Homemade pressure cooker pinto beans make a great side dish for Cinco de Mayo or any time of year. Use charro beans inside burrito bowls for a great meal! Works in your Instant Pot, Crockpot Express or Ninja Foodi.
Love homemade pinto beans but hate the time it takes to start from dry beans? Well making pressure cooker pinto beans there’s NO soaking required and they’re done start to finish in about an hour and a half! One of our favorite Instant Pot recipes.
- We’ve added it into our list of Ninja Foodi recipes too because that’s our new favorite appliance!
- If you want to know how to make perfectly tender dried pinto beans we have instructions for you!
Talk about a great side dish or make burrito bowls with these pressure cooker pinto beans for a delicious dinner.
I never need to pre soak the beans ever again now that I have an Instant Pot and Ninja Foodi pressure cooker!
We have made a few recipes using dry beans so far like:
- These pressure cooker refried beans
- No soak Instant Pot baked beans have raving reviews
- Instant Pot black beans is a great bean recipe used as a side dish to many Mexican recipes.
- Our Instant Pot split pea soup recipe takes just 17 minutes start to finish
Now we’re ready with homemade pinto beans. You can call them charro beans too.
Cooking beans in a pressure cooker
- Always wash your dry beans to remove any dirt or debris (small rocks may be hidden)
- Timing depends on how soft you want your beans to be and how many you want to cook (I tend to stick with 2 c. dry beans at a time)
- Twice as much water is needed for the amt. of dry beans you’re cooking
- Use this Ninja Foodi cooking times sheet or Instant Pot cooking times for beans printable charts to determine cook time (they’re very similar)
- Use high pressure
- Allow pot to naturally release steam
- Check beans, if you’d like them softer you can easily add a bit more water and set it for another 10 min. or so to soften even more
- Drain beans and eat or doctor up (like we did here) and continue cooking a dish like these pressure cooker pinto beans
What you’ll need to make homemade pressure cooker pinto beans:
- 2 cups of pinto beans
- pressure cooking time below is for this amount
- find pounds of beans in the rice aisle at the grocery store or online
- Cups of water or vegetable broth could be used
- Beef broth
- Diced chiles
- Onions and garlic
- Spices
- Bacon bits are optional
If you use other spices to make charro beans by all means add them in there too in the 2nd cooking step after the quick release. If you use more than 2 cups of dry beans you may want to increase 2nd pressure cook time to 30 minutes to 45 minutes.
- Timing is subjective because some like them much softer than others.
Then make our pressure cooker Mexican rice with these!
Pressure Cooker Pinto Beans
Homemade pressure cooker pinto beans make a great side dish for Cinco de Mayo or any time of year. Use charro beans inside burrito bowls for a great meal!
Servings 10
Calories 78kcal
Ingredients
- 2 c pinto beans dry
- 4 c water
- 1.5 c beef broth could use vegetable broth
- 4 oz chiles canned, mild or medium
- 2 tbsp garlic minced, diced
- 1 onion diced
- 2 tsp chili powder or more
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/4 c bacon bits
- 2 tsp garlic salt
Instructions
- Rinse your dry beans and put them into your pressure cooker. Add your water. Close pressure cooker lid (one not attached on the Ninja Foodi), close steam valve.
- Set to pressure high for 60 minutes. Do a quick release.
- Drain beans and put beans back into your pot.
- Add all other ingredients and stir together.
- Close your pressure cooker lid again and set to high pressure for 20 minutes. Allow to naturally release steam for 10 minutes, then release remaining.If you want more liquid in your beans before serving add a bit more broth.
- Serve!!
Nutrition Facts
Pressure Cooker Pinto Beans
Amount Per Serving (3 oz)
Calories 78
Calories from Fat 9
% Daily Value*
Fat 1g2%
Cholesterol 2mg1%
Sodium 554mg24%
Potassium 243mg7%
Carbohydrates 12g4%
Fiber 3g13%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 455IU9%
Vitamin C 17.9mg22%
Calcium 30mg3%
Iron 1.2mg7%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Paula Swaim says
Hi. Can I make these and just soak the beans overnight and then proceed to step 3? Thanks.
The Typical Mom says
Yes you could pre soak beforehand. Not sure exactly the cook time for that
Paula Swaim says
I did a long overnight soak and cooked the beans for 20 minutes. They were maybe 95% done. They are a little more firm that I prefer but still done. Next time I will add 5 to 10 more minutes and they should be just right. The flavor is excellent! I took out 1 cup of the beans and mashed them with a potato masher and put them back in. That really thickened things up and made everything nice and creamy and delicious. Thanks for the recipe!
We are neighbors. From 2002 to 2018 my husband and I lived in Horsethief Canyon Ranch in Corona, California (right next to Tom’s Farms), just a few minutes down the 15 Freeway from Temecula! I see we’re now neighbors again — you in Idaho and my husband and I in northwest Montana (Flathead Valley) since 2018. Small world!
The Typical Mom says
Oh that is funny….and we are now looking at Northern Montana too. 😉
Crystal says
I use Ham Hocks when making beans, would I add them in while pressure cooking the first time around? I am super excited to try this recipe out. I am always looking for ways to cut down cook times on my favorite foods!!
The Typical Mom says
Awesome
Carol Talley says
These beans are by far the best I’ve ever had ,Thankyou so much for the recipe
The Typical Mom says
Yay!!
Carol Christy says
New to Insta pot. I soaked pinto beans overnite, how do I cook them now? Carol
The Typical Mom says
the instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post
Lauren says
These came out so good!! I didn’t have a can of green chiles so I used a can of rotel instead! This is a keeper recipes for sure!
Kimberly Ball says
My grandmother (my Mamaw) made beans an cornbread all the time. She died 21 years ago and I haven’t had really good beans until now! She made her beans more plain but I prefer all the extra goodies in mine. The taste and texture of the beans in this recipe rival my Mamaw’s. Pure goodness! I make them all the time!
Anne says
How would you go about cooking in a crock pot?
Kimberly Ball says
If I may say so, I’ve never been able to make really good beans in a crock pot or by cooking (painfully) slowly on a cooktop. I have been trying for about 30 years! I swear by this recipe. It’s written in ink in my cookbook.
Tara says
These were the best pinto beans I’ve ever made. I made 1.5 lbs beans with ham shanks instead of bacon bits, doubled the spices and substituted the broth with ham thank broth. Do you have a black bean recipe?
The Typical Mom says
Yay and I bet the ham made it amazing too
Lorraine Buchanan says
Love your cooking help and comments with these wonderful pots. I have a Ninja Foodi and an Instant Pot. I want to try just about all the easy recipes you have. Thank you so much
The Typical Mom says
Thank you!
Cathy says
I just got a foodi that I am making pintos in first time and will be using your recipe! Thanks!