillas and cheese.
• Make the Cuban Beans and Rice that Im sharing later this week!

Do You Need To Soak Beans Before Pressure Cooking

You do not need to soak beans before cooking them in an Instant Pot pressure cooker. Unsoaked beans will cook evenly, with great flavor and texture. In my experience, unsoaked beans tend to split apart less during pressure cooking. So if you forget to soak your beans or just prefer not to, youll have no problem cooking delicious beans in your Instant Pot.

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What Types Of Beans Can You Cook In An Instant Pot

That’s a great question! And the answer is most. There’s really only one type of bean I wouldn’t bother cooking in the Instant Pot and that’s red lentils. Red lentils are super delicate, cook very quickly on the stove already and you’ll end up spending more time cooking them in your pressure cooker.

All other beans are fair game!

If you’re wondering where to get dried beans, my friends at Bob’s Red Mill are always my go-to! Their beans are super high quality and they have an amazing selection to choose from. Just check out the bean section on their site to see what I’m talking about!

Instant Pot Black Beans Using Soaked Dry Black Beans

Instant pot black beans can be used for tacos, burritos, burgers or any recipe that calls for cooked black beans. This instant pot black beans recipe using soaked black beans explains how to cook the dry black beans in the instant pot once you have soaked the black beans in water for enough hours including the water to beans ratio and time required to cook the black beans for different textures, depending on whether you want the beans soft, very soft or not soft but perfectly cooked.

Black beans is available as canned black beans and dry black beans, both are easily available online.

You can easily cook black beans using an instant pot using dry black beans or canned black beans. If you are using canned black beans, you can skip the soaking part.

If you are using dry black beans, we use the soaking method first to soak the dry beans and then easily cook the soaked beans using the instant pot.

You can actually cook dry beans in instant pot even without prior soaking, but if you are not in a hurry soaking the dried beans before cooking is the best practice, for best results and for better absorption of nutrients, so here we follow the soaking and cooking method.

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The Benefits Of Using Dried Beans Rather Than Canned Beans

Canned beans are wonderful for their convenience. You can simply open the can, drain and rinse the beans, and add them to whatever recipe you would like to place them in. Moreover, they dont even have to be heated if you prefer to just add them to something like a salad. Despite the easiness of using canned beans for all of your cooking needs, there are a few benefits to using dried ones instead.

Firstly, if you are on a sodium-restricted diet, you can control the amount of sodium in beans you make yourself much more easily than purchasing canned ones. Of course, you can purchase sodium-reduced canned beans or drain and rinse canned beans to reduce the sodium, but that still only reduces it so much. With dried beans, you can choose to add no salt at all if you want to.

Other benefits to eating dry beans to cooked canned beans is improved taste and texture. Canned beans tend to be a little mushy in texture whereas your pressure cooker beans will be cooked through but still have some texture. Moreover, while canned beans can have a metallic taste from the can they were sitting in, dried beans dont have a metallic flavour at all.

Ideas For Using Black Beans

This recipe is for a full pound of beans, which is a little over two cups dried and about six cups cooked. You can absolutely cut the recipe in half or do as I do and freeze some of the cooked beans for another day. As for what to do with those beans, here are a slew of simple ideas:

• Use as the main event for a DIY taco bar, along with bowls of salsa, grated cheese, cooked vegetables, salsa, and guacamole
• Toss with cooked brown rice and top with salsa, diced avocado, and a little grated cheese
• Add to your favorite taco salad
• Make into a salsa with equal parts cooked corn, diced avocado, and a squeeze of lime with tortilla chips for scooping
• Tuck into tortillas along with Jack cheese, spinach, and salsa to make nourishing quesadillas
• Blend with some of the bean cooking liquid, salsa, and lime juice to turn into a warm Tex Mex dip
• Scatter over a tray of nachos
• Spoon onto a warm corn tortilla and top with a fried egg

Health Benefits Of Eating Black Beans

Before I share all of my cooking methods for beans, I wanted to take a minute and share all of the nutritional value you can get from adding beans to your weekly menu plan.

Black beans are known to be high in protein and a protein favorite for vegetarians and vegans alike. For a better reference, one cup of cooked black beans is 8 grams of protein! They are also known to be high in fiber which can aid in digestion.

