Instant Pot Pinto Beans – No Soaking Required

If you’ve got a bag of dried pinto beans in the pantry, your Instant Pot can turn them into a pot of creamy, flavorful beans without any overnight soaking. This simple method uses just dried beans, onion, fresh garlic, chicken bouillon, and water.

The result is tender pinto beans surrounded by a savory cooking broth that’s good enough to eat by the spoonful. Serve them as a simple bowl with fresh toppings, alongside dinner, or use them as the starting point for tacos and homemade smashed or refried beans.

Easy No-Soak Instant Pot Pinto Beans

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Pressure Cook Time: 35 minutes
Natural Release: 20 minutes
Total Time: About 1 hour 10 minutes, including time to come to pressure
Yield: Approximately 6 cups cooked beans with broth
Serving Size: About 3/4 cup beans with broth
Servings: Approximately 8

Ingredients

• 1 lb dried pinto beans, rinsed and picked over
• 1/2 large onion or 1 small onion, peeled
• 5–6 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and smashed
• 6 cups water
• 1 1/2–2 teaspoons Knorr chicken bouillon powder
• Kosher salt, to taste, if needed

Instructions

1. Sort through the dried pinto beans, removing any damaged beans or debris, and rinse thoroughly under cool running water.
2. Add the rinsed beans to the Instant Pot along with the onion, smashed garlic cloves, water, and chicken bouillon powder.
3. Stir briefly to distribute the bouillon.
4. Secure the Instant Pot lid and set the pressure valve to Sealing.
5. Cook on High Pressure for 35 minutes.
6. When the cooking cycle is complete, allow the pressure to release naturally for 20 minutes.
7. Carefully release any remaining pressure before opening the lid.
8. Stir the beans and taste the cooking broth. Add kosher salt if needed. Depending on the amount and brand of bouillon used, additional salt may not be necessary.
9. Remove the onion if desired. If it has softened and broken apart during cooking, it can simply be stirred into the beans.
10. Serve warm with plenty of the cooking broth, or cool and refrigerate the beans in their liquid for meals throughout the week.

Why You Don’t Need to Soak the Beans

One of the biggest advantages of pressure cooking dried beans is that an overnight soak isn’t necessary. The pinto beans go directly from the pantry into the Instant Pot and cook until tender in about 35 minutes under pressure.

That makes this recipe especially useful when you decide you want homemade beans but didn’t think about soaking them the night before.

Don’t Throw Away the Bean Broth

Keep the cooked beans in their flavorful cooking liquid. The broth contains flavor from the beans, onion, garlic, and bouillon, and it also helps keep refrigerated beans from drying out.

For an easy meal, ladle the warm beans and broth into a bowl and add diced onion, crumbled cotija, hot sauce, cilantro, or a squeeze of fresh lime.

Turn Them Into Smashed Beans

These beans are also an excellent starting point for smashed or refried-style beans. Add cooked beans and some of their broth to a skillet over medium heat. Use a potato masher to mash roughly half of the beans, leaving some whole for texture.

Continue cooking until the excess liquid evaporates and the beans become thick and creamy. Use them for tacos, burritos, tostadas, quesadillas, or as a side dish.

How to Store Homemade Pinto Beans

Allow the beans to cool and refrigerate them in an airtight container with their cooking liquid. For the best quality, use refrigerated beans within about 4–5 days.

For longer storage, portion the beans and some of their broth into freezer-safe containers or bags and freeze. If using rigid containers, leave enough room for the liquid to expand as it freezes.

Nutrition

Approximate nutrition per serving before toppings: 200 calories, 12 grams protein, 36 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fat, and 9 grams fiber.

Nutrition information is an estimate. Sodium and other values will vary depending on the amount and brand of bouillon and any additional salt or toppings used.