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Easy Instant Pot Pinto Beans Recipe

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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.

Instant Pot pinto beans in a white bowl topped with diced onion with cornbread

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 pinto beans in strainer with red towel on white surface

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.

Instant Pot pinto beans in stainless inner pot with wooden spoon

Side note: skillet corn bread is excellent with these, as shown in these pictures.

Lifting out a slice of southern skillet cornbread from a cast iron skillet

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!

pinto beans in white bowl with diced onion and corn bread

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

What is the ratio of water to pinto beans in an Instant Pot?

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.

How long do you put beans in an Instant Pot?

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.

Can I freeze Instant Pot pinto beans?

Yes, these freeze really well. Pull them out and thaw prior to using them alone, or in other recipes.

Can I use these to make refried beans?

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.

What if I don’t have any bullion or vegetable stock?

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

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 Pinto Beans Recipe

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pinto beans in white bowl with diced onion and corn bread
4.83 from 80 votes
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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.

Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword instant pot, pinto beans, pintos, vegan, vegetarian
Prep Time 1 minute
Cook Time 1 hour 26 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 27 minutes
Servings 8
Calories 196 kcal
Author Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy

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

  1. Rinse off your pinto beans, and drain them using a wire mesh strainer.

  2. Add them to the Instant Pot, along with the water and Better Than Bullion vegetable base.

  3. Close and lock the lid, and cook on manual high pressure for 45 minutes. Note: It will take several minutes to come to pressure.

  4. 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.

Nutrition Facts
Instant Pot Pinto Beans (No Pre-Soaking)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 196
% Daily Value*
Sodium 15mg1%
Potassium 789mg23%
Carbohydrates 35g12%
Fiber 8g33%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 12g24%
Vitamin C 3.5mg4%
Calcium 69mg7%
Iron 2.9mg16%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Comments

  1. Kerri says

    5 stars
    I have a Power Pressure Cooker XL, not an Instant Pot. I did the 45 minutes with natural release, but the beans were not quite soft (even though my bean button only goes to 30 min?!). I added another 15 minutes with natural release and they were perfect! So if you have the PPCXL, try an hour instead of 45 🙂

    The beans were delicious and I didn’t need to add any extra spices. I will be making this often, thank you for a great and easy recipe!

    Reply

  2. Kristie says

    5 stars
    Thank you so much! I had an 8 lb bag of beans and wanted a quick way to cook some beans to make pinto burgers. Staying home because of covid 19 and trying new recipes with what I have. I didn’t have the bouillon so I used knorr tomato bouillon with chicken flavor and garlic and onion powder. Turned out perfect!

    Reply

  3. Ken says

    5 stars
    This is a fantastic find for me. I’ve soaked and not soaked, used various amounts of beans and water, used differing times of pressure and release, and have never been satisfied. I tried this this morning while working from home and they came out great, even after leaving them in the pot for about an hour and a half after the cooking stopped. Thanks.

    Reply

  4. Robyn says

    I’m originally from south GA and have been raised on the excellent southern man cooking of my mom (aka lots of salt and bacon fat, etc). We had a Very small kitchen so she didn’t really like having other people in there when she coooed and thus, I didn’t learn much. 🙁
    I cooked this recipe just now, as written, and I’m almost in tears bc of how excited I am to have made beans that taste so good! Thank you so much for this super easy recipe!!! I’ll be making it often.

    Reply

  5. Mac says

    5 stars
    Simple but delicious; I’m not good at proportions with my Instant Pot yet, so I appreciate the post! I used chicken BTB because that’s what I had. This made yummy soft pinto beans and the leftovers were perfect for frijoles refritos.

    Reply

  6. Tim Pearson says

    I just put 2 lbs on with 6 cups of water, bouillon, and a can of Rotel. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

    Reply

  7. Archie says

    5 stars
    I made this with what the bag called “pink beans”. They might be smaller because I ended up with a good two cups of liquid when it was done. Normal? The beans were perfect, just drained them a bit. Perfect recipe!

    Reply

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