These Instant Pot refried beans are ready in a remarkable 75 minutes. And that is starting with unsoaked dry beans! The seasoned refried beans are pressure cooked to perfection with onion, garlic, and some classic Mexican seasonings. I’ve made these beans several times with pinto beans and black beans, and they were perfect every time!
Refrigerate leftover refried beans in an airtight container and enjoy them within 3 to 4 days.
To freeze extra refried beans, cool them completely and spoon them into a resealable freezer bag and flatten the bag, removing as much air as possible. Label the bag with the name and date and freeze for up to 3 months.
Instant Pot Refried Beans
Refried beans are remarkably quick and easy to prepare and cook from scratch when you use the Instant Pot pressure cooker.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Pressure Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Instant Pot, Beans, Mexican Food
- Method: Pressure Cook
- Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients
- 1 pound pinto beans or black beans
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion (chopped)
- 1 jalapeño pepper (seeds removed, minced)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 4 cups water
- 3 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock (unsalted, divided use)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- Optional: 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Rinse and pick over beans, discarding any damaged or malformed beans. Look for small stones or anything that doesn’t look like a bean.
- Choose the sauté setting on the Instant Pot and add the vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, sauté onion until wilted; add jalapeño and garlic and sauté for 1 minute longer. Cancel the sauté setting.
- Add the beans, water, stock, bay leaf, kosher salt, cumin, oregano, black pepper, and cayenne, if using.
- Place the lid on the pot and make sure the pressure release knob is in the sealing position. Select the pressure cook or manual button, high pressure. Set the timer to 45 minutes.
- When the time is up, allow a natural release, which will take approximately 20 minutes.
- Strain the liquids into a bowl. Reserve 2 cups of the cooking liquids and discard the rest.
- Discard the bay leaf and return the beans to the Instant Pot or turn them into a large bowl.
- Mash or blend the beans with an immersion blender, adding small amounts of the reserved liquid, as needed for consistency.
- Taste and add more salt, if needed.
- Enjoy refried beans with shredded cheese, sliced green onions, chopped tomatoes, chopped red onions, or your favoraite toppings.
