After pounds and pounds of bean pressure cooking I got it right. Here is your fail-proof guide for Instant Pot Beans. Instant Pot black beans, Instant Pot pinto beans, instant pot kidney beans, and many more, basically an encyclopedia about cooking beans in the instant pot.
After seeing the same question popping up over and over again in several Facebook groups: “how to cook beans in the instant pot”, and after reading answers that couldn’t differ any more, I felt the urge to find out timings for myself. Just like back when I saw the same happening for Instant Pot Rice.
I’ve read people recommending cook times anywhere from 10 minutes all the way up to 60 minutes. How can that be? Why do the recommended times differ SO MUCH?!? I had to get to the bottom of it.
Well, first of all, many times it isn’t even specified what kind of beans. There are soooooo many kinds and they all cook in different times. Asking “how to cook beans in the instant pot” is basically an incomplete question and often results in incomplete answers.
Second of all, it is never specified what the beans are meant for. Depending on if you want them for a salad or a soup makes a huge difference. For a salad you want them barely cooked so they hold their shape, stay dry and don’t become mushy. For a soup you want them super cooked and falling apart by themselves so you can blend them and create a creamy soup.
And lastly,it is rarely specified if the cooking time is requested or suggested for soaked or dry beans. This also plays a huge role in timing.
Which brings us to the first question and answer in our Instant Pot Beans Encyclopedia.
Soaking or No Soaking for Instant Pot Beans
Let me answer one important thing first: yes, you CAN cook both, soaked and unsoaked beans in the pressure cooker. So if you desperately want to skip the soaking process you absolutely CAN.
The question, however, should not be if you CAN cook no soak beans. The question is: do you really want to skip the step?
I never (literally never!) skip soaking. Why? Because it eases digestion A LOT. I, for one, don’t love feeling bloated and passing wind. If you enjoy that, by all means, go ahead and skip the step ;)
If you’re more like me and like eating healthy and yummy food without bloating and farting (high five my friend) then soak your beans for 8-12 hours before pressure cooking.
Generations and generations before us already knew about this trick and I rely a lot on their experience. A pressure cooker doesn’t break down the beans to a point where soaking isn’t necessary anymore to ease digestion. Maybe one day someone will invent a magical machine that can but for now, there isn’t one on the market that I know.
What the instant pot does it cook beans faster to reach the same consistency a regular pot with water does. That’s the advantage of pressure cooking. The soaking is still necessary.
There are other tricks to ease digestion such as adding “epazote” during the cooking process and/or removing the foam that forms on top. The most important and most effective is soaking though. Don’t skip the soaking even if you add epazote and remove the foam.
Sooooo, all experiments run for this post are for beans soaked for 12 hours at room temperature using filtered water. Then drained and rinsed and cooked in just plain, fresh, unsalted water.
Ok, now that we’ve had have that discussion let’s get to the next point.
Instant Pot Black Beans
My fist tests were run with Black Beans and that’s how I found out that the discrepancies of timing are often times likely due to what the beans are meant for.
After cooking for 30 minutes + complete natural pressure release the beans were nice and soft and perfect to use for a soup. They were cooked to the necessary consistency to blend into a smooth black bean soup.
However, they were way too soft to drain and use for a salad. They were much much softer than the black beans you’d find in a can for example.
The canned black beans are pretty firm and after draining ideal for a salad for example.
So the next goal was to find the best pressure cook timing to achieve firm beans for salad AND a consistency somewhere in between for Instant Pot Beans and Rice. Not too firm and not too soft.
After 20 minutes of high pressure cooking and full natural pressure release the Instant Pot Black Beans were thoroghly cooked through but still firm. I was able to drain them and use them in a salad.
After 25 minutes they had that perfect consistency for Instant Pot Beans and Rice.
Instant Pot Pinto Beans
I thought all beans the same size would cook in the same time but no. It seems different beans have a different composition and cook differently.
Pinto Beans cooked faster in my experiment compared to black beans. I was very surprised actually. So much so, that I will have to rerun this experiment. Pinto Beans were the last beans I experimented with and I’m wondering if my Instant Pots (<– yes, plural, I have several because I’m obsessed, haha) were maybe overheating and cooking stuff faster?
Anyway, the Adzuki Beans definitely confirmed the fact that different beans cook at different times regardless of size.
The Instant Pot Pinto Beans were perfect for draining and using in salads after just 15 minutes high pressure and full natural pressure release.
Perfect for rice and beans after 20 minutes high pressure cooking + NPR. And suitable for soups after 25 minutes HP + NPR.
