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Restaurant Style Instant Pot Pinto Beans are the most delicious, easy way to make delicious pinto beans in under an hour – no soaking overnight needed!
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Restaurant Style Instant Pot Pinto Beans are easy and so delicious – and are the perfect way to make delicious beans from dried in less than an hour!
These perfect pinto beans require no pre-soaking, and taste just like they are from your favorite Mexican restaurant – in under an hour!
My husband loves beans (and has firmly taken over my instant pot as his own), and tested out a ton of different recipes for Pinto Beans – and came up with this delicious, foolproof Restaurant Style Pinto Bean recipe that has quickly become one of our favorite side dishes of all time.
These beans are truly easy and restaurant quality – and don’t require soaking overnight! It’s a pain to have to think that far ahead and soak beans in water all night, so this delicious no soaking pinto bean recipe is a huge game changer at our house!
Tips and Tricks
Don’t make two batches at once. While you might be tempted to add more beans into the pot, don’t overcrowd! You don’t want your pot to be over half full, with beans and water, when you go to cook – or it won’t come to pressure and cook properly.
Don’t Overfill with water. Overfilling your instant pot can be a nightmare, so make sure to not overfill! Since you can make these beans in under an hour, it’s best to make more batches than try to cook it quickly.
Let the pressure cooker naturally release. Don’t rush the time it takes to naturally release pressure – this is a vital part of the cook time for these beans since they aren’t pre-soaked beans. This will help them soften and help the flavors develop – and will drastically change the outcome of your beans. Ideally, this will rest for another hour after the cooktime.
Instant Pot Pinto Bean Recipe Variations
If you love this easy Mexican Restaurant style pinto bean recipe, and want to make some flavorful tweaks, consider the following twists on this delicious recipe:
- Add in a can of chili seasoning Ro-tel diced tomatoes (don’t drain).
- Add in canned green chilis or jalapenos for a spicy kick.
- Sautee 1/4 cup finely diced garlic and a finely diced onion until browned with 2 tbsp butter or lard in the instant pot before adding beans. Make sure there are no browned bits on the bottom of the pan before adding beans and water or the Instant Pot wont come to pressure.
- Mix with lard and blend for deliciously authentic refried beans.
I love how quick, easy and versatile Instant Pots are to cook with – they make dishes that normally take all day take just a few hours.
While I don’t love Instant Pot cooking for everything (it can sometimes be more of a hassle than it is worth) – my Instant Pot is my favorite go-to kitchen tool for restaurant style dishes that normally take hours and hours to develop flavor and break down tough meats or fibrous legumes.
Other Delicious Easy Restaurant Quality Instant Pot Recipes
If you love this delicious easy Instant Pot Pinto Bean Recipe, please check out some of my other favorite recipes I made in my Instant Pot pressure cooker!
These recipes normally take hours to break down and develop flavor, but are done in a flash thanks to an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker.
Try my other favorites: Easy Instant Pot Cheesy Steak Taco Soup Recipe, 10 Minute Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes, Instant Pot Black Bean Soup, Instant Pot Skinny Mongolian Beef, and Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken and Rice
Restaurant Style Instant Pot Pinto Beans Recipe
If you love this Restaurant Style Instant Pot Pinto Beans Recipe as much as I do, please write a five star review, and be sure to help me share on facebook and Pinterest!
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Restaurant Style Instant Pot Pinto Beans
Restaurant Style Instant Pot Pinto Beans are the most delicious, easy way to make delicious pinto beans in under an hour - no soaking overnight needed!
Ingredients
- 1 pound of dried beans
- 1 tsp of salt
- 1 tsp oregano
- 3 tbsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp onion powder
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 2 liters water
Instructions
- Put dried beans in Instant Pot.
- Add salt, seasonings, and water until pot is half full.
- Use “Manual” setting for 25 minutes of pressure.
- Allow pressure to naturally release, approximately 30-40 minutes.
- Taste and add more salt if needed to taste.
Nutrition Information
Yield 8 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 77Total Fat 1gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 0mgSodium 556mgCarbohydrates 17gFiber 4gSugar 5gProtein 4g
Nutrition is automatically calculated by Nutritionix - please verify all nutrition information independently and consult with a doctor or nutritionist for any and all medical and diet advice.
I made these yesterday for my Cinco de Mayo dinner. There are great! I would say that in the instructions it says to add 2L of water or to that half full line. For my Instant Pot, that was more than 2L, and WAY too much liquid. I drained it off and am trying to decide what to do with it. I have never successfully cooked dry beans before, or in an Instant Pot. So simple! My kids like more bland so I cut the spices a bit, and they are perfect for them. I would add the ro-tel or peppers for myself. Will definitely make again and experiment. Thanks for the recipe!
These beans were very easy to fix and nice and tender but the flavor is not very good. I’m going to add some bullion seasoning and maybe a little fat. Then I will mash some to thicken them and they will do well enough. I would give them three stars.
I have a question about cutting the recipe in half. Does this also change the time used for cooking and the time that naturally let the IP come down before releasing the pressure from the IP.
Why two liters… almost 8 cups of water? Your recipe doesn’t mention what to do with the water after cooking.
Hi Kenneth – since we’re using dried beans, they absorb the water.
Tried this recipe and it turned out great I added hamburger meat and put over rice. And will do this again.
I will be making this today.
k
I have just prepared your brainchild recipe, and am beyond smitten. I opted to add in the can of those spicy tomatoes you’d mentioned. My question is about all of the seasoned broth. Is this something you drain off, or perhaps most of it. I don’t know if you are supposed to eat this along with the beans, or not. Life is good, if this is my big worry 🙂 Thank you for what you’ve shared.
You can also take a few tablespoons of the beans and mash them and mix in well, this will thicken the sauce. If there is still too much liquid pour some into a pan and reduce in by boiling it down and adding it back to the beans, it will also concentrate the flavors.
Thank you for this. Most other recipes call for 45 min. To an hour of cooking, but that ends up with mushy beans. These were perfect! I added roasted Hatch green Chiles, smoked paprika, onions, liquid smoke, and jalapeño and it was perfect!
I tried this recipe and the beans were tough after the cooking and pressure release time. I had to put them in the microwave to soften them up.
I tried this recipe and loved it. The beans were almost too mushy. Could be a difference in our machines.
Altitude also makes a difference. As does the temperature of your water you pour over your beans. I added instant rice after cooking and that soaked up the water. I also added a can of tomato sauce. If you like a thicker bean you can do a paste instead as well.
Awesome tips, thanks!