Instant Pot Baked Beans are smoky, sweet, sticky and delicious. Easy to make recipe ensures you will never buy canned beans again.
Instant Pot Baked BeansWe’ve all had the Better Homes and Gardens Baked Beans at one time or another, right?
If you’ve been following my blog, you will know that I can never leave good enough alone. I always like to take recipes up a notch. This Instant Pot Baked Beans recipe makes a big pot of beans and easily feeds at least 10 people.
This Instant Pot Baked Beans recipe will have you jumping for joy! You can make these delicious Instant Pot Baked Beans right in your Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker, without an overnight soak and without hours in the oven!
Cast of Ingredients for Instant Pot Baked Beans
Canned baked beans, in my opinion, are usually too sweet. While the BHG Baked Beans are pretty good, I felt like there was something missing and I felt they were a bit cloying. A few changes and additions and I came up with the most delicious Instant Pot Baked Beans recipe ever!
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Ingredients for Instant Pot Baked Beans
- Navy Beans
- BACON!!!!! – because, heck yeah!
- Pure Maple Syrup – make sure to use Combs Maple Syrup and not the fake stuff like Log Cabin or Mrs. Butterworth’s.
- Molasses – adds a wonderful depth of flavor give these Instant Pot Baked Beans, the delicious “sticky” texture, that everyone loves.
- Onions
- Ketchup
- Dry/Ground Mustard
- Brown Sugar
- Worcestershire Sauce – this is my secret ingredient and really takes this recipe up another notch
- Apple Cider Vinegar – totally “pop” the flavor.
Soak Navy Beans in Water
Vegetarian Instant Pot Baked Beans
- Leave out the bacon and make the following adjustment(s).
- Add two tablespoons of finely crushed smoked almonds.
- Pour 2 teaspoons of hickory liquid smoke into the pot, along with the rest of the ingredients.
Do I Need to Soak Beans Before Pressure Cooking?
- No.
- You don’t need to soak your Navy Beans overnight, if you don’t want to do so.
- The Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker will easily soften the Navy Beans.
- You can always just set the cook time longer, if you do not want to soak your beans.
I only do it to remove any dirt and check for debris.
Drain and Rinse Navy Beans
Why Are My Beans Hard?
- If beans are old, they won’t soften up during a regular cook cycle.
- In fact, they many not soften up at all.
- Make sure to check the date on your package of beans.
- A concern however, is that if the package of beans shows a good date, it is possible they were not package right away and could still be old.
- If making my Instant Pot Baked Beans and your beans are hard and there is excessive liquid, it is most likely due to old beans. Hard beans won’t absorb the liquid properly.
Pull the basket of Navy Beans from the pot of water and rinse Navy Beans again, getting rid of any debris.
Rough Chop the Bacon and Onions
Use a Sharp Knife and rough chop the bacon and onions. The Onions will mostly disintegrate during cooking.
The Bacon will shrink up a lot, so rough chopping will ensure some decent size bits.
Render the Bacon and Sauté the Onions
It is always important to allow your Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker cooking pot to fully heat.
This helps make a stainless steel cooking pot, non-stick!
A little Sauté of the Onions in the Bacon Grease will add lots of flavor. Make sure to use a Spatula, so that thing don’t start to stick.
If necessary, add a little water to the cooking pot while rendering the Bacon. The onions should only start to soften.
All ingredients in Pressure Cooker
Add the rest of the ingredients into the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker.
The secret ingredient takes these babies up a notch!
Excess Liquid in Instant Pot Baked Beans
- Don’t concern yourself with the amount of liquid in the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker cooking pot. A certain amount is needed for the pot to come to pressure and then cook.
- Also, assuming the beans are fresh, they will continue to absorb more liquid after they are cooked. If the beans are old, they won’t soften and won’t absorb the liquid.
- You can always simmer, if you feel the beans are too watery.
Personally, I like my Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Baked Beans a bit liquidy (not thin or watery, but with more juice/liquid), as I dip my Homemade Hot Dog Bun into the sauce, before taking a bite!
