How To Make Black Beans In Instant Pot

Pressure Cook Black Beans

Add in 1 lb black beans and ½ tsp coarse kosher salt .

*Pro Tip: Adding salt to the black beans will not make it tough

Pour in 5 cups unsalted chicken stock, then give it a quick mix.

With Venting Knob in Venting Position, close the lid, then turn Venting Knob to Sealing Position.

• Pressure Cooking Method: High Pressure 50 minutes + Natural Release 20 minutes

After 20 minutes, release the remaining pressure by turning Venting Knob to Venting Position.

When Floating Valve drops, open the lid carefully.

Health Benefits Of Black Beans

About those black beans health benefits now Oh, they are plenty! And that makes me happy. Because anything thats healthy and delicious makes me happy.

Black beans are

• a form of complex carbs that give you energy without spiking up your blood sugar levels
• high in protein
• rich in vitamins vitamin K and B vitamins
• rich in minerals including magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, and calcium
• great for heart health they contain quercetin and saponin that promote heart health
• only 114 calories per cup.

Gotta love them beans! Am I right?

Mexican Instant Pot Black Beans

Man. Today I just feel like Im on a struggle bus when it comes to writing.

There are definitely some days when I wish I had a copywriter to just write all of my posts and optimize them for SEO. Life would be a breeze if that were the case. But then, I think back to why I started this blog in the first place. I dont want to just write about food and then be done. I want to meet you where youre at. Share my stories and my heart, hear yours and then give you some tips and tricks for the kitchen in the process.

Ahh I digress.

So, for todays post we are starting to take a mild turn from Mothers Day and Easter Recipes towards Cinco de Mayo recipes.

After all, it IS one of my favorite holidays or reasons to throw a party. Any excuse to have tacos, margaritas and chips and guacamole. Am I right?

Well, for last years party I made Cilantro Lime Rice and Charro Beans. Those two items were such a big hit that I actually ran out because people were choosing to make Rice Bowls instead of eating the tacos. This year Im taking notes and changing up my menu a bit, Ill still be making rice but going the Black Bean route instead. Honestly, I just like the taste of them better.

Don’t Miss: How To Cook Oxtail In Instant Pot

Adding Flavor To Dried Beans

Cooking beans from dried is not only cheap, its also easy to customize and make your own. You can make this recipe with only black beans and water, but I like adding a few simple ingredients like onions, garlic, bell peppers and bay leaves to help infuse a little more flavor into the bean broth.

I sauteed some onions and bell peppers in the Instant Pot using the saute function for 5 minutes to help bring out that sweet caramelized onion flavor. Then I mixed in some other seasonings before adding the beans and water.

Instant Pot Black Beans: Turning Up The Flavor

While you can use this method to make regular ol Instant Pot Black Beans , I wanted to make them extra special and flavorful.

I took inspiration from the islands and made these Instant Pot Black Beans Cuban by incorporating a few star ingredients in Cuban cuisine: bell pepper, onion, cumin, bay leaves, and oregano. I loved the extra depth of flavor and caught myself eating these right out of the pot.

While these black beans are Cuban inspired, you certainly dont need a Cuban recipe to use them.

The flavors and ingredients are fairly ubiquitous in Mexican cuisine too, so any Southwest style of recipe would be excellent with these seasoned black beans swapped in place of plain.

Want to make Instant Pot Black Beans Mexican? Try adding chili powder and, if you are feeling dangerous, a pinch of cayenne.

Read Also: Heating Tamales In Crock Pot

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.

Why Make Your Own Beans

• Taste: Homemade beans offer far more flavor than canned beans and you can season them to your needs and taste
• Save Money: Dried beans are less expensive than canned beans, and everyone likes to save money. Dried beans also store longer than canned beans.
• Less waste: Because you make your own you will also have less waste, no cans to throw away or recycle.
• Easy: Because you use the Instant Pot, its hands off and super easy. No babysitting the pot!
• Nutrition: Last but not least they are good for you! Black beans are rich in fiber and plant-based protein, and a fantastic source of folate, thiamin , phosphorus, manganese and magnesium.

You May Like: How Long To Cook Frozen Chicken Thighs

Ways To Customize This Recipe

• Keep them super simple. Use just the black beans, vegetable broth, salt and pepper for plain black beans. Use these beans anywhere black beans are called for. Just drain and rinse the beans as you would with canned black beans.
• Use everything but the spices. You can also opt to use black beans, onion, garlic, vegetable broth, salt and pepper.
• Skip the chopping. Instead of dicing onion and garlic, use 1 teaspoon EACH onion powder and garlic powder.
• Add more vegetables. For an even heartier black bean recipe add 1 2 diced bell peppers of any color. Or try these Instant Pot Cuban Black Beans which calls for 2 green bell peppers and green olives.

