The Best Instant Pot Baked Beans Recipe - A Mom's Impression (2024)

Instant Pot Baked Beans are delicious and an easy recipe to make using a pressure cooker. This no-soak method gives you sweet, tangy and smoky beans with the salty satisfaction of chunks of bacon in each bite! You just need a few ingredients including bacon, onion, vinegar, molasses, brown sugar, ketchup and beans! You can omit the bacon for a vegetarian/vegan recipe version.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

When I think of summer I think about barbecues. One of my all time favorite side dishes to make for a barbecue is baked beans.

Sure, you can buy canned beans, but homemade baked beans just simply can’t be beat. The only problem is that you used to have to soak your beans overnight before cooking it. Well, not anymore. There is NO NEED to soad your beans before cooking them in an Instant Pot. Cooking beans in your pressure cooker gives you classic, homemade results in just a fraction of the time!

And, using your pressure cooker, this can free up space on your stove to cook other things. This is great when entertaining guests or during the holidays.

And… it’s DELICIOUS! I can’t tell you enough how much I love that sweet and tangy flavor with the salty chunk of bacon in there. Yum!

Instant Pot Resources

If you are thinking about getting an Instant Pot, there can be several options to choose from and it can get a bit overwhelming. This helpful guide can assist you in making sense of it all!

And, there are lots of recipes that can be converted to be made in a Pressure Cooker. We’ve also come up with this tutorial to guide you as well!

What Kind of Beans Are Best For An Instant Pot?

We used Great Northern Beans for this recipe. But you can pretty much use any beans that you’d like. Navy beans or Pinto beans would work as well. Or, you can use a combination of several different types of beans.

Can I Use Canned Beans In An Instant Pot?

Yes, I have heard of people using one can of beans to give the beans a little variety. If you want to use just canned beans, you will skip the first part of this recipe. The recipe directions have you cook the dry beans first and then add all the other ingredients and cook them a second time. If you use canned beans just skip the first cook and start with adding all your ingredients together.

How To Make Baked Beans In An Instant Pot

Here is a list of the ingredients to get you started. Making baked beans in an instant pot generally revolves around 4 steps. Baking the beans, sauté the bacon, cooking all the other ingredients and then combing everything together. For step-by-step instructions, check out the printable recipe card below. But here is what you’ll need to get started.

• BEANS – We used Great Northern Beans. But Navy or Pinto would work as well. Or, you can use any dried beans you have on hand.
• WATER– Adding water to your pressure cooking is VERY important to create the steam and the pressure that will cook your food. Don’t forget this!
• SALT – We added just one teaspoon of salt because we will be adding bacon later. If you want to omit the bacon, you should add a little more salt.
• BACON – We prefer thick cut bacon for this recipe. It stands up better in the baked beans and won’t fall apart.
• ONION – We used a yellow onion for it’s sweeter and milder flavor. But you can use red onion if you’d like.
• BBQ SAUCE – This is one area that you can really use to change to flavor of your baked beans. You can use a smoky bbq sauce, a sweet bbq sauce or a spicier (hotter) bbq sauce. Your call!
• KETCHUP – Adds that lip smacking tanginess that we love so much!
• BROWN SUGAR – If you ask me, I could brown sugar in just about anything. Here is helps add that smoky sweetness that tastes amazing!
• WHITE VINEGAR – If you don’t have this, you could substitute apple cider vinegar or even malt vinegar.
• MOLASSES – If you don’t have molasses, honey are REAL maple syrup could work.

Storage, Freezing and Reheating

These Baked Beans can be made ahead of time and just kept in the pressure cooker on the “warm setting”. This makes them great to bring to potlucks and pitch ins!

You can store leftover baked beans in an airtight container in your refrigerator. You can reheat them in a saucepan on the stove over a low heat. You may want to add a little water or chicken broth to help them not get dried out.

You can freeze homemade baked beans. Allow them to fully cool and put them in a sturdy, freezer safe container. They should stay good in your freezer for up to 6 months. Allow to thaw in your fridge.

Notes, Tips and Variations

• VEGETARIAN – It’s easy to make these beans vegetarian friendly. Just omit the bacon!
• ADD HEAT? – Like a little spicier baked beans? Add some sliced jalapenos to this recipe. Or some poblano chilis. Or, as described above, use a hotter BBQ sauce.
• MAKE IT SWEETER? – Add some sliced pineapple.
• BEANS STICKING TO INSTANT POT? – If your beans are sticking to your Instant Pot after cooking, you may have forgotten to spray some non-stick cooking spray before adding them. I DO like to keep some of the bacon grease in there for flavor, but it may not be enough to prevent beans sticking and/or a burn notice.
• OTHER ADDITIONS – Some other fun things to add to your Instant Pot Baked Beans could be: Diced Red Bell Peppers, Liquid Smoke, Mustard, Worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard, Sausage (andouille, italian or chorizo), crumbled bacon as a garnish.

We hope you enjoy this Instant Pot Baked Beans Recipe. Let us know how it turns out for you in the comments section!