These no-soak Instant Pot black beans are so flavorful and easy to make! Serve them as a side dish, or add them to your favorite black bean recipes.
These Instant Pot black beans did something that I didn’t think was possible – they changed my mind about the Instant Pot. After I made them…and then rice…and then soup (recipes coming soon!), I went from being an Instant Pot skeptic to a total convert. It is so handy to be able to start cooking your beans/rice/whatever you’re making and then walk away, not having to worry about adjusting the heat on the stove or having a pot boil over. Plus, it does speed things along, at least in the case of these Instant Pot black beans. They cook up in about 45 minutes, as opposed to almost 90 on the stove. I’ll take it!
These Instant Pot black beans are well-seasoned, so you could serve them as a side dish on their own. However, they’re also perfect for using in recipes that call for black beans, such as tacos, enchiladas, soups, etc. You’ll find more specific suggestions in the post below!
Instant Pot Black Beans Recipe Ingredients
To make this recipe, you’ll just need a few basic ingredients:
- Dry black beans – The fresher, the better. If you can, buy them from a local grower or a grocery store with high turnover. (Older beans can be tough and not soften fully when they cook.)
- Onion and garlic – For sharp, savory depth of flavor.
- Chili powder, cumin, and oregano – They add aromatic flavor and a little heat to the beans and cooking liquid.
- And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!
If I’m planning to eat the beans on their own, I also like to dress them up with a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Instant Pot Black Beans
This Instant Pot black beans recipe is super simple to make! Here’s how it goes:
First, rinse and sort the beans. Any time you’re cooking dry beans, it’s important to rinse them well and pick through them to discard any stones or debris.
Then, add the ingredients to the Instant Pot. Pour in the rinsed beans, followed by the onion, garlic, spices, salt, and water.
Next, cook. Secure the lid on the Instant Pot and select the Pressure Cook function. Cook on high for 25 minutes, or 20 minutes if you prefer firmer beans. (The entire cooking process will actually take longer, as the Instant Pot will need to preheat before cooking and depressurize afterwards.)
Finally, allow the pressure to release naturally. This will take 20 minutes or so. When the float valve drops, remove the lid and season the beans to taste. That’s it!
How to Use Instant Pot Black Beans
The simplest way to serve these Instant Pot black beans is as a side dish. Drain them and season them to taste with salt, pepper, and fresh lime juice. They pair well with any Mexican-inspired recipe, but I especially like them with cilantro lime rice and veggie tacos like these cauliflower ones or these jackfruit ones.
Instead of serving these beans on their own, you could also add them to larger recipes. Drain and rinse them and use them as you would canned beans or regular cooked dried beans. They’d be perfect in any of these recipes:
- Stuffed Peppers
- Black Bean and Corn Salad
- Stuffed Poblano Peppers
- Vegetarian Black Bean Enchiladas
- Black Bean Soup
- Easy Black Bean Burger
- Cowboy Caviar
- Vegan Burrito Bowl
How do you like to use Instant Pot black beans? Let me know in the comments!
More Favorite Cooking Basics
If you love this recipe, try making one of these cooking basics next:
- Pinto Beans
- Cannellini Beans and Greens
- Refried Beans
- How to Cook Lentils
- Perfect Stovetop Rice
- How to Cook Fluffy Quinoa
- Homemade Vegetable Stock
Instant Pot Black Beans
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried black beans
- 6 cups water
- Heaping ½ cup diced white onion
- 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Fresh lime juice, optional
Instructions
- Place the beans in a large colander and sort through them to remove and discard any stones or debris.
- Rinse the beans and transfer them to the Instant Pot. Add the water, onion, garlic, salt, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and several grinds of pepper. Secure the lid on the Instant Pot and Pressure Cook on High for 25 minutes, or 20 minutes if you prefer firmer beans.
- Allow the Instant Pot to release pressure naturally. This will take 20 to 30 minutes. When the float valve drops, remove the lid.
- Use the beans in your favorite black bean recipes or season to taste with more salt, pepper, and squeezes of lime juice, if desired, and serve as a side dish.
I made these beans yesterday and they were perfect. I was pleased with their taste and used the water as a vegetable stock for another recipe I was making. Thank you.
One quick question I have regarding the freezing of any beans. Should I freeze them with the water or should I drain the water instead?
Hi Peter, you can freeze them either way, but I think they come out a little better if you freeze them with their liquid.