Black beans have also been shown to help reduce cholesterol and maintain good blood pressure levels as well!

Serve Instant Pot Black Beans

You can serve the Instant Pot Black Beans as a tasty side dish for tacos, enchiladas, burritos, or over rice with your favorite toppings.

Or, you can serve this Black Beans Recipe as an ultra-simple Black Beans Soup.

*Pro Tip: If you want to serve this pressure cooker Black Beans Recipe as a soup, boil the black beans in Instant Pot for another 4 5 minutes. This will add some more body to the black beans soup. Stir occasionally.;

Garnish your instapot black beans with chopped cilantro, then you are ready to serve!

Enjoy your Instant Pot Black Beans!~

Benefits Of Soaking Black Beans Before Pressure Cooking

Soaking black beans for these Instant Pot beans aids digestion, so that they induce less or minimal gas. Beans are coated in oligosaccharides, which is a type of sugar. Soaking black beans prior to cooking allows the human body to break down that coating earlier in the digestive process and limit the potential for uncomfortable digestion.

Another bonus to pre-soaking beans is that their nutrients become more bioavailable. This is because the soaking has helped break the beans down a little, so that you can extract all the nutrition from them more easily. Because of the digestive benefits, I highly recommend everyone soak their dry beans for at least 4-12 hours.

Personally, I cannot stomach unsoaked beans. So I take it even further and try to soak them for 48 hours. I still change the water and rinse the beans every 12 hours. Because of the frequent water changes my black beans are lighter in colour. But even if they dont look deep black, they still have the delicious black bean flavour that I love.

Instant Pot Black Beans ~ No Soak

Posted on Last updated:

No Soak Instant Pot Black Beans is loaded with sausage, onions, garlic, and more. The ultimate way to cook dried black beans!;

There will be a few dishes that you will make in the Instant Pot that you will consider life-changing.; I have a few dishes like my instant pot lemon cream cheese dump cakeand instant pot weight watchers pineapple angel food cake, those were both pretty mind-blowing once I discovered I could make cakes in my instant pot.;

How To Use Instant Pot Black Beans To Replace Canned Beans In A Recipe

If you are used to using canned beans in your favorite black bean recipes but would like to replace with these cooked Instant Pot beans, one regular 15-ounce can contains about 1.5 cups of drained black beans. I divide cooked beans into deli containers or silicone storage bags for storage.

I measure 1.5 cup of drained beans into each storage container to make them easy to add to black bean dishes and top them up with some of the cooking liquid.

As a result, each container equals 1 can of beans. In the case of this black bean Instant Pot recipe, 1 pound dry beans results in 6.5 cups cooked black beans. This is actually equal to more than 4 cans. For a price comparison, a pound of dried beans may cost between $3 and $4, whereas a single can could cost between $2 and $3 on its own. The bottom line is that using dried beans can save a lot of money.

How To Cook Black Beans In Instant Pot

• First, add oil to the inner pot of your pressure cooker and turn it to saute mode.
• Add the veggies to the pot and saute for about 3 minutes.
• Add the Bay leaf and spices to the pot.

• Add the beans and water, stirring to deglaze the pot and incorporate the flavorful sauteed bits from the bottom of the pot.

• Cancel sauté mode, then close the lid and make sure the pressure dial is set to sealing mode.
• Set your Instant pot to manual and cook for 35 minutes .
• When the cooking time is finished, allow a natural pressure release.
• When the pressure release is finalized, take the lid off and remove the bay leaf.
• Gently stir the beans, then serve.

How To Cook Instant Pot Black Beans

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How Long Does It Take To Cook Black Beans In The Pressure Cooker

My recipe testing found that, for the water-to-black-bean ratio used, 35 minutes of high pressure followed by 20 minutes of natural release yielded beans that had the perfect amount of chew. They retained their shape on the outside and were tender and creamy on the inside.

If you add the cooking time up , its still more than an hour, but the beauty of the method is that its completely hands off. Its also about an hour faster than cooking the dried beans on the stove with the quick-soak method.

