DadCooksDinner

  • Home
  • Rotisserie
  • Recipes
  • Tools
  • Books
  • Merch
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • Books
  • Tools
  • Merch
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • Books
    • Tools
    • Merch
    • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
  • ×
    Home » Recipes » Instant Pot Bean Recipes

    Instant Pot Cannellini Beans and Greens

    Published: Oct 7, 2021 · Modified: Jun 3, 2024 by Mike Vrobel · This post may contain affiliate links · 2 Comments

    Jump to Recipe
    A gratin dish of beans, greens, and cherry peppers, topped with a toasted bread crumb crust, with more cherry peppers in the background

    Instant Pot Cannellini Beans and Greens. Garlicky beans and greens from my pressure cooker, a great Italian-inspired side dish.

    What did I do on my summer vacation? I ate and drank my way around New York’s Finger Lakes wine region. One of the best things I had were the garlicky Utica Greens and Beans from Union Block Italian Bistro in Penn Yan.

    A gratin dish of beans, greens, and cherry peppers, topped with a toasted bread crumb crust, with more cherry peppers in the background
    Instant Pot Cannellini Beans and Greens

    Would you like to save this recipe?

    We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!

    This is a follow-up to Tuesday’s simple Cannellini bean recipe, adding a bit more pizzaz to a simple side dish of beans. If you want more details about cooking dried cannellini beans, check out that post.

    If you like this recipe, check out my Cranberry Bean Gratin, with Italian Borlotti beans. Or, if you’re looking for a simpler side dish of beans and broth, without the “bake the beans to crisp up the bread crumb crust, try these Cannellini beans with tomatoes and pancetta. (Or if you're looking for more American style greens, try my Instant Pot Turnip Greens recipe.

    Jump to:
    • 🥫Ingredients
    • 🥘 Substitutions
    • 🛠 Equipment
    • 📏Scaling
    • 🤨 Soaking cannellini beans?
    • 💡Tips and Tricks
    • Instant Pot Cannellini Beans and Greens
    • ☃️ Storage
    • 🤝 Related Posts
    • 💬 Comments

    🥫Ingredients

    • dried Cannellini beans
    • olive oil
    • pancetta
    • garlic (lots of garlic)
    • kale
    • pickled cherry peppers
    • Panko bread crumbs

    See recipe card for quantities.

    🥘 Substitutions

    If you can’t find Cannellini beans, you can substitute great northern beans.

    To make this a vegetarian recipe, skip the pancetta. There’s enough going on that you won’t miss it.

    The pickled cherry peppers add a bite of heat to this dish. Use banana peppers to cut the heat back, or leave them out if you don’t want any hint of spicy.

    Any tough, leafy green, like collards or mustard greens, can substitute for the kale

    Regular bread crumbs can replace the Panko bread crumbs, but I like the extra crunch of Panko style crumbs.

    If you want to skip the bread crumbs and the baking step entirely, you can, and serve this as a soupy side dish. (But I like the extra crunch of the bread crumb topping).

    For a vegetarian/vegan version of the recipe, skip the pancetta.

    🛠 Equipment

    A 6-quart pressure cooker. Pressure cooker dried beans are one of the key reasons I became a pressure cooker convert.

    A 2-quart oven safe baking dish, or individual serving sized gratin dishes.

    📏Scaling

    This recipe doubles easily in a 6-quart pressure cooker. Cut all the ingredients in half and this recipe will fit in a 3-quart pressure cooker.

    🤨 Soaking cannellini beans?

    I get the “to soak, or not to soak?” question all the the time. I don’t soak my cannellini beans in this basic recipe. They don’t need an overnight soak, and cook to tenderness with 35 minutes at high pressure.

    That doesn’t mean you can’t soak the beans. They turn out fine, though the bean broth isn’t quite as full bodied. Soaked beans cook much quicker, 12 minutes at high pressure. I use that when I’m cooking the beans with other ingredients, where the shorter cooking time keeps me from overcooking the whole dish just to get the beans tender.

    💡Tips and Tricks

    • I use both an Instant Pot (to pressure cook the beans) and a frypan (to sauté everything) in the instructions. You can make this recipe entirely in your Instant Pot by cleaning the pot liner out and switching to sauté mode when it comes to the Sauté step. I just find it easier to work with a frypan, especially for wilting the kale and pouring into the gratin dishes.
    • See my Instant Pot Cannellini Beans recipe for more bean cooking details.
    Print
    clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
    A gratin dish of beans, greens, and cherry peppers, topped with a toasted bread crumb crust, with more cherry peppers in the background

    Instant Pot Cannellini Beans and Greens


    5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

    5 from 2 reviews

    • Author: Mike Vrobel
    • Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
    • Yield: 8 cups of beans and greens 1x
    Print Recipe
    Pin Recipe

    Description

    Instant Pot Cannellini Beans and Greens. Garlicky beans and greens from my pressure cooker, a great Italian-inspired side dish.