Pressure Cooker/instant Pot Black Beans

The complete guide and the best recipe for Pressure Cooker or Instant Pot Black Beans from scratch. This easy black beans recipe has flavorful and tender beans in a creamy broth. Its one of those pantry recipes and easy freezer meals that will cost around $0.25 cents per cup and will become a family favorite just like how to make black beans and feijoada recipe.

Black beans are a staple in Brazilian cuisine and one of those easy Brazilian recipes often prepared in the manual pressure cooker.

Down in Brazil, you can cook beans only with seasonings and vegetables or you can add bacon or another type of meat such as ham hocks.

This recipe for dry black beans in the Instant Pot is vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free! It is a healthy beans recipe packed with flavor!

Recommended Reading: Instant Pot Lid Dishwasher Safe

To Get My Latest Recipe Posts And Exclusive Monthly Newsletters Subscribe Here

• Follow me on ! Its my favorite!
• Peruse my boards for more vegetarian recipe ideas.
• Find daily vegetarian and healthy living ideas on my page.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. When you purchase products via my links, it doesnt cost you anything and I earn a tiny commission, which helps me continue to provide free content here on Lettys Kitchen. Thank you for supporting Lettys Kitchen!

PS If you make this recipe and love it, please consider leaving a blog post comment. Your comments help other readers learn more about the recipe. If youd also give the recipe a rating, Id be delighted!

Ratio Of Beans To Water In The Instant Pot

Ive tested several different water ratios:

• 1 pound black beans + 3 cups water: This ratio left me with inconsistent results. The beans on the bottom were cooked, but the beans on the top were still hard, because they werent totally covered in water as the beans expanded with cooking.
• 1 pound black beans + 4 cups water: Better, than the 3 cups, but still had a few beans on the very top that were a little too crunchy for my liking. I prefer consistently tender beans all around.
• 1 pound black beans + 5 cups water: Perfect! All of the beans turn out consistently tender with this amount of water. Yes, you will have some extra liquid in the pot when the beans are done cooking, but Ill show you how to handle that, without draining off the flavor, below.

In general, the perfect ratio of water for cooking black beans in the Instant Pot is 2.5 cups of water per 1 cup of dry beans. If the beans are soaked, you can get away with only 2 cups of water per 1 cup of soaked beans.

And yes, you can cook only 1 cup of dry black beans in your Instant Pot, if you want to. The cooking time will stay the same, no matter how many dry beans you use.

You May Like: How To Cook Ground Turkey In Instant Pot

Why This Recipe Works

• Diet friendly: Vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free
• No soaking required: Rice and beans cook at the same time and the beans don’t have to soaked
• Fix it and forget it: Move aside stove-top rice and beans, this recipe requires minimal active time and cooks while you attend to other things
• Versatile: Use as a filling in tacos, burritos, burrito bowls or just eat the rice and beans on their own piled high with your favorite toppings!

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.

Don’t Miss: How To Cook Beets In Instant Pot

The Fine Print: Why You Might Still Want To Soak Your Beans

This said, you do make a few concessions when you skip the soak. The biggest one is the beans’ appearance: You tend to get more split skins and “blow-out” beans when they’re not pre-soaked.

For my everyday cooking, I’m fine with beans that are a bit rough around the edges. If you’re preparing a bean dish for your in-laws or the Pope, however, you might want to plan ahead and set aside the time for a long, careful soak.

Secondly, some people feel that soaking their beans helps makes them easier to digest . Personally, I haven’t noticed a huge difference with my own digestion between soaked or un-soaked beans, but if you find soaking helpful in this regard, then by all means carry on.

If you’d like to soak your beans , then go for it! The pressure cooking time is generally about half the time as unsoaked.

Is It Ok To Salt The Water When Cooking Dried Beans

Absolutely! Its perfectly ok to salt the beans when cooking. In fact, it adds more flavor and doesnt keep them from fully cooking. The myth of salt interfering with cooking has finally been debunked .

Most of the time if beans dont cook correctly, is because they are old or you have hard water . Be sure to source beans from a place that replenishes them often and try using purified water or add ½ teaspoon baking soda to the water.

Don’t Miss: How To Cook Frozen Uncooked Tamales In Instant Pot

Instant Pot Black Beans: Why Should I Bother

While I still love canned black beans for their mega convenience factor and plan to continue using them often, Im glad to have this Instant Pot method at my disposal.

