Black Beans Galore
It’s such a treat to have fresh black beans available for making soups, like this Black Bean Soup (pictured below). But also adding to salsa, salads and main courses like tacos, enchiladas, or breakfast Huevos Rancheros.
Although you can make beans on your stovetop, one of the easiest ways is to make pressure cooker black beans. My favorite pressure cooker is the Instant Pot.
This black bean pressure cooker recipe is simple. A lot of recipes suggest you soak the beans first, but I didn’t do that, and they turned out perfectly soft. And these black beans go so well in this Vegan Black Bean and Corn Burrito from my fellow blogger at Stress Less Be Healthy.
However, if you’re making them on the stovetop (see below), soaking overnight for 8-10 hours or using the quick soak method (see below) is probably better.
This basic pressure cooker recipe is made with a few garlic cloves, a couple of bay leaves, and water. You can add vegetable stock, but make sure it’s unsalted. And don’t add ANY salt while you’re cooking them as they will not cook as well and may be tougher.
Blacks beans are versatile. Try them in these different recipes:
- Black Bean Tacos with Avocado Cream
- Black Bean Brownies
- Black Bean, Beet Burger
- Black Bean Sweet Potato Quesadilla
Every pressure cooker will vary, but I found 20 minutes on high in the Instant Pot was perfect. Do not fill yours more than half way with ingredients.
Try this delicious Black Bean Soup the next time you make black beans.
To quick soak:
Rinse the beans, then add them to a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes, then turn off the heat and let them sit for 1 hour. Then rinse and cook as you would.
Stovetop Directions:
With water to cover, soak and drain the beans either 8-10 hours or with the quick soaking method above. Add your soaked beans to a large pot along with a couple of bay leaves, 1-2 cloves of rough-chopped garlic cloves and 1/2 chopped onion.
Cover with about 2 inches of water or a combination of water and unsalted vegetable stock (8-10 cups) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below for this Pressure Cooker Black Beans ! If you have a photo, post it on my Facebook page, tag me using the hashtag #plantbasedcooking
This recipe is Certified Plantricious because it meets the following guidelines.
The Trusted Seal for
Plant-Based Nutrition
- Must be whole food plant-based, contains no animal products
- May be minimally processed
- No added oil
- No added sugars
- No artificial additives or preservatives
- Sodium (mg) to Calories ratio, 1 ≤ 1
- Total Fiber to Calories, 2g ≥ 100 calories
Pressure Cooker Black Beans
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 16 oz bag dried black beans picked over and rinsed
- 7 cups water or 1/2 water and 1/2 vegetable stock
- 1/2 onion peeled and chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
- After picking over and rinsing the black beans, add them to the pot of your pressure cooker. (You can also soak them overnight or 6-8 hours earlier in the day. See step 4)
- Add 7 cups water (to about 2 " over the beans) or a combination of water and vegetable stock, chopped onion, the crushed garlic, and bay leaves.
- Cover and set your pressure cooker on high for 25-30 minutes. Let the beans sit after the timer goes off for about 10-15 minutes and then release the rest of the pressure. (Note: if you soak them, cook for 20 minutes)
- If you prefer an even quicker method, soak your beans overnight, 6-8 hours, or quick soak and then add to your pressure cooker. They will cook in about 20 minutes if you do this. (See step 5 for the quick soak method.)
- Quick Soak method: Boil 8 cups water in a large pot. Add the beans and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the stove and let sit for an hour. Then proceed with the recipe (10 minutes cook time.)
Notes
- If you don't use an Instant Pot, you can make these in a traditional pressure cooker as well.
- Cover soaked bean with 2" of liquid.
- Cover with lid and lock into place,. Bring to high pressure.
- Lower heat to maintain pressure and start timing.
- Cook on high pressure for 25 minutes.
- Let rest for 5 minutes after removing from heat. Release the steam carefully.
I don’t see your recommendation regarding pressure release. Already have a pot on so I will check to see what other recipes say. I may have missed it in yours.
Thanks!
Oh gosh, I did miss that. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. I’ll fix it right now. I’ve been cooking them at high pressure for 20 minutes after soaking for about 6-8 hours and then let them sit for about 10 minutes before releasing the rest of the pressure.
same procedure for white navy beans?
Hey Gloria, I haven’t tried white navy beans, but I’ve been meaning to try them. I would say yes, you can use the same procedure except, as I recall, they’re a little smaller so they may take a little less time. Beans made in the pressure cooker are really pretty easy. I often make them without chopped onion and add a little Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base for flavor instead of vegetable broth (2 level tablespoons for 16 oz of beans). It does have salt so be aware of that if you don’t use any.
Thanks for sharing that you use better than Bouillon vegetable base. I will try it
You’re welcome. You probably saw the note, but use with caution because it does have quite a bit of sodium.
You say it’s a pressure cooker recipe but you’re giving a recipe for the Instant Pot. I don’t have an Instant Pot with a timer etc. I have a real Pressure cooker. Do you have instructions for a real pressure cooker?
Good point, Marcia. I’ll make that more clear in the title. I can pull together instructions for a real pressure cooker and will add that to the post in a bit…. Since you don’t have a built-in timer, you’d have to set a manual timer. Are you using it on a stove or is it electric? This may not be enough, but here’s what one site suggests: “Following the manufacturer’s instructions, cover, lock the lid, and bring to high pressure. Lower heat to maintain pressure and start timing. Cook at high pressure for 25 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest for 5 minutes. Release the steam carefully (according to the manufacturer’s instructions).” Check back for my update in the notes section of the recipe.
If you leave out at least half of the water, you might have black bean soup, if you reduce it further, you can eat them with rice, which is what we wanted. Good ingredients, but a disaster for anything but soup.
Hey Anita, this recipe is not meant to make perfectly non-soupy beans which is frankly hard to do in an Instant Pot or pressure cooker. Perhaps my fault for not making that clear… will fix that. The beans are meant to be drained and used in other recipes like soup, burritos, salad toppers, quesadillas, etc. Or, if you want bean soup, keep all of the liquid. You can drain them or store them with the liquid depending on how you’d like to use them. I hope this opens up new possibilities.