These Instant Pot Baked Beans will taste like they have been cooking and baking all day in a clay oven.
Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Holiday Baked Beans
Don’t they look delicious!!!???!! Big ole pot of beans.
Salting After Pressure Cooking
- Salting before cooking can sometimes makes the skin of the beans rather tough.
- This can be a reason beans sometimes take longer to cook.
Perfect to Freeze for Hot Dog Night!
How To Store Instant Pot Baked Beans
- Beans freeze really well, so I always use at least 16 ounces of dry beans.
- They freeze well in Reditainer Extreme Freezer Containers. These labels are great, so that I know what’s in the container.
- When you are in the mood for Instant Pot Baked Beans, like on Hot Dog Night, pull a container from the freezer.
They easily reheat in the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker.
Try my Pressure Cooker New York Dirty Water Hot Dogs recipe, the next time you make Hot Dogs. It’s a super easy 3 ingredient dump and forget method.
Crock of Pressure Cooker Holiday Baked Beans
Instant Pot Baked Beans are not only for holidays such as Fourth of July, Labor Day and Memorial Day. They can be enjoyed every day of the ear.
More Instant Pot Bean Recipes to Make:
- Pressure Cooker Vegetarian Frijoles Refried Beans
- Instant Pot Cuban Black Beans (Frijoles Negros)
- Instant Pot Pork Chops and Baked Beans (Pressure Cooker)
- Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Southern Style Green Beans
Enjoy!
Kitchen Equipment and Essentials
- Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker
- J.A. Henckels Classic 8-inch Chef’s Knife
- Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
- Simply Gourmet (Dry) Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
- Anchor Hocking Glass (Liquid) Measuring Cups
- Cilio Olivewood Spatula
- Rachael Ray Stoneware EVOO Oil Dispensing Bottle
- Porcelain & Bamboo Salt Box with Spoon
- Electric Pepper Mill
- My FANTASTIC Teak Cutting & Charcuterie Board & Compartments
- Salbree Steamer Basket
- Lock N Lock Storage Container
- Reditainer Extreme Freezer Containers
- Freezer Labels
- Real Maple Syrup
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Here is the handy printable recipe:
Ingredients
- 1 pound Dried Navy Beans
- 6-8 slices Thick Bacon roughly chopped
- 1 medium Yellow/Brown Onion roughly chopped
- 3 1/4 cups Fresh Water
- 1/4 cup Pure Maple Syrup (the real stuff)
- 1/3 cup Molasses
- 1/4 cup Light Brown Sugar (packed)
- 1/3 cup Ketchup
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce (secret ingredient, shhh)
- 1 1/4 teaspoons Dry/Ground Mustard Seed
- 2 teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Recommended Products
Instructions
- Rinse and sort beans, removing any debris.
- Select the Sauté or Browning function on Pressure Cooker and allow to heat.
- Add bacon and onions to the Pressure Cooker cooking pot and cook until bacon begins to render, scraping brown bits from bottom of cooking pot.
- Add 1/4 cup of water and continue cooking until water has evaporated, bacon fat is rendered and onions are semi-soft.
- Add beans, water, Maple Syrup, Molasses, Ketchup, Brown Sugar, Worcestershire Sauce, Mustard, apple cider vinegar and Pepper to the cooking pot. Stir to combine.
- Lock on lid and close pressure valve. Cook at high pressure (most machines default to high pressure) for 60-70 minutes. If you are sure your beans are super fresh, 60 minutes will suffice.
- When beep sounds, wait 10 minutes and then carefully release the rest of the pressure.
- Add the salt. Taste a couple of beans for tenderness and sweetness and add more Molasses, if a sweeter taste is desired. If you prefer a more tender bean, lock the lid back into place and cook for another 10- 15 minutes.
- To thicken up the sauce, select the Sauté or Browning function and simmer until desired consistency. Beans will continue to absorb liquid as they cool.
