Instant Pot Black Beans

Instant Pot Black Beans

We love cooking black beans in Instant Pot! With the right cooking times and method, the beans come out consistently perfectly cooked. Tender, hearty, and creamy but not broken or mushy-soggy.

With the Instant Pot, it only takes a fraction of cooking time, and no soaking is needed. This means you don’t need to worry if you didn’t plan or prep ahead.

We crafted this black beans recipe using 10 pantry ingredients to cook dried black beans from scratch.

It may look humble and simple, but it’s flavorful, wholesome, and nutritious. The savory, earthy flavors pair well with the refreshing tangy juicy tomatoes and aromatic cilantro. 

We designed this recipe to be simple, budget-friendly, and versatile so that you can enjoy it in many ways.

Enjoy it as a simple comforting soup, side dish, vegetarian dish, filling/topping, serve it with rice to make black beans and rice, and more!

How to Cook Instant Pot Black Beans

Prepare ingredients for cooking Black Beans in Instant Pot.

Black Beans

Black beans, aka “turtle beans” or “black turtle beans”, are small shiny black-colored legumes. They taste dense, meaty, earthy, wholesome, and hearty & creamy on the inside when perfectly cooked.

They’re often used in vegetarian dishes and soups. Especially popular in Latin American, Mexican, and Cuban cuisines. In fact, they have become a cultural staple in South America!

Black beans are low cost, super filling, and health-boosting powerhouses. They’re a very good source of low-fat protein, fiber, antioxidants, and are great for our digestive tract. 🙂

How to Buy and Store Black Beans?

Make sure the black beans are whole and not cracked, dry and not moist, fresh and not old or stale.

It’s best to store the black beans in a dry, cool, and dark place in a sealed container.

Unsalted vs. Salted Chicken Stock

We develop recipes with unsalted ingredients because we can better control the flavors of the dish. If you’re substituting with salted chicken stock, keep in mind that the sodium level can vary a lot between different brands. Always taste and adjust accordingly.

Tools for Instant Pot Black Beans

• Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
• Wooden Spoon

First, rinse black beans under cold running water. Pick out debris or stones if there are any. Then, drain well.

Saute Onion, Herbs, Garlic in Instant Pot

First, heat up Instant Pot by using the “Sauté More” function. Wait until the Instant Pot says “HOT”.

Amy + Jacky’s Tip! Make sure the Instant Pot is as hot as it can be to induce Maillard reaction.

Add 1 tbsp (15ml) olive oil in Instant Pot.

Add chopped onions in Instant Pot, then saute for 3 minutes.

Add 1 tsp (2.7g) ground cumin, 1 tsp (0.6g) oregano, and 3 bay leaves in Instant Pot, then saute for another minute.

Add minced garlic in Instant Pot, then saute for 30 seconds.

Deglaze Instant Pot

Pour 1 cup (250ml) unsalted stock in Instant Pot, then deglaze by scrubbing all the flavorful brown bits off the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Give it a quick mix.

Pressure Cook Black Beans

Add 1 lb (454g) black beans and ½ tsp coarse kosher salt (can substitute with fine salt) in Instant Pot.

Pour 5 cups (1.25L) unsalted chicken stock in Instant Pot, then give it a quick mix.

With Venting Knob in Venting Position, close the lid, then turn Venting Knob to Sealing Position.

Pressure Cooking Method: Pressure cook at High Pressure for 50 minutes, then Natural Release for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, release the remaining pressure by turning the Venting Knob to Venting Position.

When Floating Valve drops, open the lid carefully.

Season & Serve Instant Pot Black Beans

The black beans in Instant Pot is done!

Taste and season with more salt. For reference, 3 to 4 large pinches of salt work the best based on our testing.

Garnish your black beans with chopped cilantro, then you’re ready to serve! 🙂

Simple Black Beans Soup

If you want to serve this Black Beans Recipe as an ultra-simple Black Beans Soup, boil the black beans in Instant Pot using the “Saute More” function for another 4 to 5 minutes. This will add some more body to the black beans soup. Stir occasionally. Enjoy~

What to Serve with Black Beans

These creamy hearty black beans make a nutritious and tasty side dish, vegetarian main dish, simple soup, or an ingredient for other dishes.

You can make a Black Beans and Rice meal by serving it with some Instant Pot Rice.

You can also add them to your tacos (i.e. Instant Pot Chicken Tacos), tostadas, salads, rice bowls, nachos, wraps, burritos, soups, salsas, enchiladas, baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, and more! 

You can make black beans tacos by adding pico de gallo and guacamole. Or make healthy refreshing burrito bowls with your favorite toppings. Such as chopped tomatoes, sliced red onion, and diced avocado. 

Lastly, you can use these black beans to make black bean burgers, or black beans dip in place of Instant Pot Refried Beans.

These are just some of the many yummy possibilities on how you can enjoy these black beans. How about you? How do you like to enjoy your black beans?

Enjoy Flavorful & Creamy Instant Pot Black Beans!

More Instant Pot Beans Recipes

• Instant Pot Chili
• Instant Pot Pinto Beans
• Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice
• Instant Pot Chickpeas
• Instant Pot Baked Beans
• Instant Pot Split Pea Soup
• Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas