Instant Pot pinto beans are delicious, simple and easy! I will show you how to cook dry pinto beans in the Instant Pot, and there is no pre-soaking required.
Side note: if you’d rather use a slow cooker, check out my crock pot pinto beans recipe. (You can make that with or without the ham.)
I am happy to introduce to you The Easiest Pinto Beans Recipe Ever. 🤓👍🏻
Often, I will prepare these exactly like my instant pot black-eyed peas. But I wanted to do a vegetarian/ vegan version for y’all because they are just as good y’all. Seriously.
I love that I can make these from dry beans, and they don’t have to soak them or have hours to cook them.
Dry beans are suuuuper cheap, and they are great for stretching a buck. I barely buy canned beans much anymore. I mostly keep canned ones on hand for emergencies.
You can make them ahead, portion them out and freeze them if you wish.
Sometimes I make a batch of these Instant Pot pinto beans at the beginning of the week, along with some rice, and we eat them for lunch all week with various toppings: diced avocado, cilantro, hot sauce, salsa, etc.
Side note: skillet corn bread is excellent with these, as shown in these pictures.
How to make Instant Pot pinto beans
First, gather your ingredients.
Ingredients
- dried pinto beans
- water
- Better than Bullion vegetable base
Prepping and cooking
Rinse off your pinto beans, and drain them using a wire mesh strainer.
Add them to the Instant Pot, along with the water and Better Than Bullion vegetable base.
Cook time for Instant Pot pinto beans
Close and lock the lid, and cook on manual high pressure for 45 minutes. Note: It will take several minutes to come to pressure.
Allow the pressure to naturally release (Do not use the valve, but let it sit until the pressure indicator pin drops on its own. Mine took about 26 minutes, FYI.)
Additional notes and tips
The last thing I will say about my Instant Pot pinto beans is about the cook time. Usually the Instant Pot recommended cook times are pretty close to accurate. For some reason, they seem WAY off to me with their bean recommendations. That, or I like mine well-done! 😆
And yes, I have tried cooking them both salted and unsalted. Some folks say cooked them seasoned/ salted makes them need to cook longer.
After testing it out myself, I get similar results done both ways. So eliminating salt doesn’t seem to make a difference for me. What can I say, I still like them cooked longer. 🤷🏼♀️
Either way, if you have tried with their time recommendations and have been unhappy with the texture of your beans, I say cook those bad boys at least 50% longer than they recommend.
I cooked these for a whopping 45 minutes (with natural release), whereas Instant Pot recommends 25 to 30.
And they turn out perfect every time!
Storage tips
Store Instant pot pinto beans in an airtight container for up to a week in the fridge, and up to three months in the freezer.
Frequently asked questions
I have found that 5 1/2 cups for every pound of beans works perfect. This gives the beans plenty of cooking liquid to get well-cooked.
For super tender pinto beans, cook on high pressure for 45 minutes, with a full natural release. Please note that the pot will take some time to come up to pressure. Total time is around 1 hour, 27 minutes, but most of this is hands off time.
Yes, these freeze really well. Pull them out and thaw prior to using them alone, or in other recipes.
Yes! These make a great base for refried beans, or even un-fried (oil free beans). We make those often, with the cooked beans plus some of the reserved cooking liquid. I like using a stick blender to mash the beans right in the pot.
You can make these with a teaspoon of garlic powder and salt, to taste. They are still very good.
More Instant Pot Recipes You May Enjoy
- Instant Pot black bean soup
- Instant Pot black beans
- Instant Pot whole “rotisserie” chicken
- Instant Pot “baked” sweet potatoes
- Instant Pot classic beef chili
- Instant Pot red beans and rice
- Instant Pot chicken breasts
- Instant Pot chicken thighs
- Instant Pot pasta e fagioli soup
- Instant Pot hard boiled eggs
- Instant Pot spaghetti (one pot)
- Instant Pot chicken recipes
- Instant Pot oatmeal (pot in pot method)
See ALL of my Instant Pot recipes here.
Tools Used to Make Instant Pot Pinto Beans
This post may contain affiliate links, which pay a referral fee to me at no additional cost to you. My full affiliate disclosure can be seen here.
- Instant Pot
- Better Than Bullion vegetable base – I get mine at Publix or Walmart
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
Instant Pot Pinto Beans Recipe
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Instant Pot Pinto Beans (No Pre-Soaking)
Instant Pot pinto beans are delicious, simple and easy! I will show you how to cook dry pinto beans in the Instant Pot, and there is no pre-soaking required.
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry pinto beans
- 5 1/2 cups water
- 1 2/3 Tablespoon Better Than Bullion vegetable base
- salt and pepper to taste (Honestly, mine didn’t need any. The BTB flavored them perfectly. Taste them first.)
Instructions
-
Rinse off your pinto beans, and drain them using a wire mesh strainer.
