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
Romaine Lettuce Salad With Herb Vinaigrette
Chocolate Smoothie Bowl
Liz says
Brilliant! My first attempt at cooking beans in an IP & they were perfect for a salad. I had considerable reservations as to the likely outcome as they were 4-5 years past their BB date & I live in a hard water area but all good
Lorena says
YAY!!!! I’m so happy they turned out great!! I’ve definitely fund out over time that the beans I tend to buy are rather on the older side, too. People with fresher beans have found my times to be too long.
Marcie H says
One thing I don’t see here is any mention of cooking beans with tomatoes. If you are cooking dry beans and add tomatoes before the beans are tender, they will NEVER get any more tender. I believe it is the acidity of the tomatoes. It is possible to use this fact to your advantage. Say for example you are making chili. When the beans are exactly right, add your tomatoes. The beans will remain “exactly right.” No mush.
Lorena says
Hm, that’s very interesting. I wonder if this doesn’t apply when pressure cooking though because I’ve made chilis in the Instant Pot with dried beans and tomato sauce at the same time and the beans cooked through just fine. But the water ph definitely seems to play a role. Several people commented on that already so it must play a role.
Cate Wallace says
Thanks for a intelligent research–and for hosting such an great thread of thoughtful responses. I bet water pH makes a difference—and that does differ from one part of the country to another. One old trick for getting beans to cook properly was adding a little baking soda to the cooking water, which would make it more “basic.” (Tomatoes or vinegar would make it “acidic.”) So people with slightly “softer” water than whatever you have may find their beans cook faster than yours. But since we all have whatever water we have, everybody can at least use your careful work as a starting point, adjusting the time up or down as needed. There’s really no way to know how old a bean is, under what conditions it was grown, and so forth. Thanks again.
Lorena says
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment Cate! Yes! Water pH definitely plays a role, too. I didn’t even think about taking that into the equation. I hope one day I find two completely different kinds of the same bean and then I’ll test cooking with my tap water and with bottled water, too on top.
Barb says
First of all I would like to say thank you. Other recipes I saw the time looked like the beans were going to be extremely under or over cooked. I made a bean soup which is several types of beans. It turned out great. I used your guide for red beans but added an extra 5 min because there were garbanzo beans in the mix. One bean was not as tender as I would have liked, but I didnt want bean mush. I thought it was the garbanzo but I picked one out and it was tender. Who knows. It wasn’t hard. Just not as tender as I would have liked. It was still delicious.
Soaking beans may get rid of some of the complex carbs that cause gas, but you are also removing healthy ingredients by soaking. I rinse, cook, eat and have a Beano pill as an appetizer or dessert. 😆
donna says
Age definitely matters, the only thing i ever cook>20mins is chickpeas as they don’t really go to mush.
I usually cook 10 bean mix from waitrose which has a whole variety including mung,kidney,canelleni,butter etc for 12mins for slightly mushy.
I have on a few occasions bought a different brand of beans or found a bag at the cupbourd and they have come out rock hard at the usual setting.
Lorena says
Yes, that’s what I’m seeing is happening to people. Depending on the brands they get different results. So there are two factors that can play a role. Bean age and bean kind. Maybe there is also different growing methods? Still trying to find out all of that.
June says
Can you do a cooking time for garbanzo chickpeas please?
Lorena says
22 minutes HP + NPR :) At least for me every single time with the chickpeas I get at several different stores here.
~Janice says
Wonderful info. Sprouted beans (pinto, kidney, etc.) also cook faster. I appreciate all your work!
Lorena says
Yes, sprouted they cook super fast I probably wouldn’t even cook them in the IP. Sprouted lentils I usually cook like 5 minutes in boiling water, that’s it.
