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
can I make this in a crock pot?
Yes, you will need to cook in high for at least 8 hours and soak the beans first. Jill
These were the best baked beans I have ever had for sure. I will make them over and over again. Thank you so much for the recipe.
I’m new to your site and I only recently purchased an 8 q IP. One of the first things I made was your grits recipe. We might be from the North, but we love grits. I loved your recipe so much I decided to totally trust you and make these beans for company! I can’t thank you enough for such a delicious baked bean recipe. I did boil them down awhile, to thicken. Went to change my dress, came back and the beans had burned to the bottom. I served them anyway and there was only a serving spoon left. Will definitely make again! And will not leave the kitchen. Lol.
Hi Cinnamon. Thank you so much. In the bean recipe, I mention about the excess liquid, but that the beans will absorb them, so that is why they burned to the bottom. Next time, just let them be and they will be perfectly thick and sticky. Jill
Jill, can I substitute yellow eyed beans for the Navy beans? Also if I wanted to add a beef smoked sausage, when could I add?
Yes, you sure can. Add the smoked sausage in before you close the lid. That will be fantastic. Jill
The beans are soft but the aren’t any bigger. Will they swell as they absorb more of the liquid? Right now it looks like navy beans and bacon floating in brown liquid. Nothing is sticking to the beans the way I would think it w\should.
They should swell. Jill
I had read through the comments after mine didn’t turn out quite as expected. I knew I must have done something wrong. To quote Jill, “In my experience, 100% of the time when someone says they “followed to a T,” it turns out they did not follow the recipe exactly.” This was the case with me.
I had a big brain fart and put the entire bag of beans in forgetting that the bag is 900g which is 2 lbs NOT 1 lb like the recipe calls for. It stands to reason that the beans would still be hard as there would not be enough water or pressure built up for the beans to fully cook and understandably some would get a burn message. After cooking my beans for 75 minutes and not getting the expected result, I went back over what I did. I quickly found my error. I poured my still salvageable beans into a bowl and sautéed more bacon and onion. I added additional ingredients for the sauce and put the beans back into the pot and set for a further 30 minutes.
They just finished, they look soooo much better and are very tasty. Just waiting for the breadmaker to finish the bread. Yummy!
Megan, I like you! Jill
I have made beans several times in my IP, but this was my first time using Navy beans and this recipe. I am a little disappointed in the outcome. I cooked for 75 minutes and my beans were not as soft as I would have liked. I also found that there was not a whole lot of sauce and even though I stirred the mixture well, I had a lot of beans that just didn’t seem to get any sauce on them at all.
I think I will try this recipe again, but I will pre cook the beans as I have in previous recipes and reduce the water when I add the sauce to the beans. Hoping for a better outcome next time because there is no reason these shouldn’t have been lovely.
Please retrace your steps. Jill
Super simple to make. Taste great.
Thank you, Sheryl. Jill
Jill, these are awesome!
I’ve never made from scratch baked beans before, but I suspect I wont be eating canned or jarred beans again.
Thanks, Anne. So glad you enjoyed my recipe. Jill
This recipe sounds wonderful. Would it work in a slow cooker?
It doesn’t say which size pot you used. I have a 6qt and was wondering if I should double.
Check out the equipment list. Jill
Amazing Jill. The baked beans instapot. Wow
Thank you, Karen. Jill
I used Northern Beans rather than Navy Beans (they’re supposedly similar and my grocery store didn’t have Navy Beans). The expiration date was 2022. I doubled the recipe in my 8 qt Instant Pot. I made sure the bottom of the pot was “clean” after sauteeing the bacon/onions, even added all the water and “cleaned” the bottom before adding all the other ingredients. After quite a while I got a BURN error message, opened the IP, found the beans still hard, added water, scraped the bottom again and turned it back on for 15 minutes. That scenario happened 2 more times and it’s late, so I put the pot in the fridge and am hoping that baking them tomorrow will help. I’m having a big party tomorrow night and don’t know what to do!
Retrace your steps and assure that the sealing ring is set properly. If burn message appears, there was an issue with sealing ring or deglazing, most likely. Jill
I made these beans twice with 2 different bags of beans. Both were not expiring until 2022 and both batches we threw in the compost. The beans were as hard as a rock and we could not est them. So disappointed. I used my IP-Lux 60 which is a 6qt. pot and followed the recipe to a T. I am soaking a new package of beans today and I hope they will cook this time. Frustrating to do all that work to make these twice and having to throw them in the compost. Eating under cooked beans can be toxic and make you very sick. Not taking any chances.
Sometimes the beans are older before packaging and if that is the case, no matter how long you cook, they just won’t soften without hours of cooking. With 150 positive reviews on this recipe, please look to your beans or to another issue. In my experience, 100% of the time when someone says they “followed to a T,” it turns out they did not follow the recipe exactly. Also, why would you throw the beans away instead of putting the lid back on and adding more cook time? That seems like such a waste, when you could have enjoyed a delicious pot of beans. Jill
These beans are amazing. I did a few changes… I soak the beans overnight so they were softer. I added one cup of strong coffee, half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, and two packets of Goya ham bouillon packets. They came out fantastic. Making extra to take camping!!
Your additions sound wonderful, Kem. Thank you so much for using my recipe. Jill
Could we substitute with great northern beans? If so, does the timing change?
I want to try the recipe, but I’m concerned that 60 minutes is too long. Won’t the beans be mush after that long? Most other recipes for cooking the beans alone calls for 20-25 minutes. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
bob, i’m making these right now. for me the 60 wasnt long enough and i soaked the beans for 8 hours, and they’re quite liquidy yet the beans are only 5 months old by purchase but who knows how long they were stored before purchase. That all said i do believe it’ll vary a bit from cooker to cooker I have now adjusted my taste and have them sauteing as i want a bit drier baked bean, if you’re concerned with the texture i’d do the 60 and taste test because they’re not hard to me just firm then you can do 5-15 minutes extra if you need or as i did can set to saute to evaporate the liquid and cook further. I personally wouldnt add extra molasses unless you love molasses, i chose to add more brown sugar instead, the molasses is quite prominent in this recipeI which i enjoy but my family doesnt. I love Jill’s site and use many recipes that i love but there’s nothing wrong with tweaking to suit your own needs using Jill as a starting point.
This recipe is simple and delicious, tastes just like my old fashioned recipe that took hours and hours to cook!
Thank you, Patti. Jill
Excellent, old fashion recipe. I was in a hurry but had the beans par boiled. So, I threw it all in the pot and cooked for 60 minutes. Delicious.
I have made this recipe several times. Huge hit and left overs are awesome!
Thank you, Nikki. Jill
These are wonderful. Have made them 4 times since I found the recipe last summer.When I take them to a dinner they are the first dish emptied. No chance for seconds, get your serving 1st time through the line or do without.