How To Make Instant Pot Refried Beans

Instant Pot Refried Beans are made with dried pinto beans. Tired of undercooked dried beans?

Want to know how to make tender pinto beans every time?

a small teal serving bowl filled with homemade refried beans made in the Instant Pot topped with a dollop of sour cream, shredded cheese and a slice of jalapeno pepper — **Homemade Refried Pinto Beans**

How to make tender dried pinto beans in the Instant Pot

This refried beans recipe is made with pre-soaked dried pinto beans

For some reason, dried pinto beans seem to be the most difficult dried bean to pressure cook in the Instant Pot. So if you have tried cooking pinto beans in the pressure cooker and no matter how long you cooked them they were still hard its not your fault.

I tried making Instant Pot Baked Beans with dried pinto beans last year. I tried 4 times! I have never had such a hard time cooking dried beans before.

I have made plenty of Instant Pot recipes using dried beans.

They all turn out perfect every time. It didn't matter which type of dried beans I cooked in the Instant Pot they always turned out tender.

Until I tried making baked beans with dried pinto beans in the Instant Pot.

I finally figured out the problem. Soaking the pinto beans before pressure cooking them seems to be the trick.

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Cooking pinto beans in the Instant Pot can be a bit tricky. Soaking the beans overnight softens the dried beans enough so you don't have to recook them.

I learned that more is not better when it comes to pressure cooking dried pinto beans.

The longer I pressure cooked the dried pinto beans to try and get them soft the tougher they got. You would think the opposite would be true but it's not. You can over pressure cook dried pinto beans. Lesson learned the hard way!

Overhead photo looking down into a 6 quart pot that is filled with 3 cups of dried pinto beans — **Dried Pinto Beans**

Why Soak Dried Beans

Soaking dried beans allows the beans to absorb water which helps the dried beans cook faster. And in my opinion, the case of pinto beans is the best way to make them in the pressure cooker.

Soaking dried beans before cooking helps to make dried beans more digestible and helps with the gassiness some people experience when eating beans.

Can You Freeze Refried Beans?

Got leftover refried beans? Refried beans can be frozen in ziplock bags or food-grade containers. Thaw in the refrigerator and Reheat before serving. Frozen refried beans can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Family size serving bowl of refried beans that have been made in the pressure cooker

Prep

This pinto bean recipe uses 3 cups of dried pinto beans if you buy bulk pinto beans.

Or a 20 oz bag of dried pinto bean if you buy them in the grocery store on the dried bean aisle.

Rinse and pick through the dried beans.
Mince the onion and garlic and set aside until needed.

Ingredients

3 cups dried pinto beans, rinsed and soaked in 8 cups of water for 8 hours or overnight
1 medium onion finely minced
3 or 4 garlic cloves finely minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 bay leaves

Directions

Rinse the dried pinto bean in a colander under cold running water. Remove any debris or dark dried beans that look weird and discard.
Pour the rinsed pinto beans into a large mixing bowl or pot and cover the beans with 8 cups of cold water. Remove any beans that float to the top of the water and discard.
Soak the dried beans until they are plump for 8 hours or overnight.
Before cooking pour the soaked pinto beans into a colander and drain off the soaking water. Rinse the dried beans under cold water. Pour the drained and presoaked pinto beans into the metal insert pot of a 6-quart or 8-quart Instant Pot.
Add the diced onions, minced garlic, the salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, chili powder, and bay leaves.
Pour 8 cups of cold water into the pot. Mix the beans with a wooden spoon so the herbs and spices are mixed in with the beans. Twist the lid on the Instant Pot and make sure it is locked into place. Turn the pressure valve to the sealing position.
To cook the pinto beans to a perfect texture press the manual button and set the timer to 36 minutes.
When the beans have finished pressure cooking immediately do a quick release of the steam and hit the cancel button to turn the Instant Pot off.
Be careful to avoid a steam burn steam as you do the quick release. At this point, the pinto beans are cooked and could be eaten served over white rice if you'd like.

overhead photo of a ladle filled with dried pinto beans that have just finished pressure cooking — **Pressure Cooked Pinto Beans**

How To Make Refried Beans

Place a fine sieve over a large bowl or pot and carefully pour the pressure cooked pinto beans over the sieve and drain the cooking water off of the pinto beans.
Reserve one cup of the cooking water to use to thin the beans as you puree the cooked pinto beans into refried beans if super creamy refried beans are desired. Return the drained pinto beans back into the pot you cooked them in.
To turn the cooked pinto beans into refried beans use a stiff metal potato masher to puree the pinto beans. If you like chunky refried beans no added liquid will be needed.
Use a stick blender to puree the beans if you like really smooth and creamy refried beans.
If making extra creamy refried beans using a stick blender slowly add a drizzle of the cooking water into the beans as you blend them with the stick blender.
Mash or blend the pinto beans until you achieve the thickness and texture you like in refried beans.

Best ways to serve refried beans

Serve refried beans as a side dish with your favorite Mexican food.
Make refried beans burritos.
Spread them on a flour tortilla and top with shredded cheese and fold in half. Heat in a skillet to make refried bean quesadillas.

More Instant Pot Recipes

Check out my Instant Pot Recipes page for more easy Instant Pot Recipes.

How To Make Instant Pot Refried Beans