Notes
Vegetarian Option
- Leave out the bacon and make one of the following adjustment(s):
- Add two tablespoons of finely crushed smoked almonds. Grind them up to a paste and add into the pot of beans. This will give a nice and smoky flavor!
- Pour 2 teaspoons of hickory liquid smoke into the pot, along with the rest of the ingredients.
Excess Liquid in Instant Pot Baked Beans
- Don't concern yourself with the amount of liquid in the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker cooking pot. A certain amount is needed for the pot to come to pressure and then cook.
- Also, assuming the beans are fresh, they will continue to absorb more liquid after they are cooked. If the beans are old, they won't soften and won't absorb the liquid.
- You can always simmer, if you feel the beans are too watery.
Pair the Baked Beans
- They pair well with my Pressure Cooker Carolina BBQ Spare Ribs.
- Santa Maria Style Barbecue Tri-Tip
- Pressure Cooker Bunny Hot Dogs
- Pressure Cooker Sloppy Joes
- Don't forget the Pressure Cooker Picnic Potato Salad.
Nutrition
PIN this Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker Holiday Baked Beans!
Pressure Cooker Holiday Baked Beans
Made this recipe with Jacob’s Cattle beans, unsoaked, 60 mins with 20 min NPR. Could have used a bit more time under pressure, but still delicious!
This recipe is a keeper! I made these for a potluck at church. Substituted mostly Great Northern white beans and also some small red beans as it’s what I had. Didn’t have maple syrup so increased brown sugar to 1/3 cup. I like tangy taste of yellow hotdog mustard so used 2 tbsp instead of dry mustard. Decreased cooking time to 40 minutes and put them in a covered casserole dish, took them to church, put in oven for 2 hours low heat. They had plenty of juice for the baking time.
Next time I will do the same except I will pressure cook at least 50 minutes as the type of beans I used are larger than navy beans. They were done but firm after baking, but I like them softer. Lots of compliments on these.
Trying this recipe tonight. Do you suggest any changes if I double the recipe? Thank you
Hi Sonia~
No changes. You may need to simmer at the end to thicken up the sauce.
Jill
These are amazing. I never made homemade baked beans before. They came out perfect. Have you ever tried a cassoulet type of recipe in the pressure cooker? I would think it would work well, but I haven’t found any recipes for it.
Oh my! These are delicious! I added a few drops of liquid smole, granulated gatlic and and two heaping tablespoons of tomato paste to make them more tomato-ey. Grwat recipe! Thanks!
I made these yesterday and they were a hit! My family does not like onion so I did not use any and no bacon. The flavor was still delicious! I did add 1 lb ground beef at the end and let it simmer for a bit. Thanks for the recipe its a keeper!
This recipe is fabulous! The flavor is spot on and they are so easy to make! Thank you, yet again, for another perfect recipe!
The amount of water is 3and a quarter cups right I was confused by the way it was written on separate lines thanks
Robin, We have occasionally had the same issue with beans NEVER cooking. We have also decided the beans were just old to begin with. Maybe they just sat on the shelf at the store too long?
The “print” function does not work for this recipe. Please test it. I can only print out a light grey page!
Hi Gail~
It seems to work on my end. Can you close your browser window and/or reboot and try again?
Jill
My first ever IP fail. So disappointed! We soaked the beans for three hours and hen followed the instructions exactly. After 60 min there taste was fine but he beans were hard. Another 20 minutes no change. So disappointed! I bought the bag yesterday so they should have been okay. Any ideas??
Hi Robin~
Sounds like your beans are very old. Either that or your pressure cooker did not come up to pressure.
Jill
Maybe it was on LP instead of HP
I’m going to make these again for a Labor Day BBQ. I am out of bacon but I have some ham hocks I will use instead.
Hi Judy~
Ham hocks are a great alternative to bacon. I use ham hocks in my black bean recipe and love them in the recipe.
Have fun at your barbecue event.
Jill
I made these Holiday Beans today and when my husband taste-tested them he paused, then declared them perfect! No need to go looking for any more recipes than this one.
