Instant Pot Baked Beans Recipe

There’s no need to pre-soak the beans in this recipe. Combine Instant Pot cooked beans with bacon, onion and spices to make irresistible sweet and smokey beans.

» You might also like Instant Pot Peach Iced Tea and 20 Easy BBQ Side Dishes for Summer.

These sweet yet savory baked beans are the perfect side dish any time of year, not just at your cookout or barbecue. They are a hearty, comforting dish for fall and winter, too.

We rarely have a cookout without these baked beans and this broccoli salad. They’re practically required.

Without an Instant Pot, it can take hours to cook dried beans on the stove or in the slow cooker, and that’s after you’ve soaked them for hours beforehand. Making them in the Instant Pot cuts the time to make these baked beans down to just under an hour, all in. 

Of course, you can always cut down the time to make baked beans by using canned beans. But now you can skip the can and make this recipe with dried beans that don’t require any pre-soaking time.

It’s a great alternative to canned. It might seem like soaking the beans before hand would produce a more tender bean. But with the Instant Pot, or pressure cooker, it’s just not necessary. So why spend the extra time, right? 

Why Use An Instant Pot

Ingredients In This Dish

• Dried pinto beans – With the help of the Instant Pot you can make these baked beans from dried beans with no soaking. You can use canned beans if you want or substitute the pinto beans for another beans that you like better.
• Broth or water – The Instant Pot uses liquid to build steam and help the pressurizing process. Use broth to impart more flavor to the beans while cooking.
• Salt & pepper – Seasoning for the beans.
• Cooking oil – Use your favorite oil to saute the onions, garlic, and bacon.
• Bacon – Chopped. Bacon is a great ingredient for building flavor.
• Onion – Diced
• Garlic – Minced
• Brown Sugar – I usually use light brown sugar in all of my cooking. You could us dark brown sugar just as easily. It has a deeper flavor that would do really well with the BBQ sauce and liquid smoke.
• Ketchup – This is the base for building the baked bean sauce.
• BBQ sauce – Use your favorite BBQ sauce. If you want to try making it at home use this recipe.
• Worcestershire sauce – This sauce has a very unique flavor and is used to give a little boost of savory, saltiness to many dishes such as stews and soups.
• Liquid smoke – Made from actual smoke this liquid has a condensed smoke flavor. If you don’t have liquid smoke on hand try using some smoked paprika.
• Dried ground mustard – Made from ground mustard seeds it adds a depth of flavor to any sauce.
• Paprika – You can use smoked paprika or regular sweet paprika.

How to Make Baked Beans in the Instant Pot

1. Step One: Cook the Beans

I use pinto beans for this recipe. However, you can choose from many other beans. If you like navy beans better, you can substitute with those.

The first step is to cook the beans in the Instant Pot. It’s necessary to do this before adding the other ingredients because the addition of salt or acid can slow down the cooking of the beans. So those elements must be added after the beans have cooked.

It takes 30 minutes to cook the beans, and 30 minutes to allow the pressure to release naturally from the Instant Pot. When the beans are done, remove them and drain off the cooking water.

» Did you know: The process of cooking these beans is the same as for cooking other beans, like chickpeas, in the Instant Pot.

Step 2: Saute the Onions and Bacon

The next step is to use the Instant Pot’s saute setting to prepare the onions and bacon. Set the Instant Pot to Saute and allow it to heat up.

Add the cooking oil, the onion and the bacon. Saute (stirring regularly) for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and saute another 1 minute before turning off the Instant Pot. Add the rest of the ingredients into the Instant Pot with the onions and bacon. Stir it to combine everything.

Step 3: Cook the Bean Mixture

Once everything is combined, you need to cook the mixture for 10 minutes on high pressure. When the time is up, allow the Instant Pot to naturally release pressure for 10 minutes, then carefully let the remain pressure out manually.

Note: if you thought the beans were not tender enough for you when you finished cooking them earlier, you can set the cooking time to 15 or 20 minutes to allow for extra tenderizing of the beans.

These beans are actually a complete meal on their own, but you’ll probably want to make them a side dish for something else. Here are some ideas for main dishes to make with them:

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to soak the beans first?

No. It might seem like soaking the beans before hand would produce a more tender bean. But with the Instant Pot, or pressure cooker, it’s just not necessary. So why spend the extra time, right?

What type of beans are best for baked beans?

Traditionally, navy beans are used for baked beans. We like to use pinto beans, which are the most popular dried beans in the US, but great northern beans also work well. Dried beans are very inexpensive and easy to find so try this recipe with a few different kinds and see which you like best.

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Other Summer BBQ Side Dish Recipes To Try

• Best Broccoli Salad Recipe
• Bacon, Jalapeno, and Corn Salad
• Corn & Black Bean Pasta Salad
• Classic Mexican Street Corn
• Creamy Stovetop Mac & Cheese

Click for Even More Summer BBQ Side Dish Recipes

• 20 Easy BBQ Side Dishes for Summer

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