MY FAVORITE INSTANT POT PINTO BEANS (With A Quick Soak)
Finished pinto beans with shredded cheese, sour cream, and a side of corn chips!
Growing up, we had a few staples in our fridge at all times: tortillas, cheese, salsa, and a big container of pinto beans. Needless to say, burritos were our go-to meal. On most weekdays, I made myself a bean and cheese burrito for lunch and then my mom made us bean and cheese burritos for dinner.
Nowadays, my fridge doesn’t look that different — there’s a container of pinto beans in there at all times.
Why?
They’re delicious.
They’re easy to store in the fridge.
They’re versatile (burrito filling, easy addition to a quesadilla, tostada topping, or just a bowl as-is).
They allow for a delicious, satisfying meal in less than 15 minutes (a necessity for busy weeknights).
THEY’RE SO EASY/FAST TO COOK.
On that last note re: speed, these beans even use a pre-soak and still deserve to be called “fast”. It’s done as a quick-soak in the pressure cooker. This helps to get rid of some of the compounds that cause gas and bloating for some people when they eat beans. The fennel seeds can also help reduce gas and bloating.
Without further ado… my go-to Instant Pot pinto bean recipe.
[Makes ~6 cups]
Prep time: 10 minutes
Laze around time: 80 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 pound dried (uncooked) pinto beans
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon each: ground cumin, chile powder, oregano
Generous pinch smoked paprika
Generous pinch ground black pepper
Generous pinch fennel seeds
1 teaspoon salt
*Extra speedy note: If you want to just use salt to season these, that works, too!
HOW TO
Place the beans into a colander and look through them for little rocks. NOTE: This is an annoying step, and usually I skip stuff like this, but I’ve bitten down on one too many rocks in my pinto beans to not check now!
Empty beans into the Instant Pot and fill with enough water to cover the beans with about 3 inches of water.
Pressure cook the beans on high for 2 minutes. [I have an older Instant Pot that doesn’t have the high/low option, in which case I just cook it for 2 minutes on its regular pressure. But, I’ve tested this recipe in my mom’s Instant Pot and used high pressure if the IP has the option.] Quick release pressure by putting a towel over the quick release valve before opening it. The steam should stream out for about 2-3 minutes and then the Instant Pot lid will unlock. NOTE: If you forget, or can’t get to the beans in time, letting them slow release here is fine, too.
Using the colander, empty the beans and their liquid out and rinse.
Add the rinsed beans back to the Instant Pot and fill with enough fresh water to cover the beans by about 1 inch. Add all spices and salt and stir to mix.
Pressure cook the mixture for 8 minutes and allow slow release of pressure (about 30-40 minutes, depending on IP model). NOTE: If you’re not ready to eat right away, just allow the mixture to continue slow cooking after this step.
Dried beans before cooking.
Beans after quick soak.
Beans after final cook.
