Instant Pot Black Beans (Perfect Beans Every Time!)

I thought this recipe worked well, I may have left them in a little too long, but my guests still liked them. Thanks for posting!

Thank you for an awesome recipe! I’ve used it quite a few times & changed it up each time — so versatile!
I’ve never changed the bean to liquid ratio — that’s perfect! I just switch up a few spices, add garlic cloves, etc.

Thanks again! I look forward to making even more of your recipes!

Followed the recipe but beans were very mushy. I would only do 20 mins on high next steam. I also quick released the pressure. Ok think If I’d let it sit for another 20 I’d have had soup!

Worked great did a 1lb bag and 5 1/2 cups of liquid. Will probably do 5 cups flat next time. 8quart IP

Just made this and it came out perfect. I doubled amount of beans and liquid, we like them soupy. Mashed some and used them for breakfast burritos this morning. Thank you for this simple, yummy, minimalist😉 recipe!

I am so glad I found this recipe on line. My beans came out perfect, and I will use this recipe again and again. I wondered about the delicious broth it made, so I researched if I could use it for soup. Sure enough…there are lots of recipes that encourage us to use the broth because it is so tasty. Thanks for perfecting your recipe and sharing it with all of us.

Thank you for sharing the instructions, this is my first time using an instant pot after my crockpot broke down, the beans came out wonderfully, great texture and awesome flavor!! I added a garlic clove and a bay leaf, thank you all for the tips.

Today was the first time ever for me using IP or any pressure cooker. Spent a couple hours reading instructions and looking up recipes, was worried I wouldn’t find instructions for just basic black beans. So glad I was wrong. Thanks for a nice simple set of instructions for a nice simple ingredient. I agree with others who said the instructions as written is too much water. I used 1 pound of beans (approx 2 1/4 cup) and 6 cups liquid, fearing that using less would not be enough. Definitely would have worked with less, but now I have liquid for the next batch. 30 minutes cook and 20 minutes release, and I have super soft, creamy beans. Almost too soft, but will make awesome mashed beans to spread on tortillas.

This is just the best recipe! I typically double it and cook in an 8 qt instant pot. I add a couple garlic cloves and some extra onion and cumin. Love, love, love the recipe. Thank you!

I made these, the beans were hard after the instructions for instapot. I added 2 more cups of liquid (vegetable broth and water) the beans were really hard after another 30 minutes in the instapot and taste burnt!

As I read other comments about beans being old, I felt that I should cook mine a little longer. My bag of beans has been sitting in my pantry for a few years now, so I figured they were in the “old” category. I found out they really weren’t OLD. As a result they ended up quite soft for what I planned to use them for. HOWEVER! They will be great for refried beans, so no loss and I will know better next time when I want to use them in chili.

These were so incredible! My kids love them too. We have made the recipe several times and it is always perfect. Sometimes I use more broth than water and add Mexican seasoning. Thank you for giving us so many wonderful recipes!

I doubled the recipe at my own risk after reading a few comments, here is what happened. I set the IP to 38 minutes which could have maybe been reduced to 36 and with a pure doubling of the recipe, it had too much water. I think next time I’d reduce the liquid by two cups.

It is SO delicious. This bean recipe is literally all I need in my life. I took some other people’s advice on adding a bit of seasoning and I topped it with Rainbow Plant Life’s cilantro crema. Yum yum yum

I made this and was pleased! I used a teaspoon of Better than Bouillon added to the water.

I love this recipe and does actually come out perfect every time, with a little bite left in the bean. This, along with so many other MB recipes are fantastic and are loved by even my meat and potato husband.

These turned out great! I did have to pressure cook an additional 5 minutes, but my beans may have been a little old. I added some garlic cloves after reading the comments and also a few spices (cumin, coriander, chili powder, smoked paprika, & salt) since I was making them for black bean tacos. They had wonderful flavor and texture!

I made these beans and they were delishish. I changed the recipe slightly. I added a beef bouillon cube as I had no stock. Otherwise everything the same. I did cook for 35 min and my pot has hold function so held for 20 min. As is they turned out great. I did take them one step farther and made them into refried black beans. Make bean recipe and after discarding onion mash remaining. Put in frypan and reduce over med heat to remove water. Keep stirring as they may stick. Lowered heat as they thickened. 20 mins more and they turned into the best bean dip ever. This recipe is a keeper as I’ve been looking for a refried bean recipe for a long time.