    Ingredients

    Scale

    Beans

    • 8 ounces dried Cannellini beans, aka Marcella beans
    • 1 clove garlic, unpeeled
    • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
    • 1 sprig fresh rosemary (or a bay leaf)
    • 4 cups water

    Gratin

    • 2 tablespoons olive oil
    • 4 ounces diced pancetta
    • 4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
    • 4 ounces kale, stems removed, cut into 1 inch pieces
    • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
    • ½ cup reserved bean broth
    • Cooked beans from above (about 3 cups)
    • More reserved bean broth as needed
    • 8 ounces jarred hot cherry peppers, drained and sliced
    • 1 tablespoon olive oil
    • ¾ cup Panko bread crumbs

    Instructions

    1. Pressure cook the beans for 35 minutes with a quick release: Sort and rinse the cannellini beans, removing broken beans, stones, and any other non-bean material. Add the beans, water, salt, and rosemary to an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker. Lock the lid and pressure cook on high pressure (Manual or Pressure cook Mode in an Instant Pot) for 35 minutes, then quick release the pressure in the pot. Drain the beans, saving both the beans and their liquid for later.
    2. Sauté the aromatics: Set the oven to 350°F to preheat. Put the olive oil and pancetta in a large frypan, set the pan over medium heat, and cook until the pancetta starts to crisp, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan and sauté for 1 minute, or until you smell garlic. Stir in the kale, sprinkle with ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, and pour in ½ cup of the bean liquid. Simmer until the kale starts to wilt, about 3 minutes. Stir in the sliced cherry peppers and reserved beans, and keep stirring until the beans are covered with oil and pancetta fat.
    3. Fill the gratin dish: Pour the frypan of beans and aromatics into a 2-quart baking dish, then add the reserved bean liquid until it comes ¾ of the way up the beans. Toss the panko bread crumbs with the olive oil, then spread the bread crumbs over the top of the baking dish in an even layer.
    4. Bake the gratin: Slide the baking dish into the oven and bake until the bread crumbs start to brown on the top, about 30 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

    Equipment

    6-Quart Pressure Cooker

    Buy Now →

    Notes

    Individual servings: Instead of pouring everything into one big baking dish, spread the beans across a bunch of smaller oven-safe gratin dishes, then spread the panko across the top each dish. Put the dishes on a rimmed baking sheet, then continue with the “bake the gratin” step, baking until the bread crumbs are browning, about 30 minutes.

    • Prep Time: 15 minutes
    • Cook Time: 2 hours
    • Category: Side Dish
    • Method: Pressure Cooker
    • Cuisine: Italian

    Would you like to save this recipe?

    We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!

    Did you make this recipe?

    Tag @DadCooksDinner on Instagram and hashtag it #DadCooksDinner

    ☃️ Storage

    Make ahead: You can pressure cook the beans ahead of time. Store them in their liquid in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to 6 months. Thaw the beans, and in the “Sauté” step, sauté until the beans are heated through before putting them into the baking dish.

    Leftovers: This recipe freezes well, in 2-cup containers, for up to 6 months. The bread crumb crust will get soggy, but still taste good.

    🤝 Related Posts

    Instant Pot Cannellini Beans
    Instant Pot Cannellini Beans with Tomatoes and Pancetta
    Pressure Cooker Tuscan Bean Soup
    Instant Pot Cabbage Recipe
    Okonomiyaki (Japanese Cabbage Pancake)
    My other Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker Recipes

    Enjoyed this post? Want to help out DadCooksDinner? Subscribe to DadCooksDinner via email and share this post with your friends. Want to contribute directly? Donate to my Tip Jar, or buy something from Amazon.com through the links on this site. Thank you.

    Subscribe
    BirdSend Email Marketing Tool

    More Instant Pot Bean Recipes

    • A bowl of Instant Pot Moro Beans
      Instant Pot Moro Beans
    • A bowl of Cajun White Beans with cajun rub and an Instant Pot
      Instant Pot White Beans
    • A bowl of black bean soup with avocados and green onions
      Instant Pot Black Bean Soup
    • Instant Pot Baby Lima Beans
      Instant Pot Baby Lima Beans (from dry, no soaking)

    Sharing is caring!

    Comments

    1. Charlie DeSando says

      October 08, 2021 at 2:18 pm

      Do you ever need to soak beans for the Instant pot?? Isn't that the beauty of the device, no need to soak beans before cooking??

      Reply
      • Mike Vrobel says

        October 09, 2021 at 10:44 am

        You're right, that is the beauty of pressure cooker beans. That said...I do soak my beans sometimes.
        When I want to pressure cook other ingredients with the beans, and not have them overcook, like in a ground meat chili. Or...when I have a lot of acidic ingredients, like tomatoes, in the pot, and I want to make sure the beans come out tender, like in this recipe: https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/instant-pot-cannellini-beans-with-tomatoes-and-pancetta/

        Reply

    Questions? Made the Recipe? Leave a Comment Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Welcome to Dad Cooks Dinner!

    I'm Mike Vrobel, a dad who cooks dinner every night. I'm an enthusiastic home cook, and I write about pressure cooking, rotisserie grilling, and other food topics that grab my attention.

    More About Me →

    Popular

    • Three bowls of cooked Pinto Beans on a wood table
      Instant Pot Pinto Beans (No Soaking)
    • Pressure Cooker Beef Shank (Osso Bucco)
    • Pressure Cooker 7 Hour Leg of Lamb (in 90 minutes)
      Pressure Cooker 7 Hour Leg of Lamb (in 90 minutes)
    • Pressure Cooker Brown Jasmine Rice
    • Grilled Tomahawk Steak (Long Bone Ribeye, Reverse Seared)
      Grilled Tomahawk Steak (Long Bone Ribeye, Reverse Seared)
    • A green bowl full of chicken noodle soup
      Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup

    Seasonal

    • A bowl of asparagus risotto
      Instant Pot Asparagus Risotto (Pressure Cooker Recipe)
    • Grilled Butterflied Chicken with Garlic Butter
    • Sous Vide Rack of Lamb with Dijon Bread Crumb Crust
    • A bowl of beef stew with asparagus, carrots, and radishes.
      Instant Pot Spring Vegetable Beef Stew
    • A Rotisserie Chicken (Pollo Asado)on a platter of shredded cabbage
      Rotisserie Chicken Pollo Asado
    • Rotisserie Pork Shoulder Roast with Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce
      Rotisserie Pork Shoulder with South Carolina Mustard Barbecue Sauce

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact

    Copyright © 2025 Dad Cooks Dinner

    24 shares