These Mexican Black Beans in the Instant Pot are an easy, healthy, and delicious way to add more beans to your meal plan. They cook quickly and are perfect for serving as a side dish to Mexican shredded beef or for adding to tacos or burritos.
This no soak method makes cooking beans easy peasy, and they're loaded with fiber and protein to help keep you feeling satisfied throughout the day!

Y'all know that Mexican food is my favorite! I often make shortcut refried beans, but it's nice sometimes to mix things up.
That's why I'm excited to introduce you to this great side dish that you're gonna add to your Taco Tuesday and Cinco de Mayo repertoire.
That's right. All the cool kids in the kitchen - you know, tortilla chips, guacamole and cilantro lime brown rice get to meet the new kid in town, cooked black beans!
Why all the excitement?
Cooking black beans in your Instant Pot means there's less sodium and you can make these flavorful and healthy beans without a lot of fuss! And given grocery store prices these days, they're economical, too!
Now, let's just address the elephant in the room. We're making these easy Mexican black beans in the Instant Pot because they're quick and flavorful. It's on of the benefit of this amazing kitchen gadget.
And for a long time, I was intimidated by the Instant Pot. The first time I used it there were actual tears. Tears!
If you find yourself in a similar situation, I've got you. This recipe is still for you! You can read more about Instant Pot fear and we'll walk through this together.
Let's get cooking!
Simple Ingredients
- dried black beans - using dry beans instead of canned black beans keeps this recipe economical, and the taste is amazing. If you haven’t tried cooking dried beans before, this is the perfect time!
- red pepper - if you don’t have a red pepper, you can substitute any color of bell peppers you like
- onion - white onion or yellow onion both work in this recipe
- spices - dried oregano, dried cumin, garlic powder, salt, pepper and bay leaf
- broth - chicken or vegetable broth. You can use store-bought stock or make your own chicken broth
- red wine vinegar - adds a touch of needed acidity to the recipe
- avocado, cilantro and lime - for garnish and topping. If you don’t like either one, feel free to leave them out. But the lime juice is a nice touch!
How to make Instant Pot Mexican Black Beans
There’s no soaking of beans in this Instant Pot recipe.
What you will need to do, though, is look through the beans when you rinse them. Every now and then a little pebble or something will be mixed in with the beans. You want to pull anything that’s not a black bean out of the mix.
Okay, now that we have that covered….
Step 1: Add the beans, most of the red pepper, onion, oregano, dried cumin, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, and bay leaves to Instant Pot.
An electric pressure cooker (which is essentially what an Instant Pot is) needs liquid to cook, so you’ll add the broth you’d like to use next on top of the other ingredients.
Seal the lid and set the cooking time to 34 minutes.
Keep in mind, the cooking countdown won't start right when you set the timer to 34 minutes. The pot needs to come to pressure first, which will take about 10-15 minutes.
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Step 2: Once the cook time is completed, let the Instant Pot do a natural pressure release for 20 minutes. Basically, this just means you let the pressure cooker hang out while some of the pressure dissipates on its own.
Then, do a quick release of the pressure by venting the cooker and let out the remaining air.
Tip: Make sure you don't do this directly under your kitchen cabinetry. The moisture won't affect your black beans, but the condensation isn't good for the wood cabinetry.
Step 3: Add red wine vinegar and stir to incorporate.
Season with a little salt and black pepper and stir everything together.
What to serve with black beans
You can serve the beans on their own or alongside cooked rice and pulled pork quesadillas.
Instant Pot black beans are a perfect side dish for shredded chicken tacos, buffalo shrimp tacos, and of course, a taco bar party! Or, make Cubano panini and serve up some black beans on the side.
Serve immediately over a bed of cooked rice, topped with chopped red pepper, avocado, and cilantro. Don’t forget the lime wedges!
How to freeze black beans
You can cook these beans now and freeze them later in place of a can of black beans.
They're an easy and flavorful ingredient to have on hand. To freeze them, add them to ziptop freezer bag and remove as much excess air as possible. You can also use a mason jar with a lid.
Make sure to label them with the contents, and add the date! They'll keep in the freezer for up to six mmonths.
Thaw, drain and reheat when you're ready to use them.
Storage
Store leftovers refrigerated in an airtight container. Or, for freezing, see above!
Other Mexican Instant Pot recipes
If you make this black bean recipe, leave a recipe review or comment below. I’d love to hear from you!
Instant Pot Mexican Black Beans
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried black beans rinsed and picked over
- 1 medium red pepper seeded and cut into large pieces, divided
- ½ medium white onion cut into large pieces
- ½ Tablespoon dried oregano
- ½ Tablespoon dried cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Sea salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 whole bay leaves
- 1½ cup chicken broth
- 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
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Instructions
- Add the beans, red pepper (reserve a few Tablespoons for garnish), onion, oregano, dried cumin, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, and bay leaves to Instant Pot.
- Pour broth on top and add the lid. Set the pressure valve to “seal. Set to pressure cook on high pressure for 32 minutes.
- When done cooking, allow the pressure to release naturally for 20 minutes, and then do a quick release of any remaining pressure.
- Turn the unit off and carefully remove lid.
- Add red wine vinegar and stir to combine. Season with additional salt and black pepper, as desired, and stir to combine. Top with reserved red bell pepper.
Notes
Nutrition
This Farm Girl Cooks is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Bethany says
How many batches would you make if this was a side for a taco bar party for around 25-30 people? The recipe looks really good!
Deanne says
Our family loves these black beans!