Instant Pot Refried Beans

One of the reasons why people love their Instant Pots is for making things that usually take lots of time in a relatively short amount of time. Like dry beans. (Sidenote: there was a time when my oldest was tiny when I legitimately didn’t think people ever cooked dry beans and that they were just for making bean bags for your kid to play with. Now I cook dry beans and let my kids watch Netflix.)

People love their Instant Pots for dry beans. Sara has a recipe for Brazilian Black Beans that people are crazy for. But I cannot, cannot get beans to work in my Instant P0t (and before anyone claims it’s my elevation, I live basically at sea level, so that’s not it. We’ve gotten a lot of requests for a pressure cooker version of our Red Beans and Rice and I have come to the conclusion that it can’t be done without soaking the beans first, and if I have to soak them, I feel like it negates the benefits of the pressure cooker and I would just rather cook them in my slow cooker.

This is a lot of bean talk. Basically, what I’m saying is that I suck at dry beans in my pressure cooker, but homemade refried beans is one of my favorite foods in the world and I wanted to make this happen. I also feel like of all the dry beans, pintos are the most forgiving and easiest to not mess up, so if I could successfully pressure cook them, perhaps there was hope for me.

I successfully cooked them. There is hope.

You’re going to need a pound of dry pinto beans (rinsed and sorted for stones, debris, or shriveled beans), 6 cups of water, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 cup of vinegar or the liquid from banana peppers or pickled jalapeños, 1 seeded jalapeño, 1 1/2 onions, some kind of flavorful fat (I like rendered bacon fat), and lots of garlic.

Place the rinsed beans in the Instant Pot. Add an onion that’s been cut in half, 6 smashed, peeled garlic cloves, the seeded jalapeño, 2 tablespoons of vinegar (or liquid from pickled peppers), 6 cups of water, and a teaspoon of kosher salt. Use your manual setting to cook for 50 minutes, then allow a natural pressure release (when it’s done cooking, leave the vent closed and allow the pressure to come down naturally–it will take about 15-20 minutes and you’ll know it’s done when, if you try to open the vent, no steam hisses out.) If you live at a high elevation, cook for 60-65 minutes before allowing the pressure to release naturally.

When the beans are tender, remove the lid and ladle out 1/3-1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Add the remaining vinegar or liquid from the jarred peppers to the reserved liquid. Drain the beans, discarding the rest of the liquid. Place the beans (and cooked vegetables) in the jar of your blender. Add 1/3 cup of liquid and blend until the desired consistency is reached (I like mine pretty smooth), adding more liquid if necessary.

Mince the remaining 1/2 onion and 2-4 cloves of garlic. Heat the bacon drippings in a large cast iron skillet (if you have one) over medium heat. When the drippings are hot, add the onions and garlic and cook until tender. Add the bean puree and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently until the drippings and beans are incorporated and are light, fluffy, and hot. Salt to taste. Serve alongside Mexican food, wrapped in tortillas with cheese, or by themselves.

Instant Pot Refried Beans

5 from 3 votes

These Instant Pot Refried Beans are a great place to start if you're nervous about making dry beans in a pressure cooker! Plus, they taste a million times better than canned refried beans. If you have any extras, they freeze beautifully.

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

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Ingredients

• 1 pound pinto beans sorted for rocks, debris, and shriveled beans and rinsed
• 6 cups water
• 1/4 cup vinegar or liquid from jarred banana or jalapeno peppers divided
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 onions divided
• 8-10 cloves garlic
• 1 jalapeño pepper seeded
• 5-6 tablespoons flavorful fat I use bacon grease, but lard or your vegetarian oil of choice will work

Instructions

• Place the rinsed beans in the Instant Pot. Add an onion that's been peeled and cut in half, 6 smashed, peeled garlic cloves, the seeded jalapeño, 2 tablespoons of vinegar (or liquid from pickled peppers), 6 cups of water, and a teaspoon of kosher salt. Use your manual setting to cook for 50 minutes, then allow a natural pressure release (when it's done cooking, leave the vent closed and allow the pressure to come down naturally--it will take about 15-20 minutes and you'll know it's done when, if you try to open the vent, no steam hisses out.) If you live at a high elevation, cook for 60-65 minutes before allowing the pressure to release naturally.
• When the beans are tender, remove the lid and ladle out 1/3-1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Add the remaining vinegar or liquid from the jarred peppers to the reserved liquid. Drain the beans, discarding the rest of the liquid. Place the beans (and cooked vegetables) in the jar of your blender. Add 1/3 cup of liquid and blend until the desired consistency is reached (I like mine pretty smooth), adding more liquid if necessary.
• Mince the remaining 1/2 onion and 2-4 cloves of garlic. Heat the bacon drippings in a large cast iron skillet (if you have one) over medium heat. When the drippings are hot, add the onions and garlic and cook until tender. Add the bean puree and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently until the drippings and beans are incorporated and are light, fluffy, and hot. Salt to taste. Serve alongside Mexican food, wrapped in tortillas with cheese, or by themselves.

Author: Our Best Bites

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