Learn how to make Instant Pot beans in less than an hour. This is the quickest way to make beans without having to soak- it works with black, pinto, garbanzo, and white beans. Pair with Instant Pot white rice and make extras to use in delicious black bean brownies.

In my never-ending quest to put healthy food on the table without going broke, I’m always looking for easy ways to cut corners without sacrificing quality. A perfect example – get my kids to eat more beans.
Beans are healthy and cheap and we need to eat more of them, more often. That’s how cookie dough hummus, chocolate hummus, and cake batter hummus were born.
Oh yeah – and black bean brownies!
For years I’ve been making slow cooker beans. A few hours in the slow cooker (or up to 8 hours for my famous slow cooker refried beans), and you have a big batch of beans ready to go. I’m looking for something faster. That’s where the Instant Pot comes in.
For me, Instant Pot beans are super easy, fast, and practical for our busy lifestyle.
Reasons to Make Instant Pot Beans

- They’re hands-off. You don’t have to be home or you can sleep while it cooks.
- Frugal. They’re cheaper than canned beans (even more so when you buy dry beans in bulk!)
- Fast. You’ll have tasty beans within an hour.
- Bean variety. You can use this recipe for all types of beans like chickpeas, black beans, pinto beans, chili beans, kidney beans, etc.
- Batch cooking. I can easily batch cook lots of different beans in one day and be ready for the whole month, rather than taking a week or longer to soak on the stove-top (since I only have so many pots big enough to soak AND I still need some to cook meals) and then to cook in the slow cooker (I just have one slow cooker).
Here’s What You Need

- Beans
- Water
Notes on Ingredients
Canned beans vs dried beans:
- After crunching the numbers to see if dry beans were cheaper than cooked beans (and they are – here’s the proof), I’ll never go back to canned beans.
- I’ll always have a can or two on hand for those “just in case moments,” but I’ll only buy them when they’re on clearance or on some crazy cheap sale for 50¢ or less per can (here’s how I got that number).
- I also like cooking them myself because it means less flatulence going on after our meals. Here’s our method to de-gas beans, but I’ve found that when I make Instant Pot beans, I don’t have to soak them beforehand!
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1. Place beans and water in the Instant Pot.
Step 2. Seal the Instant Pot and make sure the pressure value is set to “sealing.”
Step 3. Press the “manual” or “pressure cook” button so that it is set to high pressure and use the “-” and “+” buttons to adjust the timer to 25-40 minutes, depending on the type of bean.
Note: Check for cooking times under Recipe Tips.

Step 4. When the timer goes off and the beans are done cooking, use the natural pressure release (i.e. do nothing).
Note: DO NOT use quick release when making more than one pound of beans.
Step 5. Once the valve indicator has gone down, it is safe to open the Instant Pot.
Step 6. Drain the beans and use them in your favorite recipes!

Recipe Tips
- Cook Times on High Pressure with Natural Pressure Release
- Black Beans: 30 Minutes
- Chickpeas: 40 Minutes
- Kidney Beans: 35 Minutes
- Pinto Beans: 25 Minutes
- Navy Beans: 25 Minutes
- Great Northern Beans: 35 Minutes
- You’ll notice that my recipe calls for a 35 minute cooking time. That’s the average. I almost always cook my beans for 35 minutes when I need them to be firm yet perfectly cooked.
- You can certainly cook them longer if you want to. When I make my refried bean recipe in the Instant Pot, I cook them for 45 minutes because a) they’re going to get mashed anyway, and b) I want as much of those flavorful juices to be in the beans as possible.
- You can also cook them for a shorter amount of time. I’ve made many batches that come out wonderfully in just 20 minutes. I wouldn’t recommend cooking them for any less than 20 minutes though, to ensure they are well cooked. What I am confident in is that 35 minutes will give you perfect beans, every time.
FAQs
When you cook beans in the Instant Pot you do not need to soak them. Simply rinse the beans and add them to your Instant Pot with your cooking liquid and you’re ready to go!
You can find all my Instant Pot recipes HERE.
Even when you include the time to come to pressure and the pressure release, I have a full pound – or more – of dry beans cooked to perfection in less than 60 minutes!
I have the 8-quart DUO 7 in 1 Instant Pot. I choose the larger Instant Pot for a few reasons.
1. My slow cooker is 6 quarts and can barely fit some of my favorite recipes.
2. Having the larger Instant Pot gives me more room to double recipes.
3. Cooking once and eating twice is key to saving time in the kitchen.
4. I’d rather have the extra room, than not enough!
You also have to leave a certain amount of space in the pressure cooker when using it. There is a max fill line for liquids. And the general rule is to not fill the Instant Pot more than 2/3 full. The 8 quart gives me more room to cook.
One Instant Pot hack I learned is to use a 6-quart pot on top of an 8-quart pot to cook two elements of one meal. You can read how that works HERE.

