After pounds and pounds of bean pressure cooking I got it right. Here is your fail-proof guide for Instant Pot Beans. Instant Pot black beans, Instant Pot pinto beans, instant pot kidney beans, and many more, basically an encyclopedia about cooking beans in the instant pot.
After seeing the same question popping up over and over again in several Facebook groups: “how to cook beans in the instant pot”, and after reading answers that couldn’t differ any more, I felt the urge to find out timings for myself. Just like back when I saw the same happening for Instant Pot Rice.
I’ve read people recommending cook times anywhere from 10 minutes all the way up to 60 minutes. How can that be? Why do the recommended times differ SO MUCH?!? I had to get to the bottom of it.
Well, first of all, many times it isn’t even specified what kind of beans. There are soooooo many kinds and they all cook in different times. Asking “how to cook beans in the instant pot” is basically an incomplete question and often results in incomplete answers.
Second of all, it is never specified what the beans are meant for. Depending on if you want them for a salad or a soup makes a huge difference. For a salad you want them barely cooked so they hold their shape, stay dry and don’t become mushy. For a soup you want them super cooked and falling apart by themselves so you can blend them and create a creamy soup.
And lastly,it is rarely specified if the cooking time is requested or suggested for soaked or dry beans. This also plays a huge role in timing.
Which brings us to the first question and answer in our Instant Pot Beans Encyclopedia.
Soaking or No Soaking for Instant Pot Beans
Let me answer one important thing first: yes, you CAN cook both, soaked and unsoaked beans in the pressure cooker. So if you desperately want to skip the soaking process you absolutely CAN.
The question, however, should not be if you CAN cook no soak beans. The question is: do you really want to skip the step?
I never (literally never!) skip soaking. Why? Because it eases digestion A LOT. I, for one, don’t love feeling bloated and passing wind. If you enjoy that, by all means, go ahead and skip the step ;)
If you’re more like me and like eating healthy and yummy food without bloating and farting (high five my friend) then soak your beans for 8-12 hours before pressure cooking.
Generations and generations before us already knew about this trick and I rely a lot on their experience. A pressure cooker doesn’t break down the beans to a point where soaking isn’t necessary anymore to ease digestion. Maybe one day someone will invent a magical machine that can but for now, there isn’t one on the market that I know.
What the instant pot does it cook beans faster to reach the same consistency a regular pot with water does. That’s the advantage of pressure cooking. The soaking is still necessary.
There are other tricks to ease digestion such as adding “epazote” during the cooking process and/or removing the foam that forms on top. The most important and most effective is soaking though. Don’t skip the soaking even if you add epazote and remove the foam.
Sooooo, all experiments run for this post are for beans soaked for 12 hours at room temperature using filtered water. Then drained and rinsed and cooked in just plain, fresh, unsalted water.
Ok, now that we’ve had have that discussion let’s get to the next point.
Instant Pot Black Beans
My fist tests were run with Black Beans and that’s how I found out that the discrepancies of timing are often times likely due to what the beans are meant for.
After cooking for 30 minutes + complete natural pressure release the beans were nice and soft and perfect to use for a soup. They were cooked to the necessary consistency to blend into a smooth black bean soup.
However, they were way too soft to drain and use for a salad. They were much much softer than the black beans you’d find in a can for example.
The canned black beans are pretty firm and after draining ideal for a salad for example.
So the next goal was to find the best pressure cook timing to achieve firm beans for salad AND a consistency somewhere in between for Instant Pot Beans and Rice. Not too firm and not too soft.
After 20 minutes of high pressure cooking and full natural pressure release the Instant Pot Black Beans were thoroghly cooked through but still firm. I was able to drain them and use them in a salad.
After 25 minutes they had that perfect consistency for Instant Pot Beans and Rice.
Instant Pot Pinto Beans
I thought all beans the same size would cook in the same time but no. It seems different beans have a different composition and cook differently.
Pinto Beans cooked faster in my experiment compared to black beans. I was very surprised actually. So much so, that I will have to rerun this experiment. Pinto Beans were the last beans I experimented with and I’m wondering if my Instant Pots (<– yes, plural, I have several because I’m obsessed, haha) were maybe overheating and cooking stuff faster?
Anyway, the Adzuki Beans definitely confirmed the fact that different beans cook at different times regardless of size.
The Instant Pot Pinto Beans were perfect for draining and using in salads after just 15 minutes high pressure and full natural pressure release.