-
Add them to the Instant Pot, along with the water and Better Than Bullion vegetable base.
-
Close and lock the lid, and cook on manual high pressure for 45 minutes. Note: It will take several minutes to come to pressure.
-
Allow the pressure to naturally release (Do not use the valve, but let it sit until the pressure indicator pin drops on its own. Mine took about 26 minutes, FYI.)
Recipe Notes
45 minutes is the pressure cook time, but this will take longer than that to cook. The pot takes a little while to come up to pressure, plus about 25 minute to naturally release.
Nutritional info is approximate and was calculated using a recipe nutrition label generator. Info includes regular vegetable broth, due to the app limitations. Please note a higher sodium content if using Better Than Bullion.
Karen Dunaway says
If you’re cooking these in 5 1/2 cups of water, what amount of liquid do you have left over after cooking?
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
Hmmm, not sure exactly🤔…although it is enough that the beans are still covered in liquid after cooking. I would estimate that the beans absorb about 1 to 1.5 cups? Which would leave 4 to 4.5 left. Hope that helps.
Brent Walton says
Too much. 4 1/2 cup water per one pound rinsed dry beans, high pressure, 30 minutes and you have little liquid.
Elvia Courts says
I bought an Instant Pot Lux Mini,3 quart size,a few days ago. I have only cooked stew meat in it 1 time. My question for anyone is….Can I cook a 1 pound bag of dry pinto beans in this,using 5 & 1/2 cups of water,as @marjorieapinchofhealthy:disqus stated she did? Thanks to any 1 who can help me.
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
For bean cooking, you want to make sure your pot is not much fuller than 1/2 full. Otherwise, there is a good chance that you could have starchy liquid shooting out the top. I don’t have a mini, but I am guessing you might want to cut that particular recipe in half…with the same cook time as the original recipe. Hope that helps!
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
LOL at the boom-booms. 🤣 Cumin would taste great in these! I often put cumin in all kinds of beans simply because I love the flavor.
Joxer says
Hi, my husband is on a very low salt diet as well. After soaking them, I have been cooking pinto beans in my old Presto pressure cooker without any salt. Will this reciework without any salt? Also, I make my own salsa without salt. Could I add some salsa for flavor without changing the consistency if the cooked beans? Thank you for your help.
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
Yes, I think that should work great! Sounds like it would be good with the salsa in it.
ATesia says
I have used this recipe without salt and they turned out very good.
Moirrainefortruth says
Better than bouillon has toxic ingredients – yes, the yeast can harm many!
Organic or not, it’s bad.
I use Imagine
Alice Benham says
Do you have any idea how the cook time would be affected by using fresh pinto beans? I picked some up at the farmers market, and I’m not sure how much less time to cook them.
marge201 says
This Vegebase by Vogue Cuisine looks great. It ain’t cheap, though! 12-ounce jar for $13.59, wow! Is it cheaper elsewhere do you think? It’s a dollar cheaper at Vitacost. Does it make that big a difference that throwing a whole bunch of good spices in the pot wouldn’t be as good?
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
That is a little pricey. The Better Than Bullion vegetable base I mention in the post is $3.72 at WalMart. I’d say the main advantage is convenience and simplicity. It has your salt and seasonings. So it cuts out the guesswork & measuring and just makes things suuuuuper simple.
marge201 says
Okay, so I’m going to pass and just throw in seasonings and onions. Thanks a lot for your recipe. Going to do my first non-soak beans next week in my new IP!
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
Yaaaay!
bret wright says
So, um . . . is there a gas issue because of the lack of soaking? Asking for a friend, haha!
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
😂🤣 I will say that I used to soak mine religiously. And after doing this method, I notice zero difference with myself and all 3 members of my family. Hope that helps!
Forrest Bruton says
I put a small oak twig on top and carefully remove it after cooking so that all the farts crawl up on to of it. Then toss it out before serving .:)
Valrie Mullins says
I was brought up to soak your beans overnight with a small amount of baking soda. This stops the bean from causing gas. When I use an electric pressure cooker, I just add the baking soda to the mix and cook.
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
Oh yum! Glad to know it tasted good. Yes, BTB is very salty.
Pedro says
Hi marjorie, just wanted to pitch in. the salt is why the beans are taking so long to cook. you don’t season beans before pressure cooking, or the salt prevents the beans from absorbing water and softening. Try cooking on plain water first, then seasoning after they’re done. good luck!
Jessica says
Hi Pedro, I just had to comment because although it is an often-repeated traditional statement that salt in cooking makes beans tough, modern testing by the Food lab and by america’s test kitchen and by Russ Parsons of the Los Angeles Times. All of them agree that adding salt does not increase cooking time. In addition, the Test Kitchen folks found that if you have hard water, adding salt improves cooking results because the salt molecules replace some of the calcium in the bean skins, softening them and allowing them to expand rather than bursting apart.