Mickey says
I LOVE that you created this page. I originally bought my Instant Pot about a year ago and the main reason was so that I could cook dried beans and I couldn’t find any resources at that time that helped me. Today I cooked small red beans that I had soaked overnight for chili. I cooked them about 20 minutes. I actually had a brain freeze and couldn’t remember how to use the pot so turned it off after it had started heating up, so they cooked longer. They are great for soup, but I think I’ll cook them 18 min next time. Do you recommend draining them for using them for soup?
Ben says
Just reseal and set for another one, two three or whatever minutes.
Lorena says
Hi Mickey, sorry I missed your comment somehow, don’t know how that happened. If you’ll use them for soup I don’t recommend draining them. You can just use the bean broth as broth :)
Gale says
I used the 30 minutes recommended for kidney beans when I cooked small red beans and they turned out wonderfully. The beans held their shape but soft for eating
Lorena says
I’m so happy you found the guide useful Gale! Thank you for coming back and commenting and rating. I really appreciate it.
Oprah says
I found this handy and useful for accurate bean cooking https:// instantpot.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/12PSI-EPC-Cooking-Time-Tables-English. pdf
Lorena says
I’m glad you found timings that work for you. I’m starting to believe it might be a mix of bean age and individual IP. 8 minutes for soaked black beans gives me close to raw beans. My IP can’t cook my beans that fast. I wish.
Yvonne says
How long is too long to soak beans? I set the beans to soak before bed, about 10 p.m. The next morning I went out and didn’t get back until 4 p.m.! Will that effect the beans cooking time?
Lorena says
Hi Yvonne, up to 24 hours is totally save as long as you drain and rinse them after 12 hours and put them in fresh water to continue soaking. That way you avoid bacteria from building. The cooking time will most likely be affected. You’ll need to cook them a little less time. I haven’t experimented with that yet though. The age of the beans seems to play a much larger role in cooking time than anything else really.
Linda says
Hi Lorena, I just got a 3 quart Instant Pot, and am looking forward to using your guide. Can you please tell me if these times will work in a 3-quart pot?
Lorena says
Hi Linda, the fact that it’s a 3-quart shouldn’t make a difference at all. Just know that 80% of people are successful with my timings and 20% are not because bean age seems to play a major role in cooking times. I’m still trying to figure out the magic formula that takes bean age into consideration. If your beans come out mushy know it’s not the 3-quart that is the issue but rather that you have fairly young dried beans.
Elaine says
Thanks for the great information! I’ve favorited you page for future reference when I’m ready to try but have already decided that there’s no need to buy canned beans anymore! My question is how does bean age affect the cooking time? Do older veans need more time or less? I have a bean mix in the cupboard that would be considered older, but I’m going to cook them anyway!
Lydia says
Question about dried medley of beans. I have kidney, mayacoba, Appaloosa, flageolet, cannellini, black, cranberry beans, jacob’s cattle beans, French navy and black eyed peas in this mix! 😳
Lydia says
What time would I use for a soup with these beans after soaking?
Lorena says
I use the 3rd time of the 3 that I suggest for each type of bean to make soup.
Lorena says
Oh gosh, I have no clue Lydia, I’m sorry. I haven’t cooked most of those beans ever. Some of them I haven’t even heard about before. No advice on that, unfortunately.
VTP says
My friend bought an Instant Pot so I gave her the initial demo. I cooked a pot of mixed bean medley for 20 min on high with 20 min NR. I soaked them almost 20 hours with a water change in the middle. (I had planned to cook after 10 hours but something came up so I had to wait 10 more hours to do the cooking.) This soup included sauteing celery, carrots, potatoes, and a pepper, plus some spices (salt and tomatoes were added AFTER cooking) then added beans and vegetable broth to fill IP to half way; cooked on high pressure. I no longer have the package so I don’t know for sure what kind of beans were included but I imagine it’s a pretty standard soup mix. You didn’t mention lima beans and my mix had them so might be a bit different (or they may go by a different name). Next time I cook this soup I will only cook for 18 minutes. 20 minutes was OK but a little on the mushy side.
