This easy Instant Pot White Beans Recipe takes dried beans to fully cooked in only 30 minutes with no pre-soaking required! An economical and healthy alternative to canned beans that's ready to use in any recipe.
Instant Pot White Beans Recipe
Cooking dried beans has never been easier thanks to the Instant Pot.
No worries about pre-soaking ahead of time and the beans are fully cooked in only 30 minutes!
How to cook beans
Here are the ways on how to cook dried beans:
- Overnight Soak ~ Let beans soak in 6 to 8 cups of water overnight or for at least 6 to 8 hours. Drain soak water and place beans in a large pot, add 6 cups of water and simmer gently for 1 ½ to 2 hours.
- Quick Soak ~ Place beans in a pot and cover with 6 to 8 cups of water, then bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let soak for at least 1 hour. Drain soak water and add 6 cups of water to the beans back in the pot. Simmer gently for 1 ½ to 2 hours.
- Instant Pot Method ~ Throw beans in an IP, cover with water, and set at high pressure for 30 minutes.
The Instant Pot method is definitely the clear winner as the easiest and fastest way to get tender cooked beans from dried.
I also prefer dried beans over canned because they are much more economical and healthier.
You can buy a bag of organic, non-GMO dried beans for a fraction of the cost of canned beans.
Plus, they aren't processed, so you can control what ingredients are used in cooking them.
Healthy substitute for canned beans
Did you know a one pound bag of dried beans equals 4 (15 ounce) cans of cooked beans?!?
In cooking these beans, I only used water too.
No broth. No salt or other seasonings. Just good 'ol plain water.
Why no broth? I wanted cooked beans with no additional flavors, so they are ready to use in any recipe.
Cooking them with just water makes them ideal to use in vegan or vegetarian instant pot recipes too!
However, feel free to substitute broth for the water or add your favorite seasoning to the dried beans before cooking, if you wish.
I make these white beans all the time to use them in my healthy chili recipe, White Chicken Chili.
It's a favorite with family and friends throughout the year, but especially during the New England winter months.
Plus, it's an easy dinner that can be made in an hour from the bag of dried beans to a big bowl of deliciousness on the table!
Navy beans are one of the healthiest beans
Chocked full of fiber, minerals, and B vitamins, navy beans are one of the healthiest beans around!
More QUICK & EASY Instant Pot Recipes!
- Vegan Butternut Squash Soup
- Salsa Verde Turkey and Beans
- BBQ Chicken
- German Potato Soup
- Shredded Beef Tacos
So get out your Instant Pot and make this white beans recipe in only 30 minutes (and with no soaking!)
Please let me know in the comments below what dishes you made with the beans.
Instant Pot White Beans
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried white beans, rinsed and sorted (I use navy beans)
- 6 cups water (can substitute broth for water)
Instructions
- Add the beans to the Instant Pot and the water. Make sure the beans are covered by at least 1 inch of water.
- Cover and lock the lid, then turn the valve to sealing. Select the beans/chili button (or 30-40 minutes at high pressure).**Please note: Instant Pots vary in cooking, so may take a little longer with certain ones.**
- When the beans are finished cooking, wait for the Instant Pot to cool down for 10-15 minutes or release pressure manually by taking a hand towel and carefully opening up the steam valve on the lid. It is safe to open the lid once all steam has been released.
- Use the beans in any recipes that call for canned beans.
Recipe Notes & Tips:
- Recipe equals 4 (15 ounces) cans of cooked beans!!
- Feel free to add any type of vegetables, seasonings, or herbs to flavor the beans while cooking.
- Store leftover cooked beans in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Cooked beans can be frozen for up to 3 months.
- Make some White Chicken Chili with the beans too!
Cindy Lachapelle
First time cooking beans in the instant pot. I covered with at least an inch of water . Had a 3/4bag of small white beans. Do not have a bean setting on my I.P. so put on for 34 minutes. Will see how they turn out. My question is rhat I have heard that it is not good to cook beans in the I .P. That it clogs where the steam cones out and is mot safe. Any truth to this. Also how often do you change your I.P. sealing ring?. Thank you.
Karrie
Hi Cindy, Hope you enjoyed the beans! I haven't heard that it not good to cook beans in the IP. I cook dried beans all the time in mine and haven't had any problems. You do have to be careful and not overfill the IP with beans or water because it can foam up and boil over and that might be where it could clog the steam value. I change my sealing ring when it starts getting a little hard to seal and come up to pressure, after about 2 years. If you use it a lot (like 10 days out of every month) then you may have to change it more often, every year or so 🙂
Andryea N
Dumb question. There is still liquid with the beans after having cooked them and I’m wondering…. Should I drain the liquid before freezing them or do I freeze the beans with the liquid?
