I’ve been waiting for months to share this new book with you, you guys! My friend, Daniel Shumski (author of Will it Waffle? and Will it Skillet?) just came out with his third book, How to Instant Pot and I know it’s going to be a life saver for a lot of you. I get questions about using the Instant Pot (a multi-function pressure cooker) on pretty much a daily basis, but Instant Pot cooking is just not my specialty. I use mine on occasion, but I am by no means an expert. So when I got to preview this book, I immediate emailed back asking for permission to share one of the recipes on my blog because THIS book, my friends, is the answer to all those Instant Pot questions you send me.
If you have an Instant Pot then you know that the instruction manual that comes with it is less than helpful. How to Instant Pot, provides all the instruction and information you need to really get the most out of this super-appliance. It breaks down each function, detailing how it cooks, how it’s different from the other functions, and provides plenty of tips and recipes specific for each function. Basically, Instant Pot should be including this book inside the box of each machine it sells. :P
Anyway, BACK TO THE BEANS. These Instant Pot Pinto Beans with Chorizo are seriously the best tasting beans I have ever eaten, hands down. I chose this recipe out of all the recipes in the book because I think cooking beans is one of the best uses for the Instant Pot, and this recipe uses a trick that I often employ in my recipes—using a small amount of heavily seasoned sausage to season your whole dish, instead of adding several different herbs and spices individually. This recipe uses dry or Spanish chorizo (not raw Mexican chorizo), which is a cured meat similar to pepperoni or salami, and boy does it deliver! I definitely need to be cooking with Spanish chorizo more often.
How to Serve Instant Pot Pinto Beans with Chorizo
You can serve these beans as suggested in the book with tortillas, shredded lettuce, and cheese, or you can serve it kind of as a dip with tortilla chips (that’s what I did), or spoon the bean mixture over a bowl of hot rice. It’s very versatile and so yummy that you might just end up eating it straight out of the pot with a spoon. :)
I made a few small changes to the pinto bean recipe, but I’m listing the recipe as it is written in the book below. Check the recipe notes to see what I did differently.
Instant Pot Pinto Beans with Chorizo
Servings 6 1 cup eachIngredients
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 4 oz. dry (Spanish) chorizo ($4.39)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 3 cloves garlic ($0.24)
- 2 cups dry pinto beans ($1.19)
- 2 bay leaves ($0.30)
- freshly cracked pepper ($0.05)
- 3 cups reduced sodium chicken broth* ($0.39)
- 15 oz. can diced tomatoes** ($1.00)
Instructions
- Dice the chorizo, then add it to the instant pot along with the cooking oil. Press the Sauté button, then the Adjust button to select the “less” temperature setting. Sauté the chorizo in the oil, without a lid, until it becomes slightly crispy on the edges.
- While the chorizo is sautéing, dice the onion and mince the garlic. Once the chorizo is crispy, add the onion and garlic and continue to sauté until the onions are soft and transparent.
- Add the beans, bay leaves, and pepper to the pot and wait a moment to let the beans absorb some of the heat and prevent the broth from splattering when it hits the hot pot.
- Add the broth to the pot, stir briefly to combine, then place the lid on the Instant Pot. Close the steam valve, press the Manual button, select high pressure (if not selected automatically), then press the + button to increase the time to 35 minutes.
- Allow the beans to cook through the 35 minute cycle, then let the pressure release naturally (you’ll know the pressure has released when the silver float valve has fallen back down and is no longer flush with the top of the lid).
- Once the pressure has released, open the steam valve, and then remove the lid. Discard the bay leaf. Add the canned diced tomatoes with all their juices, then stir to combine.
- Press the cancel button to cancel the “keep warm” function, then press the Sauté button and use the Adjust button to select the “normal” heat level. Let the mixture simmer, stirring often, until the beans are very tender and the liquid has thickened.
- Serve the beans with tortillas, tortilla chips, or over a bowl of rice, and with optional toppings like cheese, cilantro, green onions, or finely diced red onion.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Pinto Beans with Chorizo – Step by Step Photos
Begin by chopping 4 oz. dry chorizo. Make sure you’re not using raw Mexican chorizo. This “dry” type is a cured sausage, like pepperoni, and does not need to be cooked (although it’s quite tasty when it is!).
