If you are looking for some quick and simple recipes on a weeknight or meal prep, you must try these instant pot pinto beans. Yummier, tastier, and healthier than canned beans.
What are pinto beans?
Pinto beans are a kind of legume that is tan or light brown with a speckled appearance. They have a creamy texture and a mild, earthy flavor.
Pinto beans originated in Mexico. And these are popular in Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes like refried beans and chili. Now they are widely cultivated and available across the globe.
You can use them as a filling in tacos, fajitas, burritos, burrito bowls, salads, etc in many more ways other than the popular Mexican refried beans.
Like other legumes, these are high in protein and fiber. Apart from that these are also rich in many vitamins, and minerals like magnesium, potassium, folate, and manganese. These are rich in antioxidants as well. So we must include them in our diet.
Pinto beans have a mild, earthy flavor with a slightly nutty undertone. This nuttiness is more noticeable when the beans are in a creamy consistency like refried beans. They have a milder flavor profile than that of black beans.
Check out my detailed post on black beans vs pinto beans on the blog.
Instant Pot Pinto Beans
Pinto beans are hard legumes that take longer time when we cook them on the stovetop. It may take up to 2.5 hrs if you cook on a stovetop. However, you can make the pinto beans much faster in the instant pot.
Even if you forget to soak them before, you still can make them perfect in less than 1 hr. Here I will share both ways to make the pinto beans in the instant pot, i.e. no soaking and soaking.
These are simply dried beans you can add to your stews, tacos, fajitas, burritos, etc. These are good for meal prep also.
Do I need to soak the beans before cooking?
From the nutrition perspective, it's always advisable to soak the beans for a minimum of 4 - 6 hrs or overnight for better absorption of nutrients. Beans contain oligosaccharides that are not easy to digest. These are antinutrients that make it difficult to digest the beans.
Soaking helps to remove the antinutrients and makes it easier for the body to break down the beans making them easily digestible. But don't soak them for more than 12 hours as that may result in nutrition loss as well. Check out in details here.
Quick Fix
If you forget to soak the beans then there is a way to make them soft. Rinse the beans and add hot water to them and keep them inside a casserole. Close the lid and keep it aside for 1 hr.
However, for this instant pot pinto beans recipe, you can take beans that are not soaked too. Cooking time will be a little longer than soaked beans. Rinse the beans and keep them in water for 10 minutes only.
Ingredients
Pinto Beans - Raw beans
water
salt & black pepper
olive oil
garlic - these are optional. But sauteing the garlic and onion adds a nice flavor to the pinto beans.
onion
bay leaf
How to cook pinto beans in an instant pot?
Start the instant pot on SAUTE mode for 5 minutes. Once the pot is hot enough add olive oil. To this add bay leaf, and chopped garlic. Saute for 10 -15 seconds.
Then add chopped onions and saute for 1 - 2 minutes till the onion becomes translucent. Then add the beans to the pot. Give a stir to deglaze the pot. Add water to the pot followed by salt and black pepper.
Cancel the Saute mode if there is still time left. Close the lid and turn the venting knob to seal. Start on manual pressure cook mode on high pressure. If the beans are soaked prior, set the time for 17 minutes. And if the beans are non-soaked, the time will be 35 minutes. The instant pot will take around 3 - 4 minutes to come to pressure.
Once the timer beeps, let it be on NPR mode for 15 minutes and then release the rest by turning the knob to "venting". Then open the lid. Strain out the beans from the liquid. Don't throw the liquid as you can use that as stock for cooking.
Extra Tips
Sauteing with onion and garlic adds to flavor only. However, you can just add everything to the pot and cook directly on pressure cook mode without sauteing.
Instant Pot Pinto Beans
Equipment
- 1 Spatula
Ingredients
Instructions
- Start the instant pot on SAUTE mode for 5 minutes.
- Once the pot is hot enough add olive oil.
- To this add bay leaf, and chopped garlic. Saute for 10 -15 seconds.
- Then add chopped onions and saute for 1 - 2 minutes till the onion becomes translucent.
- Then add the beans to the pot.
- Give a stir to deglaze the pot.
- Add water to the pot followed by salt and black pepper.
- Cancel the Saute mode if there is still time left.
- Close the lid and turn the venting knob to seal.
- Start on manual pressure cook mode on high pressure.
- If the beans are soaked prior, set the time for 17 minutes. And if the beans are non-soaked, the time will be 35 minutes. The instant pot will take around 3 - 4 minutes to come to pressure.
- Once the timer beeps, let it be on NPR mode for 15 minutes and then release rest by turning the knob to venting.
- Open the lid carefully.
- Strain out the beans from the liquid. Don't throw the liquid as you can use that as stock for cooking.
- Use the pinto beans as required or store them properly in refregerator or freezer.
Notes
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