These Instant Pot Baked Beans are a game changer. Baked beans are a barbecue and cookout staple, but who wants to wait hours for them to simmer on the stove? The pressure cooker comes to the rescue, offering a shortcut to smoky, flavorful baked beans that are ready in a fraction of the time.
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Why this Instant Pot Baked Beans Recipe is a Keeper
These Instant Pot baked beans cut the cook down by more than half and taste so rich and flavorful. This dish will be your go to for all your cookouts. Who invented baked beans?
- Fast: An hour may seem like a long time, however, this is considerably less than standard methods.
- Easy Ingredients: All found in pantry.
- Family Friendly: This recipe will become an instant classic because your family will adore these beans.
- Makes Great Leftovers: They store well and are great as leftovers.
If you’re looking for more bean inspired recipes, try these Italian White Beans, Mexican Black Beans, and Three Bean Chili.
What dry beans make the best baked beans?
There really isn’t any best bean but here are a few ideas:
- For classic flavor and good shape: Navy Beans
- When you want a slightly nutty flavor: Great Northern Beans
- For a more rustic flavor: Pinto Beans
Ingredient Notes to Make Baked Beans
- Great Northern Beans: Use dried beans for this recipe.
- Brown Sugar: You can use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar for a richer molasses flavor for the baked beans from scratch.
- Bacon: This baked beans with bacon obviously needs bacon. The flavor it impacts is amazing.
See the recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.
Variations and Substitutions to Pressure Cook Easy Baked Beans
I like this recipe because it is so versatile. You can use kidney beans, dried navy beans for this easy instant pot baked beans recipe.
- Molasses: Substitute the brown sugar for molasses to cook beans.
- Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice – Foodie and Wine
- Slow Cooker: Saute the ingredients on the stove and transfer to a slow cooker with a cook time on low for five to six hours. You will need to used canned beans or soak the dry beans.
- Barbecue Sauce: Make BBQ beans with a bottle of barbecue sauce for easy baked beans recipe.
Special Equipment Needed to Make Instant Pot Baked Beans
- Instant Pot: This is the star of the show for making baked beans from scratch. I use a standard 6 quart instant pot with the stainless steel inner pot.
Homemade Baked Beans Fun Fact
Beans are high in protein, iron, fiber and other nutrients — and low in fat, cholesterol and sodium.
How to Make Baked Beans in the Instant Pot
Baked beans are a classic side dish for barbecue, picnics, and potlucks. They can also be enjoyed on their own as a light meal or incorporated into other dishes like casseroles or salads.
These are the basic steps for making pressure cooker beans. Refer to the full, printable recipe card below for detailed instructions.
1. Prep the Ingredients and Cook the Bacon
First, cut the bacon into bite size pieces and sauté in Instant Pot. Remove the bacon. Keep 2 tablespoons of bacon grease in the instant pot.
2. Add Beans and Cook on High Pressure and then Release the Pressure
Second, add the beans, vegetables, spices, vinegar, Worcestershire, garlic and 3 1/2 cups of water and pressure cook the beans on high for 50 minutes. Pressure release naturally for 10 minutes after finished cooking. Then quick release the remaining pressure.
3. Make the Sauce
Finally, add the honey, brown sugar, bacon and tomato sauce. Bring it to boil. Lastly, make a slurry and stir into the boiling beans.
Bacon Boston Baked Beans Recipe FAQs
One of the best parts about using the instant pot is that the dry beans do not have to soak. The high pressure takes care of that.
Of course, you can use maple syrup and vegan bacon to make this instant pot beans recipe.
Store the beans in the fridge in an airtight container for up to five days.
Expert Tips for Making The Best Instant Pot Baked Beans Recipe
- Ham: Fortify the beans with a leftover ham bone while you are cooking to add to the flavor.
- Spice it up: Feel free to add diced green chilies, cayenne pepper or your favorite spices to kick up the flavor.
- Broth: Replace the water with a vegetable or alternatively a low sodium chicken broth.
- Alternate cooking method tip: Oven baking this recipe for 3 hours at 350.
- More Bacon: Crumble more bacon on top before serving…because bacon!!!
More Instant Pot Recipes
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Instant Pot Baked Beans
Equipment
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Ingredients
- 12 ounces Bacon
- 4 Tablespoons Garlic, minced
- 1 pound Great northern beans, rinsed, dried
- 1 Green bell pepper, diced
- ½ Onion , diced
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
- ½ cup Honey
- 8 ounces Tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ teaspoon Black pepper
- ⅓ cup Brown sugar
- 3 tablespoon Cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon Sea salt
- 1 tablespoon Apple cider vinegar
- 4 cups Water, divided
Instructions
- Cut the bacon into bite size pieces and toss into the instant pot on sauté mode. Sauté the bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon and set aside. Keep 2 tablespoons of bacon grease in the instant pot.
- Add the beans, vegetables, spices, vinegar, Worcestershire, garlic and 3 1/2 cups of water and pressure cook on high for 50 minutes. Let pressure release naturally for 10 minutes after finished cooking.
- Add the honey, brown sugar, bacon and tomato sauce. Place on sauté mode and bring it to boil. In a cup, mix the cornstarch and remaining water into a slurry. Stir the slurry into the boiling beans.
- Let sit and cool before serving.
Christina’s Notes
- Ham: Fortify the beans with a leftover ham bone while you are cooking to add to the flavor.
- Spice it up: Feel free to add diced green chilies, cayenne pepper or your favorite spices to kick up the flavor.
- Broth: Replace the water with a vegetable or alternatively a low sodium chicken broth.
- Alternate cooking method tip: Oven baking this recipe for 3 hours at 350.
- More Bacon: Crumble more bacon on top before serving…because bacon!!!
- Scale the recipe: Simply adjust the serving size in the recipe card and the ingredients will update automatically.
- Make your own All Purpose Seasoning: When a recipe calls for All Purpose Seasoning, you can use my homemade All Purpose Seasoning recipe or substitute salt and pepper to taste.
- Meat doneness: I always use a meat thermometer to test for doneness when cooking meat.
- Use unsalted butter: I use unsalted butter so I can control the salt level in the recipe.
- Preheat the oven: Unless otherwise noted, always preheat your oven before baking.
For more helpful information about this recipe, such as variations, substitutions and other pro-tips, check out the blog post.
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe! Will surely have this again! It’s really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!