Perfect for rice and beans after 20 minutes high pressure cooking + NPR. And suitable for soups after 25 minutes HP + NPR.
Flavoring Instant Pot Beans (salt while or after cooking)
Depending on what you want your Instant Pot Beans for you may or may not want to flavor them.
If you want your beans for a salad which will have a salad dressing it’s probably best to simply cook them in filtered water and nothing else. Drain the water and use the unflavored beans for your salad.
For Instant Pot Beans and Rice or for soup you’ll probably want to flavor while cooking. There is a couple simple rules to follow. Add onion, garlic, spices (except salt) before or during cooking but salt after cooking. Salt can keep beans from softening up so you want to avoid adding while they are cooking but rather once they’re already soft.
What I love to do is to prepare a “sofrita” first. You hit the sautée button first and while the pot heats you peel and finely chop onion and garlic. Once hot, add a splash of oil, the chopped onion and garlic and sauté until nice and brown. Then add beans and water and cook as instructed in the recipe card below.
And here the printable fool-proof timing guide for Instant Pot Beans:
Instant Pot Beans
Ingredients
- 1-3 cups beans - (black beans, pinto beans, adzuki beans, kidney beans, navy beans, or mung beans)
- water
Instructions
- Add beans to a large bowl and cover with abundant filtered water. At least 4 times as much water as beans. Cover with a clean dish towel. Soak for 8-12 hours on the kitchen counter. (If you soak them longer timings will differ!)
- Drain beans and rinse really really well.
- Add beans to instant pot and cover with fresh water to about 2 inches above the beans (two thumbs thick).
- Put on the lid and turn the knob to the sealing position.
- Press manual (or pressure cook on newer models) set to high pressure and adjust timing follows depending on if you need the beans for salad/rice and beans/soup:Black Beans: 20/25/30 minutes + 20 mins NPRPinto Beans: 15/20/25 + 20 mins NPRNavy Beans: 25/30/35 + 20 mins NPRKidney Beans: 25/30/35 + 20 mins NPRAdzuki Beans: 5/10/15 + 20 mins NPRMung Beans: 0 + 10 min NPR / 0 + 15 min NPR / 1 + 20 mins NPR
- Let pressure release naturally for specified time above, then, if safety pin hasn't dropped on its own yet, release remaining pressure manually.
Chimichurri Sauce
Easy Healthy Coleslaw
Failproof Instant Pot Rice
Margie says
I just tried my first batch of soaked black beans in my 3 qt IP, set for 25 min on high. After reading the comments about mush and also the IP manual, I decided to quick release. Very messy, it spit all over so I turned the vent down and gradually let it vent. It only took a couple of minutes. The beans were still boiling and I can easily see how leaving then in for another 15 min would cause mush. They’re about perfect, some are broken, but I’m not picky. My IP manual says the same thing that somebody else mentioned – cook soaked black beans for 4-6 min but they also say this is the minimum time. Another concern, which nobody has mentioned, is the toxicity of undercooked beans. They can make you VERY sick, so be careful.
Lorena says
Thank you for your insight Margie. Yes undercooked beans are not good to eat. The good thing is, you can always get your pot back to pressure and cooke a couple extra minutes. No problem at all. I’m still very confused with these timings. At 4-6 minutes my beans are not only undercooked they are practically raw. Super sandy and yucky. It’s soooo weird.
Lisa says
Have you considered altitude & pot size in your calculations?
I live at about 2200ft & have an 8qt pot. Nothing I cook uses the same times as I find online. For example, I made baked beans, using Navy beans, a few days ago. I did them for 40 minutes on high pressure, with 10 minute NPR. They were just barely starting to soften. Cooked them another 20 minutes with 10 NPR & they were fine.
Stumbled on your site trying to find out how long to cook kidney beans to add to chili. At least I have a starting point.
Lorena says
Hi Lisa, from what I’ve read you have to add 5% cooking time per every 1,000 feet of altitude. I will never be able to confirm exact cooking times for anything but sea level because that’s where I do all experiments and cooking. From what I’ve learned now through comments of other people the age of the beans plays a MUUUUCH bigger part in timing than the altitude actually. Some people have great success with my timing and others say their beans are total mush when they can’t be any lower than I am, right? Just Amsterdam and Venice are lower. Unfortunately, it’s close to impossible to determine bean age so I’m super confused how I should address this in the post so everybody is successful with my timings. I don’t even know how old the beans are that I usually buy but they seem to be the same age always because they always take the same time to cook.
