These creamy and spicy black beans are an easy Instant Pot recipe. The beans need no soaking and no draining. They are cooked with onions, garlic and chipotle peppers in adobe sauce for a rich and flavorful side dish, perfect for Taco Tuesday or any Mexican meal.
Beans are one of my favorite things to make in my Instant Pot, because with a pressure cooker I can have homemade beans in minutes, not hours.
Sometimes I make complete dinners including beans, like Red Beans and Rice or Black Eyed Peas, and sometimes I made them more as a side dish like Refried Beans and this recipe for Black Beans.
With the Instant Pot I can make homemade black beans from dried beans without soaking for an easy, affordable side dish that is high in protein and fiber.
Homemade Beans vs Canned Beans
Here are the advantages of homemade beans made from dried beans:
- Homemade beans have a better texture and taste.
- Dried beans are very inexpensive and 1 pound of beans makes about the same amount as 4 cans of beans.
- You can easily customize the beans with your favorite spices and seasoning as they cook.
There is really only one advantage of canned beans and that is convenience. You can open a can of beans and have it ready to go in about 2 minutes.
However using a pressure cooker to cook the beans helps alleviate this advantage. Cooking beans in a slow slow cooker or on the stove requires soaking the beans overnight and cooking for hours.
With a pressure cooker there is no soaking and the beans will be ready in about an hour. Just not having to remember the soak the beans the night before is huge for me, because I just don’t plan that far ahead!
And while it does take about an hour to cook the beans that is mostly hands off time.
How Much Liquid to Use?
Pressure cooker recipes for cooking black beans vary quite bit with how much liquid they use to cook the beans. Some recipes suggest as much as 8 cups of liquid and others as little as 3 cups.
If you use too much water the beans are soupy and if you don’t use enough you risk them burning to the bottom of the pressure cooker.
Usually I err on the side of using too much liquid because it is easy to drain the beans after cooking But for this recipe I prefer not to do that, because that drains off the seasonings that the beans are cooked with.
So I suggest using 4 cups of water, which will leave a little bit of water after cooking, but not much.
Ingredients
This recipe is a spicy recipe in which the beans are cooked with onions and seasoned with chipotle chiles and chile powder. These ingredients add a depth of flavor to the black beans.
Cans of chipotle chiles with adobe sauce can be found in the hispanic section of most grocery stores. For this recipe you aren’t using the entire can! Just take out 3 chiles and about 2 teaspoons of the sauce and save the rest, refrigerated, for another recipe.
I like to mash these black beans and serve them as a dip or a side dish. Since I mash the beans the small amount of extra liquid left after cooking just makes them easier to spread.
How to Make Spicy Instant Pot Black Beans
1. Rinse the Beans
Rinse the dried beans under cold water to rinse off any dust and debris. The fresher the beans are the better they will cook.
2. Saute the Onion
Put the Instant Pot on saute and the onion in olive oil. Just five minutes of sauteing is enough to soften the onions and slightly brown them.
3. Add Everything Else
After 5 minutes turn off the Instant Pot and add the garlic. Stir it in and then add all the remaining ingredients – chiles with adobo sauce, lime juice, chili powder, salt, beans and chicken broth. Stir everything together.
4. Pressurize
Put the lid on the Instant Pot, making sure the seal is in place and the valve is shut. Set on Manual, high pressure, for 35 minutes. It will take about 10 minutes for the Instant Pot to reach pressure.
If you don’t like your beans mashed before serving you can decrease the cooking time to 30 minutes. The extra five minutes makes the beans a little bit softer so they mash more easily.
5. Release Pressure and Mash
Once the Instant Pot has finished let the pressure release naturally for 15-20 minutes. Then release any remaining pressure manually. Use a potato masher to mash gently mash the beans and mix everything together.
Using a natural release helps keep the beans from bursting. If you are planning to mash it doesn’t matter as much if they burst, so you can release the pressure after about 10 minutes.
Can I Freeze the Beans?
These spicy black beans freeze very well. Cooking an entire pound of beans at a time means that there are usually leftovers. Put the leftover beans in pint size containers and freeze for up to 3 months.
To reheat the beans thaw them overnight in the refrigerator. Then heat them in a sauce pan with a little bit of extra water until they are creamy and hot.
How to Serve Spicy Black Beans
Simply mix these beans into cooked rice for a simple and nutritious dinner. They also make a great filling for burritos, tacos or nachos. I also like to use them as a filling for baked potatoes or baked sweet potatoes. They are also great just as a dip or side dish!
Find More Mexican Recipe
Instant Pot Black Beans
Ingredients
- 1 pound black beans
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 3 chipolte chiles in adobe sauce
- 2 teaspoons adobe sauce
- 2 teaspoon chile powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
Instructions
- Rinse beans under cold water and pick out any debris.1 pound black beans
- Turn the Instant Pot on Saute and add the olive oil. Add the onion and cook, stirring for about 5 minutes.1 Tablespoon olive oil, 1 small onion
- Turn off the Instant Pot. Add the minced garlic and stir. Then add the chipotle chiles, adobe sauce, chile powder, salt, lime juice, beans and broth.
Don’t add the entire can of chipotle chiles in adobe sauce. Take three chiles out and of the can along with 2 teaspoons of the sauce and save the rest of the can in the refrigerator for another recipe.2 garlic cloves, 3 chipolte chiles in adobe sauce, 2 teaspoons adobe sauce, 2 teaspoon chile powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 Tablespoon lime juice, 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth - Stir everything to mix well. Then put the lid on the Instant Pot, making sure the seal is in place and the valve is closed.
- Set the Instant Pot for Manual, High pressure, for 35 minutes. It will take about 10 minutes for the pressure cooker to reach pressure.
- Once the pressure cooker has completed the cooking time let the pressure release naturally for 10-20 minutes. After 10 minutes you can manually release any remaining pressure or continue to let it release naturally.
- Mash the beans with a potato to make a creamy side dish.
Notes
- This recipe is for black beans. Other types of beans have different cooking times.
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Nutrition Information
Nutrition facts are estimates.
