Instant Pot Black Beans (No Soak Method)

Instant pot black beans are easy and quick to make, and they are better than the canned version. Here you’ll learn how to cook dry black beans in your instant pot with no soaking method.

❤️ You’ll Love Cooking Black Beans In Instant Pot

• Tastes better & Healthy: Freshly cooked beans taste way better than canned ones. Plus, you can control the sodium here vs canned ones. And you don’t have to worry about BPA in the lining of cans. 
• Quick & Easy: As this is no soak method, you’ll need just 5 minutes of active time and the rest is done by the instant pot. 
• Cheaper & Organic: Buying a can of organic black beans is more expensive than buying a packet of organic dry black beans. So save some money and cook black beans in instant pot at home.
• Cook in bulk: I highly recommend bulk-cooking your black beans in instant pot and freezing them in batches for later use.

🧾 Ingredient Notes

Here is the pic of the ingredients you’ll need to cook black beans in instant pot. You’ll need 5 ingredients (2 are optional).

• Black beans: They are also known as turtle beans. Be sure to use the fresh black beans as older ones (aka stale or more than a year old) take longer to cook.
  • Always sort the black beans before cooking. Discard any stones, discolored or shriveled beans.
• Salt: It prevents beans from being bland.
• Onion & Garlic (OPTIONAL): It is added for a sharp depth of flavor.

Soaking Or No Soaking Black Beans:

When it comes to cooking any beans I prefer to soak them overnight or at least 8 hours. But when it comes to black beans, I prefer the NO SOAK method for black beans and below are my reasons:

• Taste: Soaked black beans tastes less earthy and slightly bland compared to no-soak ones. 
• Color: No soak instant pot black beans have dark black color once cooked. While soaked, cooked black beans have much pale color in comparison. When you soak the black beans, the black pigment is released into the water. So you’ll notice the soaking water becomes dark and almost black. And this soaking water is discarded before cooking hence the cooked beans are lighter and pale in color.
• Texture: Soaked beans are cooked to a slightly mushier texture. So When it comes to cooking black beans in instant pot, I prefer no soak method to get firm, yet soft, buttery textured beans. 

👩‍🍳 How to make instant pot black beans? (Photos)

Rinse: Take black beans in a bowl, add water to it and massage the beans with your finger and the water will become cloudy. Discard the water and repeat this process 2-3 times total or until the water is not cloudy anymore.

Add rinsed black beans, salt, onion, garlic and water to instant pot liner. Cover the instant pot with a lid and keep the valve to a sealing position.

Cook: Pressure cook on manual (high pressure) for 25 minutes.

Release: Let the pressure release on its own (NPR – natural pressure release), once the pin drops open the lid. Discard the onion and garlic.

Drain the cooking liquid from black beans right away to stop further cooking. 

1 lb (~2 cups) of dried black beans yields 5 cups of cooked black beans.

⏲️ Instant Pot Black Beans Cook Time Guide

• No Soak beans: 25 minutes for firmer yet soft beans and 30 minutes for super soft beans and slightly mushy.
• Pre-soaked beans (overnight or at least 8 hours): 8 minutes for firmer beans and 10 minutes for super soft and almost mushy. 
• Old beans take longer to cook and sometimes super old beans won’t get cooked to a soft texture ever. 

💭 Expert Tips

• To replace a 15 oz. can of beans in a recipe, you’ll need 1 ½ cups of cooked black beans. So, this recipe makes a little over 3 cans of beans!
• I do not recommend the quick-release method here as the water will splutter or overflow and makes a big mess.
• Drain the cooking liquid as soon as you open the lid to prevent the further cooking of beans.

🥣 Storage Instructions

• Cooked black beans stay good for 3-5 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Let them cool down completely before storing.
• To freeze the black beans, spread them on a baking tray in a single layer and freeze for 2-3 hours (or until frozen). Transfer them to a freezer-safe ziplock bag and freeze for up to 3-4 months. Pre-freezing in a baking sheet will prevent them from sticking to each other.

🍽 Serving Or Using Black Beans

• As a side dish: After draining the beans, drizzle some lime juice and add some freshly chopped cilantro. Enjoy this seasoned black beans as a side for your Mexican meals.
• Use in recipes like burritos or Mexican rice bowls or quesadillas or tacos, black bean corn salsa, black bean dip, black bean quesadillas etc.

Did you try this recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Leave a review in the comment section below.