Dried Beans in the Instant Pot
Low energy but still need to eat?This spoonie-friendly Instant Pot method makes cooking dried beans simple, flexible, and doable—even on tough days.Note: The times given are approximate, and include soaking time and natural pressure release.
Equipment
- 1 Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1 cup beans of choice (chickpeas, navy beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, black beans)
- 4 cups water
Instructions
- Soak your beans overnight (preferred method; skip if in a hurry)
- Drain, and rinse well
- Add beans to Instant Pot and cover with plenty of water
- Pressure cook for the specified amount to time
- Allow for natural release
Notes
Actual cooking time depends on which kind of bean you use, how fresh your beans are, if and how long they were soaked, and how long it takes for the pressure to release naturally.
When in doubt, err on the shorter side—you can always cook beans a bit longer, but you can’t undo overcooking.
Average cooking times per type of bean:
- Chick peas: 20-22 minutes (soaked) | 40-45 minutes (not soaked)
- White beans: 12-14 minutes (soaked) | 20-25 minutes (not soaked)
- Pinto beans: 10-12 minutes (soaked) | 25-30 minutes (not soaked)
- Kidney beans: 10-12 minutes (soaked) | 25-30 minutes (not soaked)
- Black beans: 10-12 minutes (soaked) | 20-27 minutes (not soaked)
