Instant Pot Cranberry Bean Gratin. A hearty bake of beans and vegetables, topped with a bread crumb crust, with extra flavor from homemade pressure cooked cranberry beans.
Alice Waters’s style of California cooking, using local, seasonal ingredients, is one of my biggest influences. “Seasonal” can be interesting this time of year in Ohio, with lots of root vegetables and hardy greens. But the core of her message still resonates with me: quality local ingredients, cooked simply, are a fantastic way to cook.
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Her The Art of Simple Food is one of my favorite cookbooks, which is why I was a little embarrassed to find this recipe idea using a Google search. I was looking to use up a bag of Rancho Gordo cranberry beans, and I saw a bunch of recipes for Cranberry Bean Gratin. And all of them pointed back to a cookbook sitting on a shelf in my family room.
So, here is my take on Alice’s cranberry bean gratin, a bake of beans and vegetables topped with a crispy crumb crust. As always, I’m cooking my beans in my Instant Pot. You can find more details on pressure cooking cranberry beans in my recipe from earlier this week. The one thing I will repeat from that recipe: I don’t soak cranberry beans before pressure cooking. It’s not worth the soaking time when they take so little time to pressure cook.
🥫Ingredients
- Dried cranberry beans (aka borlotti beans)
- Garlic
- Rosemary
- Olive oil
- Onion
- Celery
- Carrot
- Canned diced tomatoes
- Panko bread crumbs
See recipe card for quantities.
🥘 Substitutions
If you can’t find cranberry (aka Borlotti) beans, substitute cannelini beans or pinto beans. You can also substitute canned beans - drain and rinse 2 cans of beans, and skip to the "sauté the aromatics" step. But, please try dried beans in your Instant Pot - you'll love them!
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, as I said, I like the extra crunch of the bread crumb topping).
🛠 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 cranberry 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 40 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
- The beans are the only pressure cooked part of this recipe. I’m using the best tools for the three steps to a gratin: pressure cook the beans, sauté the vegetables in a frypan on the stovetop, and bake everything in a baking dish in the oven. If you want, you can do the sauté step in your Instant Pot (set to sauté mode) but it will take longer because of the narrow pot. The baking step really needs the oven. The gratin has to bake all the way through, and I want that crispy bread crumb crust on top.
- See my Instant Pot Cranberry Beans recipe for more bean cooking details.
Adapted from: Cranberry Bean Gratin from The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters
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Instant Pot Cranberry Bean Gratin
- Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
Instant Pot Cranberry Bean Gratin. A hearty bake of beans and vegetables, topped with a bread crumb crust, with extra flavor from homemade pressure cooked cranberry beans.
Ingredients
Cranberry Beans
- 8 ounces dried cranberry beans (aka borlotti beans)
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary (or a bay leaf)
- 4 cups water
Gratin
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 1 medium carrot, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced thin
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
- ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
- 14.5-ounce can petite diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¾ cup panko bread crumbs
Instructions
- Pressure cook the beans for 40 minutes with a quick release: Sort and rinse the cranberry 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 40 minutes, then quick release the pressure in the pot. Drain the beans, saving both the beans and their liquid for later.
- Sauté the aromatics and simmer everything: Set the oven to 350°F. Heat the olive oil in a large frypan over medium heat until the oil is shimmering. Ad the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic to the pan, and sprinkle with the minced rosemary, thyme, and salt. Sauté, stirring often, until the onions soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the diced tomatoes and the drained beans, and bring to a simmer. 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. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the beans, then spreadthe panko bread crumbs over the top in an even layer.
- 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
Buy Now → Notes
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
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Category: Side dish
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
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☃️ Storage
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, and continue with the "Sauté the aromatics" step when you are ready.
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 Cranberry Beans
Brussels Sprouts Gratin
Swiss Chard Gratin
My other Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker Recipes
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Janet says
Thanks for another great recipe Mike! I made this last night and we both LOVED it! Leaving a tip in your jar. 🙂
Christine H says
This looks great--will make it soon!
Maria says
I made this tonight and it was a hit! I am the sole vegetarian in a house of meat eaters and they all enjoyed it. This will be in rotation to serve again. Thanks so much!
Mike Vrobel says
You're welcome!