Lorena says
Bean age seems to play a WAY bigger role than expected. I had no idea at first. I’m currently in contact with a couple of manufacturers to figure out how old their beans are and how I can determine age so I can include that in the equation. Far from having found the magic formula yet though. 80% of people are successful with my timings but about 20% all report the same problem: beans are mush. :(
VTP says
I’ve been wondering about whether different brands of beans contain different varieties of beans? I’m sure there is more than one variety of black beans that farmers grow. It would make sense that this could have a substantial impact on cooking times. I know that when I’ve bought black beans from different sources they can certainly look different – some are smaller and duller in color and some are larger, darker, and glossy. Just a thought.
Lorena says
That is definitely a good point!! I will absolutely keep a sample of different brands when I buy to compare. It’s just such an awfully long process because I can’t eat as many beans as I cook, haha
Cristine Mabey says
I used organic kidney beans and cooked them at your middle setting. They are mushy. Sad.
Lorena says
Cristine, I am just as sad as you :( I found out after many comments that the age of the beans plays a BIG role in timing so it’s basically impossible to figure out the right timing unless we all use same aged beans. It’s so annoying. I’m trying to figure out a formula but so far I haven’t been able to factor in bean age.
Kelly says
Thank you for this cooking guide for dried beans in the Instant Pot! I don’t cook them often, and so when I do I’m always scrambling to find the proportions at the last minute! This is great and it may inspire me to cook dried beans more often lol!
According to Lorna Sass’s cookbook, you should slice open a bean lengthwise after soaking to see if they’re uniform in color; if they have a dark spot in the middle, then they haven’t soaked all the way through. I think you could check them at 4, 8 and 12 hours and beyond, perhaps this might help to keep them from being mushy?
Lorena says
Ohhh, that’s interesting!!! I will definitely give this a try and observe.
Phyllis Bradley says
Seems to cover all the bases except altitude. Have there been any comments on how altitude can affect results? I moved from the Rockies to Florida, and noticed a huge difference in non-pressurized cooking. How much does this affect pressure cooking?
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 because that’s where I do all experiments and cooking. However, considering bean age seems to play such a big role in cooking times, I found out over the weeks, that altitude changes are almost irrelevant. Most people are successful with my timings, so they must have similar age beans, but some people report as little as 8 minutes being enough to cook beans. After 8 minutes my beans are pretty much completely raw still.
Penny Vere says
wow, what a perfectly put together article and timely! I have been soaking and cooking beans for many years the old fashion way and hav always found it hard not to have the beans fall apart somewhat and so today I though “the Instant Pot, why not!” and then I found your article. the thing I think is most important about this is that the instant pot does not create a rolling boil so the food does not get jiggled around constantly altering the structure of the item. Thanks so much for this great article.
Lorena says
You are very very welcome Penny! I’m so glad you find it useful. Be warned. Some people are not having success with my timings. It seems like the age of beans plays a big role in cooking time. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to calculate the magic formula including age in the equation. One day I hope I will be able to provide that formula.
Amanda M. says
So I’m confused by how you wrote your timings. You wrote: “Adjust timing follows depending on if you need the beans for salad/rice and beans/soup.” Okay, so that sounds like it’s for 2 distinct categories (or possibly 4), but in your timings, you consistently list 3 timings, example:
“Black Beans: 20/25/30 minutes + 20 mins NPR.” Why are 3 timings listed? Very confused.
Lorena says
Hi Amanda, I’m sorry it’s confusing. It’s 3 timings for 3 different consistencies. Consistency 1: salad. Meaning whole beans, not mushy. Consistency 2: rice and beans. A meal of rice and beans basically where you want the beans softer than for salad but not super mushy. Consistency 3: soup. Meaning super soft so you can easily blend into a smooth soup. Now, considering bean age, however, the timings seem to work for a lot of people but not everybody. Unfortunately, I can’t figure out exactly what age gaps cause the variations yet. I’ll get there eventually :)