Looking for extra-large, extra-creamy beans? Pressure cook a batch of Royal Coronas, and serve them in their broth, or drained and tossed with olive oil and some fresh herbs.
Go big or go home
It's time to bring out the big beans. Rancho Gordo's Royal Corona beans are huge white beans, each about the size of my thumb. Here's how I pressure cook a big batch of Instant Pot Royal Corona Beans.
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🥫Ingredients
This is a simple dried bean recipe, so the ingredients list is pretty basic
- Dried Royal Corona beans (Marcella beans are particularly good)
- Onion
- A sprig of rosemary
🥘 Substitutions
Don't have rosemary or onion? You can substitute a bay leaf for the rosemary (or skip it), or a couple of unpeeled garlic cloves for the onion. And, as I said above, Rancho Gordo's Marcella beans are my favorite variety of cannellini beans, but they're not the only cannellini bean out there - dried beans from any source with good turnover will work.
🛠 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 Royal Corona beans
Royal Corona 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.
Instant Pot Royal Corona Beans
- Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
- Yield: 6 cups of beans 1x
Description
Instant Pot Royal Corona Beans. Talking about big beans in the pressure cooker.
Ingredients
- 1 pound Royal Corona Beans (aka corona runner beans), sorted and rinsed
- 8 cups of water for soaking (see instructions)
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt for soaking
- 5 cups water
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ an onion, peeled
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary (or 2 bay leaves)
Instructions
- Sort and rinse the beans: First sort the beans, discarding any stones, dirt, or broken beans. Rinse the beans, then do an overnight or a quick soak.
- Overnight soak: Cover the beans by an inch with water and add the 2 teaspoons of fine sea salt. Leave the beans to soak for at least 8 hours, or overnight.
- OR: Pressure Quick Soak for 1 minute with a 30-minute rest: Put the beans, 8 cups of water, and 2 teaspoons of fine sea salt in the pressure cooker pot. Pressure cook at high pressure for 1 minute ("Manual" or "Pressure Cook" mode in an Instant Pot for 1 minute), then let the beans sit for 30 minutes. Quick release any remaining pressure.
- Pressure Cook for 20 minutes with a Natural Pressure Release: Drain the beans, discarding the soaking liquid. Put the beans in the pressure cooker, add 5 cups of water, sprinkle with the teaspoon of salt, then add the onion half and the sprig of rosemary. Lock the lid and pressure cook at high pressure for 20 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker, or for 16 minutes in a stovetop pressure cooker. (Use "Manual" or "Pressure Cook" mode in an Instant Pot.) Let the pressure come down naturally, about 30 minutes. (If you're in a hurry, you can quick release any remaining pressure after 15 minutes of natural pressure release.)
- Serve: Discard the onion and rosemary - they've given their all to the beans. Serve the beans with their broth, or drain the beans and serve. (I like to toss the drained beans with olive oil and serve them with a pinch of minced fresh rosemary.)
Notes
You don't need to overnight soak AND the quick soak - do one or the other.
Can you skip the soak? Yes, if you pressure cook for 45 minutes with a Natural Pressure Release...and then check the beans. If they're not cooked through, give them another 5 minutes under pressure to finish cooking.
Tools
6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I love my Instant Pot electric pressure cooker)
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
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Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup of beans
- Calories: 249
- Sugar:
- Sodium: 9.8 mg
- Fat: 0.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 44.1 g
- Protein: 19.1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
☃️ 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 Pinto Beans
Pressure Cooker Santa Maria Pinquito Beans
Pressure Cooker Vaquero Beans in Broth
My other Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Recipes
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Tina says
Do you remove the corona bean skin after soaking, pre IP?
Thank you!
Mike Vrobel says
No
Rowe Luca says
I'm WFPB, SOS free (whole food plant based, salt, oil & sugar free). Splurging on Ranch Gordo beans is so worth it when the beans will be the star of the meal. I tended to over cook them RG beans. Today I did the Quick Soak as directed, cooked only 15 min and natural released after 15 min. About 3 broken beans so next time I will natural release only 10 min. I like my beans slightly firm. Great flavor with onion & rosemary, no salt in any cooking. Wonderful to finally find IP recipes for RG beans! Thank you!
Mike Vrobel says
You’re welcome!