Add the chorizo and 1 Tbsp cooking oil to the Instant Pot, select the Sauté function, then use the Adjust buttons to adjust down to the “less” temperature setting. Sauté for a few minutes or until the chorizo is a little crispy on the edges.
While the chorizo is sautéing, dice a yellow onion and mince three cloves of garlic. Add them to the pot with the chorizo and continue to sauté for a few minutes more until the onions are soft and transparent.
Add 2 cups of dry pinto beans, 2 bay leaves, and some freshly cracked pepper to the pot. Wait just a minute or so to let the beans absorb some of the heat and prevent the broth from spattering when it hits the hot pot.
Add 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth to the pot, stir briefly to combine, then place the lid on the pot.
Close the steam valve on the lid (turn it to the “sealing” position).
Then select the Manual button, and adjust the time up to 35 minutes using the + button. (It should auto-select high pressure, if not use the Adjust button to select high pressure.)
Allow the pot to come up to pressure, at which time that little silver float valve will rise up to be flush with the lid. Let it go through the 35 minute cooking cycle, then let it release pressure naturally as the temperature falls.
You’ll know the pressure has released when that little silver float valve falls back down and is no longer flush with the top of the lid. Turn the steam valve on top from the “sealing” position to “venting” then open the lid.
And this is what you see when you open the lid. It looks dry, but that’s because the beans have floated to the top. There is liquid underneath. Remove the bay leaves.
Add one 15oz. can of diced tomatoes and stir to combine. Press the Cancel button to cancel the “Keep Warm” cycle, then press the Sauté button and use the Adjust button to select the “normal” temperature setting. Let the beans simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the beans are tender and the liquid has become nice and thick.
This is what it looks like once it has simmered down. It becomes a thick mixture, similar to chili. And soooooo tasty!
And then it’s time to dig in! I seriously can’t wait to eat my leftovers for lunch today. I’m already droolin’!
Hot daaaaang. My house smells amazing now, and as promised, this was SO good and SO easy. It’s great by itself, or on white rice, or with cheddar cheese!
Did you soak the beans before putting them in here? I would love to use my Instant Pot to do this and be able to skip that step of soaking, if it works well!
Correct, I did not soak the beans. :)
WOW!!!!! The Instant Pot Pinto Beans with Chorizo is on point!!!!! Unfortunately, my sister and I don’t have an Instant Pot but used a slow cooker instead. We allowed the pinto beans to soak overnight and my sister assembled everything before going to work. As soon as we both came home, I cooked the beef chorizo at the last minute and added the mixture to the beans. My sister made homemade pico de gallo and cooked a pot of rice. We didn’t have cojita cheese, so we used cheddar. I’m looking forward to having left overs for dinner this week. Despite what Ryuuie had to say about the recipe, it turned out amazing. Thank you, Beth!!! :-)
So I made this but added the tomatoes with the broth before cooking, and even then some of the beans were a bit underdone. I added around 1 cup water, re-sealed, and cooked at high pressure for 5 minutes with a natural release. That did the trick wonderfully.
Hi Mike,
Not sure if you’ll get to read this, but hopefully this might help others. Adding the tomatoes in early is the cause of the beans not being soft and “cooked through”. The tomatoes are very acidic, and any acid will inhibit the beans from softening whilst they cook.
Glad you managed to solve this in the end, as it’s a really good meal!
Not to be facetious but wouldn’t it be a better option to add the can of tomatoes with everything before it cooks? That might alleviate the need to simmer later and fix some of the issues other commenters reported.
I think the reason he added the tomatoes later in the recipe is because acid can prevent beans from softening when cooking them from dry, so it’s best to cook them first then add acidic ingredients later.
I made this tonight and it was awesome! Didn’t have Mexican cheese so I used some feta (heresy I know) but they turned out perfect! Great with some toasted corn tortillas!