Judy says
I would appreciate info from people cooking at 6000 ft altitude as far as time and amount of water. Thank you for trying to figure all this out.
Lorena says
Hi Judy, water to rice ratio stays the same, NPR stays the same you just have to add 5% cooking time per every 1,000 feet of altitude.
Karen says
I’ve found in my personal experience that the older the bean, the longer it takes to get tender.
Lorena says
That is really interesting to read. I will definitely have to dig deeper into this to make this guide more comprehensive.
Judith Miller says
I just did a pound of overnight soaked kidney beans for 20 minutes of pressure and after 15 min of natural release I did quick release. They were plenty soft (fine for my chili) but I will probably decrease time to 15 min next time and check on them after 10 min.
Lorena says
Judith, I’m glad you’re finding the right timing for your beans. I’m still super confused about some people getting good results with my timings and others all the way to total mush. I just can’t understand that and it’s so frustrating.
les compton says
use by is just a stock rotation thing for the seller as rather alot of things can be months old by the time they hit the shelve–has nothing to do with how the item is for eating. just people fall into the trap of aghh out of date sling it — reason so much food is wasted and you buy more –then rinse and repeat — good marketing trap or what
how old are the beans ? how do they differ from 1 plant to the other — all cooking is observation and calculated guess work so yep there will be differences in cooking times
Lorena says
Exactly, the “use by” date on beans and grains is really misleading I find because they don’t rot. Some become kind of yucky but that’s usually decades later.
Jennifer says
I love this article! Thank you for doing all the research for us! 🤗
I have the instant pot that just has a “beans” button that a choice of low med or high (lightly to more cooked) I chose medium and got very mushy beans, but my pot didn’t naturally vent and I’m sure that’s why they kept cooking. I don’t know why the pin didn’t pop and let it vent, I can only think that the bit of foam from the cooking beans made it just sticky enough to not vent on its own, not the timing of the beans.
(Cooked soaked great northern beans fyi)
Thank you for all this info!
Jennifer. M
Lorena says
Jennifer, with both Natural Pressure Release and Manual Pressure Release the pin doesn’t drop UNTIL ALL PRESSURE is out. The pin is a safety mechanism so you can’t open the pot while there is still pressure inside resulting in an explosion and serious injury. The reason Instant Pots are so safe to use are because of the safety pin. Natural Pressure release takes anywhere from 10-30 minutes depending on the volume inside. If after 30 minutes the pin didn’t drop on its own you can turn the valve to venting and manually release the remaining pressure. If no air is coming out it simply means the safety pin is stuck and you have to shake the lid a tiny little bit (only when the nob is on venting and ALL air out) and the pin will drop.
LoomA says
Is it possible elevation plays a role in the discrepancies?
Lorena says
Elevation does play a role but not that big of a role and only in extreme elevation. “Cooking time under pressure should be increased by 5 percent for every 1,000 feet after 2,000 feet above sea level” – Anderson, B. M. (1980). So that’s definitely not the problem here with such large discrepancies. Also, I myself am at sea level so my cooking time should be the shortest of all. I wonder if it’s just personal preference and bean age?
jmk says
Times were way too long – my beans were mush. Even tried a second time. Soaked kidney beans overnight, and finally found that cooking for 18 minutes is right. I tried 25 and 30 minutes, and they were MUSH both times.
Lorena says
Thank you for your Feedback Jean Marie. I’m really puzzled as to why you and some others haven’t had success with my times. I retested the times 3 days ago actually because I found it so weird. I also tested at times suggested in the comments but I got to the same result I had gotten before. I cooked black beans at 20 minutes and at 10 minutes and at 10 they were raw and at 20 they were just cooked through. I even bought two different brands of beans to find out if it could be the beans. I bought organic and conventional but had the same result with both. I wonder now if the age of the beans plays a role? I’m so so puzzled and so sorry my timing didn’t work out for you :(
AJ says
Is the timing from when you close the lid and set it on pressure cook? Or is it after it has come to pressure? That would make a big difference.
Lorena says
AJ, when you close the lid you set it to the minutes and the cooker then first gets to pressure and once the pin jumps up the timer starts counting down the minutes. It’s all automatic. If you are using a stove top pressure cooker, you start your timer once the cooker came to pressure, not when you put on the lid.
Rebecca Thomas says
Do you know anything about putting your soaked beans through the yogurt process of the IP so that they sprout a little before cooking? Thanks!
