Instant Pot Black Beans

Today we’re making perfect Instant Pot Black Beans, using soaked or un-soaked beans. Cooking dry beans in the pressure cooker is faster and easier than cooking them on the stove top, because the process is almost entirely hands-off!

Is it Safe to Cook Dry Beans in a Pressure Cooker?

I’ve been intimidated by cooking my own beans from scratch in the past, possibly because I remember reading that it’s a bad idea to cook dried red beans in a slow cooker. That’s because raw kidney beans contain a particularly high concentration of the lectin called Phytohaemagglutnin, and this concentration is greatly reduced with cooking. A slow cooker doesn’t always reach a boiling temperature needed to fully cook the beans, so some people have reported getting sick after eating kidney beans that have been cooked in the slow cooker. (You can read more about this red kidney bean issue here.)

Luckily, that’s not a worry with the Instant Pot, as it does reach a high cooking temperature. Other types of beans, including black beans, have a much lower concentration of this lectin, so I haven’t found any similar reports linked to consuming them.

Still, you can stay on the safe side by making sure your beans are fully cooked. Beans can withstand quite a bit of overcooking, so I tend to err on the side of overcooking, so that the beans are very tender. Avoid beans that are dry or chalky on the inside!

How Long Does it Take to Cook Black Beans in the Pressure Cooker?

I’ve tested this cooking time for several years now, and have learned that the Instant Pot cooking time will vary slightly by how fresh or old the dry beans are. Dry beans from a bulk bin with a high turnover rate may be more fresh than the packaged beans that have been sitting on a store shelf for months.

With that being said, you’ll find the cooking times below that I have consistently good results with.

Here are the cooking times I use:

• Un-soaked beans: 50 minutes high pressure + 10 minute natural release
• Soaked beans: 9 minutes high pressure + 15 minute natural release

I’ve tested other cooking times suggested online (anywhere from 25 to 35 minutes at high pressure for un-soaked black beans) and found very inconsistent results. In any given batch, the beans might be done after 35 minutes, but some beans were not all the way tender, which resulted in me having to add more water, and more cooking time. Not convenient.

When you commit to a full 50-minute cooking cycle, you’ll get perfectly tender beans that are creamy on the inside. This is my go-to cooking time for Instant Pot black beans now!

Ratio of Beans to Water in the Instant Pot

I’ve tested several different water ratios:

• 1 pound black beans + 3 cups water: This ratio left me with inconsistent results. The beans on the bottom were cooked, but the beans on the top were still hard, because they weren’t totally covered in water as the beans expanded with cooking.
• 1 pound black beans + 4 cups water: Better, than the 3 cups, but still had a few beans on the very top that were a little too crunchy for my liking. I prefer consistently tender beans all around.
• 1 pound black beans + 5 cups water: Perfect! All of the beans turn out consistently tender with this amount of water. Yes, you will have some extra liquid in the pot when the beans are done cooking, but I’ll show you how to handle that, without draining off the flavor, below.

In general, the perfect ratio of water for cooking black beans in the Instant Pot is 2.5 cups of water per 1 cup of dry beans. If the beans are soaked, you can get away with only 2 cups of water per 1 cup of soaked beans.

And yes, you can cook only 1 cup of dry black beans in your Instant Pot, if you want to. The cooking time will stay the same, no matter how many dry beans you use.

Do You Need to Soak Black Beans for the Instant Pot?

Good news! You don’t have to soak beans before cooking them. They cook faster in the pressure cooker, so you don’t have to worry about a slow cooking process, and most people have reported little to no improvement when it comes to digesting beans after they’ve been soaked. Plus, beans taste better when you skip the soaking process.

In the printable recipe below, I’ll show you how to make super-flavorful black beans that you can serve a side dish, or in a burrito bowl.

When the beans are done cooking, you’ll simply use the Sauté function on the Instant pot to simmer away the excess liquid and concentrate the flavoring at the same time. The sauce will thicken up in about 10 to 15 minutes, leaving you with restaurant-quality beans!

How to Soak Beans

Prefer soaking your beans? Soaking dry beans may help to remove their phytic acid content, which may help improve absorption of some minerals, especially iron. The only downside is that you have to plan ahead!

To soak black beans, cover the dry beans with roughly 3 inches of water in a large bowl. The beans will expand up to 3-times their size, so be sure to take this into account when choosing the size of the bowl.

Let them soak for a minimum of 6 to 8 hours, or overnight in the fridge. If you can remember to soak them in the morning, they should be ready for you to cook them at dinnertime.

How to Cook Soaked Black Beans in the Instant Pot

To cook soaked black beans in the pressure cooker, drain them to remove the soaking water, then add the beans to the Instant Pot. You can use the seasoning mentioned in the recipe below, or just cook them plain, so you can use them as a substitute for canned beans in a recipe.

Cover the soaked beans with water (I use the same ratio mentioned above!) then cook at high pressure for 9 minutes. Yes, you shave 41 minutes off the pressure cooking time by soaking the beans first.

Does salt affect the cooking time?

I used to think adding salt to dry beans might slow down the cooking time, but over time I’ve learned that the age of your dry beans has more to do with fluctuating cooking times than the salt does. So, feel free to use salt and enjoy more flavorful beans! The recipe below is my go-to seasoning combination.

How Many Cups is 1 Pound of Black Beans?

• 1 pound of dried beans = 2 heaping cups of dried beans = 5 cups cooked beans

To replace a 15 oz. can of beans in a recipe, you’ll need 1 1/2 cups of cooked black beans. So, the recipe below makes a little over 3 cans of beans!

How to Cook Other Beans & Lentils

If you’re curious about cooking another variety of legume, I’ve got you covered!

• Instant Pot Pinto Beans (so flavorful!)
• Instant Pot Chickpeas (perfect for homemade hummus)
• Instant Pot Lentils (green, brown, black, & red varieties)

How to Store Black Beans

Cooked black beans will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week, or you can freeze them for a longer shelf life. To freeze black beans, line a large baking sheet or plate (that will fit on a flat shelf in your freezer) with parchment paper.

Pour the cooked beans on the lined pan, and arrange them in a single layer. This way they will freeze individually, instead of in big clumps. This makes measuring them later easier! Freeze for 2 hours, or until the beans feel frozen, then transfer to an airtight container to store in the freezer for up to 6 months. The beans should remain individually frozen this way, so they’ll be easy to thaw and measure for recipes later.

How to Use Them

You can use Instant Pot Black Beans just like you would canned beans, when you use the instructions for plain beans in the printable recipe above. Below, you’ll find some of my favorite black bean recipes.

• Black Bean Brownies
• Instant Pot Burrito Bowls
• Black Bean Burgers
• Copycat Panera Black Bean Soup
• Quinoa & Black Bean Salad
• Bean Dip

—

Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite way to use black beans?