How to cook beans and lentils in your Instant Pot

 

Cooking dried beans in the InstantPot  

The instant pot feels slow (especially vs canned beans), but it's hands off cooking and easy to program to an exact timing.   I think it's worth cooking from dried.    Better texture, flavor and cheaper.

• when soaking overnight first,   add about 4 cups of water to 1 cup of beans.   I usually soak if I have time and/or remember.   
• when cooking 1 cup of beans to 3 cups water ratio, don't overfill the instant pot, respect the max fill line.
• for beans, always let the instant pot cool on its own (Natural Pressure release), Venting often blasts the skins off the beans and makes a mess.
• for flavor I add BTB = Better than Bouillon base (1 teaspoon per cup of water, or 1 tablespoon per 3 cups water) .     I've found ordering BTB's smoky chipotle base by the case from walmart.com  is often cheapest. 

Adding Flavors to beans

Chickpeas for hummus add 1 bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 tea baking soda per bean cup.  

Navy Beans, add 1 bay leaf, and add 1/2 tea salt and baking soda per bean cup 

Red Kidney Beans for chili, add 1 Tbl of adobo/smoked chipotle BTB per cup,  

Refritos Pinto Beans, add 1 Tbl of  Adobo or Smoked Chipotle BTB, dice 1/2 medium red onion, 1 clove garlic, half seeded jalapeno per bean cup

Black Beans for mex wrap,  add 1 Tbl Adobo or Smoked Chipotle BTB, dice 1/2 medium red onion, 1 clove garlic, half seeded jalapeno per bean cup

Bean/Lentil Cooking Times 

Copied from https://instantpotme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Instant-Pot-Pressure-Cooker-Recipe-Book-English-Tables-1.pdf

 1 cup beans to 3 cups Water.      1 cup lentils to 1 3/4 cups water 

 

 INSTANT POT TIPS:    

Technically, you're supposed to dump your measured, dry lentils/beans onto a cookie sheet to search for little rocks before cooking, but I never find any.   Guessing it was more a problem from 20-30 years ago.   Better safe than sorry?   Maybe just check when trying a new brand?   You can also pick out the broken beans, but I never bother.

After cooking, I strain beans and lentils over a 4 cup pyrex liquid measuring jar.    Many recipes will use the bean liquid as a thickener.   They call it aqua faba 

For adding Better than Bouillon, I boil the water in my electric kettle first, pour into a large 4 cup pyrex measuring cup to the applicable amount, and I dip my metal  measuring spoon into the boiling water first and then scoop out the amount of Better than Bouillon (BTB) I need (1 teaspoon  per cup of water or 1 tablespoon per 3 cups water).   Dipping the measuring spoon into the boiled water first sterilizes it and it helps the Bouillon base to not to stick to the spoon.  Swirl in the hot water as needed to get all bouillon mix off the spoon.    No need to fully mix, the boiling in the Instant Pot will take care of it, but it doesn't hurt to whisk until it's all dissolved if you want.

The instant pot will take 10-15 minutes to get up to pressure, less if you start with boiling water.   After cooking beans, I always let it fully release the pressure on its own, or at least wait 20 minutes after it's done.       Natural Release helps the skins stay on the beans and keep them intact.      

Lentils, I vent after 1-2 minutes after cooking time completes.    Lentils may be better cooked on a stove in a pot if you want perfect al dente texture; I usually over cook them in an instant pot.