Lorena says
Ohhh, no, never thought of that Rebecca. I only sprout lentils and that just at room temperature. I soak them 12 hours, then drain and rinse and leave in a colander sitting on a bowl from then on on the kitchen counter and rinse every 6 hours. It takes about 2-3 days until they start sprouting.
Sylvia says
Hi Lorena, I was very impressed with your rice cooking guide and I use it all the time and it is trulu foolproof. I was sohappy to find your guide how to cook bean in IP as I always struggle with timing of those. I cooked black beans (soaked overnight for 12 hours) for 25 min and they turned to mush, barely suitable for soup. What went wrong? everywhere I read it says a few minutes for soaked beans….
Lorena says
Sylvia, I am so intrigued. I will have to retest this. You are the second person to tell me this. I am so surprised. I’ve tested all beans with two instant pots simultaneously. I wonder if they were overheated by the time I got to the black beans. I will definitely have to retest. I wonder how much it has to do with them beans themselves, how old they are and where they come from. I will most definitely retest the black beans though and with different brands. Thank you for leaving your feedback. I would have never known. I’m so bummed this isn’t as fail-proof as the rice post :(
Fran says
My experience over years is that yes, older beans take longer to cook. Perhaps you buy them at a market that doesn’t sell a lot of them in a timely manner, so they dry even more.
Lorena says
That’s is definitely very interesting and something I want to find out more about. I buy most my beans at a health food store that sells them in bulk. I have no idea how fast or slow they sell them, that’s for sure.
Kim says
What size Instant Pot do you recommend for cooking beans? Will soon just be two
of us at home but will likely batch cook.
Lorena says
Hey Kim, I have the 6qt and think it’s perfect for everybody from singles do big families of 6. In my instant pot I can cook a single cup of rice without a problem and I can also cook 3 so that’s super convenient.
Joe Q. says
Thanks for providing all this info. I have had a hard time getting beans cooked properly (i.e., not overdone) in my IP.
Following your directions, I soaked dark red kidney beans for 11 hrs in plain water at room temperature, drained and rinsed well, and then cooked in the IP with fresh plain water for 25 min, hoping for firm beans suitable for salad. Following cooking I allowed 10 mins of natural pressure release and then manually released the rest of the pressure.
I found that about half the beans were “broken” in some way, split in half widthwise or missing their skins — as if they had been massively overcooked.
I note that this website (http://instantpoteats.com/instant-pot-101-how-to-cook-legumes/) recommends 8-10 minutes for soaked kidney beans.
Where does the discrepancy come from?
Joe Q. says
Sorry, should have said 20 mins of natural pressure release before finishing the rest off manually.
The beans that result are fine for chili and stews, but too broken up for use in salads.
Lorena says
Hm. Joe I’m really intrigued. If I cook my beans for 8-10 minutes they are mostly raw still inside. I’m also confused why it says 8-10 minutes in that blog post. Also, check out this post where I cook Instant Pot Chili. It has a video at the end where you can see the consistency of how the red kidney beans once cooked on high for 25 minutes + complete natural pressure release: https://wellnessinsightsdaily.org/instant-pot-vegan-chili/%3C/a%3E They are all still whole. I wonder if it depends on the origin of the beans? Or maybe there are different types I don’t know about? I don’t even know where mine come from. I buy them at the bulk store. Ugh. I will test again with 10 minutes soon. Maybe my Instant Pots were already overworked when I came to testing with kidney beans. I did all the tests in 2 days with 2 instant pots. They were hard at work those day and I don’t remember if I cooked the kidney beans last in a day. I will test again and come back with my findings. Have always cooked soaked red kidney beans for a minimum of 25 minutes though and always and up with whole beans.
Joe Q. says
Thanks for your comment. I do agree that the age of the beans may have something to do with it. Mine are from a supermarket package and are still a year from their best-before date.
Another factor might be water hardness.
Lorena says
Ohhh, yes, water hardness could play a role, too. I didn’t even consider that. I will definitely have to do some more research. I’m travelling to Mexico City in December actually and considering taking my Instant Pot with me to do some tests there at 2,000m altitude.
Lynda says
Kenji Lopez-Alt recommends soaking beans in salted water to soften the skins and reduce blow-outs. He also points out that soaking doesn’t reduce flatulence.
