Instant Pot Black Beans - No Soaking Required

Image of cooked Instant Pot black beans in a white bowl with an Instant Pot in the background.

4.88 from 16 votes

Instant Pot Black Beans - 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.

Prep Time5

Cook Time1 30

Total Time1 35

Servings: cups (approximately)

Calories: 268kcal

Chef: Jessica Randhawa

Tools

▢
Instant Pot

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 venting 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

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