Karrie
Either way is fine!
Karen
What adjustments are needed when cooking half a pound of beans?
Karrie
Just make sure the beans are covered by at least 1 inch of water and follow the same cooking instructions. Enjoy!
Andrea
I just finished cooking a pound of dried white beans in my instant pot. The day before I had pressure cooked my cut up pumpkin in the instant pot and then separated the skin, the flesh and the seeds. There was liquid in the bottom of the pot that I strained and thought there must be a lot of nutrients in that water so I use that to cook my beans. It did not change the color of the white beans but it also gave them the slightest sweet taste. They were perfect in my sausage bean soup recipe I was using! I feel like I didn’t waste a thing!
Karrie
I absolutely LOVE that you reused the pumpkin cooking liquid to cook the beans Andrea!!! Such a fantastic idea and no waste while adding additional flavor and nutrients is a WIN WIN!!!
Laura
This is too easy!! Thank you for such concise directions. I'm going to use these and try to make some scratch baked beans.
Karrie
Isn't cooking dried beans in the IP THE BEST Laura?! Thanks for taking the time to review it and so happy you enjoyed the recipe. Yay to homemade baked beans too! I've been meaning to do a recipe for those on here, so please let me know how yours turn out.
Tulin Demirmen
Thank you for the recipe. I use my IP Ocaassionally, and not very sure about it. When I tried this recipe I pressed chili/bean button. It showed15 min.(I assumed it needs only 15 min with that setting).. So I left it there. When the time was up half of the beans were cooked and the other not. So I cooked low pressure for 9 min. more. Then it was ok. 1 Ib bag new beans. Maybe quality was not good. Or should I have increased the time to 30 min. Thank you and sincerely. TD
Karrie
Hi Tulin, You are welcome! Unfortunately, Instant Pot cooking times and pre-programmed buttons can vary greatly. Unsure of what IP you have, but the chili/bean button should be pre-programmed at 30 minutes high pressure. In my recipe instructions, it does say it should be 30 minutes at high, just in case some IPs don't have the chili/bean button. Hope you try the recipe again and manually set it to be sure the beans fully cook 🙂
Kim
Perfect! The IP method was so easy! I now have half for my Chicken green chili soup and half to freeze for later. .
Karrie
That's so awesome Kim! Happy you liked the recipe and thank you for taking the time to post a review!
Carrie Weeks
This is so easy I believe my non-cooking hubby couldn’t mess it up!
Karrie
LOL! Too funny Carrie and thank you for taking to time to review the recipe!
Michael L Pritchett
Can you put cajun sausages in the beans
Karrie
I haven't tried that with this recipe Michael, but I'm sure you can. If it's Andouille sausage you are using, that is usually precooked, so my only concern would be the sausage might overcook. You can always grill or pan fry the sausage and serve it with the cooked beans.
Ashley
How long should I cook them if I’ve presoaked tbem?
Karrie
Hi Ashley, I haven't tried this recipe with presoaked beans, but would think they would cook at high pressure for 10 minutes.
Susan
When using a ham bone, should I cook longer at medium heat, or will the taste still be fine at 30 minutes?
Karrie
Cooking it at high pressure for 40 minutes should be fine Susan. You might want to add a little more water to the pot to make sure it fully covers the beans and the bone.
Susan McLaughlin
Turned out perfect and now I can freeze some and use the broth for "aquafaba" as I am vegan. Otherwise, I'd season with broth, onions and garlic. But this was too easy!! Now I can control the salt in my beans and they are so cheap!
Karrie
That's fantastic Susan and so happy you liked the recipe! I make all my beans this way now and don't use canned anymore. Thanks for taking the time to review it too, really appreciate it!
Connie
My experience was just like Susan McLaughlin's ...another great reason for an Instant Pot in your kitchen
Karrie
Yay Connie and totally agree on having a pot in the kitchen! Makes life (and making meals) so easy.
Charles King
Can you add sliced onions to dried beans while cooking in a instant pot?
karrie @ Tasty Ever After
Yes Charles! Feel free to add any type of vegetables, seasonings, or herbs to flavor the beans while cooking.
Katie Crenshaw | A Fork's Tale
Great steps! I have never been really successful at cooking dried beans before, but when I cooked these beans and they turned out PERFECT!!! I am so glad I found out how to do these beans in the Instant Pot!
Karrie
Thank you Katie! The IP makes cooking dried beans sooooo easy!!