Instant Pot Black Beans

 

This week I thought I would share probably the simplest recipe I know of for investment cooking. I am going to share how I do black beans. So first the why of this recipe.

I do use a lot of black beans, they are one of my favorite ingredients and I have a ton of ways to use them. And yes, it is so simple to purchase cans of beans that are ready to use. And yes, they are cheap. So why do I go to this work?

There are really several reasons.

For one a 1 pound bag of beans is a lot lighter to pack home from the store and takes up next to no space in the pantry before I use it. Those cans, if you are stocking up can get heavy to pack in and then you have to find space for all of them. That bag of beans takes up very little space. I then cook a batch up in my Instant Pot, cool them, bag them up and store in the freezer. In the freezer they take up very little space.

And more importantly I am in control of just what is in my beans. When I cook them there are only 2 ingredients- dry black beans and water. I don't use any kind of seasoning at all until I am ready to use them. Those cans of beans can have a lot of salt in them if you aren't careful what brand you are purchasing. I also find some brands have an off taste.

The process for cooking the beans is so much easier in the Instant Pot and really quick too. The traditional method of cooking black beans can take a few hours even if you soak them. And you need to watch the pot so that they simmer and don't run out of water. Basically you need to babysit them for that cooking time. With the Instant Pot you put the beans and water in the pot, push a couple of buttons and you can go about your normal day. The pot will take a few minutes to come up to pressure then it will cook for the amount of time you set it to do, then just let the pot do a natural release for 20 minutes. Your beans should be cooked perfectly at this point.

Transfer the cooked beans to a container and cool enough to handle them. (I usually put mine in the fridge for a couple of hours.)

I like to bag mine in 1 ½ cup portions because this equivalent to a standard can of beans that you get at the store.

To do this simply measure out 1 ½ cups of beans and put into plastic bags. Since I am going to put all the bags into a single gallon size freezer bag I just use sandwich bags for the individual portions. I have been doing this for many years and find the gallon bag provides the protection from freezer burn. I have this cool measuring bowl that holds 1 ½ cups that I like to use but if you don't have one of these just use your regular dry measuring cups. I find that using a canning funnel makes filling the bags really easy and mess free.

Seal the bags, getting as much air out as possible and put on a sheet pan and into the freezer to freeze. Once frozen transfer to a labeled gallon size freezer bag and store in the freezer until ready to use. To use just thaw in the fridge.

From my 1 pound of dry beans I got 4 bags, so they come out to just half price of what they would have cost me to purchase the cans. I paid right around $1 for the bag of beans (sale price) so each can was about 25¢. I can store 4 bags in a single gallon size freezer bag in a lot less space than 4 cans in my pantry. As a bonus I don't have to drain and rinse these, they are ready to use as you I will show you in next week's post.

Click here to get the downloadable/printable PDF of today's recipe.

Instant Pot Black Beans

1 pound dry black beans

3 cups water

Rinse, drain and pick through the dry beans. Some times there are foreign things like rocks mixed in with them.

Add the beans along with the water to the cooking pot of your Instant Pot. Put on the lid and make sure the vent is set to sealing (not venting)

Set the Instant Pot to Pressure cook or Manual (depending on the model you have) and high. Set the time to 35 minutes. At the end of the cooking time allow the Instant Pot to release naturally for 20 minutes. 

 

 

Transfer the cooked beans to a container and cool enough to handle them. (I usually put mine in the fridge for a couple of hours.)

 

 

 

Once cool enough to handle, portion out into 1 ½ cup portions. Place each portion into it's own bag. Seal the bag getting out as much air as possible. Tray freeze the beans then transfer to a labeled gallon size freezer bag. Store in the freezer until you are ready to use. Thaw in the fridge and use just like a can of black beans in your favorite recipe.