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Three bowls of cooked Pinto Beans on a wood tabletop

Instant Pot Pinto Beans


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4.9 from 38 reviews

  • Author: Mike Vrobel
  • Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
  • Yield: 6 cups of beans 1x

Description

Instant Pot Pinto Beans. Simple, delicious, dried beans, cooked in about an hour thanks to pressure cooking.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 pound Pinto Beans
  • 6 cups water
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda (optional)
  • 1 small to medium onion, peeled and halved
  • 2 bay leaves (optional)
  • Cilantro for garnish (Optional)

Instructions

  1. Sort and rinse the beans: Sort the pinto beans, removing any broken beans, stones, and dirt clods. Put the beans in a strainer and rinse under running water.
  2. Pressure cook the beans for 40 minutes with a quick pressure release: Put the rinsed beans in the Instant Pot or pressure cooker pot. Pour in the 6 cups of water, then stir in the teaspoon of salt, and the baking soda. Add the onion and bay leaves. Lock the lid on the pressure cooker. Cook on high pressure for 40 minutes in an electric pressure cooker or 35 minutes in a stovetop PC. (In an Instant Pot, use “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” mode set for 40 minutes). Quick release the pressure in the pot.
  3. Serve: Remove the pressure cooker lid – open it away from you to protect yourself from the hot steam. Discard the onion and bay leaves. Ladle the beans into bowls, and serve.

Notes

Want even thicker bean broth? After pressure cooking, remove the lid and simmer on Sauté Mode, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Or, if you're in a hurry, scoop a cup of beans and broth out and puree them with a blender (I use my stick blender), then stir the pureed beans back into the pot.

Want to soak your beans? Do the sort and rinse step, then cover the beans with water overnight. Drain the beans, and continue with the recipe, cutting the pressure cooking time to 18 minutes.

  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Method: Pressure Cooker
  • Cuisine: Tex-Mex