Instant Pot Black Beans
Aug 15, 2017, Updated Jan 10, 2018
Black Beans made in the Instant Pot. So easy, vegan, gluten-free & made without a drop of oil! Eat it with rice or add to salads or burritos!
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Instant Pot Black Beans – make easy black beans at home using your instant pot. Vegan, gluten-free and you don’t even need to use a drop of oil to make these!
If you love all the Instant Pot vegetarian/vegan recipes that I share on the blog, please join me on this Facebook Group – Instant Pot Vegetarian Recipes. The group would feature vegetarian instant pot recipes from all around the web!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. For more information on my Affiliate and Advertising Policy, please click here.Â
My instant pot works overtime these days. I already had a 8 Quart Instant Pot Duo and recently they launched this cute 3 Quart Mini and of course I had to get that too. Yep, 2 instant pot for a family of 2, you can say food bloggers are a bit crazy that way! I feel like cooking all the time in my IP these days and I can’t even remember the last time I used my regular pressure cooker. Even though I have always cooked in pressure cooker (like every other Indian!), it was bit of a learning curve when I started using the IP.
With our regular pressure cooker, we usually rely on “number of whistles” or guess work to determine if the particular lentil/beans was cooked or not. With IP, it’s pretty precise and there are separate buttons for everything, plus there’s no whistle sound! Well that’s what makes it such a cool gadget to have in your kitchen.
I recently made these black beans in my IP and I am excited to share the recipe with you guys! These instant pot black beans are
✓ made from raw black beans
✓ super easy to make
✓ really flavorful
✓ taste great with rice or inside a burrito
✓ minimal or no soaking required
These black beans can’t be easier to make. You only have to dump everything in the inner pot of your IP and then forget about it. And in the mean time you can do the other prep work for your meal, like making rice or making salsa! This is why I love IP, I don’t have to keep checking it all the time, saves so much time.
For these instant pot black beans, I used little garlic, onion, cumin powder, oregano and smoked paprika. I also added a bit of chipotle powder for that kick, you may skip it. The amount of water that you would need for these beans would depend of how saucy you like your black beans. So you have 2 options – it’s great either way! I added 2 cups water for 1 cup of dry beans. When I opened the IP, it seemed like a little more water than I would have liked. So, I pressed the “saute” button and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes till it reached my desired consistency. The water dries up pretty fast.
If you want very little water in your beans, go with 1.5 cups water. Keep in mind though, beans will soak water and become more drier with time.
I soaked the beans in hot water for 1 hour prior to cooking them and cooked in the IP for 20 minutes on bean/chili mode (which is high pressure). If you don’t soak them, you might want to cook them for 30 minutes on high pressure.
Method
Soak the raw black beans in hot water for 1 hour. Rinse the beans and drain the water. To the inner pot of the IP, add the drained black beans along with a bay leaf, sliced onion and chopped garlic.
Add cumin powder, dried oregano, smoked paprika and chipotle powder.
Add in water, salt and stir to combine.
Close the lid of the IP, set valve to sealing position. Press the “Bean/Chili” button and using the “+” and “-“, adjust the time to 20 minutes [or you can do manual high pressure for 20 minutes]. The IP will come to pressure and then count 20 minutes. When 20 miuntes are up, you would hear a beep.
From this point, wait for 12 minutes and then release the remaining pressure manually. The middle picture shows how my black beans looked liked when I opened the IP.
If they look too watery/saucy for your taste at this point, press the saute button (I did that) and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes. As you can see in the 3rd picture, the water dried up pretty quickly.
Sprinkle additional chipotle powder (optional), adjust salt to taste and dig right in!
* Cook the beans for 30 minutes on high pressure if you don’t soak them. I recommend soaking them though, it’s just better for digestion.
* The onion and garlic dissolve with the beans by the time they are done.
* Adjust spice levels to taste.
* The actual cook time would be more than 20 minutes since the IP takes time to come to pressure and then you have to wait for some time before releasing the pressure.
This post contains affiliate links. For more information on my Affiliate and Advertising Policy, please click here.Â
Instant Pot Black Beans
Ingredients
- 1 cup black beans [234 grams] soaked in hot water for 1 hour
- 1/2 yellow onion sliced
- 2 garlic chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder + more to sprinkle at the end
- 2 cups water [use 1.5 cups water for less saucy beans]
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Soak the raw black beans in hot water for 1 hour. Rinse the beans and drain the water.
- To the inner pot of the IP, add the drained black beans along with a bay leaf, sliced onion and chopped garlic.
- Add cumin powder, dried oregano, smoked paprika and chipotle powder. Add in water, salt and stir to combine.
- Close the lid of the IP, set valve to sealing position. Press the "Bean/Chili" button and using the "+" and "-", adjust the time to 20 minutes [or you can do manual high pressure for 20 minutes].
- The IP will come to pressure and then count 20 minutes. When 20 miuntes are up, you would hear a beep. [Note: if you don't soak the beans, cook for 30 minutes on high pressure]
- From this point, wait for 12 minutes and then release the remaining pressure manually.
- Open the IP, if beans are too "saucy/watery" for your taste at this point, press the saute button and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes.
- Sprinkle additional chipotle powder (optional), adjust salt to taste and dig right in!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Instant Pot Black Beans
Looks like Amritsari chickpea. I will try this at home for sure. I am so in love with the Chickpea & Beans & Rice also. I can eat the same for the whole week. I loved your recipe. Thanks & Regards
Can you double this? Would you double the liquid?
You can double this…cook time will remain same..do the liquid 1.5 times
This recipe worked perfectly! Especially the tip about sautéing the bean to reduce a little more water! Definitely a recipe I will use forever!!
glad to know Aimee!
My God, This looks so yummy & amazing. As I’m vegan so I can’t wait for this to make and eat this super yummy dish with my family. Looking forward to more recipes, Thanks for sharing this with us. Best wishes and Regards.
Thank you Surpiya!
I love black beans and these look perfectly cooked! I’ve only used my instant pot twice, but can’t wait to use it again!
Really? 2 instant pots??? I wonder how big is your kitchen…mine is small and overloaded…the black beans look great!
Yum! A good black bean recipe is one of those kitchen essentials, and this one looks amazing. And you’re doing a mighty fine job convincing me (and the rest of the internet) about the wonders of the instant pot! 🙂
haha maybe they should hire me as a brand ambassador 😉
I’ve been debating about whether I should get an instant pot or not, so I think I need to after seeing this recipe. Looks delicious, Manali! I love that you didn’t use any oil in here!
Yes you should! it’s really a cool gadget!