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
Recipe

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
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Have you tried this recipe?!
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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!
I wanted to try this recipe, despite the negative reviews. here are my tweaks. i used pinto beans – 30 min on high- 20 min natural release,
did not have liquid smoke- sub smoked paprika, no plain bbq sauce, but
had chipotle bbq sauce in pantry.
sauté bacon separately then
sauté onion and peppers. took everything out of the pot.
cleaned the instant pot.
mixed drained beans with bbq sauce mixture. i
added the 1/2 cup water into clean instant pot, then
added bean mixture
high pressure , but got the burn notice.
turned off ip-
stirred the bean mixture in the pot,
changed to 10 min low pressure
natural release – wanted the sauce a little thicker, so i
stirred the beans in the pot again. this time,high pressure 5 min – no burn notice-
natural release(about 18 min). came out
perfect. nice balance of sweet, tangy, & heat. you just need a little patience with the recipe. btw, i have the 6 qt duo IP. thank you for the recipe.
Thank you for this advise with the burn..it was getting a bit frustrating. Your solution has worked perfectly!
Terrible. I used the exact specified instant pot, still got the burn message. Threw it all in a crockpot on low for 6 hours and the flavor of the sauce was horrendous.
I’m very sorry to say this but this was the most disgusting thing I ever made.
It came out like dog slop. I followed the recipe to a T. I got the “burn” message like others mentioned. I restarted it three times and still got the burn message so I did what another reviewer mentioned and put it on slow cook. I left it for nearly 9 hours and it was still loose slop. I gave it a taste and it was terrible. The whole thing went in batches into the toilet and you can imagine what it looked like in there. Take my advice and stay far away from this recipe. Food.com has a copycat Grandma Brown’s recipe that is a bit of effort but worth it in the end. I’m sorry to be so blunt about this but I feel that I just wasted about $8 worth of ingredients and I’m not happy about that.
it was too long to initially cook the beans. I didn’t go any further and am starting again. I’ll make my own version of baked beans from there. Couldn’t be more disappointed. I agree with you about the slop.
I saved this recipe without reading the comments and bought all the stuff I needed. While making, I saw the comments and got nervous.
I used the ProCrisp, which is 8QT, and omitted bacon and bell pepper; replacing the brown sugar with coconut sugar.
Not once did I get a burn notice. These smell amazing and can’t wait to serve them with dinner!
Best, best baked beans!!
I use smoky bbq sauce bc i dont have liquid smoke. And add a few tbsp of molasses.The spicy mustard I had on hand was maile dijon extra hot.
FANTASTIC!!My French Canadian grandmere would approve.
I love the flavor of these beans, but I am now on my 4th burn notice even after adding an extra entire cup of water. My suggestion is to either saute the bacon on the stove, or stop and clean the pot after you cook the bacon and aromatics. (scratch that…just poured everything out of the pot, scoured it clean and refilled the pot. Burn notice) Instant Pot now on slow cooker mode. Beans are really good but frustrating when you have to keep redoing it.
These were amazing!! And so easy. I’ll never buy canned baked beans again.
The flavors were great, but the recipe gave a constant burn so I ended up slowcooking the second stage because it was just undoable.
There has to be a better way for this recipe.
I have a 6 qt duo. I got the food burn warning. 😑 Made no modifications. I think next time I’ll prep the beans in the IP, but then bake them in the oven.
Love the recipe! I get the “burn” notice often, but I can deal with it. My question: can you double the recipe?