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
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 NPR
Pinto Beans: 15/20/25 + 20 mins NPR
Navy Beans: 25/30/35 + 20 mins NPR
Kidney Beans: 25/30/35 + 20 mins NPR
Adzuki Beans: 5/10/15 + 20 mins NPR
Mung 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.
Recipe Notes
Calorie information for 1 cup black beans cooked in water.
Very puzzled with some people getting mushed black beans and kidney beans with my times stated above and been trying to figure out why the discrepancies. I've tested the cooking times again with organic and conventional beans of different brands to figure out if that made a difference and it didn't so not sure what this could be attributed to.
I wonder if the age of the beans plays a role. If you were successful with the times please let me know and if you were not please let me know at what timings your beans were cooked to perfection so I can run even more tests.
At 10 minutes + NPR for black beans MY beans in MY pot had a sandy texture and tasted undercooked.
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Susan says
To eliminate bloating and gas (the farts) all you have to do is add a raw potato to the pot of beans. You don’t eat the potato. You toss it after the cooking is complete
Lorena says
Great tip :)
Stanford Lynx says
I am an old guy that wants to be able to cook various dry beans, for several uses. I have tried stove-top and soaking with very little success.
I just got my first ‘Instant Pot’ and look forward to trying your bean recipes. I wanted to try one pot, but do not have the time now 2:49 am to properly soak the beans.
Can I accelerate the soaking time by placing the beans in water in the pot set to slow cook for a couple of hours or so? Not really cooking them but soaking in hot water.
When I get back home I will have more time to try all your recipes. Thanks for sharing.
Lorena says
The soaking process is to make beans easier to digest. By accelerating the process you don’t get the benefit of easier digestion. You CAN quick soak, you CAN soak less time, you CAN even not soak at all (simply pressure cook longer) but in all cases, digestion will be more difficult. The reason I soak overnight (8-12 hours) is to make eating legumes easier on our bellies :)
Janette Stevens says
Have you tested Chickpeas?
Lorena says
Yes! I cook overnight-soaked chickpeas for 20 minutes on high pressure + full natural pressure release. But I’m guessing chickpeas aren’t any different from other legumes. If yours are very fresh they might need less time. The ones I buy always need at least 20 minutes.
Veronica says
I’ve used your method a number of times with perfect results! Do you know how many beans (soaked or unsoaked) can be cooked in an 8 qt vs a 6 qt Instant Pot? I read about this info in your wonderful page about cooking rice, and thought it would be helpful for beans. I have a 6 qt but just purchased an 8 qt (yay!)
Lorena says
Hi Veronica, the other day I had someone ask me if they could cook 2 lbs pinto beans in their 6-quart. I measured, soaked overnight and then put them in to see if they’d fill more than 2/3 and they didn’t. I filled with water to about 1 inch higher than the beans and everything fit perfectly. That’s the only thing I’ve tested. So I’d say 2 lbs is good for 6 quart. Probably 1 lbs for 3-quart and 2.5 lbs for 8-quart but I can’t guarantee because I don’t have a 3-quart and 8-quart to test.
Page says
Re: some beans cook faster, even of the same kind. I live in an area where pinto beans are grown. I have noticed that beans stored dry for a long time (years) take much longer to cook than more recently harvested beans. Hope that helps.
Lorena says
Yes! This is exactly what I’ve found out with all the useful comments over time. “Bean Age” is the main culprit of cooking times being so completely off for some people. I clearly must only get my hands on long-stored beans. All the stores around me probably get them from the same source or store them equally long before putting on the shelve.
Beth Larsen says
I did not see anyone mention altitude…..I happen to live at about 4500 ft elevation. Believe me, it makes a big difference! What altitude are you cooking at Lorena? It would be helpful to know that. There’s a formula for calculating additional time per additional 1000 ft of elevation. I can’t remember it at the moment, but if you’ll Google Boulder Locavore you will find it.
Beth Larsen says
p.s. Thanks Lorena for the timing….and I completely agree, soaking is a step not to be missed.
Lorena says
Elevation doesn’t play AS big a deal when it comes to beans. Elevation only matters after 2000 feet and only 5% per 1,000 above 2000 feet. So it’s 5% more cooking time at 2000, 10% at 3000, 15% at 4000, 20% at 5000. The times some people are reporting would make a difference of me living 10,000 below sea level and them 10,000 above sea level which obviously is impossible. Bean age is the main culprit for such crazy time differences. In your case for the beans, add about 20% more cooking time. I’m at less than 800 feet here in Montreal.
Jeanne says
I didn’t use your timing because my Instant Pot instructions said 6-8 minutes for black beans as opposed to your 20 minutes. I don’t understand why such a difference. Do you release steam right away? I let it subside naturally.
Lorena says
No, I use full natural pressure release as specified in the recipe card. Bean age plays a major role in how long they take. I cook my beans as instructed in the recipe card ALWAYS and have perfect results ALWAYS. Which is why I shared my experiment with others. My beans must be much older than yours I suspect. I get them from different stores and brands and use my timings for all of them with success.
Gisele Skelcher says
That is what I’m doing right now. How did they turn out at 6 minutes for black beans? I’m intending on doing full natural release
Jw says
Thanks – I’m going to try the Adzuki beans tonight. I have one question on the water level. If you cover the beans with two inches of water I would think that you have some unabsorbed water in the end. Do you just dump the beans into a strainer to remove the water?
Lorena says
I cover them with 2 inches on top of the top of the beans. I don’t know how to explain it but basically you have to make sure all beans are covered in water and then add a little more. Yes, there will be bean water left which you can drain if you like depending on the bean time. For Adzuki you probably want to drain but for pinto or black beans for example I store with the liquid so there is some to evaporate when I reheat :)
Beve says
The amount of water required to cook beans is also important…only half cup water for every 3 cup soaked beans…do not cover beans in water!…have benefited by charts in “vegan under pressure”
Melodie says
I think the difference in times may have to do with the size of your Instant Pot. As an example, I have an 8 quart and my mom has a 6 quart. Hard boiled eggs take 3 minutes in mine and 5 minutes in hers. Regarding bean cooking time, I just tried a quick Instant Pot soak for 5 minutes then with natural pressure release.
To my surprise, my white navy beans were soft with just a few al dente spots after this “soak”. Just a thought that size may matter when it comes to done vs mushy.
Kim says
Agreed. I am able to successfully slow cook in my 8 qt (6-8 hours on average setting) but my 6 qt doesn’t get stuff done even on high for 8+ hours. I’ve not looked it up to see if they have different heaters (for lack of a better word)