How to Cook Beans in a Slow Cooker or Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

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Beans are a staple n my house, so we often make them from scratch. It’s so easy that I wanted to share how to cook beans n a slow cooker or nstant pot pressure cooker so you can do t, too!

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My famly eats beans at least once a week. Nutrtonally they are a powerhouse, offerng a fantastc source of fber, proten, mnerals, and vtamns. But the real reason I nclude beans n our meals so often s that they are a wonderful, easy, and flexble vegetaran proten source my whole famly can get behnd as I try to reduce our meat consumpton.

Before I launch nto how to make beans n the slow cooker or Instant Pot/pressure cooker, I want to say that however you choose to get your beans s great. There s nothng wrong wth canned beans! They are quck and easy to use and are fantastc to have on hand. I use canned beans all the tme! But I wll share that the taste and texture of homemade beans s so much better than canned, so f you are wllng to gve t a try, I hghly recommend t.

Smlarly, f you are a fan of makng your beans on the stove, just stck wth what you love. But f you are nterested n tryng an easer way to do t, then usng your slow cooker or Instant Pot/pressure cooker should defntely be consdered!

Do you ever try somethng new, somethng people have been recommendng for years, and thnk “Duh, what took me so long?”  Well that’s pretty much how I felt once I tred preparng beans n my slow cooker and then my Instant Pot for the frst tme.

I had bean makng them from dred on the stove for years and was always skeptcal that they would turn out well f I ddn’t keep a close eye on them, but wth these two set t and forget t optons I realzed that havng delcous home-made beans on hand could be super smple!

Not that t takes much expertse to know how to cook beans n a slow cooker or Instant Pot pressure cooker (afflate). It’s so smple, t’s laughable, but as someone who avoded takng on ths new task for qute a whle, I wanted to share ths gudance to help you get started too.

Why Cook Beans n a Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker?

Here are 4 great reasons:

1. Prce: You get 5 – 6 cans worth of beans for the prce of about one can of beans
2. Taste: They taste so much better and you can add your own seasonngs and spces
3. Health: You can control the amount of sodum n your beans, f that s a concern for you
4. Safety: You don’t have to worry about exposng your famly to BPA or whatever else s n a can’s lnngs that mght not be safe for us to consume

Plus t’s so easy!

How to Cook Beans n the Slow Cooker

Here’s how to cook dred beans n a slow cooker:

You DO NOT need to presoak beans before cookng them! Accordng to cookng experts I respect such as Russ Parsons, J. Kenj Lopez-Alt, and Dana Kennedy, you can save the effort and cook them straght from dry, but stll make sure to rnse them.Put the rnsed (or soaked, f you stll choose to soak them) beans n the slow cooker and cover them wth water.Add seasonngs as desred, except for salt. I recommend 1 – 2 tsp. of spces lke chl powder, cumn, garlc powder (make sure t doesn’t have added salt), paprka, pepper, etc., f desred. Note DO NOT add salt now as that wll slow down the cookng process and toughen the beans.Cook them on low for 7 – 10 hours, untl the beans are tender. Add salt, to taste.Dran, cool completely, and freeze or refrgerate them n 1 1/2-cup ncrements (measure the beans before freezng them because they are very hard to separate when frozen.)

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 How to Cook Beans n the Pressure Cooker or Instant Pot

Here’s how to cooker beans n the pressure cooker or Instant Pot:

You DO NOT need to presoak beans before cookng them! Accordng to cookng experts I respect such as Russ Parsons, J. Kenj Lopez-Alt and Dana Kennedy, you can save the effort and cook them straght from dry, but stll make sure to rnse them.Put the rnsed (or soaked, f you stll choose to soak them) beans n the pressure cooker or Instant Pot and cover them wth water.Add seasonngs as desred, except for salt. I recommend 1 – 2 tsp. of spces lke chl powder, cumn, garlc powder (make sure t doesn’t have added salt), paprka, pepper, etc., f desred. Note DO NOT add salt now as that wll slow down the cookng process and toughen the beans.Cook on the “bean” settng, but add an extra 5 mnutes to make sure they are perfectly tender, especally f cookng from dry. Allow them to vent naturally. Add salt, to taste.Dran, cool completely, and freeze or refrgerate them n 1 1/2-cup ncrements (measure the beans before freezng them because they are very hard to separate when frozen.)

Have you tred makng your own beans? Any favorte seasonngs or cookng tps to add to mne? Please share your advce and recpes below. 

Further Inspraton

Want some fun recpes to use all those beans wth? How about one of these:

Mango, Brown Rce, and Black Bean Salad

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tacos wth Avocado Crema

Roasted Indan Caulflower Tossed wth Chckpeas and Cashews

Want more tps on how to use your slow cooker? Check out our slow cooker tps and trcks and our nstructons for makng homemade broth.

Want more delcous and easy recpes, check out The Scramble’s famly-frendly meal plans to see just how smple gettng dnner on the table can be!