Homemade pressure cooker pinto beans without soaking instructions are here. A great side dish for Cinco de Mayo or any time of year. Use charro beans inside burrito bowls for a great meal! Great way of how to cook beans in your pressure cooker, 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. (affiliate links present)
Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker Pinto Beans
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 cook dried pinto beans in Instant Pot or other brand of high pressure machine we have instructions for you!
With the Foodi you are going to use the lid that is not attached to make these super tender to your liking. Then add them to your taco Tuesday buffet or just make some quick burritos for dinner. They can be doctored up with chiles and/or red pepper flakes to make them spicy for a Mexican feast or left as is just simple with your meal.
If you are new to pressure cooking we have a lot of easy one pot meal recipes for you here. To begin with let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then PRINT this —–> Instant Pot cooking times cheat sheet that will help you understand how long meat, vegetables and beans take to cook in your pressure cooker.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot.
- You should know how to deglaze a pressure cooker after sautéing but it won’t have as many issues with this better liner.
For reference, this is the model I have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.
Instant Pot Pinto Beans No Soak
Talk about a great side dish or make burrito bowls with these pressure cooker pinto beans for a delicious dinner. The possibilities are endless once you understand how to pressure cook dry beans. Bagged they are super cheap, you can make a ton at a time, and they feed a crowd for next to nothing. Keep them whole or mash to change their texture and consistency.
Then enjoy as you wish. You can even make a great Crockpot express pinto bean soup with them once they’re as tender as you’d like them to be.
Starting with dry beans allows you to control the sodium levels and to know exactly what is in the dish which is nice. Especially if you have high blood pressure you might be interested in learning how to do that. Canned foods can be quite high in salt for sure which doesn’t always add the best flavor.
Ingredients
- 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 if you are going to do the second step to add lots of flavor
- Diced chiles I add also once they have become tender for wow
- Onions and garlic too
- You can add some chili powder or red pepper flakes for heat if you like
- Bacon bits are optional as well
Now we’re ready with homemade pinto beans. You can call them charro beans too if you choose to go the step further with the chiles and seasonings listed in the recipe card below. They are delicious as is just with some salt and pepper too so decide for yourself which you prefer.
Tips for Cooking Pinto Beans in a Pressure Cooker without Soaking
- 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 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 and eat or doctor up (like we did here) or you can use them as the base of our Instant Pot pinto bean soup which can be served as an entire meal.
Charro beans are typically made with pinto beans. This traditional Mexican dish, also known as “frijoles charros,” are cooked in a flavorful broth with ingredients like bacon, onions, garlic, and sometimes jalapeños or other chili peppers. Simmered or pressure cooked with these ingredients to create a savory, often slightly spicy dish with a rich, smoky flavor.
How long to cook pinto beans from dry?
We do have instructions on how to make a Pinto Beans in Crockpot Recipe so they are tender as well. Those take a night to soak + 8 to 10 hours to get tender. MUCH longer than this method at about an hour but they both work depending on what your time frame looks like that day.
What happens if you don’t soak pinto beans before cooking?
Soaking helps to reduce some of the complex sugars that can cause gas and bloating. Without soaking, some people might experience more digestive discomfort after eating so they prefer to start with this step no matter what.
How long do you pressure cook pinto beans that have been soaked overnight?
You only need about 8 minutes if this is the case followed by a 10 minute natural release. The timing is so much shorter because they have already softened quite a bit in the water. A great option if you want to speed things up, reduce bloating, and remember to soak the night before.
If you use other spices to make charro cooked 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.
How long does it take to cook pinto beans in a Ninja Foodi?
There is no need to soak beforehand but that will cut the time quite a bit, to 20 min. vs. 60. Of course if you have a strong aversion to not doing so then go ahead but this is faster and the end result is just as tender. It doesn’t matter what brand you use to make these with the directions below with the high pressure function.
If you are wanting to try to make these on the stove or otherwise and compare the two, this is how long do beans take to cook in all the different ways…..
How to cook Ninja Foodi Pinto Beans without soaking
- Rinse your dry beans (to remove debris and dirt), put them into your pressure cooker.
- Add your water (or broth if you wish to add more flavor). Close pressure cooker lid (one not attached on the Ninja Foodi), close steam valve.
- If keeping them plain you would set to high pressure for 1 hour 20 minutes for very tender with a 10 minute natural release.
Ninja Foodi Charro Beans
If you wanted to make them as you see here with a lot of seasonings, onions, diced chiles and more your initial step would be cut down by 20 minutes. At that time you would add all of those “extras” and continue to cook with that, and less liquid, so the legumes can really soak in the flavors! For that you would;
- Set mode 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
- Timing is subjective because some like them much softer than others.
To transition these into baked beans you would need another 25 minutes or so to cook in the sauce once they are tender. A bit more time but so worth it for sure.
Other pressure cooker bean recipes you’ll love
- 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.
Pressure Cooker Pinto Beans
Equipment
- 1 pressure cooker
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!!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I accidentally added in the broth with the water, they’re now cooking for 60 minutes…what should I do?
take two Beano tablets and eat them anyway. The first draining removes indigestible sugars that causes gas. Pepto bishop helps suppress gas also.
Hi. Can I make these and just soak the beans overnight and then proceed to step 3? Thanks.
Yes you could pre soak beforehand. Not sure exactly the cook time for that
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!
Oh that is funny….and we are now looking at Northern Montana too. ๐
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!!
Awesome
These beans are by far the best Iโve ever had ,Thankyou so much for the recipe
Yay!!
New to Insta pot. I soaked pinto beans overnite, how do I cook them now? Carol
the instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post
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!
My grandmother (my Mamaw) made beans an cornbread all the time. She died 21 years ago and I havenโt 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 Mamawโs. Pure goodness! I make them all the time!
How would you go about cooking in a crock pot?
If I may say so, Iโve 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. Itโs written in ink in my cookbook.
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?
Yay and I bet the ham made it amazing too
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
Thank you!
I just got a foodi that I am making pintos in first time and will be using your recipe! Thanks!