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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Karyn H says
Thank you!!! I wanted to make some Charro Beans in the slow cooker and I keep forgetting to soak them. This worked absolutely perfectly and I think I am now going to be hooked on IP pre-soaking! I can’t thank you enough for this most helpful tip. Winter recipes are going to be so much easier now. Thank you!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Karyn, thank you for commenting and I’m so happy that you found the quick soak method useful!
Kendall says
Not sure what went wrong, but I followed this recipe exactly as written and my black beans are still hard. I’m putting them back into the IP for 7 minutes now because it seems like 5 minutes did nothing.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Kendall, sorry for the confusion but this recipe is just a way to quickly soak your beans when a recipe calls for soaked beans. You still need to cook them.
Shellie says
I just tried this method with a pound of cranberry beans. 5 mins high, and then NPR which took around 20 mins. The beans are perfectly cooked and ready to eat now. I’m worried that they may be too cooked for the recipe I was pre soaking for.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
I hope they turned out well in your recipe. Next time, reduce the time to 3 minutes, maybe?
Jackie says
I used to turn up my nose at quick soaking beans. I tried it long ago and it just didn’t work for me. But I was in a hurry and decided to try it. I liked that your technique was in the Instant Pot. Oh my! My beans turned out great! I did 6 minutes because I am at 5800′. You have changed my world!! I am going to try another small batch of another bean, maybe kidneys! My tip for new bean chefs – buy your beans where there is decent turnover. I go to an organic/vegetarian type store. So much better than my usually great supermarket.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Jackie, thank you for your comment and for giving it a try! I’m glad you like the method – it’s such a time saver.
Jonathon says
Haven’t made it yet, but the whole presentation of detailed information and instructions is great. Nice job.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thank you for the kind words, Jonathon!
Barbara says
When IP soaking the 2 cups of kidney beans how many commercial cans of kidney beans would that equal?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Barbara, 2 cups of dried beans should be about 6 cups of cooked beans, drained. Each can of kidney beans has about 2 cups of beans. So about 3 cans, I would guess.
Mother of pearls says
I’m a beginner to bagged beans, but looking to cut down our grocery budget. I have tried soaking bagged beans overnight twice and both times were unsuccessful. The beans were ALWAYS too hard and after adding the soaked beans to any recipe, they never got the right texture. Today after a third try at an almost 24hr soak and once again they were still really hard, I looked into tips, and your blog post came up. This worked perfectly and we were able to make a 12 bean vegetarian soup and the beans were just like the ones I’d buy in a can! Thanks so much!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
That’s so great to hear. I love this tip for the convenience but really glad to hear it’s also actually better than soaking for 24 hours! Thank you for commenting.
mikaela | wyldflour says
Where has this trick been all my life??? I much prefer cooking with dried beans but ALWAYS forget to get them soaking early enough. I followed the recipe exactly with a mixture of garbanzo, cranberry, and navy beans. They naturally released for almost an hour in the instant pot. And then they simmered for 90 mins in a sardinian minestrone. They came out perfectly! Will be using this quick-soak method from now on. Thank you!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Mikaela, awesome! I’m so glad I could help out! Another plus in the Instant Pot column, haha! Your minestrone sounds amazing.
Bernadette says
Hi Neena,
Help!!
I tried this method last night and it was an epic fail 🙁 I followed the directions to the T and the kidney beans were mostly hard and shriveled. I then added it to my chili and proceeded to cook them on the stove for another 20-30 minutes and no luck.
Any thoughts on where I went wrong?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
I’m so sorry to hear that, Bernadette! The cook time you used on the stovetop seems too little. Kidney beans take 30 minutes to cook in the Instant Pot, so the stovetop cooking time is much more – like 90 minutes or more. If you did cook them for a long time, another possibility is that the beans were old. If beans have been sitting around for a long time they won’t cook properly. I hope that helps.
Bernadette says
Hi Neena, thanks for the response 🙂
Ahh that’s where I went wrong! I thought that the quick soak was equivalent to canned beans, meaning they were pretty much cooked already 😁
kathie says
Id like to know how much water.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Kathie, you can add enough water to cover the beans by about an inch. The quantity will depend on how much beans you’re soaking.
Laurie B says
Getting ready to quick soak, for a chili, that I’m making for supper. Taking the good reviews as a Goooo. Wish me luck!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hope it worked well for you, Laurie!
Rebecca Patton says
Worked perfectly!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
So glad to hear it – thank you for your review.
Karen says
If I soak beans in the pressure cooker are they considered cooked? Because I’m making soy milk and have to soak the beans first, but I don’t want them to be cooked.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Karen, I haven’t done a quick soak with soybeans. But for other kinds of beans, I find that a 5-minute quick soak is equivalent to an 8 hour soak.
Nancy says
So happy I can across this. I’m trying to improve my cooking skills and this is really what I needed. My finicky kid actually act his entire meal
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Nancy, I’m so happy to hear this – thank you for commenting!
John Watson says
Thanks to you quick-soak article, A never before occurrence just happened. My beans came out perfect. I quick-soaked pinto beans with 5 minute HIGH pressure and 1 hour slow release. I use to pressure cook pintos for 45-60 minutes without quick-soak and they were were always iffy with some hard shells. I can only assume, leaving them under hot pressure then hot sealed pot for 1 hour was a gentle secret. Now to season and make refried or freeze.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi John, so glad to hear it. I’ve found the same thing – when I cook chili with beans without quick-soaking, there are inconsistent results.
JamaGG says
Thanks for posting this fast presoak method. I will continue to use it, but there must be something wrong with the beans I used because many/most of them burst and are not looking so wholesome in the chili I made using your recipe. They taste fine though.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
You might not need to cook the chili as long if you think they were overcooked. The cooking time of the chili is dependent on the beans. Maybe you have a variety that cooks faster. Thanks for the comment.
Pamela says
In your intro you said, “ I like to 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 and the soaking liquid is discarded.
I don’t understand this because I thought the whole point was not to have to soak the beans.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Pamela – the important point is with soaking or quick-soaking, you’re throwing out the water. I’ll make a change to the text to mention quick-soaking.
Linda says
How about cooking them 5 minutes, and then letting them sit in the still closed pot (keep warm.function off)in till completely cooled. Wouldn’t they be fully cooked by then? Hmm… will give that a try I think
Paint the Kitchen Red says
I would try that out, depending on the type of beans you might be surprised.
nicole says
thanks. planned to make ham and beans or should i say dumpling soup with ham and beans lol. (i always make double dumplings) anyways. i forgot to soak my beans and thanks to this i was able to get them soaked and ready before dinner time!! amazing bean hack!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
That sounds yummy! Glad you were able to make it quickly 🙂
Monique says
I wanted to make your red beans recipe and this method worked great. The red beans came out great too. Thank you!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
I’m glad it worked out for you, Monique. And glad you liked the red beans and rice recipe!