Instant Pot Black Beans

You won't buy canned beans once you learn how quick, easy, and budget-friendly it is to make Black Beans in the Instant Pot. They always taste fresher, and you can control the amount of salt you add to the beans. You can add different flavorings to it. And you can choose good-quality organic beans to begin with. Who knows the quality of the beans that these Canned bean companies use, right? Did I mention it is cheaper than buying canned beans?

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I know canned beans are very convenient. I sometimes use them too. Especially when I want to make a quick bean soup or other quick dishes for busy weeknights. But I always try to cook my own beans from scratch, because dried beans are so inexpensive and I can make A LOT with just a cup or two of dried beans.

Black Beans in Instant Pot without Soaking

Soaking definitely cuts down the cooking time. But when you make Black Beans in the Instant Pot, you actually can make perfectly soft beans with a few minutes of added cooking time. I guess that's the magic of pressure cooking or in other words, using your Instant Pot. This is perfect for people like me who always forget prep work beforehand.

Benefits of soaking black beans

Soaking beans before cooking has many benefits! Beans have many indigestible or hard-to-digest sugars that leach out into water when you soak them. If you have gassy stomach or stomach aches after eating beans, it's a good idea to soak them before you cook them.

You'll also notice the water turns purple when you soak them, and the beans turn purple as well. And that is normal. I usually add 5 - 6 cups of water to soak 2 cups of beans. I drain all this water before I add the beans to the Instant Pot.

Flavorings you can add:

I only add powdered dried spices and seasonings because it's very convenient. But if you prefer fresh ingredients, you can add some chopped onion and some chopped garlic as well. You can also add some chopped cilantro once the beans are done cooking. This adds a fresh citrus flavor. I use chicken bouillon powder but you can also add chicken broth/stock instead of water for more flavor and health benefits.

Black Beans serving ideas:

• These instant pot black beans are so versatile. You can eat them on it's own. Or you can pair them with other dishes as well.
• I like to make rice bowls with black beans. They make amazing vegan black bean rice bowls (if you make them with veggie stock). You can top white rice or brown rice, your protein, some avocado, lettuce and salsa or any other sauce such as bang bang sauce to make a wonderful rice bowl.
• These black beans are amazing as a salad ingredient. For example, taco salad, sweet potato black bean salad, or corn and black bean salad.
• They are really good in burritos as well as in tacos. You can transform them into refried beans, too, with a little bit of processing.
• I also use them to make quesadillas along with meat, corn, pepper and black beans. So delicious!
• You can add them to soups, either whole or mashed. Beans will add as a thickener as well.

How much does this black bean recipe yield?

2 cups of Black Beans yield roughly about 6 - 6 1/2 cups of black beans. In other terms, roughly about 4 15-oz cans worth of Black beans. If this is too much for you, just make 1 cup of black beans or refer to the next section to learn about storing and freezing the extras.

Storing and Freezing

Make sure to cool down the beans completely before you store them, either in the refrigerator or in the freezer.

You can store it in the fridge for about 5 days in an air-tight container.

For freezing, portion them and store them in quart ziplock bags. You can thaw them overnight in the fridge or reheat them in a pan with a splash of water or broth.