I have made this several times. Not sure if my beans are “old” (I buy from bulk bins), but when I follow the timing here, they have been coming out a little dry. Maybe undercooked? What’s worked for me to get softer beans is to soak them first for 24hrs, then pressure cook for 35 min.

The beans come out perfect every time. I’ve made this about ten times now. I like to add some cloves of peeled garlic for extra flavor. Thank you, Minimalist Baker team!!

I made it as written except I used chicken broth in place of the vegetable broth because that’s what I had. I had to cook another 5 minutes after the first release. Only waited 10 minutes the 2nd time & then did a slow manual release. They’re delicious. I’ll be doing this in place of canned from now on.

Perfect! I doubled the amount of beans and soaked overnight. Doubled the water/stock, used half an onion but kept 1/2 tsp of salt. Pressure cooked for 28 minutes. So easy and delicious, will be having it on top of some turmeric rice for lunch!

Literally the best black beans recipe. I was looking for something that captured the feeling of eating at hispanic restaurants back home in Florida and you did it. Thanks!

Thank you so much for this simply perfect recipe. I used an assortment of small beans including black beans, red beans, and cranberry beans. I doubled the recipe exactly, including all of the timings, using broth and onion as suggested. My beans were perfectly cooked and delicious!

These turned out amazing! We made a huge batch and kept the timing the same, the beans turned out perfectly. For lunch today we used them in the corn bread and black bean enchilada bake…DELICIOUS! Thanks again for a winning recipe.

If you want to give then a cool Brazilian twist…….squeeze the juice on one large orange put the peels/halfs in to soak for about 15 min or bring to a boil turn off let steep for 5 min…….AWESOME!

These are the best black beans!!!! I have made at least 10 times. So easy and come out great every time. I usually don’t bother to take out exactly 20 mins after done – usually just leave til I’m ready to eat, and haven’t had any issues! Perfect for week day meal with very little hands on time.

I just made these twice. The first time I got busy and left them in for 35 min after cooking for 30 instead of 20 as I got busy. The beans were way too mushy. I decided to make a second batch. I cooked them for 30 min and this time left them to rest for only 15 min after, just to error on the side of caution. Still way too mushy. I might be able to use them for baking but definitely not for the soup I intended them for. Next time I’ll try cooking them for 20 min and see what happens.
I’m quite disappointed, usually I love your recipes!

So good! I have been looking for something to improve my bland black bean problem, and this recipe worked so well!

I made this today and I must say – these are the best black beans I’ve ever made. I used a red onion and messed up the wedge so now I have onion floaters but that is quite fine by me – these are delicious!

Used this recipe and beans turned out perfect. Used the onion wedges with skin on, salt and pepper. Used 4 cups of vegetable broth for 1/4 cup of beans so a bit more fluid then necessary but will repurpose it with the flavor for some chicken, beans and rice.

This recipe makes absolutely perfect beans! I have used it as the base recipe for some delicious soups, as well.

I’ve made these beans twice now. So simple, and they are the perfect consistency with a versatile flavor for using in recipes or eating as-is!

I just finished this recipe using chicken stock instead of veggie( that is what I had on hand) , I used the entire one pound bag with 8 cups of stock. 1 whole onion, and two large garlic cloves. ( discarded them at the end and cut onion into 4 pieces before putting in the pot.

Turned out perfect! I could eat them just by themselves and be perfectly content. Yummy! Thank you for sharing this recipe is a keeper!

I made this according to the directions here, but substituted with chicken broth. In addition, I added two cloves of garlic (which I removed after the beans were cooked and drained. I then mashed them with a fork and gently stirred them back in with the beans). It was divine! Hope this helps!

The best dry bean instant pot recipe! It’s low sodium but still filled with flavor.

WOW. I know this isn’t a surprise to you, but I still need to say it……these beans are perfection! To think I have been cooking black beans for hours on the stove in my dutch oven and they weren’t even close to as delicious and tender as the beans I made today! Thank you very much :)

I make this recipe on a regular basis, portion out the beans and use them in salads, soups and other dishes. One tip! Don’t toss the liquid, use to make flavorful black bean soup.

