Instant Pot Black Beans

The days of soaking dried beans for hours is over. Guess what: you can cook Instant Pot black beans in under 1 hour, start to finish!

The days of long soaking your dried beans are over. With an Instant Pot you can cook beans in just 1 hour: start to finish! Alex and I are the last people who thought we’d own an Instant Pot. Yet here we are, celebrating the life changing magic of cooking dried beans in a pressure cooker! Alex and I hate thinking ahead, which is required with cooking beans on the stovetop. Luckily, the Instant Pot lets us be our lazy selves AND have home cooked beans in the process! Here’s our recipe for Instant Pot black beans: they’re loads cheaper than canned and they taste phenomenal.

Want refried beans? Use black beans in our Instant Pot Refried Beans!

Why cook black beans in an Instant Pot?

It’s hard to describe the magic of home-cooked beans until you’ve tasted them yourself. These days, the availability and convenience of canned beans makes cooking dried beans a lost art. And cooking them on the stovetop does take some planning in advance! The traditional method calls for soaking them for a few hours: or even overnight! When you cook them on the stove, you also need to babysit them to get it cooked just perfectly.

How long does it take to cook Instant Pot black beans? Just 1 hour. Yep, we’re not kidding! Here’s why to make these Instant Pot black beans:

• It’s quick and hands off. Basically, you’ll just set it and forget it! In just under an hour, you’ll have perfectly cooked black beans!
• It’s cheaper than canned. Cooking black beans in a pressure cooker is over half the price of canned!
• It’s way more delicious. Canned beans can be mushy and have a lackluster flavor. These Instant Pot black beans are perfectly tender with just the right amount of bite. When they’re seasoned, they taste incredible.

How to make Instant Pot black beans (basic steps)

Here are the basic steps for how to make Instant Pot black beans! This is the timing that works for our Instant Pot. We use a 6-quart Instant Pot brand pressure cooker, so if you have a different brand or size, you’ll find that timing may vary (see below for more). You’ll just need to taste test and adjust as necessary. We’ve also found that bean brands vary as well, so use the base recipe timing and then adjust as needed!

Here’s how to make Instant Pot black beans:

• Place 1 pound of black beans in a pressure cooker with 6 cups water and ½ teaspoon kosher salt.
• Pressure cook on High for 31 minutes (it takes about 10 minutes to “preheat” and get up to pressure).
• Natural release for 15 minutes.

And that’s it! You’ve got perfectly cooked black beans in about 1 hour.

What kind of Instant Pot to use?

Alex and I use an Instant Pot brand Instant Pot (Instant Pot is the brand name; Instapot is a slang variation). The Instant Pot we use is the Instant Pot DUO60 6 Qt 7-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker. 

We’d only recommend using a 6 quart pressure cooker for this recipe. We also can’t speak to other brands and types of pressure cookers. For example, we’ve heard that the Instant Pot Mini works pretty differently than the standard size: we also wouldn’t recommend it here since the quantity is much too large.

Black bean recipes

Once you’ve made these black beans, there are literally hundreds of ways to use them! Because we eat mainly vegetarian and vegan recipes at home, Alex and I have all sorts of recipes using them! But we’ve whittled it down to our very favorites: here are our top ways to use black beans in recipes:

1. Refried Black Beans. In just 15 minutes, the flavor you’ll achieve is astounding. Use as a side or in these Refried Bean Tacos.
2. Cuban Black Beans: Some have said this is better than restaurant-style.
3. Black Bean and Corn Salad A fast and easy salad that works for lunches or an easy side!
4. Black Bean Salsa: Throw them in salsa, shovel them in with chips.
5. Black Bean Lettuce Wraps: Add them to a spicy filling with mango salsa and guacamole. Yes!
6. Black Bean Burger: It’s true, this is the perfect black bean burger.
7. Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas: This fan favorite recipe stars sweet potatoes, green chilis, and lots of cheese.
8. Mango Black Bean Chili: What better use than chili? Adding mango gives it a sweet flair.

Other Instant Pot basics

Alex and I love using our Instant Pot for basics recipes like beans and grains! In fact, we’ve been making a whole bunch of them in our pressure cooker as of late. Here are all our methods:

• Instant Pot Farro
• Instant Pot White Rice
• Instant Pot Brown Rice
• Instant Pot Quinoa
• Instant Pot Chickpeas
• Instant Pot Lentils
• Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas
• Instant Pot Pinto Beans
• Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

This Instant Pot black beans recipe is…

Vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free.

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