To Serve
Instant Pot beans would go perfectly in these recipes:
- Southwestern salad
- Pumpkin chili
- Black bean and corn salsa tacos
- Pumpkin swirl black bean brownies
- Black bean brownies
- Our favorite hummus recipe
Note: You can also spice up your beans by adding a few dashes of kosher salt, paprika, cayenne, oregano, cumin, chili powder, garlic cloves, or black pepper.
Psst! If you’re going to add salt, I highly recommend Ava Jane’s Kitchen. You may think all salt is created equal, but unfortunately, 90% of the salt produced around the world contains microplastics (gross, right?). Ava Jane’s Kitchen is an exception. Their salt is 100% microplastic-free, and it’s SO GOOD! Plus, you can get a bag for just 1¢!! (Get your penny bag of salt on this page.)
More Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Lentils
- Easy Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili
- Instant Pot White Rice
- How to Cook Spaghetti Squash in the Instant Pot

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Sign up for my FREE Fight Inflation Workshop and learn simple strategies to save money, even with rising food costs!Instant Pot Beans
How to make pressure cooker Instant Pot beans without having to soak. Works with black, pinto, garbanzo and white beans. The quickest way to make beans!
- Prep Time: 3 minutes
- Pressure Release: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 6 cups of cooked beans 1x
- Category: Sides
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 pound of beans, rinsed and picked over to remove debris
- 9 cups of water
Instructions
- Place beans and water in the Instant Pot.
- Seal the Instant Pot and make sure the pressure value is set to “sealing.”
- Press the “manual” or “pressure cook” button so that it is set to high pressure and use the “-” and “+” buttons to adjust the timer to 25-40 minutes, depending on the type of bean.
- When the timer goes off and the beans are done cooking, use the natural pressure release (i.e. do nothing).
Note: DO NOT use quick release when making more than one pound of beans. - Once the valve indicator has gone down, it is safe to open the Instant Pot.
- Drain the beans and use them in your favorite recipes!
Notes
Cook Times on High Pressure with Natural Pressure Release:
- Black Beans: 30 Minutes
- Chickpeas: 40 Minutes
- Kidney Beans: 35 Minutes
- Pinto Beans: 25 Minutes
- Navy Beans: 25 Minutes
- Great Northern Beans: 35 Minutes
Anytime I make plain beans, I leave them absolutely plain. That allows me to use the beans in both sweet and savory recipes without a problem. Unless you are making a big pot of beans for one particular recipe, I suggest you make them plain as well.
Nutrition
- Calories: 16
I’m a little confused on the cook times as I am new to using my instant pot. You said cooking for 35 minutes- does that include the time it takes to build pressure and the 12 minute countdown once pressure has been reached?
TIA!
Hi Destinee,
The 35 minute cook time does not include the time it takes the Instant Pot to come to pressure, or the time for the release. Hope this helps! 🙂
Ok if I use the instant pot for 20 minutes then I don’t have to pre- soak to get the lectins off and I do need to rinse. Is this correct. Cause if I don’t rinse where do the lectins go.
There’s no need to presoak beans when you use the IP, but if beans cause digestive distress for you, soaking is a must. You would still soak, but greatly reduce the cooking time of the beans. I’m still testing for exact times, but I’m thinking in the 3-5 minute range.
Would a lower pressure cooked for a longer cook time make for a non-mushy fuller flavor refried beans (from pre-soaked Pinto beans) do you think?
For firm beans using natural pressure release do 12 minutes. For firm beans using quick pressure release do 20 minutes.
I’ve been using my Instant Pot for several years and have learned that when beans are soaked the pressure time to cook them is very small! With black beans I put 0 minutes of pressure. For pinto beans I’ve found 2 minutes is plenty. For the small red beans 9 minutes work about perfectly for us. For some reason smaller beans take more time which seems counter-intuitive! Hope this helps!
Hello
Cooking with instant pot sounds great! Thank you for all the tips. I also read your article “HOW TO SOAK, DE-GAS AND COOK BEANS FROM SCRATCH”. If cooking with IP, how should i do the de-gas?
Hi EChieh! Honestly, I’m still working on that. I soaked beans last week and then cooked and it came out mush, LOL. I’m testing cook times, so as soon as I have a reliable method, I’ll let you know!
Hello,
to make chocolate hummus, do you still need to peel the skin off
Hi Khady! All the details for the chocolate hummus recipe are in the recipe here: https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/chocolate-hummus/
I just found your blog searching for “soaking beans benefits” and since I have an IP, decided to try the recipe. I just decided to eat a more nutritional mostly plant based diet and bought dry beans to my grocery list. Looking forward to your recipes esp IP ones. I love that you give so many tips too.
