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Instant Pot Pinto Beans are easy to make with no soaking required! The beans turn out tender and flavorful in a little over an hour! Our pressure cooker beans have a Tex-Mex flair, made with lots of seasoning and a little kick! Try them served over some rice or with tacos.
Okay, guys, I’m popping in with a recipe that I think is going to quickly become a staple in your house! Pressure cooker beans. Yessss. You’re going to love how quick these are to prepare and how buttery and soft the beans get with big, bold Tex-Mex flavors!
We love our Instant Pot and use it for things like this Instant Pot potato salad (foolproof!) or this Instant Pot vegetable soup (ready in 30 minutes).
These Instant Pot pinto beans are a favorite because they’re so simple and flavorful with minimal prep. No need to soak the beans, no need to wait for hours and hours as they simmer on the stove, and cooking with dried beans is so budget friendly!
You should also check out my pressure cooker carnitas, perfect for serving with these beans. Or try turning these into our easy refried beans…heaven!
♥ What We Love About This Recipe:
- Easy: Beans can be a chore to prepare sometimes but the pressure cooker makes it nice and simple. You don’t even need to soak them first! You can have these beans ready in about an hour.
- Versatile: Pretty much all beans make excellent side dishes that you can serve up with all sorts of other dishes. We especially enjoy serving these pinto beans over rice! It’s a simple and classic combination. See below for more serving suggestions.
- Economical: Canned beans are convenient, but dried beans are easy enough and dried will definitely save you some money. If you’re on a budget, making your own dried beans from scratch is the way to go!
Ingredient Notes:
Dried Pinto Beans – I’m using a 20 ounce package of dried pinto beans for this recipe. You can use any brand! Some brands will include a packet of seasoning which you can discard or add to the seasonings we’ve included.
Chicken Broth – This will add the moisture necessary for the pinto beans to pressure cook in and get nice and tender. Plus, it’ll add flavor! Use a good quality chicken broth for the best results.
Garlic, Onion, & Jalapeno – You can adjust these to suit your tastes. As written, the recipe produces a somewhat spicy finished product – it definitely has a Tex-Mex flair. Reduce or omit the jalapeno if you want less spice.
Seasoning – We’re seasoning these beans with a mixture of chili powder, ground cumin, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. The cayenne will add more spicy heat so adjust as needed.
Salsa Verde – Try my homemade roasted salsa verde recipe! We stir this flavorful tomatillo salsa in with the beans just before serving. Jarred will work fine. You could also try our restaurant style salsa or traditional red salsa from a jar.
Cilantro – Freshly chopped, for serving.
Salt – It works best to wait to add any salt until after the beans have cooked. The beans will be more tender if they are cooked without the salt. Add any salt to taste when serving!
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
My Favorite Instant Pot!
I absolutely love my Instant Pot! It’s great for recipes like these Tex-Mex beans, or to cook perfect rice, cook chicken to shred (the best!), and so much more.
How to Make Pinto Beans in Instant Pot:
Add your beans to a strainer and rinse them well, picking through and removing any debris.
Add the beans to the pot with the chicken broth, onion, garlic, jalapeno, and all seasonings except for salt.
Pressure cook for 46 minutes with a 15 minute natural release. If there is a lot of excess liquid left in the pot, drain it off using a spoon.
Stir in the salsa and cilantro and taste. Add salt as needed and serve!
Pro Tips!
Old Beans: The older your beans are, the less tender they will be. We recommend not using years old beans from the back of your pantry. 😉
Tender Beans: If your beans aren’t as tender as you’d like after the 46 minute cook time, replace the lid on the pressure cooker, set the vent to sealing, and pressure cook for 5 more minutes with a quick release.
Spice: This recipe is around a 5 on a scale of 1-10, in my opinion. To reduce the heat, you can cut back on the jalapeno and/or cayenne. To make it more spicy, increase these ingredients.
Serving Suggestions:
I serve these Tex-Mex pinto beans over rice (try out easy Mexican rice!) and top it with some avocado, cheese, and sour cream for an easy, cheap vegetarian meal.
These pressure cooker beans are also great added to tacos, like these air fried tacos.
Mash the leftovers and use them in our refried bean dip. Seriously the best dip ever!
Make nachos by placing tortilla chips on a sheet pan, topping with rotel dip or our homemade queso, and spooning beans over the top. Don’t forget the homemade guacamole.
And of course you can serve these beans as a side along with pretty much any kind of meat. This chili lime chicken is a great choice!
Recipe FAQs:
No, you do not have to soak the beans first for this recipe. You’ll add chicken broth to the pressure cooker which will add the moisture necessary for them to cook. If you do soak them they may cook a bit faster.
We’re cooking on high pressure in the Instant Pot for 46 minutes and allowing the pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes. That’s enough time to cook the beans until they’re nice and tender.
It is possible to overcook beans in a pressure cooker but as long as you stick to the times in this recipe you won’t need to worry.
Instant Pot Pinto Beans
Ingredients
- 20 ounces dried pinto beans
- 5 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 medium onion
- 1 small jalapeno
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne more to taste
- 1/2 cup salsa verde
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Rinse and sort through dried beans.
- Add beans to the electric pressure cooker. Pour in chicken broth.
- Dice the onion and mince the jalapeno and garlic and add to the pot of beans. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and cayenne.
- Close the pressure cooker, set to sealed position, and bring to pressure. Cook on high pressure for 46 minutes.
- Let pressure release naturally, about 15 minutes. If the beans are not quite as tender as you'd like, place the lid back on, set to sealing, and pressure cook on high for 5 more minutes with a quick release.
- Drain any excess liquid from the pot (if needed – the mixture may be thick, but if there is a lot of thin liquid, drain it off) and stir in the salsa verde and cilantro. Taste and season with salt.
- Serve over rice, in tacos, or as a side.
Jane Lacy says
I haven’t tried this recipe but I shall soon. In Lincoln Nebraska, we do not have the beans you suggest but will use just the plain ole pintos because your recipe sounds so good!
Thanks for your website and its recipes. Jane Lacy
Karly says
Thanks Jane! Hope you love the recipe!
Diana says
I think my beans were a little old. I fried some smoked sausage and onion in the pot. Then added everything besides the ham packet because I don’t know how to read. So we drained it and add the Verde with the ham seasoning. It was okay but our beans were still a tad hard. I think next time I will cook 5 minutes more just to make sure those beans are softer. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Betsy Pizzi says
Are these spicy? I want to make beans but my mom can’t handle spicy. Thanks!
Denise Wright says
I can’t wait to try this! You make everything look so good!
Krystle says
I can never get these right on the stove either too soupy or not enough flavor. These look yummy, can’t wait to try them in quesadillas!
Mary Sue Wysocki says
This looks really delicious. I’m going to have to try this next week.
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
Hooray for pressure cooking! 🙂 This looks delicious Karly!??
kim miller says
can i cook it on the stove because i dont a pressure cooker
Karly says
I haven’t made this recipe on the stove. It will require some changes to the amount of liquid used. I’d start by adding everything to a pot, with just enough water to cover the beans. Bring to a boil and cook for about 2-3 hours until beans are tender, adding more water as needed.
Velva-Tomatoes on the Vine says
I grew up eating a good pot of beans. The pintos look really good. Having a pressure cooker really seals in the flavors too.
Velva
Julie Evink says
I adore my pressure cooker! These are next up on my list to try for sure!