Hi Nancy~
Wow, you can’t get better than perfect. Thank you very much. I am glad the beans were such a hit.
Jill
Hi Jill,
Is there anything I could possible sub the Molasses for? It is virtually impossible to find where I live 🙁
Rebecca~
Can you get Black/Dark Soy Sauce? Maple Syrup, Dark Corn Syrup or Honey would work okay too.
Jill
Can you find dark Karo?
Your cook time (Step 9) says to cook 45-50 minutes; but at top of recipe in the prep time and cook time it says to cook 60 minutes. Is there something I’m missing in the translation? Thanks – I really want to try this; but I’m a little confused.
Hi Sue~
Some people have older beans, which take longer, so I wanted to err on the side of caution. Try them at the lesser time and if they need more time, just add the time. Thanks for visiting and I will be interested to know how your beans turn out.
Jill
Can you’re use other types of beans? Since you are using an Instanot Pot Pressure Cooker, do we really need to soak? Thanks for the recipe, looking forward to making this.
Hi Gerri~
You can use any type of beans you like. If you don’t want to soak, just cook them longer. I look forward to hearing about your results.
Jill
I love cooking from scratch, and soaking beans are so simple, but I like navy beans over northern, love your recipes. The last time I soaked beans it was only 5-6 hours, put them in the IP and they were ready in no time. Love this new gift from my dau.
I made this today w/ Jacob’s Cattle beans, unsoaked, 60 mins w/ 20 min NPR. Next time I’ll go 70 mins for these beans unsoaked. After NPR, I “sauteed” for about 10 mins. Made the sauce a bit thicker. They were a hit!
I have never cooked with dry beans before and was really looking forward to trying this recipe. After soaking my navy beans in water with salt for 3 hours, the skins have become wrinkled and some are splitting. The beans don’t look nearly as nice as yours do in the photo. Any other suggestions for the soaking process?
Hi Natalie~
It is normal for some splitting and I would not be alarmed. They should cook up just fine. Let me know how they are after they have been cooked.
Jill
Thanks for the reply, Jill. I was so turned off by the look of them that I threw them out…and I hate throwing stuff out! I followed instructions that I found on another website; they suggested to set the beans in a pot of boiling water for 2 minutes, then covering and leaving them in the hot water for an hour. The final product turned out great! My 2 year old daughter thought they were yummy too. I think my problem initially might have been that I didn’t put them in quite enough water. When I returned to the beans after they had been soaking for three hours, they were barely covered in the water…
Can you use canned beans? On Americas Test Kitchen they did a test and said now with the way beans are processed, canned beans are preferred and he never thought he would say that. Ever since I use canned beans. Would that affect the time for this recipe? Thanks! Love your site and recipes!
Hi Betty~
The recipe is for fresh dried beans. They use fresh ingredients and taste better than canned, in my opinion.
Jill
How long did you cook them for if you ended up using the canned beans?
Thank you for this recipe. I followed it exactly, except I added about 1/2 teaspoon of ground chipotle because we like our beans smokey/spicy. These are the best baked beans I’ve ever eaten, let alone made. Your instructions were very clear, which I really appreciate as I am new to pressure cooking.
Hi Sarah~
Thank you for the wonderful comments. I am thrilled that you were happy with the baked beans. Chipotle sounds like a nice addition.
Jill
In your opinion would using regular mustard instead of dry make a huge difference?
Hello Pamela~
Dry mustard is usually a blend of a variety of mustard seeds and is often “hotter” than yellow mustard. Probably closer to a brown or stone ground brown mustard variety. Will it make a huge difference, not really, but since the ground/dry mustard is more concentrated, I would suggest using a bit more than the equivalent of dry in the recipe. The taste will be a bit different, but not enough for you not to enjoy the beans.
Thank you for your question.
Jill
Dry almost 99% of the time seems to work perfect during my 47 years of cooking!! Wet mustard over powers your main dish due to it’s other ingredients. You have to adjust and compensate and that’s a whole nother process!! Lol!
Good Luck!!