Welcome to Crumbs, Susan! ♥
In your statement above you say you wouldn’t feel confident telling us to cook the beans for only 20 minutes and that you cook them for 35 minutes. Then in the recipe it says to cook them for 20 minutes. Which is it? Please clarify.
I’m sorry about the confusion Christine! I’ve made MANY batches of beans since posting this and they come out fine at 20 minutes. I’ll clarify that in the post!
My biggest problem with garbanzo beans is getting the skins soft enough to puree and make creamy hummus. When you’ve made yours did you have any issues with tough outer skins? Maybe I didnt use enough water.
Hi Debbie! I have a Blendtec blender, which pulverizes the outer skins so it’s not an issue. If you can’t get the skins off easily, I’d suggest cooking a little bit more. Lately I’ve been cooking beans at 20 min with natural release (which is required when making more than one pound at a time), but if you cook for 25-30 min w/natural release, I’m pretty sure those skins will come off easily!
I have read that adding a teaspoon of baking soda when cooking the beans helps the skins to disintegrate during cooking. I tried it once and it did help, but not completely. Anyone else tried that?
Thank you! I am highly inspired to get my Instapot out and USE IT! No more intimidation!!
YES! Go for it!
As a sequel to my first writing: all your pictures exhibit garbanzo beans. Where can one find dried ones?
Thanks again, John.
I get dried garbanzo beans from Walmart or any grocery store.
Hi Tiffany!
I am a kidney patient, so special attention is needed for my diet. In my case, I NEED to leach the pinto beans used for the delicious chili I make with the Instant Pot (bought when there was no 8 quart pot.) Problem is, no one can answer how much potassium is lost in the leaching process, and whether repeating the process, additional leaching would result. I went to all kinds of health sites. Yes they all advise leaching, but none would say how much potassium is leached out. As a tip for those who make chili (from pinto beans), I add a bit of red wine, about a tsp of sour cream (low fat) and some smoke spice, all at serving time. Absolutely delicious! Thanks for your answer and, if possible, send me an email duplicate. John.
Hi John! Exact numbers are hard to come by, but my friend Katie has done significant research on this topic. Start here: https://www.kitchenstewardship.com/soaking-grains-an-exploration/ and feel free to explore her site!
Since I was a little girl; we ate pinto beans in the juice they were cooked in. We would smash them just a bit to get flavor into the water. Is this a bad thing or not so healthy thing to do? Never ate beans drained. The juice was so good.
Some people don’t have issues eating the water, but it causes digestive issues for some. If you enjoy the flavor, go for it!
Hi is this recipe for pinto beans? And if so can I put ham or bacon in with the beans?
This recipe will work for pinto beans Brenda, and you can put anything you want in with it!
Great post, does this work for any beans? I’ve recently purchased an instant pot but haven’t cooked beans from scratch and I’m quite new to using beans in my WFPB recipes. I have only so far used canned red kidney beans since they don’t give me, ya know.
This works for any beans except kidney beans. Kidney beans have an enzyme that can be disruptive to the digestive system, so it’s best to buy those. But every other bean is fair game!
I’m confused, what’s different about kidney beans? Are you saying you don’t recommend home cooking them, and to buy them canned instead?
Thanks in advance for clarification!
Hi Donna – yes! The enzymes in kidney beans are different than other beans, and so for safety and digestive concerns, I recommend buying them instead of making them.
on brown beans when the recipe says to let it depressurize naturally, is that hard and fast or do I loose some cook time by relieving the pressure manually?
You can’t reduce cooking time unfortunately, but the way you release pressure effects the food in the end. 🙂
how long do you cook soaked beans in the instant pot and how much water
Do you freeze them in their cooking liquid or drained?
I freeze them drained. 🙂
do you can or freeze beans when you batch cook a large amount? any tips for freezing and then thawing and using and not loosing the texture?
I freeze them Anna, and if you cook them “al dente” (i.e. just until their done), they won’t lose shape. I’ve actually overcooked them and if as long as you don’t mash them or over-stir, they’ll be fine! To thaw, I either put it in the sink overnight, or in the microwave for a minute or two.
Have you ever done 5 year old beans? Would you cook differently?
Made a lb of Great Northern beans today using these instructions. I think I will reduce the cooking time for that type bean next time. Mine were rather mushy. It was nice to have such an easy method, though, that’s for sure!
Do you need to drain the beans to prevent stinky toots?
I would 🙂
I was given an instant pot for Christmas and have been a touch intimidated by it… But this I can do! Thanks!
You’re very welcome!