Instant Pot Ayocote Negro Beans

Instant Pot Ayocote Negro Beans. Big black Mexican beans in the pressure cooker.

I got a bag of these big beautiful black beans in my Rancho Gordo bean box, and had to give them a try.

Ayocote Negro beans have grown in the Mexican highlands since pre-Columbian times. Ayocote is Spanish for runner beans, a name they picked up from the Aztec and pre-Aztec civilizations in the region. That said, don’t think of Mexican Black Beans (or Chipotle black beans) when you cook them. They have the runner bean flavor profile, starchy and meaty, similar to scarlet runner beans.

Jump to:

• 🥫Ingredients
• 🥘 Substitutions
• 🛠 Equipment
• 📏Scaling
• 🤨 Soaking Ayocote Negro beans
• 💡Tips and Tricks
• Instant Pot Ayocote Negro Beans
• ☃️ Storage
• 🤝 Related Posts
• 💬 Comments

🥫Ingredients

This is a simple dried bean recipe, so the ingredients list is pretty basic

• Dried Ayocote Negro beans (Marcella beans are particularly good)
• Half an onion
• Bay leaf

🥘 Substitutions

If you can't find Ayocote Negro beans, Scarlet Runner beans are a good replacement.

Don’t have half an onion? Substitute a couple of cloves of garlic, unpeeled. (Peeled garlic will disintegrate into the bean broth, which I find a little too garlicky. Whole cloves can be fished out of the pot.)

🛠 Equipment

A 6-quart pressure cooker. Pressure cooker dried beans are one of the reasons I became a pressure cooker convert. Try them - you’ll never go back to canned beans. (OK, maybe you will, for convenience - but see the Storage section for tips on make ahead freezer beans.)

📏Scaling

This recipe scales down easily - cut everything in half if you don’t need as many beans, or have a 3-quart pressure cooker. Scaling up runs into space issues; if you have an 8-quart pressure cooker, you can double this recipe, but it’s too much to fit in a 6-quart pressure cooker.

🤨 Soaking Ayocote Negro beans

I do soak these beans (unlike regular black beans). Ayocote Negro beans are so big that they need a soak to cook evenly in a pressure cooker. I do an overnight soak - when I remember - and a quick soak when I don’t remember. (Which, unfortunately, is most of the time. I’m an enthusiastic home cook, but not that good at planning ahead.)

💡Tips and Tricks

• Salt your bean water! “Salt toughens beans” is a myth. Salting before cooking helps season the beans all the way through as they cook.
• If your beans are still tough when the cooking time is over, especially any “floaters” at the top of the pot, give the beans a stir, lock the lid, and pressure cook for another five minutes. Older beans take longer to cook, and if the beans have been sitting in the shelf at your store for a while, they may need extra time.
• Simmer to thicken: If you have the time, and want thicker bean liquid, simmer the beans for 20 minutes after pressure cooking. I set my Instant Pot to Sauté mode adjusted to low, set the timer to 20 minutes, and leave the lid off to let the broth evaporate.

Inspired by: Ayocote Negro Bean – Rancho Gordo

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☃️ Storage

A 2-cup container of beans, with cooking liquid, replaces a 15-ounce can of beans from the grocery store. They’ll last in the refrigerator for a few days, and freeze for up to 6 months. I always make extra beans, and freeze the leftovers for use in other recipes. Freezer beans are ready to use with about 5 minutes in the microwave, and are so much better than canned.

🤝 Related Posts

Instant Pot Scarlet Runner Beans
Instant Pot Chipotle Beans
Pressure Cooker Santa Maria Pinquito Beans
My other Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker Recipes

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