A few years ago Santa dropped an Instant Pot off at my house. As you can imagine I went headfirst into all things Instant Pot. My first experience with my new pot was a complete disaster, though. I put in a ton of fresh vegetables and whatever else and turned that baby on and poof – it made mush out of beautiful veggies and I was so sad and frustrated. It took me a bit to figure out what the heck you were supposed to do with an instant pot.
Lesson 1. Don’t put fresh beautiful veggies into your instant pot and expect them to be anything other than mush. Lesson 2. Instant pot rocks at doing things that take forever and a day. Think simmering beans for hours or braising a tough cut of beef for hours… those types of things are what I think the instant pot is best at. Instant pots make long slow cooking much quicker and easier.
You can also whip up some chicken rice or chicken and pasta etc. rather quickly – I do have some favored recipes from the instant pot but I typically prefer the old fashioned methods to those type of instances, but I digress….
Where did I find this recipe ?
I found this recipe on Pinterest – by Fried Dandelions – and because the recipe is perfect for me – I didn’t change it at all and am passing it on in all it’s glory. The link to the original recipe is here. So let’s all be thankful of the original publishing of this recipe and the yumminess and nutrition this recipe provides!
Vegan, Gluten Free, Full of Protein and Fiber and Cost Effective!
Beans Beans Magical Beans…. Did I mention that cooking your black beans in an instant pot is not only super convenient but it is also a very cost effective way to make beans ? I love that you use an entire pound of beans in this recipe. A pound of beans can run you about $2 depending on where you get them. The cooked result is about 6 Cups of black beans ready and waiting for you! That is approximately 4 cans of beans. A can of beans, depending on the brand can run you $1-2 each.
One half cup of beans provides about 7.5 g of Fibre and 7.5 g of Protein. I was about to go into all the health benefits (and there are MANY) but I’ll let you read about them here if you are interested. If not, let’s just say these beans are super good for you and you should add them to your diet!
Storage and Freezing:
Ok – so I have 6 Cups of beans when I’m done – what do I do with them? What I usually do is freeze them in batches – typically about 1.5 C portions. I have these little Tupperware freezer mates that I use and they work perfectly and stack nicely in my freezer. You may have a similar solution? Note that 1 can of beans, once rinsed typically contains about 1.5 C of beans… so one frozen container == 1 drained can. Pretty convenient I’d say. Check out your containers – do you have a couple that could be used this way ? Also note – you could use a freezer zip lock bag – put in 1.5 C and lay it flat to freeze and stack them thata way as another easy solution.
OK, OK – my beans are portioned out and cooked – now what ?
First and foremost I add these beans to the side of many of my southwestern or Mexican dishes. Perhaps you just cooked my yummy Southwestern Spiced Grilled Chicken – and you need a side dish – maybe a lil Rice and Beans ? This is how I most recently served this dish – beans and rice on the side with some Chicken. Yummy. (and Healthy!)
Another option I like to make with these beans is a black bean & spinach enchiladas. If I’m having vegan or vegetarian friends over – this is always a good option.
I have another instant pot recipe that I make – Chicken Burrito Bowls – that takes 2 ‘cans’ or 3 C of black beans. (Chicken, rice, black beans, tomatoes, spices, rice, cheese….what’s not to like?)
Oh, thinking about it now, there’s a fancy dinner recipe I make that requires black beans and since I just got access again to Epicurious.com I can once again make this delicious Mexican Poblano, Spinach, and Black Bean “Lasagne” with Goat Cheese. (The recipe was being held hostage behind a paywall….) I will definitely add this to the make and post list. I just looked and this is one of my beloved Gourmet Magazine recipes. It’s a weekend meal – taking some effort & time to prepare – but worth it.
Other options include any other recipe you have that needs a can of beans. As a reminder, canned beans are cooked – and your instant pot beans are cooked. Storage of 1.5C == 1 Can. The only thing is you have to remember to get the beans out of the freezer. I do keep both canned beans in my pantry and these frozen beans in my freezer because sometimes I forget to thaw – #KeepingItReal.
Because I didn’t take beautiful pictures of my black beans on my plate – The post featured image is by Frank Holleman from Unsplash.
Instant Pot Southwest Black Beans
Equipment
- 1 Instant Pot
Ingredients
Into the Instant Pot
- 1 Lb Dry Black Beans
- 3 C Water
- 2 Bay Leaves
- ½ Tsp Cumin
- ½ Large Onion – Diced
- 2 Large Garlic Cloves – Smashed and rough chopped
- 2 Tsp Salt
- 2 Tsp Worcestershire sauce
Garnish – Optional
- 2 Tbl Cilantro – Chopped
- 2 Tbl Green Onion – Sliced Thin
Instructions
- Gather your ingredients.
- Sort and clean your beans. I place the beans on a big sheet pan and spread them out and look for anything that I don't like / shouldn't be in my final product.
- Place beans and all other ingredients into the instant pot.
- Set the steam release valve to off (pressurized) and set the instant pot for 25 minutes.
- Once the pot is done – leave it set to release pressure for 10 minutes. Then release any remaining steam, stir and check for doneness.
- If the beans are not yet done – pressurize again – and add a few minutes. (The age of the beans, the instant pot size and age and other environmental factors can change the timing of the cook.)
- Do NOT DRAIN the beans. I'd shared this recipe with someone – and was at their house when they made these beans and she intended to drain the beans… It is not at all similar to the canned liquid that you DO want to Drain….