Instant Pot Mini – Tasty Black Beans is another 3 quart electric pressure cooker recipe in my “Mini Series” of smaller portion meals. These Instant Pot black beans have a lot of Southwest flavor, and are cooked from dry beans. No soaking required! Pressure cooker black beans are easy and faster cooking than on the stove!
Instant Pot Mini – Tasty Black Beans
When it comes to beans, sometimes I want a nice bowl of them, with just the right amount of broth. I do like Black Bean Soup, and you can certainly add an extra cup of broth to this recipe to make it more of a soup. But sometimes I just want beans, and a nice hunk of buttered corn bread to go with them!
These Instant Pot Mini – Tasty Black Beans do have just the right amount of broth in them. They have very good flavor, because who wants to eat bland beans? This recipe makes 3 cups, a perfect amount for a side dish, or a main dish that you don’t want too many leftovers from.
The best part is that you can make these Instant Pot Mini – Tasty Black Beans from dry beans, as in, unsoaked beans! I love that! And I hope you do, too!
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Instant Pot Mini - Tasty Black Beans is another 3 quart electric pressure cooker recipe in my "Mini Series" of smaller portion meals. These beans have a lot of Southwest flavor, and are cooked from dry beans. No soaking required!
- 3 slices Bacon, chopped (I use thick sliced lean)
- 1/2 small Onion, diced
- 3 cloves Garlic, pressed or finely minced
- 1 small Bay Leaf
- 2 tsp Cumin
- 1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 1/2 tsps Mexican Oregano (or 1 tsp oregano)
- 1 tsp Chili Powder
- 1/4 tsp Kosher Salt (or 1/8 tsp table salt, use 1/4 tsp if not using bacon)
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/2 tsp Coriander Powder
- 3 cups Chicken or Vegetable Broth,** low sodium
- 1 cup Dry Black Beans, sorted & rinsed
- Sour Cream
- Fresh Cilantro
- Salsa
- Cotija or other Cheese
- Hot Sauce
Turn on pot to Sauté function (Normal/Med heat). When the display reads Hot, add the bacon. Stir, and cook until mostly done. Spoon out any excess fat.
Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally for a couple of minutes.
Add garlic, bay leaf, cumin, paprika, oregano, chili powder, salt, pepper, and coriander powder, stirring frequently. Don't let the garlic burn. You can add a little of the broth if it looks like it is too hot.
Add the broth. Stir.
Add the beans. Stir.
Put the lid on the pot and lock it in place. Set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
Cancel the Sauté function.
Press the Pressure Cook (Manual) button or dial and then the + or - button or dial to choose 35 minutes.
When the cooking cycle ends, let the pot sit for 15 minutes (natural release). Then turn the steam release knob to the Venting position to release the remaining pressure/steam (there may not be any, and that's okay).
When the pin in the lid drops, open the lid and stir the beans. Taste and adjust salt, if needed.
Garnish as desired and serve.
*You can make this vegetarian by omitting the bacon and using vegetable broth. Just sauté the onions first in a little olive oil. Then continue with the recipe as written.
**If you want this to be a soup, add a fourth cup of broth. Maybe add some chopped carrots and celery, too.
Resources to Make This Recipe and More
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Hi,
I don’t have an instant pot yet, but am wondering which size to buy. I want to be able to cook one pound of dry beans (either soaked the night before or not) in the 3 quart instant pot. Is this possible, or will I need the 6 quart instant pot?
Your black bean recipe looks great.
Thanks,
Ann
Hi Ann, I suggest the 6 quart size for what you want to do.
Thank you! I’ve been looking all over for an answer to this question. The capacity listed always states how much rice you can cook, but never beans. I’m a single person household, and my crockpot it so big that I never use it. I was hoping to stick with the 3-qt Instant Pot, if I decide to buy one. However, the item I will use it for the most will be to cook beans and was having a difficult time determining if 3-qt will be sufficient, of if I would need a 6-qt for 1 lb. of beans.
I just received my mini instant pot yesterday. The recipe book that came with it is for the 6 or 8 quart instant pot. Can I cut the recipe in half? Also will it affect the cooking time?
Hi Jane, yes, you can cut most recipes in half. The time usually stays the same unless it’s a thinner cut of meat, or a smaller amount of a denser food (like a larger cheesecake vs. a smaller cheesecake).
I cook a pound of beans in the 3 qt with no trouble whatsoever. It is an amazing product!
Are you using a pound of dried beans without pre-soaking? What is you add a small red onion and some half a red pepper to the mix?
I wish I could find 3 quart recipes that were max volume for the model. This one Sandy is posting here “seems” small for the 3 quart model.
Glenn, I had requests for smaller portion recipes for the 3 qt when it first came out. 1 cup dry beans = 3 cups cooked, so you can increase the recipe based on that.
This recipe was the first one I tried in my new Instant Pot Mini Ultra. I made it vegetarian, and it came out perfect, and delicious! I could hardly believe that I could cook something so tasty! Thank you, Sandy!
That’s awesome, Allison! I was looking at this recipe yesterday and wondering if people were liking it. How weird is that?! I’m so glad you liked it, and thank you for your review! Happy cooking!
This was also the first recipe I tried with my Instant Pot Mini Ultra too. I made it with apple smoked bacon. It turned out so well! Thank you for this recipe. The tips on adapting the recipes from the book that came with the Instant Pot were helpful too.
That’s great, Peggy! Thank you for letting me know! I bet you were excited to cook dry beans so quickly! Thank you for your review!
Really delicious and the beans were cooked perfectly, but kind of soupy. Next time I would use 2 cups of broth instead of 3.
Thanks, Janet. I’m glad you liked it!
More 3 quart recipes as you have them, please! Yours are so thorough and tasty. We still are talking about the Carnitas. But there aren’t a lot of 3 quart recipes out there. I bought 2 cookbooks and they are so bad I’m returning them. Typos and errors and rip offs from other people’s recipes! So I’m making my way through yours. Thanks for your good recipes!
I’ll keep working on them!
Would simply doubling this recipe work in the 3-qt? Especially if you reduce the amount of broth?
As long as the pot isn’t more than 2/3 full.