• The black beans cooked in the Instant Pot far outshone the canned version in both taste and texture.
• Where canned beans can be a little mushy, the Instant Pot Black Beans were pleasantly firm without being chewy, and the insides were tender and creamy.
• As odd as it sounds, I also felt that the Instant Pot Black Beans tasted more pure than ones Ive had from a can.
• Cooking your own black beans also means you can customize them by adding booster ingredients and spices. I opted to keep the Instant Pot Black Beans vegan, but for a special occasion, I can see incorporating black beans with bacon being a tasty adaptation. The spices are simple to edit .
• At $1 to $2 per pound, black beans are a bargain.
• These black beans are very freezer friendly, so you can cook a batch and portion them into 1 1/2 cupfuls that you can reach for any time a recipe calls for a 15-ounce can of black beans. A few to recipes get you started: Mexican Chicken Casserole, Slow Cooker Taco Casserole, and Mexican Chicken and Rice.

Cooking Times For Different Beans

If you’re wondering how long does it take to cook beans in Instant Pot, refer to this easy cheat-sheet for cook times. For each type of bean, they were soaked overnight, cooked on High Pressure, then the Instant Pot was naturally released.

Keep in mind that while you will set your cook time to the amount noted, actual cooking will take longer since the pressure cooker takes about 10 minutesto reach pressure.

Cooking Note: Beans take longer to cook when cooked with acidic ingredients, like tomatoes, vinegar or lemon juice. For example, Chickpeas cooked in seasoned water are done in 15 minutes, but in a recipe like Chana masala, which contains tomato and other acidic ingredients, they take 45 minutes.

Also Check: How To Cook Brussel Sprouts In Instant Pot

How To Soak Beans

Prefer soaking your beans? Soaking dry beans may help to remove their phytic acid content, which may help improve absorption of some minerals, especially iron. The only downside is that you have to plan ahead!

To soak black beans, cover the dry beans with roughly 3 inches of water in a large bowl. The beans will expand up to 3-times their size, so be sure to take this into account when choosing the size of the bowl.

Let them soak for a minimum of 6 to 8 hours, or overnight in the fridge. If you can remember to soak them in the morning, they should be ready for you to cook them at dinnertime.

Cooking Tips For Instant Pot Black Beans

• Salt beans after cooking, not before. This helps the beans to become tender while cooking.
• When Im in a hurry , I take a shortcut with this recipe by omitting the chopped onion and minced garlic. Instead, I add 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder along with the other seasonings. The beans are still so delicious!
• If you want to use your black beans in recipes for baked goods or non-Mexican flavored dishes, you can make these Instant Pot black beans without seasonings. Simply add only the beans and water to your Instant Pot and cook as directed in the recipe. You can salt the beans after cooking, if desired.

Read Also: How To Cook Tuna Steak In Instant Pot

How To Soak Your Black Beans

My preferred method for soaking my black beans in to do it overnight. But If you only have 8 hours, that will do the trick as well.

Before you soak your beans, give them a good rinse. You want to get all the dirt and stuff off. And while youre at it, pick through your dry beans to make sure there arent any little rocks trying to hang out in your dinner. Black beans are a bit notorious for having little rocks in them.

Once all that rinsing and picking through is done, simply throw your beans into a bowl. Cover them with 2-3 inches of clean water. Throw a clean dishtowel over the bowl to keep random debris and insects from ending up in the bowl. And let the bowl hang out at room temperature for 8 hours or overnight.

You can also add a tablespoon or two of an acidic medium to the soaking water to help make the beans more digestible.

How To Make Beans In A Slow Cooker:

Rinse the dry black beans well in a colander then transfer black beans in a large bowl and fill with water. Soak 8 to 24 hours. To speed up this process, soak the beans in boiling water for 2 hours.

Add the soaked black beans to your slow cooker, along with the remaining ingredients . Stir well and secure the lid on the slow cooker.

Slow cook on high for 3 to 4 hours, until black beans are cooked through. Taste for flavor and add more sea salt, and/or lime juice to taste.

Recommended Reading: How To Make Hard Boiled Eggs In Instant Pot

While This Recipe Can Be Frozen Please Remember To Do The Following:

• Wait for the beans to cool completely before freezing them .
• Use a container that is suitable for freezing.
• Add the beans to the container and cover them with cooking liquid. If you forgot to save it, cover them with clean, cold water.
• Label the bag or container with the contents, todays date AND the use-by time
• Defrost thoroughly before using.

And always make sure the beans are piping hot all the way through before eating them!