Instant Pot Black Beans Recipe - No Soaking Required
Perfectly tender Instant Pot Black Beans - no need to soak before cooking! Note - this is a tutorial on how to cook black beans in your pressure cooker. See the note section for optional seasonings to add additional flavor to your beans.
Servings: 6 cups (approximately)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried black beans unsoaked
- 4 cups (1L) low-sodium vegetable broth or water, chicken broth, or a combination
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt optional
Instructions
- Rinse the dried beans under cold running water and pick out any visible pebbles, stones, or cracked beans. Drain thoroughly and set aside.
- Optional - see note section below for optional seasonings.
- Add the dry beans, vegetable broth, water, and salt to your Instant Pot. Stir.
- Secure the lid on top of your pressure cooker, with the venting knob in the sealing position. Pressure cook on MANUAL MODE, high pressure for 50 minutes with a Natural Release of 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes is complete, manually release (quick release) the remaining pressure by turning the venting knob to the venting position.
- Once the Floating Valve drops, carefully open the lid. Strain off any excess cooking liquid (or save if planning to make soup).
- Season with additional salt, to taste. Enjoy!
Notes
- To add flavor to your beans - As written, this recipe will make pretty plain black beans perfect for just about any recipe from savory to sweet. To add some yummy flavor, try sauteeing a diced onion in olive oil directly in your Instant Pot set on SAUTÉ mode until it's softened. From there, add 4-5 cloves of minced garlic, and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon cumin, chili powder, and dried oregano. Dump in a can of diced tomatoes and some fresh cilantro (if you'd like) and 1-2 bay leaves followed by your rinsed black beans. Add the water or broth and follow the cooking instructions from there.
- Remember that it takes approximately 15 minutes for the Instant Pot to reach full pressure before it starts cooking.
- Reasons why your beans may still be firm after cooking:
- You're cooking with old beans or beans that were not stored properly.
- You live at altitude. Higher altitudes require an additional 5 minutes or so of cooking time.
- Plan to double the recipe? Use the same cook time.
- For firmer beans, reduce the cooking time to 30 minutes with a 20-minute natural release.
- As written, these cooked beans are gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian.
- What if your cooking pre-soaked beans? Soaked beans will require a shorter cooking time AND less cooking liquid. Although it should be noted that I have never tried pressure cooking pre-soaked black beans, I would reduce the cooking time by half (25 minutes) and perform a manual release of pressure. There is no need to reduce the total amount of liquid, but going as low as 3 cups of cooking liquid (or half) should be fine.
- Will this method work for all types of beans? No. This is only for dried black beans. Other beans may require longer cooking times.
Nutrition
Calories: 268kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 395mg | Potassium: 1121mg | Fiber: 12g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 13IU | Calcium: 95mg | Iron: 4mg
