Instant Pot Mexican Beans

Close up of a white bowl of pinto beans in a tomato based sauce, topped with jalapeno slices and sprinkled with cilantro

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4.97 from 78 votes

Instant Pot Mexican Beans

Seriously Simple Mexican Pinto Bean Recipe. An inexpensive and tasty way to make beans from scratch.

Prep Time5

Cook Time30

Additional Time20

Total Time55

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Mexican

Diet: Vegan

Servings: Cups

Calories: 124kcal

Author: Debra Klein

Equipment

Ingredients

2 cups dried pinto beans soaked 6 hours or overnight*
1 medium onion or 2 small, diced (approximately 1 cup)
1 red pepper diced (approximately 1 cup)
2 jalapenos seeds and membranes removed, minced
3 cloves garlic pressed
1 cup tomato sauce
3 Tablespoon chili powder*
OPTIONAL: for a bit of heat add in ½ teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1 Tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 bay leaves
4 cups water

Instructions

Turn instant Pot on to "Saute" function. Add onions plus 1-2 Tablespoons water and saute until beginning to soften (approximately 3 minutes), then add in red pepper and jalapenos, continue to saute for another 2 minutes. Hit "cancel" on the instant pot. Stir iIn the garlic and tomato sauce, mix well. Stir in the spices.
Drain beans, rinse well and add the drained beans to the pot along with water and bay leaves. Mix well and then lock the lid in place. Make sure the valve is set to seal. Set instant pot to manual and adjust the time to 25 minutes.
When the time is up, allow the instant pot to naturally release the pressure. This will take 15-20 minutes. Make sure to manually release any additional pressure before unlocking the lid.
Discard the bay leaves, and serve warm.
OPTIONAL GARNISH: sliced jalapenos, chopped cilantro, lime wedges, avocado slices.

Video

Notes

NO SOAK BEANS: Your didn't soak the beans? NO PROBLEM. Pour boiling water over dried beans and let them soak for as long as you have (ie: as long as it takes to pull the rest of the ingredients together). Up the cooking time in the instant pot by 10 minutes. They'll be great. How do I know? Yeah, it's happened to me, more than once!

CHILI POWDER: If you like spice, add in ½ teaspoon chipotle chili powder as well.

MAKE IT A SIMPLE PANTRY RECIPE: Replace the onions, peppers, jalapenos, garlic, tomato sauce and water with 2 cups prepared salsa (look for a jar that is organic and without added sugar or oil) and 1 ½ cups water. If you opt for this method, skip to step 2. Mix the salsa, spices, water and drained beans in the instant pot (or regular pot on the stove), proceed as directed.

MAKE IT ON THE STOVETOP: Heat a large sauce pan over medium heat. Follow step one, saute the onions, red peppers and jalapenos. Turn the heat down, stir in the garlic, tomato sauce and spices. Continue to Step 2. Turn the heat back to medium, add rinsed and drained beans plus water and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, turn down so beans are barely simmering, cover and let them cook until tender: about 1 ½ hours.

Nutrition