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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!
This is great! I deglazed the pott like someone suggested, but still got the burn notice and had to do the last step on the stovetop.
How much water do you use to cook the beans and how much water do you use when adding back the cooked beans?
8 cups, then 1/2 cup
I made this recipe in my Instapot duo 6 and got the burn message twice…..added about 3/4ths cup of water the first time, then on 2nd burn notice added another 1 cup. Finally, no burn message. I had concerns about this from the get-go as the instructions that came with my Instapot duo 6 say you need 18 ounces of liquid to achieve the pressure and this recipe clearly does not call for 18 ounces of liquid. However, the beans turned out very very tasty, they were somewhat “soupier” than I would have liked but I was able to strain some of that off with a slotted spoon. It appears that the different models of Instapot require different amount of liquid to operate.
Yes, the newer Instant Pots are more sensitive, so I always recommend reading what your manual says for minimum liquid requirements. I’m glad you still enjoyed it 🙂
Instead of bacon I used a link of kielbasa and made a hearty meal paired with some cornbread and sweet tea!! It was a sweet meal!!!
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing.
Just got a Ninja Foodi for my birthday and want to make these beans. Cooking for a big crowd. My pot says it’s 26 cups max. Do you think I could double the batch?
Yes, I think you can double it. Also be sure to check the minimum liquid requirements for your machine! Enjoy!
Excellent recipe! I added some molasses and a bit more bbq sauce to darken them up a bit, but that’s just for my taste preference.
I have been playing around with my own recipe and never seem to get it right. I used molasses and maple syrup along with the usual. Times always messed me up too. I made your recipe for the first time and love it. The only change I made was using large lima beans as we love the Amish Baked Beans. Thank you. This is a keeper!!
I have the 6 quart Instant pot Duo Plus and it did give me a burn notice. The fix to that is to choose the option bean/chili and lower the time to 15 minutes, natural release. I used two jalapenos instead of green pepper. It tasted Amazing! I hope this helps others and I look forward to other recipes.
These came out fantastic! I added a little more BBQ sauce to the mix (about 1/4 of a cup). It was perfect and made our family potluck so much more delicious!
Thanks Camille, I’m so glad you liked them!
Delicious! If you have a sensitive instant pot you can try what I did and use the cider vinegar to deglaze after the bacon and veggies cook. Scrape every single burned bit off the bottom, not only for flavor but because it will be less likely to set off a burn notice. After that proceed with the recipe as written, pouring the 1/2 cup of water on top of the bean and sauce mixture to help the pot come to pressure on the second cook.
I also upped the brown sugar slightly for a sweeter bean and omitted the liquid smoke because the bacon i used was deeply smoked.
I made this for a Memorial Day cookout and couldn’t believe how good they were, and how easy it was to make! I added a little more brown sugar and a little less vinegar as we enjoy sweeter baked beans. Perfect! I now have some cooking as I type this for a Boy Scout campout and doubled the recipe to feed more people. Can’t wait to enjoy these again tonight.
The perfect side dish for a cookout! I’m so happy you enjoyed them. Thanks!
I have now made these three times and gotten the burn notice each time on the second cooking session. I tried using the “chili/bean” program as another commenter suggested but got the burn notice again. I’ve ended up just finishing them in apan on the oven and gotten many compliments but don’t understand why I can’t finish them in the IP. Any suggestions??