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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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We add lots of tips in our recipe – so you can make this dish, understand why it works and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. I also answer questions my friends and family have asked about my recipes, to help home cooks of any skill level better understand the processes we use and why!
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
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Restaurant Style Instant Pot Pinto Beans
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.
I have made these beans at least 6 times. I usually eat them straight out of the pot all by myself over the course of a few days with some queso fresco or by themselves. I made a batch for my handy woman today, and she couldn’t believe how tasty and easy they are to make. She had never heard of the instant pot, so she was going to purchase one for her mother to make these beans. Thank you for this recipe… it is the best I have found for homemade beans.
These are fabulous and easy! Thank you for posting this recipe. I just wanted a little more tang because I crave tartness with my beans so I added 1 T tomato paste, a few shakes of worcestershire, and a 1/2 tsp citric acid. I will definitely be making this again. Also, I pre-soaked so I cooked them on high pressure for 17 minutes. But I’m glad you have the no-soak option because I don’t usually plan ahead 🙂 .
Thanks for the tang tip.
k
My fiance loves pinto beans and jalapeno sausage. I’m new at using an Instant pot and searched for a recipe to get the timing. I used your recipe instead of my slow cooker one. We both thought it was not very good. Beans were tender, but too bland and a strong onion taste. We eat out a lot and never had these beans. Will use your directions, but with my recipe next time. Will check out your other recipes though.
No worries Lorraine – I know lots of people like different things. PS – If people could be as nice and courteous with comments online (while giving your honest opinion) as you are, the world would be a much better place! xoxo
yep
Kind of rude…..Seriously?
Why am I getting popups?? I never asked for them!
Also, why do you use both metric and English measures in this recipe? Shouldn’t you stick to one or the other?
John – sometimes the popups register on your own computer. you can see how to unsubscribe here (this works on ANY notifications on any site, so bookmark it if there’s others you’d like to remove) : https://documentation.onesignal.com/docs/opt-out-of-web-push (this actually comes through your browser – I would take you off but it doesn’t collect data on people who click it, so I can’t isolate one person for your privacy.)
I’ve made these about 8 times now and they consistently get rave reviews. I’d never really used powdered onions or garlic before this, preferring the real thing, but they are awesome in this recipe, I’m a convert. Thanks!