Hello! Hello!
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Can’t be easier! Over a stove-top toasted corn tortilla. |
If you’ve been looking for a vegan, gluten-free forum that focuses on delicious comfort food, and sharing/caring, you might be glad to know we’ve created our own. It’s called Vegan & Gluten-Free and is on Facebook. You can find it here.
With that said, one of the things I see folks post time and again in vegan and Instant Pot online groups is how to cook soft beans. When I lived in New Orleans, I fell in love with the style of beans folks eat down there, they’re basically super soft and cooked into a gravy (sorta like refried beans). Unless I’m cooking whole beans to go into a salad, that’s my preference too.
Since we eat a lot of beans at our house, I’ve mastered this style and converted it for the Instant Pot. I make several iterations of these: New Orleans style red beans, white beans, butter-beans, black beans and the beans I’m sharing today, which are straight up pintos.
If you're an instant-potter and like beans, you will roll-your-eyes-up-in-your-head love these.
P.S. The apricot salsa in the photo is simply diced apricots, onion, cilantro, red pepper, and salt with lemon or lime juice. <3

Servings |
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ onion, finely diced
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more as desired
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon granulated onion
- 3 cups water
- 2 cups pinto beans, quick soaked
- 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1 sprig oregano, thyme, or tarragon, optional
- 1 teaspoon bouillon, optional
- 4-5 slices pickled jalapeño with a splash of brine, or a splash of vinegar
Ingredients
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6 cups
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- Press the saute setting on the Instant Pot, and let it get hot while you prep the vegetables.
- Add the olive oil, and quickly add the onion, jalapeño and salt. Cook, stirring regularly, until the vegetables soften and begin to brown.
- Add the garlic, cumin, dry oregano, paprika and granulated onion, and continue to cook and stir for another minute. Don't let the garlic brown!
- Add the water, beans, liquid smoke and fresh herb, if using. Stir to combine. Cover, lock the lid of the pressure cooker, close the vent, and cook on high pressure for 50 minutes (temporarily turn the Instant Pot off to change between the saute setting and high pressure). Carefully, quick-release the beans. They should be very soft with quite a bit of liquid on top.
- Remove the lid and stir, Bring the beans to a steady, full simmer (I use the bean/chili setting--watch for splashes). Stir often, mashing spoonfuls of beans against the inside wall of the cooker, until the water has reduced, the beans are creamy and the liquid has turned into a thick, gravy. This will take about 10-12 minutes of devoted attention.
- Season to taste with salt, pickled jalapeños and brine to taste, or vinegar, if using. Serve immediately. The beans will continue to thicken as they cool.
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xo Julie & Kittee
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OMG YUM! How do you quick-soak the beans?
I put the dried beans in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Then I cover the bowl and let sit for an hour. Then drain and rinse. <3
Just got an instant pot and found this recipe: finishing it up now and WOW so good!! Thank you!!
So glad! Enjoy!!
made these last night, and so yum, thank you! since i’m just learning my new instant pot i was curious what you thought about a few things: have you found your quick soak method better than the one recommended by instant pot (few minutes under pressure then slow release — they suggest including salt but i didn’t do that as i’ve always thought salt interferes with bean cooking)? the two methods seem to take around the same amount of time, so i was wondering. also, have you experimented with shorter cook times for the recipe? i noticed your cook time was a LOT longer than the cook time for the unrefried beans recipe that came w/ the instant pot. i went with yours b/c like you i love creamy nola style beans, but i was wondering if a shorter time would work. thanks for the great recipes! keep ’em comin’!
Hey Delci!
I haven’t followed any of the directions or recipes that came with my IP, so I can’t speak to that. I like the quick soak, as I like to dump the first soak of water from the beans before cooking. It works for me, so I can do chores around the house, I’m not saying it’s better than a few minutes under pressure. I have experimented with shorter cooking times, and I’ve found to get them really creamy with just enough liquid left over, I like to cook them between 50-55 minutes under pressure. Also, you might be interested in googling the article from America’s Test Kitchen about brining beans. Salt is fine with beans, it’s acid you want to avoid as it makes the bean skins thick and hard to get tender.
xo
kittee
I have made these several times and they always come out great – I don’t use oil or salt and they still taste fantastic. Thanks!