I use feta all the time in place of Mexican cheese and it’s great! Haha
This recipe is delicious, but the timing was also very off for me. Beans were very hard when the pressure time was up (even with the natural release of pressure). I had to simmer for slightly over an hour, and add 6 cups of water, before the beans were done. Delicious, though.
Do you live in a high altitudes? I live at a 5,500 foot altitude Because of this, I need to add extra time to cooking beans.
This somehow took longer than advertised, but we were really pleased with how this came out! I was skeptical about not adding any salt to the recipe, but it didn’t need it. You could have lots of fun with toppings to alter the final flavor just a bit. I will definitely make this again.
Turned out like a watery bland mess. I even put them back under high pressure for an additional 20 min. Throwing in the garbage.
Beans are still hard simmering for 20 minutes after pressure has been released. What do I do now?
I would continue simmering and add more water if it starts to dry out.
I love the recipe, but my local grocery stores do not have any kind of chorizo. May you recommend any alternatives? Thank you!
I would get some plain ground pork and then Google to find a recipe for chorizo and use the spices that are recommended in the recipe to season the pork. :)
This looks delicious! Is there a way to do it in a crockpot?
There probably is, but I think it would take some testing to get the method right. I don’t think there’s a quick easy conversion for this one.
I made a version of this in the crockpot, and it turned out great! I soaked my beans overnight, drained them in the morning, and put them in the crockpot. I used mexican chorizo, so I browned it a bit in a skillet before I added it to the crockpot. Throw in the diced onion, garlic, bay leaves, tomatoes, and about enough water to cover the beans by about 1/2 inch, and the crockpot on low for 8 hours. Easy, and I came home from work to a stellar dinner!
I should also mention that I *love* my instant pot and use it all the time, but I actually prefer beans that have been slow cooked. Save your instant pot to make some rice to go with the beans :)
I’m making this tonight, I am so excited! Quick question: what type of cheese is that you put on top? Thanks!
That’s Cojita in the photo, but I think cheddar or monterey jack would also be awesome!
I LOVED how this recipe turned out, and it was nice to cook something besides rice in my Instant Pot. :) Any recipe that uses a small amount of meat to give such big flavor feels like magic. I doctored mine up with some shredded sharp cheddar cheese and sour cream, and I almost licked the bowl clean. Can’t wait for leftovers tonight!
This recipe is nothing more than an advertisement for Instant Pot. Don’t think you can use it in anything else.
I used to love this site but now I’m not so sure I trust it anymore.
Unfortunate that you didn’t bother reading the intro to this recipe, in which she indicates a lot of her readers have asked her about using an Instant Pot. This recipe isn’t even from Beth, but a different blogger who emphasizes cooking with an Instant Pot.
If I am paid to promote something in a blog post, it will be clearly stated in the beginning of the post, as per FCC regulations. I simply wanted to share a wonderful cookbook that my friend wrote. Sharing the things I love with my readers is one of the best parts of blogging. It’s unfortunate that paid content is so pervasive that every opinion is assumed to be bought.
I was just coming on here to request more Instant Pot recipes, pretty please! It would be so helpful if you could convert some of your existing recipes to be cooked in the IP. I trust your recipes and make so many of them in our meal plan rotation. In all the years I’ve been a faithful blog reader, I don’t recall once seeing a paid advertisement or review. I’m excited to see your friend wrote a book and will check it out. And plan to try this recipe too!
I probably won’t be doing a *lot* of IP recipes since it’s just a bit out of my niche (it’s an expensive appliance and I want to make sure people know that they don’t need special equipment to make good food), BUT this book has a really great guide for converting recipes to the IP, so I definitely suggest checking it out. :)
If you can catch an IP on sale, it’s a good deal. I use it all the time to cook chick peas and black beans. I think the savings on doing that rather than buying canned beans will soon pay for it. Also, it must save energy by cooking quickly under pressure. As well, in the summer I plan to use it a lot. It doesn’t heat up the house like the oven or stove top does.
No one’s forcing you to do anything that you don’t want to do.
I’m referring to Ryuuie.