Does Salt Affect The Cooking Time

I used to think adding salt to dry beans might slow down the cooking time, but over time Ive learned that the age of your dry beans has more to do with fluctuating cooking times than the salt does. So, feel free to use salt and enjoy more flavorful beans! The recipe below is my go-to seasoning combination.

How To Buy And Store Black Beans

When buying black beans, make sure they are:

• Whole and not cracked,
• Dry and not moist,
• Fresh and not old or stale . Beans must be cooked within a year of its harvest date.

Moreover, store beans in a cool, dark place such as a pantry, either packed in a plastic bag or in an airtight container. Although they can keep its nutritional value for 2-3 years, preferably use them within a year from the harvest date because old beans may never become tender enough to consume.;

By Step Instructions For Instant Pot Beans

• Rinse beans well: Rinse your beans over cool water in a strainer, removing any particles or pebbles.
• Add beans and water: Add beans and water to the Instant Pot, as well as any seasonings or additional vegetables.
• Set cooking time: Close the lid on sealing position.;Using the above cheat-sheet, set the cooking time on High Pressure.
• Let Instant Pot naturally release: Allow the pressure cooker to natural pressure release . Open the lid once the pin drops.

Tips For The Perfect Instant Pot Black Beans

• Firmness: If you find that the beans are too hard or too soft you can adjust the firmness by adjusting your cooking time.
• Liquid: Use water, chicken, or beef broth instead of veggie if you desire
• To Spice or Not to Spice: If you dont plan to use these in a specific recipe you can leave the seasonings out and use water to cook them in. You can also change up the spices to fit your ingredient needs.

Cooking Dried Black Beans

Dry black beans and beans in general, are cheap and a great source of plant-based protein. They can be a little confusing to cook at first, as they take a long time to cook, unless soaked overnight.;;

Black beans dont have to be soaked, though it will shorten the cooking time, and some people feel it makes beans more easily digestible. I never soak beans when cooking in the Instant Pot unless cooking in a soup , or I really want the beans to hold their shape.;

Dried beans do need to be rinsed before using, just like lentils and other pulses that may have other little bits of debris.;

Saute Onion In Instant Pot

Heat up Instant Pot using Sauté More function.

*Tip: For older versions press Saute button, then Adjust button. For newer versions press Saute button twice.

Wait until it says HOT .;

Add 1 tbsp olive oil in Instant Pot.

Add in chopped onions, then saute for 3 minutes.

Add in 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp oregano, and 3 bay leaves.

Saute for another minute.

Add in minced garlic, then saute for 30 seconds.

What Are Black Beans

As you can see by the many recipes containing either dry or canned beans, black beans are not new to me. ;They are very popular in Brazil including in Rio de Janeiro. I grew up both making and eating them daily.; So be assured that we provide the best recipe as well as all that you need to know about this plant-based protein source.

Black beans, also called;black turtle beans, are a legume native to the Americas. Theyre a staple in Latin American and Caribbean cuisines such as Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, and more. In the United States, they are present in Creole cooking and Tex-Mex cuisine.

They are cheap, versatile, and healthy food, available both canned and dry worldwide.

Local markets and chain supermarkets often carry them in the;Latin or International aisle.;Of course, you can also find them in Latin American and Caribbean specialty stores as well as at Whole Foods.

Lastly, youll see that cooking black beans in the Instant Pot is convenient: it requires no soaking and is quick and easy.

Can Cooked Black Beans Be Frozen

Yes, cooked black beans are very freezer-friendly. They are also ideal for meal-prepping. Cook a large batch and portion it into individual servings for easy meals throughout the week.

Kept in a sealed container, cooked black beans can stay fresh for 3-5 days in the refrigerator. Frozen, theyll remain edible for up to 3 months.

We advise letting the beans cool down completely before storing them to preserve their optimal freshness.

Why Cook Beans & Chickpeas In The Instant Pot

I prefer to cook my beans and chickpeas in the Instant Pot rather than using other methods because:

• It’s quick and easy! Rather than hovering over a stovetop for long periods of time, using a pressure cooker allows you to cook your beans virtually hands-free.
• Your beans and chickpeas can be cooked with or without soaking them first. Both dry and pre-soaked beans work well in the Instant Pot.
• The beans always end up perfectly tender.
• You get to control the salt and add other flavors in the beans.

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