Black beans are a versatile ingredient to have ready for weeknight meals, to add to quesadillas or tacos, or to throw in a soup to make it more hearty and nutritious. Make some today and enjoy them all week!
Perfect Black Beans in the Instant Pot (Soaked or Not)
How to cook dried black beans in your Instant Pot
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 lb dried black beans
- 6 cups water
- 1 tbsp olive oil Any oil or fat may be used here.
- 2 bay leaves Optional
- 1 cup onion, diced Optional. 1 cup diced onion is about 1 medium onion.
- 6 cloves garlic, minced Optional. Substitute garlic powder by using 1/3 teaspoon of garlic powder for every clove of fresh garlic.
- 1 teaspoon salt* *to taste, after cooking beans
Instructions
- Sort and rinse dried beans.
- Pour beans into Instant Pot.
- Add water, oil, and optional seasonings.
- Check lid to make sure sealing ring and valves are inserted properly. Close the lid.
- Turn Steam Release valve to [Sealing].
- Set Pressure Cooking Program to [Pressure Cook] or [Manual] or [Bean/Chili].
- Make sure your Instant Pot is on HIGH pressure by pressing the [Pressure] button until it cycles to HIGH pressure. The LUX model of Instant Pot only has High pressure, so you can skip this step.
- Set pressure cooking time to 35 minutes by pressing the [+] or [-] button.
- Pause for 10 seconds while you wait for the Instant Pot to start. Or Press [Start] if you have a model that has a Start button, such as Ultra or Max.
- Instant Pot will heat up, come up to pressure, and display countdown while pressure cooking.
- Allow pot to Natural Release for at least 15 minutes before manually releasing the remaining pressure from the pot. Natural release time is cook time when cooking beans in the Instant Pot.
- Open the Instant Pot and add salt,* to taste.
- Stir well and serve as desired.
Notes
-
Always pressure cook beans with 1 tablespoon of oil or fat to keep foaming down.
- Remember that Natural Release time is cook time. The pot is still extremely hot and your beans are still cooking while the pot is slowly coming down from being under pressure. Do not skip the Natural Release step in cooking beans because they may not be done cooking when you get the lid open.
-
When you open the pot after cooking, stir and then taste test the beans. If they need extra time, simply set them to pressure cook for another 5 or so minutes. They will come to pressure fairly quickly at this point, because they are still very hot. Natural Release for 10 minutes and test again.
- If you prefer soaking your beans before cooking, try soaking for 6-8 hours or overnight. Then drain, rinse, and proceed with recipe.Â
- For a quicker soak, cover beans in hot water and soak for 1-2 hours before draining, rinsing and proceeding with the recipe.
- Soaking beans may prevent or reduce gas on your stomach, so if beans upset your digestion, try soaking them before cooking.Â
Nutrition
Calories: 147kcalCarbohydrates: 25gProtein: 8gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 0.3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 202mgPotassium: 586mgFiber: 6gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 8IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 56mgIron: 2mg
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