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
I made this yesterday was fresh beans (just bought at store) and no bacon. I used a little liquid some instead of bacon (to keep it vegetarian) and used dried great northern white beans. And I made half again as much, so one and a half recipes. It took a solid 50 minutes longer to cook but once cooked, it was delicious! Am serving at a 50th birthday party today… wish I’d made more but was worried the instant pot couldn’t hold more than 3 cups of dried beans! Thanks for the recipe!
Glad you enjoyed the recipe. Jill
Didn’t work for me. Beans were hard and chewy and sauce tasted like charcoal, even with additional molasses. Quite a disaster for our holiday party.
Sounds like your beans were old, if they were still hard. This is what happens when beans become old. Jill
Has anyone doubled this recipe? I need a big batch for my grandmother’s 90th birthday party / family gathering.
I actually had the same question. I have a 6qt instant pot. Do you think i can cook double?
I have an 8qt and a double recipe worked great but it was pretty full.
I’ve doubled it and my 6-qt was very, very full. I would go no more than 50% over.
Turned out perfectly! My husband is a huge baked beans fan and these impressed him. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Thanks, Melissa. Jill
I found this recipe about 2 years ago and it is spectacular! I get RAVE reviews everytime I make them and someone tries them. They say they are the best they’ve ever had. I stick true to the recipe but add some additional spices for flair. Thank you for posting this!
Thank you, Krisite. Jill
Made this today and they are amazing…highly recommend them and true to the recipe, you’ll never eat canned baked beans again!
Thank you, Brian. I am glad you enjoyed the recipe. Jill
I never write reviews. But I had to for this. I have gone back to this recipe at least 20 times over the course of a year. This is the best baked beans recipe I have ever had. I vary it a little depending on what I’m serving it with, I’ve substituted BBQ sauce for the ketchup for example when cooking for a summer cook out. Everyone raves about these beans. My kids crave them, and they don’t like baked beans from a can.
Thank you for giving me a delicious, home cooked recipe that is really so simple it’s as easy as heating up a can from the store.
Really, truly amazing recipe, I cannot say enough wonderful things about it.
Thank you SO MUCH!
Thank you so much, Cheryl. I appreciate you taking the time to write to me. Jill
This is probably my 20th time making these beans. I love them! I do have to pc a little longer to get the consistency we like (soft) and then saute to get rid of extra sauce, but otherwise follow directions and ingredients completely. Thanks Jill, whenever I need a recipe, I always scope out your site first to see if you have a recipe before I search other sites! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you, Diane. Did you know that if you let the pot be for a while, the beans would continue to absorb the liquid and soften further. Jill
These turned out fantastic! I had to cook for the extra 15 minutes and they were perfect. And even better the next day as leftovers!
Made these for my in-laws tonight. A few hiccups, ended up cooking for +90min & then sauted off a lot of liquid (because I prefer my beans thick).
The resulting dish was AMAZING!! At least 75% of the group asked if it was another family recipe.
Looking back, I should have just taken the credit. I’ll say this, it will now become my go-to & my grandkids can call it a family recipe!
Thanks for helping me maintain my reputation for great food!!
I am glad you enjoyed my recipe. I sure hope you share it around with my link and give me the credit for the recipe. I bet others would love to hear about your success. Your execution was great. 🙂 Jill
I need to share that I would like to very respectfully disagree re: hard beans. I learned years ago from making my first baked beans on the stove that adding the sugars too soon will not allow the beans to soften – ever – no matter how long you cook them. Dry beans are hard, store well, and I don’t believe an expiration date is even necessary thinking they could last a life time if dry . Since that experience, I have ALWAYS presoaked my beans, and all is well. To try my IP, I pressure-cooked my dry beans 10min prior doing an instant release (no need to soak overnight anymore). Then I followed this recipe. GREAT taste! I added 2T smoke and more salt. YUM! I may reduce the water to 3c as we like them super thick. Thank you for your time and talent to make this delicious recipe!
Thanks, Sandi. There have been reports of people cooking beans for hours and the beans refuse to soften. Jill
I haven’t made it yet. But wondering if you could double the recipe with same cook times?
Sure. Jill
Fantastic flavors! I had some old Great Northern White Beans on hand, used those. My cooking time was about double due to old beans, but the end result was perfect!
Thank you, Anita. Jill
Can I use canned kidney beans instead?
Thanks
Your Holiday Baked Beans were fantastic! I found there was way too much liquid in them. I think it’s because I soaked them overnight????? I discarded about 2 cups of liquid after cooking them for 60 minutes. I’ll definitely make them again using less water. Thanks.
Vegan version without bacon equally fantastic. So damn good
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe!!! Jill
Can you add ham hocks to your receipie and if so how much time adjustment should be made? Any impact to the beans?
They can be added. Jill
Greatly appreciate the reference to the Reditainer freezer containers. I will be ordering some today to store these amazing baked beans!
My family loves beans of all kinds and these beans are fantastic! So good. The flavor is spot on. I soak the beans overnight and cut the water in half because I’ve found that using the full amount of water with pre-soaked beans makes them too watery and the additional saute time has a tendency to change the integrity of the beans (makes them too soft).
I made these today, after the hour of cooking, they were still hard. Did another 15, then another 15 and finally another 30 minutes, still not super soft but we ate them anyway. Taste was good, just the beans never really got soft, what could have went wrong?
There is only one reason..the beans are old. Even if you just bought them at the store, they might have been hanging around. If beans are old, they will never soften. You did nothing wrong. Not your fault at all. Jill
Cindy, I think presoaking your beans will elevate hard beans. I respectfully disagree that beans don’t cook well because they’re old. Once soaked ‘alone’ (BEFORE adding sugars, etc.) they cook beautifully. Since we have the IP, I pressure cooked my beans 10min and did an instant release then followed this recipe (don’t have to soak overnight now). Please see my comments below. We LOVE the recipe.