The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking through Science
Lorena says
That’s very interesting to read. I do feel a big big difference when I soak vs not soak my beans or eat canned. Digestion is way easier (for me and my family and several friends who have tried my beans they say at least)
Kel says
They turned out perfect! Used navy beans for baked beans. Thanks!
Lorena says
So happy to read that Kel :D
Sylvia says
I’m questioning the timing based on my recent experience. I ended up using the instant pot guide that comes with the pot and used soaked bean cooking times which suggests 4-6 minutes for black beans and 3-4 minutes on high pressure for navy beans and they both came out perfect if not slightly over done at the higher times suggested. I soaked for 5-6 hours. Just not sure what the difference is.
Lorena says
Hi Sylvia, I can’t tell you Sylvia. If I cook black beans for less than 20 minutes they are raw. Also, what Instant Pot guide did you use? The one that comes in the box with the pot? I just double checked mine (because I thought 3-4 minutes sound’s really weird) and it says under black beans 20-25 minutes. You DID use dried beans, right? Not canned. If you’re using canned, there is no need to soak them, they are already cooked. In this case the 3 minutes would basically be to warm up only, not to cook.
deborah says
Does altitude affect pressure cooking times?
Lorena says
From what I’ve read you have to add 5% cooking time per every 1,000 feet of altitude. I will never be able to confirm exact cooking times for anything but sea level though unfortunately because that’s where I do all experiments and cooking.
Danyelle says
I live at 6,000′ and all four of the bean varieties I have tried with these times have turned out beautifully. I have been doing beans from dry for about 8 years and had experimented (a Lot) since getting the Instant Pot last year – I’m confident in settling on these instructions. Thanks, Lorena!
Lorena says
Thank you so so so much for coming back and rating my post and leaving such a wonderful review. I really appreciate it!
Sam says
Not sure this whole instant pot thing is for me. Followed your directions but wanted beans that were slightly firmer than “salad” beans. So I clicked the pressure setting and selected 10 minutes. Had to run out of the house for a bit. When I came back the pin still hadn’t dropped (1 1/2 hours later). I hit cancel and waited and waited and waited. Finally did a quick pressure release and open up to a pot of mush, swimming in water. Ugh. No idea what I’m going to do (that much soup would take months for me to eat, and I don’t have freezer space).
Lorena says
Oh gosh Sam. When you turned the valve to venting was there still any air coming out? I highly doubt it after 1.5 hours. The 1.5 hours in the pot after pressure cooking are what made your beans total mush. Natural pressure release RARELY takes longer than 20 minutes. What does happen sometimes is that the safety pin stays stuck a little. After 20 minutes you can always turn the valve to venting and once the rest of the air escapes (if any is still in at all) shake the lid a little to “unstuck the safety pin” (it’s safe to do that once there is no pressurized air inside anymore, but only then). I’m so sorry you weren’t successful the first time. Please don’t give up. Try again without leaving the house. You have to remove the beans from the pot after max 20 minutes natural pressure release to stop from overcooking.
Sam says
Yes, there was still pressure. I’m assuming something went wrong when I selected the pressure setting/time at the beginning. I have used the yogurt setting (to incubate tempeh), and cooked some beautiful rice using the steam setting (and your instructions), but this was my first try pressure cooking something. I’m off to try again. (And will be in the house to keep an eye on things, and manually cancel if needed.)
Lorena says
Oh that is really really weird. There certainly shouldn’t have been any pressure in anymore. You have to press “manual” or the newer models don’t have that button, there it’s called “pressure cook” and then you have to make sure the little light is on “high pressure” not on “low”. It has to be “high“. Then, adjust time and make sure again that the valve is turned to sealing. The cooker should take anywhere from 5-10 minutes to get to pressure, and the safety pin jumps up. Once the pin jumps up, the timer starts counting backwards. Once it’s at 0 it beeps. From beep to natural pressure release (pin dropping) there shouldn’t pass more than 20-ish minutes really.
Gina says
Your advice to Sam is so helpful! I just bought an Instant Pot today and I’m soaking beans right now for tomorrow. I’m going to try a 15 bean soup and I’m a bit nervous because there are a lot of different textures and beans in there. Based on your bean times I’m going to try 20 mins and full pressure release and hope for the best. Thank you for the advice!
Susan says
After the cooking time elapses, for NPR, do you hit “cancel” and wait for the NPR to conclude?
Lorena says
Hey Susan, I don’t hit cancel. I just leave the pot alone until the safety pin drops. Then you can hit cancel.