If you want to find the best pressure cooker beans recipe, you have come to the right place. Using this Pressure Cooker Pinto Beans recipe by Food Network, you will successfully cook a pot of beans in less than 35 minutes. All the ingredients needed are pinto beans, water, and oil. It works with any pressure cooker.
Beans are one of the many types of foods that cook twenty times faster in a pressure cooker than on the stove. They also cook more thoroughly.
When using a stovetop pot for cooking dried beans, it takes significantly more time, and the pot is less likely to hold in enough pressure for the full cooking time. Pressure cookers have reliable seals under the lid to ensure the containment of the pressure and do not release any of it until the pressure valve is released or a safety mechanism is engaged resulting in released pressure.
After trying this recipe, check out other recipes online for different types of beans. Pinto beans are not the only beans that can cook quickly in a pressure cooker, and it certainly should not be the single type of food for which you use a pressure cooker.
Pressure Cooker Pinto Beans
Food network – by Lorna Sass (click here to view original recipe link)
Total cooking time: 35 min
Yield: Makes 2 Cups (16 ounces) of cooked beans
Ingredients:
Presoak (Optional):
In the pressure cooker, cook the beans and water on high pressure for 1 minute. Make sure to let the pressure cooker come up to pressure before starting the timer.
After 1 minute, quick-release the pressure. Then, drain and rinse the beans.
Once you go to finish cooking the beans (using the below cooking instructions), it will only take 7 to 10 minutes (7 for firm beans, 10 for soft), instead of the usual 22 minutes.
Remember: after bean presoak (if used), adjust the pressure cooking time to 7 to 10 minutes when following the cooking instructions.
Cooking Instructions:
Step 1:
Pick over the dried beans, then rinse and drain them thoroughly.
(To learn the easy method of “picking over” beans and what that entails, scroll down past the recipe)
Step 2:
Take out your preferred pressure cooker; set it up and ensure cleanliness for safe cooking. Add all the ingredients to the inner pot of the pressure cooker.
Step 3:
Turn on the pressure cooker, on the manual setting, and allow the pressure to reach the optimum level. Once ready, cook the beans for 22 to 25 minutes (firm-cooked beans will be ready at about 22 minutes; well-done, soft beans at 25 minutes minimum).
Step 4:
Once the timer is up, it is now time to release the pressure. Do this with the quick release on your pressure cooker, so that the beans do not become soggy or too soft. Be careful during this step.
Step 5:
Drain the cooked beans immediately, then serve.
Helpful Tips:
Some pressure cooker recipes can vary because of the different types of pressure cookers available. There are stovetop pressure cookers and electric pressure cookers, all different sizes, and levels of capability/customization.
However, not all recipes require special instructions.
For example, this recipe for pinto beans is simple and does not require any unique pressure settings. Whether you will use a stovetop pressure cooker or a fancy InstantPot electric pressure cooker, it will work.
The only helpful tip that may help you succeed in creating this recipe is to be careful while releasing the pressure from the pressure cooker.
Follow the instruction book given to you with the pressure cooker or find one online. Releasing pressure from a pressure cooker can be exceedingly dangerous if you do not know the correct way to go about it.
This recipe describes a “quick pressure release,” which is using the quick-release valve on the pressure cooker. Usually, the quick-release pressure valve has a label that shows how to quickly release the pressure instead of a natural release.
What Does It Mean to “Pick Over” Beans?
In step one of the Cooking Instructions, it directs you to “pick over the dried beans.”
The process of picking over beans is quite simple. Before using dried beans for any meal, not just in a pressure cooker recipe, it is essential to sort through them with your hands and pick out any unwanted debris, shriveled or unusable beans, and pebbles.
Pretty much any bean, you see that is visibly inedible or abnormal needs removal.
Complete the “pick over” before rinsing and continuing with the cooking instructions.
The Best Pressure Cooker for This Recipe
Although this recipe can work with any pressure cooker, the best cooker for the job, with a good capacity for it, is the Instant Pot Duo Plus Mini (3-Quart). Three quarts is more than enough room for this recipe, without being too much and taking up a lot of countertop space in the kitchen.
Instant Pot is a highly rated and well sought-after pressure cooker brand; you can’t go wrong with it.
Instant Pot Duo Plus Mini 9-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker (3-Quart)
Conclusion
Pressure cookers are the best appliance to use for cooking beans. Stovetop pots take a long time, and not everyone wants to wait for a small side dish of beans. For the quickest and most reliable method of cooking pinto beans, follow the above recipe and include the step on Presoaking for the best results.