Flavoring Instant Pot Beans (salt while or after cooking)
Depending on what you want your Instant Pot Beans for you may or may not want to flavor them.
If you want your beans for a salad which will have a salad dressing it’s probably best to simply cook them in filtered water and nothing else. Drain the water and use the unflavored beans for your salad.
For Instant Pot Beans and Rice or for soup you’ll probably want to flavor while cooking. There is a couple simple rules to follow. Add onion, garlic, spices (except salt) before or during cooking but salt after cooking. Salt can keep beans from softening up so you want to avoid adding while they are cooking but rather once they’re already soft.
What I love to do is to prepare a “sofrita” first. You hit the sautée button first and while the pot heats you peel and finely chop onion and garlic. Once hot, add a splash of oil, the chopped onion and garlic and sauté until nice and brown. Then add beans and water and cook as instructed in the recipe card below.
And here the printable fool-proof timing guide for Instant Pot Beans:
Instant Pot Beans
Ingredients
- 1-3 cups beans (black beans, pinto beans, adzuki beans, kidney beans, navy beans, or mung beans)
- water
Instructions
- Add beans to a large bowl and cover with abundant filtered water. At least 4 times as much water as beans. Cover with a clean dish towel. Soak for 8-12 hours on the kitchen counter. (If you soak them longer timings will differ!)
- Drain beans and rinse really really well.
- Add beans to instant pot and cover with fresh water to about 2 inches above the beans (two thumbs thick).
- Put on the lid and turn the knob to the sealing position.
- Press manual (or pressure cook on newer models) set to high pressure and adjust timing follows depending on if you need the beans for salad/rice and beans/soup:Black Beans: 20/25/30 minutes + 20 mins NPRPinto Beans: 15/20/25 + 20 mins NPRNavy Beans: 25/30/35 + 20 mins NPRKidney Beans: 25/30/35 + 20 mins NPRAdzuki Beans: 5/10/15 + 20 mins NPRMung Beans: 0 + 10 min NPR / 0 + 15 min NPR / 1 + 20 mins NPR
- Let pressure release naturally for specified time above, then, if safety pin hasn't dropped on its own yet, release remaining pressure manually.
Mini Cheesecake #Fail
Tender Lamb Stew with Homemade Potato Mash
Cucumber Tomato Feta Salad
Karin says
THANK YOU!!! I hate when I’m searching “pinto beans soaked instant pot” and the results are like BLACK BEANS NO SOAK REQUIRED… The google machine finally did me right by bringing me here :)
Lorena Grater says
I could go on and on and on about google….but I will spare you, hehe. I’m so glad you found me :)
Sarah says
OMG! I love your Green Healthy Cooking blog! I could get lost here for hours. You have healthy recipes for everyone that are well thought out, creative, and adventurous. Plus videos too. Wow. Thank you Lorena for creating such a beautiful site 💕
Lorena Grater says
Thank you so much for your kind comment :)
Ramiro Espinosa says
OMG! This is so damn elaborate! Thank you so much! I’m sitting at the table with a pot full of your-guidance black beans! Came out as you described! I love instruction and this was really easy to follow! I can’t wait to ravage these beans tomorrow! Thank you!
Laura says
This is the very best time table guide and method I have found for cooking dry beans in an instant pot! Thanks for all your work experimenting and publishing!
Lura Gilliam says
I’ve been canning for years and have never heard of NPR , Please explain you chart better. 10/15/20 so which is it. and do you hadd that to NPR?
Lorena Grater says
Dear Lura, I explain everything in the blog post. 10/15/20 mins of high pressure cooking depending on the type of consistency you want to achieve and NPR is “Natural Pressure Release” meaning you don’t touch the sealing valve once the cooking time is over and rather let pressure release naturally.
Sarah says
How long would you suggest cooking 2 lbs of pinto beans? I’m cooking for a large family gathering. I’ve found that 50 minutes with NPR works for non-soaked pinto beans, but I want to start adding the soaks.
Lorena Grater says
Hey Sarah, the amount of beans doesn’t matter. 1 cup or 2 lbs cook in the same HP cooking time. The pot takes longer to get to pressure and to release pressure so that’s where the timing naturally adjusts.
Kaye M. says
Thank you for all your research on cooking beans (and rice) in the Instant Pot! I am hoping you will soon add Lima beans, both green and white (AKA Butter beans) and small red beans (not kidney). I see lots of requests for recipes for both Lima and Butter beans on Instant Pot Facebook groups. I am interested in the small red beans because of my Mother’s recipe of red beans and rice with salt pork which is the way she learned how to cook them while growing up in the Panama Canal Zone.
JH says
I did baby white lima for 8 plus I think 10 mins NPR then quick release and they were too mushy. Hope that helps!
April Saunders says
Wow! Thank you for this super informative post. I’ve actually never soaked beans before (just got an InstaPot) so I will absolutely be soaking those beans. Actually on the counter now😄Thanks again!
Mary says
I haven’t tried making beans in my IP in a while because I haven’t had much luck in the past. I also like to soak my beans because of the reason you mentioned. It seemed like everytime I cook them, they were mush. I will definitely save this post for the next time I’m going to cook beans. Thanks for all the trouble you went to to try to standardize this. I was getting to the point where I thought buying an IP was a bad decision.
PG says
Thanks for this post. I have one request for you – in that handy picture with the Instant Pot and all the different types of beans, it would be great if you could label each of the beans underneath each cup, and also a legend that says the numbers are for salad/rice + beans/soup – that way everything is in one place and that is all I need to refer to.
(Also, am I correct that the order of the beans in the picture from left to right is the opposite of the order you have the beans listed in the “INGREDIENTS” section? Just wanted to confirm)
Lorena Grater says
Thank you so much for your suggestion. Unfortunately, I did that with another post I have and people started stealing my image left and right to promote their own content on Pinterest. It’s brutal :( In the picture with the timings the order of the beas is from left to right: mung, navy, pinto, adzuki, kidney, black
Amanda says
That IS brutal! Sorry to hear. Thanks for your recipe/method on Pinto beans! Question: if there is still liquid after cooking, do I drain it?? Will all the flavor go with it?
Lorena Grater says
I personally only drain if I use the beans for salad as I don’t want a soupy salad but for soups and stews I leave it in because it’s delicious.
Christine says
I’d like to know what’s the watts on your instant pot Lorena ? And what size is your instant pot??
Lorena Grater says
I have a 6-quart 7-in-1. From what I undestand 6-quarts are 1,000 watts but I just googled it, I’m not sure it’s accurate.
Amanda says
Do you think elevation would have anything to do with different cook times/mushiness? I’m at 3000ft and it seems like my legumes are always mushy at the suggested times.
Lorena Grater says
Elevation does play a role but a very very small one. You need more cooking time usually but minimally. 5% extra cooking time per 1,000 feet after 3,000 feet. At your hight, you would actually not even change the time. However, after many many comments and speaking to bean harvesters and packagers I’ve come to the conclusion bean age and soaking/cooking water chemistry play the biggest role. How much calcium etc water plays a big role. I’m running tests with brine soaking to see if this can make things more consistent for people.
Sally says
I’m at 5300 feet an just came out with mush. I was surprised as I thought they would be, if not perfect, slight under cooked. I guess it will be a pseudo refry tonight! Next time!
Lorena Grater says
Sally, may I ask how your tap water is? Is it very hard? Does it have a lot of calcium? Meaning, do you usually have calcium buildup around your faucets and shower glass or curtain? I’ve had a discussion with someone about water quality and how high-calcium water breaks down legumes a lot faster. My water here in Montreal is very very soft. I have 0 build-up and literally never have to scrub my shower.
Constance says
we like the large lima beans and I’ve always cooked on the stove. I would like to cook lima beans that have been soaked in the instant pot. How long do I cook them in the ip and how much liquid. I know in past, I’ve put in 4-5 cups of liquid which was too soupy. Can you please help. Thanks.
Lorena Grater says
Hi Constance, unfortunately, I haven’t tested those types of beans so I don’t know.
Robert Muzzy says
I just cooked some soaked black beans 20 minutes with a 20 minute NPR and they came out far too mushy. Next time I’ll eliminate the NPR completely.
Poseidon Fan says
Best I’ve seen on the topic :-) yes,..great to explain range of times for desired outcomes. I use IP every day for oatmeal and beans, still learning as I explore new kinds of beans. Beans vary, peoples digestion vary; I have not found a noriceable difference betw soaking and not. Also, soaking 8-12 hours requires a bit of advanced planning, which I can do… yet alas I am often asked to prepare beans on shorter notice. And I find beans cooked from dry state in IP are WAY better than any can of beans, hands down. So…. for those who try no-soak, can you offer and “adjustment” to cook time? Thanks in advance…
*****
Amanda says
I didn’t notice a difference either until I started soaking AND sprouting the beans. MUCH better for my digestion. But you’re right, everyone is different. Do what works for you!