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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!
I’ve made this recipe as written and no burn notice. I did have a family bean recipe I’m trying today following the general timing of this one. Thanks for that. I thought this recipe tasted way better the second day. If you get the burn message, add a bit of water not ketchup. Our family recipe calls for 1 cup liquid from when the beans cook, so I saved some to add to the bean mixture. Beans have to have some liquid in my book. Hopefully it turns out great. I did add a dash of apple cider vinegar and smoke to grandma’s recipe after doing this one. I don’t think baked beans should have green pepper by the way so I skipped that. Overall very good but a bit dry. Needs water added.
I’ve made baked beans for over 30 years in everything from an Tuscan terracotta fagioliera to a plain old cast iron pot. The one thing you can’t ever predict is whether the bean soak will do the trick. You can cook to a recipe with soaked beans and still get pebbles. There is simply no effective way to know whether the beans are too old unless you have ironclad knowledge of the supplier or just use Julia Child’s overnight low and slow. This recipe defeats the problem. I opened the pot after the bean pre-cook and knew I saw gold. The texture ended up perfect in the final product in every last bean. Thanks for that.
As to flavor, I had just enough BBQ sauce and ketchup, and that worked. I did not use bell pepper or onion as I wanted beans and meat only. I did use onion powder. To follow proper New England tradition, I used 1/4 cup molasses and salt pork instead of brown sugar and bacon. I was pleased with the taste, but I will make two adjustments next time. No Liquid Smoke; don’t need the smoky taste. Worcestershire sauce instead. Also, I cut the salt pork into one-inch cubes. But it was too chewy; the short pressure cook just can’t penetrate the meat. I will use 1/2-inch cubes next time.
Thanks again. This is a winner.
Just as a data point: I got the burn notice and (like someone else) had skipped the bacon. Not sure if those two things are related. This was in a 6 Quart Instant Pot. The beans seemed done after the first cooking though, so I just moved them to a dutch oven and simmered awhile. The review I got from my wife: “Very good, but doesn’t taste like baked beans” (her standard is Bush’s). Again, this may have been due to skipping the bacon.
My husband is not a big fan of any of my IP recipes prepared, but he absolutely loves these baked beans and raves about them. He wanted them 2 weekends in a row and there’s plenty leftover for during the week. They don’t go to waste! I did get the burn notice but I just stirred them and reset the IP and it was fine. Next time I’ll try spraying the IP with non-stick cooking spray as recommended.
This is the second time I’m making this recipe in only 2 weeks. I love it that much! Thanks so much.
I forgot to mention that the first time I made this recipe I added a 15 oz can of diced tomatoes on top of everything and did NOT stir them in. This was to prevent that dreaded burn message. Worked like a charm and were they EVER delicious!
Doing the same this time.
The first time I made these I absolutely loved the flavor, but got the burn notice. I didn’t have bacon the first time, so I didn’t use it, but I did the second time. I made this recipe almost according to the directions. I used Great Northern beans since I didn’t have any navy beans. It seemed a little dry. It didn’t look as saucy as the video or pictures, so I added 1/2 cup extra ketchup. I got the burn notice the se one time also. I stirred them and started the 15 minute manual pressure cooking again. I had to do that two times until it finally started cooking without the burn notice both times I made them. Does anybody have any suggestions what to do to fix the recipe so the burn notice doesn’t come on? It still came on using the bacon and using extra sauce. I really, really, really liked the flavor of these beans and would love to be able to make them without having to babysit it.
Awesome recipe! Since my beans were already pretty soft after the first pressure cooking, and I had time until my ribs were ready, instead of pressure cooking them for the 15 minutes, I slow cooked them on high for 1 1/2 hours and they came out perfect.
Great recipe! I was short on ingredients so I had to make due
My bbq sauce was homemade from ketchup and dijon mustard. I had no liquid smoke so I added Worcestershire sauce for flavour. And I added a 15 oz can of diced tomatoes too, to ensure I wouldnt receive one of those BURN messages.
And it was, simply, delicious!
I wanted to say that I used the DUO 60 also and got the Burn Food notice, I followed the recipe exactly except I didn’t use any bacon (my family is vegan). So maybe it’s the lack of oil that did it, next time I will add a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil to the onions and see if that makes a difference. I simply opened the pot, stirred it around and tried again and it worked fine. Taste great by the way, thanks for the recipe.
I used the DEO 6 qt and followed the recipe exactly. I got a burn notice. I added a cup of extra liquid. I continued to get a burn notice. I added more liquid. After 4 times of getting the burn notice, I finally gave up and used it on slow cook for 10 hours. Maybe I’m just not meant to make baked beans in the instant pot.
I used Franks bbq sauce, diced the bacon first, and added a ham hock. These were the quickest and best tastin beabs. Granted, not New England style molasses, but sooo yummy.