Pressure Cooker Pinto Beans
FAST, Creamy, thick, hearty, smoky and delicious! These pressure cooker pinto beans hit the all the right notes for a fast filling dinner that's ready in minutes instead of hours!
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 433kcal
Cost: $5
Equipment
- pressure cooker or instant pot
- stock pot may be neccessary
- stove if not using an electric pressure cooker
- measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
For PreCook
- 16 oz dried pinto beans
- fresh water
For Pressure Cook
- 1 Tbs bacon grease or alternative fat like cooking oil/butter/etc.
- 1 teaspoon broth concentrate or substitute broth for water
- water to cover beans
- ham bone or substitute a few slices of bacon
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder or substitute 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon onion powder or substitute 1 chopped onion
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper optional
After Pressure Cook
- 1 tsp salt add more to taste
- 1 tsp black ground pepper add more to taste
- 1 tsp cider vinegar more to taste (some people like the vinegar with hot pepper in it).
Instructions
For Pre Cook
- Rinse the beans in a colander and remove any broken beans or beans that appear to have a bad spot.
- Place rinsed beans into a stock pot or into the bowl of a stove top pressure cooker and cover with cool water.
- Cook over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the stove top, pour back into the colander and rinse with cool water.
For the Pressure Cook
- Place the rinsed and precooked beans into the pressure cooker.
- Add the bacon grease, broth concentrate, water, ham bone, garlic powder, onion powder, bay leaves and cayenne.
- Secure the pressure cooker lid onto the base and set for high pressure. Bring to temp and cook at high pressure for 25 minutes. Allow to release naturally.
After Pressure Cooking
- Add salt, pepper and cayenne (the cayenne is optional, leave it off if you don't like any spiciness to your beans). Stir well and taste. Add more salt and pepper as needed. If the beans don't taste like they have enough flavor, add more salt.
Video
Notes
- There are a number of substitutions you can make in this recipe as it is very flexible. The recipe outlines these.
- If you are making these beans vegetarian, then use a vegetable based oil and leave off the bacon grease/meat options. Use 1 teaspoon liquid smoke to get the smoky flavor.
- When I make pressure cooker beans, I cover the beans with water to allow for plenty of "pot liquor", however, if you prefer less, you can use less. That said, use at least 1 ½ cups of liquid in your beans so that they cook completely.
- If using a bouillon cube instead of broth concentrate, you'll notice that you will not have to use much salt, if any.
- This recipe produces a mid range soft bean much like the texture of pinto beans from a can. If you prefer a softer bean, cook for an additional 5 minutes in the pressure cooker.
- This recipe will work for either a stove top pressure cooker, electric pressure cooker or Instant Pot.
Nutrition
Calories: 433kcal | Carbohydrates: 72g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 3mg | Sodium: 731mg | Potassium: 1609mg | Fiber: 18g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 110IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 134mg | Iron: 6mg