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
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.
Ingredients
- 1-3 cups beans (black beans, pinto beans, adzuki beans, kidney beans, navy beans, or mung beans)
- water
Instructions
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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.
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Drain beans and rinse really really well.
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Add beans to instant pot and cover with fresh water to about 2 inches above the beans (two thumbs thick).
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Put on the lid and turn the knob to the sealing position.
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Press manual (or pressure cook on newer models) and adjust timing follows depending on if you need the beans for salad/rice and beans/soup:
Black Beans: 20/25/30 minutes + full NPR
Pinto Beans: 15/20/25 + full NPR
Navy Beans: 25/30/35 + full NPR
Kidney Beans: 25/30/35 + full NPR
Adzuki Beans: 5/10/15 + full NPR
Mung Beans: 0 + 10 min NPR / 0 + 15 min NPR / 1 + full NPR
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Let pressure release naturally until full pressure has released. This means, do not touch the valve once the instant pot beeps. Simply do nothing and wait for the safety pin to drop on its own.
Recipe Notes
Calorie information for 1 cup black beans cooked in water.
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Cristina says
Great guide and so needed! Thanks!
Tonya says
This is an incredibly helpful IP bean cooking guide!! Where would beans for hummus fit in this guide? Are they closest to “salad beans” or “beans and rice”?
Lorena says
I’m so happy it’s useful to you Tonya :) Chickpeas I usually cook 20 minutes on high pressure and complete natural pressure release. I want to do another post about chickpeas and lentils and maybe dried peas. I’ll see if I can get the testing done this fall.
Donna says
Thank you so much Lorena for “doing ALL the work” on getting beans right. Appreciate your blog & sharing on your trials & suggesses so we can just soak, cook, & enjoy.
Lorena says
You are very welcome Donna :) Thank you for appreciating my work.
Linda says
Great article, looking forward to utilizing your research.
Question .. have you researched ways to CAN beans so they are like what we buy at the store? First, and only, attempt at canning beans completely annihilated them! More importantly, I have to learn how to can Cream of Mushroom & Cream of Chicken soups (was diagnosed celiac, no wheat, etc). Have you been successful in this? There are polar opposite opinions on canning with or without the cream. Would love to hear if you have a success story on this as I really need to accomplish this.
Lorena says
Hi Linda, I don’t have experience with canning or preserving in general. Beans I freeze and that works well. I freeze them in 1.5-2 cup portions in reusable air-tight sealable silicone bags. For canning and preserving in general I HIGHLY recommend the cookbook “Batch” from Dana Harrison and Joel MacCharles. I have it at home and I absolutely love it. ALL the info you will ever need about preserving.
Vicki says
So, you use the manual button instead of the Bean/Chili button? Have you ever used the Bean/Chili button and had different results?
Lorena says
I only use the manual button because it’s the only one that gives me the option to choose time and pressure. For rice for example the button is completely useless I find. It only serves for white rice, no other rice and it doesn’t cook as nicely as I cook setting everything manually.
Adrian @ Breezy Brain says
I usually cook soaked beans in an uncovered pot and it takes 1-2 hours (depending on which type). Never used a pressure cooker for beans but I’m impressed by how much time (and money) it can save. Will sure remember these tips the next time I cook beans.
Lorena says
I’m happy your find my guide useful Adrian :) Any soaking is better than no soaking. 8-12 hours is my favorite.
Kate says
Your IP “recipe” for short grain brown rice worked really well. Will soak kidney beans overnight and try your bean recipe in the morning. Thank you!
Lorena says
I’m so happy you liked it Kate! Thank you for stopping by and commenting :)
Janice says
What does the 0+10, 0+15, 1+ mean (mung beans) ?
Lorena says
0 minutes on high pressure + 10 minutes natural pressure release. It’s all explained in the blog post Janice.
Vicki says
I reread the blog post 3 times and don’t see the explanation about the mung beans. (0 minutes on high pressure + 10 minutes NPR). Can you please explain here, thank you.
Lorena says
Hey Vicky, 0 minutes on high pressure + 10 minutes NPR simply means that you set your Instant Pot to Manual > High Pressure and then set the time to 0 minutes. Which means the pot will get all the way to high pressure and immediately stop heating and turn to keep warm function. You leave it like that for 10 minutes without touching and then you release the remaining pressure until the pin drops, open and enjoy.
Lisa says
Thanks — hate it when beans for salads are mushy! How long does the NPR take? Seems different for me each time and I suspect I wait too long…
Lorena says
There is no rhyme or reason to it. No matter what I cook, no matter what amount and no matter if it’s the same amount of the same thing, NPR is ALWAYS different. After 20 minutes it’s defo save to just turn the valve and let the last bit of steam off manually if there is any in there at all. Sometimes the safety pin is just stuck and by turning the valve you notice no pressure in there anymore. It’s save to shake the lid a little so the pin drops and you can open.
M says
I’ve done several experiments regarding adding salt vs not adding salt to the bean cooking process and have found the salt myth to be well, a myth. Beans taste better with salt! Soaked and salted is the way for me! Thanks for such a good blog post!
Lorena says
You are very welcome! I’ve tested it, too and noticed a slight difference. Nothing major. It’s mostly following the Mexican grandmas advice because she’s grandma, lol
Jennifer says
This is the post I’ve been looking for! Thank you so much! I have a pot of black beans on now (soaked of course!), and a second pot of white beans waiting. Going to bag and freeze them for quick simple meals!
Lorena says
I’m so happy you found my post useful Jennifer!!! :D