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This AMAZING Instant Pot Baked Beans recipe uses dry beans, and there's no soaking required. Tender cooked beans with bacon, onion and bell pepper in a delicious sweet and smokey sauce. I'm confident this easy baked beans recipe will become a staple at your summer BBQ's!
If you could only pick one, what is your favorite side dish at a bbq? It's a hard choice, I know, but I'd probably say baked beans. They pairly perfectly with any type of meat from the grill. My favorite sweet cornbread, and one of these fresh salads make the meal complete.
I've been really excited to share this instant pot baked beans recipe with you all because it's proof that making baked beans from scratch can happen in about an hour! The instant pot is just amazing, and I'm proud to add this recipe to the ranks of my instant pot recipe archives!
How to make baked beans in the Instant Pot:
To make baked beans in the instant pot, start by adding the dry beans and water to the pot. Cook in high pressure for about 25 minutes, with a natural pressure release. When the pressure has released, remove the lid and pour the beans into a strainer to remove the water. Rinse them well with cold water.
DISCLAIMER: This recipe was created using the DUO 60 6-quart instant pot. Not all instant pot recipes work perfectly for all types of instant pots. See this article for more information on adapting recipes for your instant pot.
I've chosen navy beans or pinto beans for this recipe, but you could also use great northern beans, with the same cooking time.
After straining the beans, wipe out the instant pot and add spray it with non-stick cooking spray. I do this because even though bacon is greasy, it can still initially stick to the bottom of the pot when the saute setting is on.
Cook the bacon until it starts to get golden brown and slightly crisp on the edges. Drain some of the grease (I usually just stick a few paper towels in the pot and use them to blot out the grease). You still want a little grease at the bottom so that the other vegetables don't stick when you add them to saute.
Add the onion and bell pepper to the pot and saute them, stirring often, until they're tender.
Turn the instant pot off and stir in the bbq sauce, ketchup, mustard, vinegar and liquid smoke. Stir until smooth and then add the cooked beans and brown sugar. Secure the instant pot lid and cook the mixture on high pressure for 15 minutes, with a natural pressure release.
Do I need to soak the dry beans?
Normally when making baked beans from scratch you need to soak the dry beans in water overnight, but with the instant pot pressure cooker you can cook the dry beans and water together, without soaking them first, and you'll end up with tender, perfect beans for making baked beans.
Can I substitute canned beans instead of dry beans?
Yes. If you'd rather use canned beans start with step 4 of the recipe, and when it's time to add the beans, substitute 56 oz canned pork and beans (whatever brand you prefer).
Make it a meal and serve these Baked Beans with:
Instant Pot Ribs or Slow Cooker Ribs
Instant Pot Baked Beans
Equipment
Ingredients
- 16 ounces dry navy or pinto beans
- 8 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 slices bacon
- 1 yellow onion, , finely chopped
- 1/2 red or green bell pepper, , cored, seeded, and finely chopped
- 2/3 cup barbecue sauce, store-bought or homemade
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 2 Tablespoons spicy brown mustard
- ¼ cup cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- **DISCLAIMER: I created this recipe using a 6 quart instant pot DUO 60. Some users have had problems with a burn notice for this recipe using different versions of the instant pot. I have tested it many times with this version and had no issue.
- Add beans, water and salt to instant pot. Cook on manual (high pressure) for 25 minutes. Allow the pressure to naturally release.
- Remove lid and pour beans into a colander/strainer. Rinse with cold water. Set aside.
- Set Instant Pot to saute setting. Add bacon and saute for a few minutes until it starts to get golden brown, tossing and scraping down the bottom of the pot often. Drain some of the grease.
- Add bell pepper and onion and cook until tender.
- Turn IP off. Add bbq sauce, ketchup, mustard, vinegar and liquid smoke to the pot and stir well to combine.
- Add brown sugar, water and beans and stir to combine.
- Secure IP lid, close steam valve and cook on Manual (high pressure) for 15 minutes. Natural release the pressure.
- Carefully open lid, and gently stir mixture to combine. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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As it was cooking, the aroma was fantastic and the taste was even better, thank you for the recipe 👏👏👏😋😋
So easy and So So Good!!! I took them to a cookout and they got rave reviews. Making them again tomorrow for another cookout! 🙂 Thank you for this recipe!!
Thanks so much for the great review! I’m thrilled you liked the recipe!
Made this, great recipe, crowd pleaser at a family barbecue.
I have made this recipe at least three times and they turn out perfect every time. One of my favorite recipes!
Thank you for sharing this. I’ve never tried making baked beans or anything like this and it turned out great. My family enjoyed it, and most of us had seconds. Thanks also for the tips for the burn notice, it helped to know it could happen and what to do if it did made it an easy transition.
I made this recipe for a Memorial Day picnic and it was such a hit that I was asked to bring it to the 4th of July picnic today. I made it with canned pork and beans. It’s so easy to make and doesn’t take long to make.
These were perfect! I did not change the recipe, used all the same proportions and timing. I made this in my 4 year old IP Duo 60 and was very careful to scrape the bottom clean after cooking the bacon. No burn notice, and perfect for our 4th of July meal tomorrow.
Thank-you for the terrific recipe.
My wife loves this recipe and I am “required “ to make it any time baked beans is called for.
for the recipe I made the following changes,
I skipped mustard, I used my favorite bbq sauce and my favorite mustard bbq sauce getting the total amt of bbq sauce and mustard, I added double the water because I cooked my beans earlier in the day, and drained them, just before mixing the other ingredients, I reduced the vinegar just a bit and used white vinegar. I did not add salt to the beans, because that will keep the beans from softening. The beans (pinto)were completely soft when first cooked. I add salt to taste after the beans are complete.
I also got the Burn message using the Instant Pot Ultra 6 Qt 10-in-1. I had read the reviews & was afraid of getting the burn so I added a little bit of water but still got the burn. Thank you to one previous comment, I followed his tip and finished it off with the slow cooking function of the IP. The only thing I did not have was the spicy brown mustard so I replaced it with one Tbsp on regular mustard and one Tbsp of hot mustard. We really did not like the final flavour, everything tasted like vinegar. We will not remake this recipe and we will keep looking for an IP Baked Beans recipe.
I have followed this recipe to the letter and I get burn notices everytime on the second pressure cook. I have a Duo Nova 6 quart. I wind up having to use the slow cooker function for a few hours. I tried less pressure, the bean/chili function, turning off the instant pot after sauteing the peppers and onions after the browning the bacon (bottom scraped of course). No luck. Any tips or tricks? Should I not stir everything?
I agree with the burn notice warnings noted my many commenters. Some adjustments to consider:
a) I use an IP Max. So, modern.
b) Slightly less cider vinegar.
c) Doubled the water in the second stage cooking.
d) Do not pressure-cook a second time if you have a unit with the burn notice feature. Slow cook for half an hour or more, letting the beans thicken and absorb flavour. It’s all gonna be fine.
The burn notice is because there is not enough liquid. My Instapot duo requires 18 ounces of liquid. When I add 18 oz of water instead of 1/2 cup, I do not get the burn notice. But, the finished product has too much liquid and I have to strain a lot of the liquid off. Still taste okay, I’m going to try the slow cook method next.
Maybe they need to hold the adjust button till it beeps to reset the instant pot. Maybe why it burns.