This article demonstrates how to cook pinto beans under pressure. Rich, creamy, tender, and ready-to-eat beans in a filling cooking broth can be made in just 15 minutes. For cooking beans, pressure cookers are fantastic tools because they shorten cooking times and use less energy.
Dried beans cooked from scratch have unmatched flavor and texture, and using an Instant Pot or stovetop pressure cooker to cook beans is quick.
There are several methods for pressure cooking fresh beans, some of which are quicker than others. You can either cook the washed beans this way by covering them with water in the pot, or you can soak the beans first. After cooking, you have two options: either turn off the heat and wait for the pressure to naturally drop, or “quick-release” the pressure.
Whatever method you choose to use to cook your beans, be sure to allow enough time (10 to 15 minutes, depending on your pressure cooker) for the pressure to build up and start the actual pressure cooking.
Therefore, you can have tender pinto beans in about 15 minutes, including the time it takes to reach pressure. That’s with soaked beans and pressure naturally released. After being quickly released from pressure, unsoaked dried beans produce tender pinto beans in about 35 minutes.
The two main benefits of pressure cooking beans are time savings and higher-quality beans. Dried beans—keep them in your pantry. And give your pressure cooker a big hug!.
Do you need to soak the beans before they are cooked in a pressure cooker?
The beans don’t need to be presoaked, as I mentioned above. However, the recipe book included with your Instant Pot states that if you pre-soak the beans in water (4 times the volume of the beans) for 4-6 hours, the cooking time will be shortened to 7-9 minutes.
As you can see, the cooking time is significantly reduced if you have time to soak the beans. Decide whether to soak or not by considering your schedule.
See how to make slow cooker pinto beans if slow cooking is what you prefer to do.
Do you need to soak beans before pressure cooking?
Beans don’t require soaking before being prepared in an Instant Pot. In a pressure cooker, unsoaked beans will cook evenly and fairly quickly. In my experience, pressure cooking causes unsoaked beans to separate less. So you can still make delicious pinto beans in your Instant Pot even if you forget to soak your dried beans or don’t want to.
However, cooking beans after soaking them for 8 to 12 hours might help them be easier to digest. Some of the beans’ gas-causing sugars can be eliminated by soaking. Soaked beans will also cook faster.
I soak my beans when I remember to do so because it takes practically no extra work. You can choose what suits your needs and schedule the best.
How do you cook dried beans in an Instant Pot?
Any kind of dried beans can be prepared in your Instant Pot pressure cooker. Water and beans are all you need, seasoning is optional. Guidelines on how long to cook each type of bean can be found in the cookbook that comes with your Instant Pot. I love using my Instant Pot to make black bean soup because it is so simple to do.