Just wanted to comment that our black beans turned out PERFECT! I’m thrilled to have this easy recipe in my back pockets for days when I don’t feel like cooking much. We did black bean rice bowls with salsa, guac and tortilla chips. Amazing!

Used a whole bag of dried black beans, and changed liquid to match. Yummy, Yummy! Thanks!!

Did you actually try this ‘recipe’ or just dream it up? Used freshly purchased black beans, followed the steps exactly (even let the pressure release for longer) and they came out crunchy. Duh.

Just made these (without the onion because of the outbreak) and they came out perfect. I bought an instapot years ago and never used it but this inspired me. I threw in some garlic and cumin and it came out divine.

My beans came out perfectly. I used 3 cups of water, no veggie broth and no salt. I also didn’t take them from the Instant Pot until it had cooled completely.

I followed the recipe exactly, but my beans turned out crunchy. I had to cook them for an hour longer and increase the liquid.

These were very good! I have been making beans in the IP so much more and I can’t believe I ever thought canned beans were good! Dried beans just have a much better consistency and taste.

Perfect black beans!! Thanks for the recipe!!

Perfect! Easy! Best beans ever!

Just made this and it came out perfectly! My only additions were a little bit of cumin and a little adobo sauce i keep frozen in cubes. I ate some with avocado salsa and tortilla chips as I planned, butafterwards kept sneaking bites of the leftover beans as they were cooling bc they were so delicious by themselves! having a recipe that didn’t require making the whole bag was super helpful as well.

Thanks for these step-by-step instructions. I did soak the beans first and used vegetable broth (and some water), keeping the 3:1 ratio of beans to broth. Perfect! And on my first go ;)

I made these today. I made 1 pound of black beans, added 1Tbsp salt, 2 tsp cumin, the onion and 5 cups veg broth. I cooked them as you described with no soaking. They turned out perfect. Very delicious.
I think the 5 cups broth was good for me. I don’t like the excess liquid I have to discard when i do the 1 to 3 or 4 cup ratio usually recommended for beans.
Next time I will add garlic and jalapeños and increase the cumin to 1Tbsp.
I am excited to try your brown rice.

Mine ended up being really crunchy so dinner was delayed by 45 minutes having to cook them longer. I

I ran out of stock and Better than Boullion and all the dried Veggie stock powdee….so I improvised and used Old Bay Seasoning- left over from a Faux crab jackfruit recipe…. It tasted fantastic!!!!
I am constantly having to improvise these days rather than run any extra exposure/health risks to get the recommended one ingredient I need. Either my taste buds are gone ( Yikes!) or it all tasted good with a bit of substitution now and then!
Be well!!!
Karen , Bend, Oregon

They really did turn out perfect. Doubled the recipe and used 4 cups of vegetable broth with two cups water. One tsp of sea salt. Yum!

Followed recipe exactly and the beans turned out great. I used them in a taco skillet and have leftovers for lunches.

These were good but I wonder if my beans were old or something. They still were a little hard/chewy after 30 mins, so I brought them back up to pressure and cooked another 7 minutes and they were much better but they could take even a few more minutes I think. I love the flavor, I just may up the cooking time next time.

For the first tine my beans came out perfectly cooked using my IP. Thank you.

thanks for the recipe… beans came out perfect and tasty!!

made this and it’s the best instapot dry black bean recipe i’ve tried yet! i didn’t have broth so used 6 cups water and a dash of salt for 1lb bag of beans. love the onion addition! and garlic of course. i did add 2 bay leaves, about 10 whole peppercorns, cumin seeds (didn’t have powder). love the amount of liquid left – it’s a great foundation for a black bean soup. sharing with family and friends. thank you!

Thank you for the clear (and perfect) instructions. The only thing I would add is that mine had a good bit of liquid left in the pot when done. I was wrapping in tortillas, so I just strained off the liquid. Delicious and cooked to perfection.

Please more instant pot recipes! We just got one as a wedding present and can’t help to use it. I would be trying this receipt this weekend with black eyed beans :)