Instant Pot Pinto Beans Recipe and Video (2024)

Published: November 20, 2019 | Updated: November 20, 2019 | By Ashlee

Beans! Such a simple and delicious side dish. A lack of stove space won’t stop you from making pinto beans with this Instant Pot adapted recipe.

Why I adapted Grandma’s Pinto Beans to an Instant Pot Recipe

SO I’ve mentioned my Grandma before. She grew up in mexico so almost all my Mexican dishes come from her. The most popular of all her recipes is her beans.

She makes a huge batch at every family reunion, simmering away ALL DAY LONG. Mmmm. She even has a special bean pot that all the kids, and now grandkids, fight over.

When I was living with my grandparents for a year back when I was 21 I was determined to learn all her recipes. She actually has no recipe for the beans, it’s all eyeballed.

SO every time she made it I measured all the ingredients so I could create a recipe I could follow. ANYWAY I have a very old post (with terrible pictures) on my blog of that classic recipe.

When I first got the instant pot I decided to see if I could tweak this family favorite and make an easier, faster, version of Grandma’s bean. It pretty much takes me out of the running for the bean pot (sacrilegious) but honestly it’s totally worth it.

I also have added my owl flavor twist, but adding jalapenos and garlic, but my kids love the change and of course so do I!

Just take me to the Instant Pot Pinto Beans Recipe already!

If you’d rather skip my tips and tricks for instant pot pinto beans, along with links to other instant pot recipes and tamales, get straight to these delicious pinto beans – simply scroll to the bottom of the page where you can find the printable recipe card.

Tips to Make the Perfect Pinto Beans in an Instant Pot

– The first thing I always do is check all the beans for rocks. Over the years I as packaging plants get better and better I find less, but I still find some.

– There is evidence that says that soaking the beans overnight will help with gas with beans. BUT there are plenty of other studies that show it doesn’t. You can do whichever you prefer. If you soak them you can cut the pressure cooking time down by 10 mins.[what is with the salt pork? Remind them not to eat it]

– Salt pork is salt-cured pork belly, or fatback. It add’s the main flavor AND the saltiness to the dish. Once the beans are done cooking don’t add extra salt without tasting, usually it doesn’t need anything.

– Now one of the benefits from my gandma simmering her beans all day is that some of the beans totally break down and you get thicker beans. You can smash some of the beans to recreate that a bit, but I didn’t find it necessary to still enjoy.

– I Added the jalapeno, garlic and bay leaves – if you want a classic simple bean you can leave those out or you can add other spices!

-Serve with tamales! Like my red pork or green chicken recipe.

To make these Pinto Beans you’ll need

• Electric pressure cooker, I own this Instant Pot
• Salt pork, also known as fat back in some places. I recommend getting the one that’s a big block, vs the sliced. The sliced will flavor the beans just fine, but will fall apart more, leaving chunks of fat in the beans that are hard to get out.

Instant Pot Pinto Beans Recipe

If you love these instant pot recipes as much as I do, I’d love a 5 star review. Be sure to share on social media and tag me if you make it @ashleemariecakes! If you want to stay updated on new recipes sign up for my newsletter and join my Facebook Group!

If you love the Pinto Beans you’ll want these recipes to go with them!

Green Tomatillo Chicken Tamales | Red Pork Tamales | Creamy Jalapeno Dip

If you love the ease of the Instant Pot you’ll love these other recipes!

Instant Pot Jambalaya | Instant Pot White Chicken Chili | Instant Pot Tomato Soup

Connect with Ashlee Marie Online!

To watch me make these Pinto Beans in an Instant Pot play the video in the recipe card, if your on a desktop the video will auto-play.