This is our go to black bean recipe! As we follow a WFPB diet, I make a big pot of these two to three times a week. I use less water as we don’t like soupy beans. I also use a bit more of the spices and cook them for 20 minutes with a 10 minute natural release which provides a “toothier” texture.
I’m so glad you’ve loved this bean recipe!
Way too much water. I saved it to make black bean soup later on because I hate waste but would have preferred the beans to not have been so soupy. Will probably cut water by 30% next time. Good flavor though.
I’m glad you enjoyed the beans! For a really thick, starchy cooking liquid, I recommend simmering the beans on the stove, like we do in this recipe. Hope this helps!
I have a comment to add about the extra liquid. I followed the directions for the 8qt cooker size mentioned in the writing section which said to increase the water in the larger cooker. But it definitely didn’t need it. I removed some liquid after cooking then simmered the beans on low for some extra time maybe 20 or more minutes. Then I used the back of a large spoon and Smashed some of the beans against the side of the pot. It thickens up the liquid. Was lovely any how I enjoyed it.woth some liquid def flavors the rice nicely. Ate with coconut, Cilantro, and lime rice. Will make again. This time for my family size of I will do an extra 2 servings. Dad claimed the leftovers for the next day and I was jealous. Lol I think this recipe would be nice too made with veggie broth when on hand.
I cooked them for 30 minutes, as I like really soft beans. It really helped with the amount of liquid left so it was more like beans cooked on the stovetop.
Best beans I’ve ever made and they are 99% less gassy when using the instant pot! Yes, there is quite a bit of “broth” left over. I just drank it because it’s delicious, but I do not think it needs 6 cups.
Hi Natasha, I’m so glad you enjoyed the beans!
I followed the recipe exactly, using dry beans.
The taste is alright.
But I measured an excess of 2.5 cups of liquid when done. I am probably losing a lot of flavour to that excess water.
Hi Alan, I think you should try our stovetop black beans, you’re able to get that really nice thick bean liquid that isn’t possible in the Instant Pot: https://www.loveandlemons.com/black-beans-recipe/
My beans had soaked overnight because they were in my pantry for awhile. I started with 1 cup dried beans, 1.5 cups water, onion and seasonings and pressure cooked for 28 minutes w/ natural release and they are perfect, little bit of extra water but not enough that I need to drain them.
I’m so glad they turned out well!
I’m not sure what happened, but my beans are like soup. I added less liquid (5 cups) as I saw someone in the comments added less liquid and I didn’t want it to have any extra liquid. I cooked it for 28 min. It was soupy. I tried cooking it for 15 more minutes and that may have helped a little but it’s still very soupy.
Hi Jody, are your beans tender and cooked? You don’t get that thick bean cooking liquid in the instant pot as you do with beans on the stove. These are meant to be drained before using.
Ok thank you. That’s good to know. I didn’t see that in the recipe.
Best black bean recipe I have ever made!!!
I’m so glad you loved it!
Can I half this recipe?If so do I need to adjust the cooking time?
Hi Barbara, yes, I often cook half using the same recipe – my Instant pot is 6 quart. If yours is larger the lower quantity might not work.
Do I need to rinse the beans after they’re cooked?
No. Pre-cooking rinse is the clean dirt and debris off the beans.
These are the best black beans I’ve ever tasted!
Is there a conversion to make this in a slow cooker? I’d love to try it but I don’t have an instant pot 🙁
Great dump and go black bean recipe! I like a little less liquid so I used 4 cups of water and increased the cook time to 28 minutes to account for the pot taking a bit less time to come to pressure. Absolutely perfect. Thank you!
I enjoyed the spice combo you used for these black beans and they were so easy to cook in the instant pot. The lime on top was delish too!
great black bean dish and a nice alternative to my go to pinto beans, so thank you
Can you freeze a portion of the cooked beans? I find that they do not last long before going off ( at least the canned black beans do )
Yep! I freeze my extras all the time.
For a smoother taste, add a couple tbsps of cocoa powder.
It should be expressly noted to leave the pressure naturally. I think it is mentioned also in guidelines from instant pot. Otherwise it could block the steam thing.
Hi Maria, it’s step 3 in the recipe instructions.
Why so much water? I usually use just one cup when I cook beans in my Instant Pot. My understanding is the more water the longer it takes to come to pressure.
Hi Sherry, this amount of water worked for us with this quantity of dried beans.