Canned beans aren’t the only option if you’ve forgotten to or don’t have the time to soak your dried beans before using them in a recipe. You can quick-soak dried beans in the Instant Pot in less than 30 minutes.
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Table of Contents
If you’ve always used canned beans for your recipes, there’s a better, healthier way! Use your Instant Pot to cook your dried beans from scratch and you can avoid the sodium and preservatives that come with canned beans.
Most recipes that use dried beans recommend soaking beans overnight. If you’re like me, then it’s possible that you’re not organized enough to soak your dried beans ahead of time!
This is where the Instant Pot pressure cooker comes in so handy. You can quick soak dried beans easily in half an hour. This trick works for me consistently without fail.
Here are some recipes using dry beans in the Instant Pot that you might like to try out!
– Instant Pot Chili
– Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice
– Vegetarian Instant Pot Moroccan Stew
TIPS AND SUBSTITUTIONS
Beans
I’ve found that this method works with pretty much any type of dried beans including pinto beans, kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas, and other types.
I use this method to quick-soak beans for any quantity of beans. I just make sure there’s enough water to cover the beans by about an inch.
I like to soak or quick-soak beans before I pressure cook them because I prefer to drain the soaking water. I feel that the beans are easier to digest when they’ve been soaked or quick-soaked and the soaking liquid is discarded.
If you’re new to the Instant Pot and aren’t familiar with how to use it, you might find it helpful to first read one of the following guides and then come back here to learn how to make this recipe.
- General Instant Pot Instructions for Beginners
- Instant Pot ULTRA Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO EVO PLUS Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO NOVA Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO GOURMET Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO CRISP Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot PRO Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot PRO CRISP Beginner’s Manual
Ingredients Required to Quick Soak Beans
- Water
- Beans
How to Soak Beans Quickly using the Instant Pot (Step by Step Instructions)
- Add beans and water
- Pressure cook
- Do a natural pressure release
- Drain the beans
Add Beans and Water
- Put the beans in the Instant Pot and add water about 1-inch above the level of the beans.
Instant Pot Duo Pressure Cook 5 minutes
- Close the lid and make sure steam release handle is in Sealing position
- Press Manual (or Pressure Cook) and + or – until the display reads ‘5′ (5 minutes).
Instant Pot Ultra Pressure Cook 5 minutes
- Close the lid.
- Select Pressure Cook mode and adjust the time to 5 minutes (00:05).
- Press Start.
Pressure Cooking Process (Duo and Ultra)
- Instant Pot display will change to On.
- Once the Instant Pot is pressurized, the float valve will go up.
- The display will count down to 0; it will then switch to Keep Warm mode and display ‘L0:00’ or ’00 00′ and begin to count up the number of minutes since pressure cooking completed.
How to Naturally Release Pressure (NPR) on the DUO and ULTRA
- Allow the pressure to release naturally (NPR). The float valve will be in the down position. This may take 15 to 30 minutes. [Find out more about the pressure release methods and how and when to use them. ]
- Press Cancel and open the Instant Pot.
Drain the Beans
- Drain the beans and use them in any recipe that calls for soaked beans.
How to Quick Soak Dried Beans in the Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried beans
- water (enough to cover 1 inch above beans)
Instructions
- Place beans in a shallow tray or plate.
- Clean the beans by removing any foreign items like twigs, stones, etc.
- Pour the beans into a bowl and fill with water. Pick out anything that rises to the top.
- Drain the beans into a sieve or colander.
- Pour beans into the Instant Pot inner pot.
- Add water to the beans.
- Close the lid and pressure cook on High Pressure for 5 minutes.
- Do a Natural Pressure Release (NPR) and open the lid. [Read More: The Different Pressure Release Methods]
- Drain the liquid and use the beans in any recipe that calls for soaked beans.
Nutrition
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I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
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Paul says
Do you know if there are any time adjustments needed
when cooking at altitude?
Neena Panicker says
Hi Paul, good question. I live at 5000 ft and have no issues.
Elisa Musso says
Does the Instant Pot size matter? I noticed the link is for a 6 qt. I have a 3 qt. I pre-soak the beans the regular way. I have it down almost to a science now on cooking them in my IP for an hour. It would be nice to shorten the pre-soak time. Thanks!
Neena Panicker says
Elisa, thanks for your question. I don’t think it would matter. But I haven’t actually tried it with a 3 quart.
Deb says
Thank you for easy quick soak recipe. I needed one that didn’t add ingredients first.
Now, on to my 15 bean soup recipe! <3
Neena Panicker says
Deb, happy to help!
MissyG says
Oh my gasious. So two things for those using Mayocoba beans, they are softer than pinto and can’t handle the 5 minutes pressure cook and 30 minutes natural release (my pintos last time took 1 hour so I halved that for these softer beans). They will totally cook through. Oops.
2nd thing, I drained them and rinsed them off with cold water to shut down them cooking any further, salted them, stirred and then ate several bites to see if they were salvageable. Within 3-5 minutes the gas built up and I landed in the bathroom. Sorry for the TMI but what is up with Mayoboca beans! I’ve never had that happen before with other beans. Like seriously, anyone know? They are getting dumped and I’m going back to pinto. That I do know.
Neena Panicker says
Oh no! That doesn’t sound like a fun time, lol! I don’t have any experience with mayoboca beans, maybe another reader might chime in.
MissyG says
I have a question – How long would you cook these presoaked pinto beans for in the Instant Pot when making Mexican style beans or refried beans. When I made them last I tried some timing or another but I can’t remember what amount of time that was.
MissyG says
I just tried this out with 4 lbs of dried Pinto beans in an 8 qt IP (Yes I know that’s a lot). Because I was doing so many beans I poured water to 2” above the beans instead of 1” but I’m questioning now if maybe I should have done 3”?
I THINK this still worked but I’ve never done this before so my question is this – Is there suppose to be visible water above or at level with the beans when you open the lid? I know beans expand during the pre-soak but I’m unsure if I had enough water in there. I couldn’t see any water upon opening it up but water did drain out when I poured the beans into a big sieve. What are the beans suppose to feel like if pre soaked properly?
I’ve only ever cheated and just cooked them in the IP without presoaking before so I’m not sure.
For further reference my natural release took about an hour and I did have the Warm function on that whole time. I can smash the beans in between my fingers but they aren’t cooked enough for eating. Did I do this right? Should I add more water next time?
Neena Panicker says
Hi there, that is a lot of beans! No there isn’t usually much water left after I soak the beans. The beans usually feel softer than dry beans, but if you bite into them, they are crunchy. I think you did them right. The question is how did they turn out in the recipe?
Missy G says
In short my Mexican style beans came out great =)
I learned a lesson though. Never put more than 2 lbs of beans in an 8 qt IP. It was just too much (I dumped about ⅓ of top layer of the presoak batch because their texture was inconsistent with the rest of the pot. My fault). I seriously over crowded it. Won’t do that again lol
Neena Panicker says
I’m glad it worked out for you. Very good point about overfilling the Instant Pot!
Kire says
I tried this method and my beans came out fully cooked rather than just soaked. It was a bit of a bummer since I hadn’t added salt or other flavoring. I will probably use this recipe to cook them in the future.
Neena Panicker says
I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you. It sounds like the type of beans you cooked don’t require soaking and just a 5 minute pressure cooking time?
Matthew Trimbe says
You say to pick out anything that “rises to the top” when you add the water. Do you mean “anything” like even beans, or just foreign materials.
Neena Panicker says
Hi Matthew, usually there are small stones, fiber, etc. But I also find beans that are hollow or dried out and I remove them. Hope that helps.