These Easy Instant Pot Pinto Beans are super versatile and delicious. They are great on top of rice or a baked potato or they can easily be made into refried beans.
These Mexican-style pinto beans might become your new favorite bean recipe. They're flavorful yet mild. Pressure cooking dried beans is the easiest way (and the quickest) to make them.
Do You Need to Soak the Beans?
One of the best parts of this recipe is that there's no need to soak the beans ahead of time. Soaking beans is so time consuming and you might also get mixed results. Using an Instant Pot takes all the guess work out of cooking with dried beans.
Ingredients
This recipe uses only a few ingredients plus some spices.
- Dry pinto beans - Do not use canned beans.
- Vegetable broth
- Water
- Onion
- Bay leaves
- Cumin
- Dried Oregano
- Salt
- Pepper
- Chili powder
- Garlic powder
How to Make Instant Pot Pinto Beans
To start, dice the onion and set aside.
Rinse the 1 pound of pinto beans (dried) and pick through to make sure there aren't any old or bad beans in there. Add the beans to the instant pot. Pour in the 4 cups of vegetable broth and the 2 cups of water.
Next, add the onions and all of the seasonings: the salt, black pepper, ground cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, bay leaves and the oregano. Stir well.
Set the instant pot to high pressure and cook for 45 minutes. Allow the pressure cooker to naturally release steam or you can press the release valve after letting it sit for about 15 minutes.
Remove the bay leaves. You can drain the beans or scoop them out with a slotted spoon. Or you can keep the liquid with the beans. Store the leftover pinto beans in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
How to Eat These Pinto Beans
These pinto beans are super versatile. One of my favorite ways to eat them is on top of rice.
They are also delicious on top of a baked potato. They make a great side dish as well. Or you can eat them simply with tortilla chips.
Pinto Beans Refried Beans
You can easily make refried beans from this recipe. Once the beans are cooked, drain the beans and reserve the cooking liquid. Mash the beans with a potato masher or you can use an immersion blender as well. Add some of the cooking liquid to get the correct consistency.
Toppings
This delicious recipe is perfect just as written. But if you want to add something extra to these pressure cooker pinto beans, try the following:
- diced jalapeño pepper
- fresh cilantro
- sautéed bell pepper
- pico de gallo
- avocado
- green chiles
FAQ
Can I use canned pinto beans instead of dry beans in this recipe?
No, it won't work the same way. Try searching for a recipe that uses canned beans.
What are better - pinto beans or black beans?
If you're interested in finding out the differences, check out this blog post Pinto Beans vs. Black Beans.
Are these instant pot beans spicy?
No, these pinto beans are flavorful but not spicy. If you want to add some more spice you can increase the amount of chili powder, add some cayenne pepper, or add some hot sauce.
Summary
These Easy Instant Pot Pinto Beans are super versatile. I love to make a big batch and use it throughout the week. It's great to make into refried beans to use in burritos as well!
Looking for other Mexican-inspired vegan recipes? Check out:
- Easy Vegan Mexican Casserole with Rice
- Mexican 3 Bean Salad with Corn
- Simple Homemade Vegan Flour Tortillas
Easy Instant Pot Pinto Beans (No Soak & Vegan)
Ingredients
- 1 lb dry pinto beans
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon chili powder (or more to taste)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Prepare the onions by dicing. There's no need to cook them in advance.
- Rinse the pinto beans and pick through for any old ones. Add the beans plus all other ingredients to the instant pot.
- Stir everything together and set the instant pot on high for 45 minutes.
- After the 45 minutes are up, the pressure cooker will need time to vent and release the air.
- Once done, remove the bay leaves. You can drain the beans or keep them in the cooking liquid. Add salt to taste. These are great on top of rice, baked potatoes, or even with chips. You can also make refried beans with them by mashing with a little of the cooking liquid.
- Once cooled, store leftover beans in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Notes
- These beans are not spicy. If you want some spice, increase the amount of chili powder.
Joy says
We loved these pinto beans. They’re creamy and flavorful but not spicy at all. My husband and I ate them with brown rice and it was delicious.
jencardenas says
Thanks Joy. We loved them with rice too - such a simple meal.