Instant Pot Yellow Eye Beans. Dried beans, ready in about an hour without soaking, thanks to pressure cooking.
Yellow Eye Beans, with their brown spots, remind me of a pinto1, like the spots on black-eyed peas remind me of a Holstein cow. That said, yellow eye beans are not a black-eyed pea variation; they are closer to Navy beans, and are often used in New England Baked Beans recipes.
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These Yellow Eye beans came in my Rancho Gordo bean box, so I’m going to make of a pot of beans with garlic and onion. Of course, the pot is an Instant Pot - I pressure cook all my beans. Looking for creamy, mild beans with hint of garlic? Try a pot of yellow eye beans.
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🥫Ingredients
This is a simple dried bean recipe, so the ingredients list is pretty basic
- Dried yellow eye beans
- Onion
- Garlic
See recipe card for quantities.
🥘 Substitutions
Don’t have an onion? Use more garlic, or skip it.
Don't have garlic? Just skip it. It won't be a garlicky pot of beans, but it will still be good.
🛠 Equipment
A 6-quart pressure cooker. Pressure cooker dried beans are one of the reasons I became a pressure cooker convert, and love my Instant Pot. 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 yellow eye beans?
I get the “to soak, or not to soak?” question all the the time.
I don’t soak my yellow eye beans in this recipe. They don’t need an overnight soak, and cook to tenderness with 30 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
- Salt your bean water! “Salt toughens beans” is a myth. Salting before cooking helps season the beans all the way through as they cook.
- Try to buy beans from a store with lots of bean turnover. Beans dry out as they age, which makes them a little tougher to cook.
- If your beans are still tough when the cooking time is over, especially any “floaters” at the top of the pot, you probably got some old beans. Give the pot a stir, lock the lid, and pressure cook the beans for another five minutes.
- 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 Yellow Eye Beans
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 6 cups of beans 1x
Description
Instant Pot Yellow Eye Beans. Dried beans, ready in about an hour without soaking, thanks to pressure cooking.
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried Yellow Eye beans, sorted and rinsed
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 onion, peeled and halved
- 2 cloves garlic, unpeeled
- 6 cups water
Instructions
- Sort and rinse the beans: Sort the yellow eye beans, removing any broken beans, stones, and dirt clods. Put the beans in a strainer and rinse under running water.
- Pressure cook the beans for 30 minutes with a Quick Release: Put the beans in the pressure cooker, sprinkle with the salt, and set the onion and garlic cloves on top. Pour in the 6 cups of water, stir, and then lock the pressure cooker lid. Cook on high pressure for 30 minutes in an electric pressure cooker, or 25 minutes in a stovetop PC, then quick release the pressure.
- Serve: Remove the pressure cooker lid – open it away from you to protect yourself from the hot steam. Discard the onions and garlic cloves. (The garlic cloves may have dissolved into the broth - it's OK if you can't find them.) Serve with the broth and enjoy, or transfer the beans to 2-cup containers, cover with broth, and freeze for up to 6 months.
Notes
Soaked the beans overnight? Reduce the cooking time to 12 minutes at high pressure with a quick release.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
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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 Small Red Beans (Domingo Rojo Beans)
Instant Pot Royal Corona Beans
Pressure Cooker Vaquero Beans in Broth
My other Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Recipes
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- The horse, not the car. ↩
Audrey Pellicano says
You have an instant pot recipe for everything! Truly appreciate the simplicity and flavors. Makes dinner super easy and healthy!
Mike Vrobel says
Thank you!
Judy Shreve says
It takes a little more time/work. But I cook a ham hock in chicken broth on the stove top prior to cooking the beans. I add sautéed onions, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, one celery stalk and salt & pepper to the broth. Add the ham hock (liquid should cover the ham hock). Gently boil for a couple of hours.
Cut the meat from the bone, strain the liquid and use this broth to cook your beans in the Instant Pot. Delicious!
Linda Lorenzo says
Just got my order of Rancho Gordo beans. I combined this recipe with your Cajun White beans. So I sauteed chopped onion & celery & garlic, added a T. of Creole spice and used 6 cups of chicken broth. When done I threw in sliced Chicken Andouille sausage and frozen spinach and let saute for a while. Even my picky grandson liked this. Really good.
Mike Vrobel says
Great adaptation- glad to hear it worked for you!
Glenn says
I made a pot yesterday, like you with an onion, two cloves of garlic and some salt. But as I get all my lessons from Dookie Chase, I had to add a bay leaf, thyme, parsley and black pepper, as well. Also a third cup of olive oil. Truly amazing soup today.
Mike Vrobel says
Interesting substitutions, all. And...a *third* of a cup of olive oil? I love me some olive oil, but that feels like a bit much. But, you do you!
Eric J Wolff says
Thanks for defining what yellow-eyed beans are. I'm not a fan of black-eyed peas unless they're on their own as a side dish. I've got a bag of yellow-eyed beans that I was given a while back and I was wondering if they're make a good bean soup. Your comment about them being more like Navy Beans than black-eyed peas answered my question--YES! They will make good soup.
I really enjoy your blog. You're one of the few bloggers who's recipes I know I can trust. Thanks for all your efforts.
-Eric.
Mike Vrobel says
You’re welcome
Fred Morrow says
I always use a chunk of salt pork with my beans how do I do that using the instant pot?
Mike Vrobel says
Just add the chunk of salt pork in step 1 with the water and beans.