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 these on the weekend. Discovered too late that I had no molasses. Doubled maple syrup instead. Hubby really loved these. Thanks for an excellent recipe!
PS: next time I’ll make sure I have the molasses and try the recipe in its entirety:)
Hi, my beans took FOREVER to cook? Why do you suppose? SO long the bacon tasted burnt and I had to add more water and cook for hours….I did presoak them? Thoughts….It took hours? Do you suppose there was something wrong with my beans? They smelled good though….
Hill Jill. Making your Holiday Baked Beans for the first time. Can I safely double your recipe using a 6 quart IP?
Thank you! I made these for a pot luck and everyone loved them. Well, almost everyone. Not the one who loves how sweet the canned ones are. ?
Today I’m making them again, unfortunately with 1/4 of the onion, and diced smoked ham instead of bacon. I accidentally added the salt with all the other ingredients, so we’ll see if the beans get soft.
Hi Jill! Love your recipes! I’ve made this before as written and it was delicious. This time I need to make them vegetarian – any tips? Would you add some liquid smoke to replace the bacon flavor? I’m worried they will be too sweet without the smoky/salty flavor from the bacon to balance the sugar/syrup. Thanks for your help!
I didn’t have enough bacon, so I added 1.5 tsp. of applewood liquid smoke. It was great!
Thank you for the recipe as it was pretty darn good! I did make some changes with my second batch: omitted syrup (just too sweet), salsa instead of ketchup, 1 tbs of demara brown sugar rather than 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2tsp smoked paprika, a bit more water 3 1/2. beans were a bit crunchy so added another 10 minutes.
The salsa added a bit of zing. The next batch will get a shot of Smokin Stampede bbq sauce also as I like different flavours.
Again thanks for the recipe, really enjoy the instant pot and so nice not waiting 10 hours with the slow cooker.
Hi Dave. I am so glad you are enjoying your Instant Pot. Your changes sound delicious. So much fun to change up recipes for different flavors. Jill
This recipe is so good! I’ve never made baked beans before — I needed to add another 15 minutes cooking time (soaked beans for 3 hours before cooking), and they were perfect. 🙂
Hi Michelle. Thanks. Glad you like the recipe. Sometimes beans do take longer to cook, depending on age. Jill
Loved these beans. This was my first time using new pressure cooker and I found the recipe great.
Yum, these were delicious. I just did the 15 minute soak and added 15 minutes to the cook time- they came out perfectly. These will be a family staple as well as a side dish at my small home daycare 🙂 Thanks!
I followed this recipe to a T, only I added the extra cooking time and didn’t soak, and it was a TOTAL failure. I ended up cooking, in 20min increments, for a total of 2hrs and 15mins. The beans were finally mostly soft, but then the sugars almost tasted burnt and the consistency was still way too thin. Thoughts?!?! I adore baked beans and every other TOG recipe I have tried, so I would love for these to work next time. Please help!
Your beans might have been old. Old beAns will eventually cook but might take much longer than fresher ones.
I am shocked that this works. I have always been under the impression that once you add sugar to cooking beans, they will not soften anymore. Depending on the bean, I pressure cook them from 25 to 40 minutes with NO SOAKING depending on the kind of bean and how old they are.
I’m not saying this recipe won’t work, I am just so very surprised. My dad added brown sugar to his beans before they were soft one time, and slow cooked them for 8 more hours, and the beans were still hard. That’s when I researched beans and sugar. I don’t even add tomato product to bean dishes until the beans are done because of the sugar content in tomatoes.
Maybe in a pressure cooker it is a whole new world.
Do you know if you can swap another dried bean for the navy beans? I have great white northern on hand. Thank you!
Hi Kristi. Great White Northern is fine. Jill
Made this for Fathers Day bbq and it was a big success. Would like to make for 4th of,July but double the batch. Suggestions and or tips on how to do it?
I’d like to know about doubling it, too!
I doubled it in my 8 qt. and it worked fantastic! Next time I might triple it as I still had plenty of room with the double recipe, it wasn’t even at the 1/2 full mark. I will put much less sugar in next time, probably half; it was too sweet.
Thank for sharing! Can i replace some ingredients by other substitute? Using honey instead of brown sugar won’t make any change in the flavor of the baked beans, will it?
Making for the second time today for a cookout. I didn’t have time to soak the first time making, cooked for 70 minutes and they were perfect. Very flavorful. Not sure I would do any other way but this?
Hi Kim~
Wonderful. It’s not necessary to soak the beans, but some people like to do it first. 🙂 I am glad you enjoy the recipe. Jill
I have always heard that soaking your beans for 8 hours and then tossing the water will aide in digestion by degassing the beans. You can quickly degas beans in your pressure cooker too. It’s called a speed soak, you put the beans in the pressure cooker cover them with water. Cook on high for 2 minutes, do a QR and drain and rinse the beans.
Have these cooking right now….sauce smells so good even before cooking!!! I added 1 1/2 tsp of baking soda to as my grandma said “take the poppers out”. And used cherry wood bacon….thought it would kick it up a notch…..love your recipes!!
Could you tell me what “real maple syrup “You used? I guess Log Cabin syrup would not work?
Just finished cooking up a second batch within the last 12 hours – this is a great recipe! The only changes I made were to use salt pork and Yellow Eye beans and cooked on Sauté for 15-20 minutes after the NPR to thicken the sauce up a bit. My husband is thrilled that we will be having ‘Saturday beans and hot dogs’ again!
Hi De~
Thanks for your note. I am so happy you and your hubs are happy with the recipe. Jill
What a great recipe! I sautee the onion with some oil and bacon grease (I par cook and freeze my bacon to use as I need it, so I have the bacon grease in a jar for when I need it). The sauce is perfection! I like To add some granulated garlc and a few drops of liquid smoke. Fantastic! Thanks for the recipe.
If I double the recipe should I cook the beans longer?
Thank!