Name: Instant Pot Mexican Pinto Beans
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 90 min
Ingredients: 1 cup diced white onion or yellow onion; 3 cloves garlic (minced); 1 pound dried pinto beans (rinsed and picked over); 4 ½ cups reduced-sodium chicken broth or vegetable stock; 1/2 cup water; 2 tablespoons taco seasoning; Salt and pepper

Instant Pot Mexican pinto beans are flavorful pinto beans that are made in the electric pressure cooker. These tasty beans are made with almost no prep!

A black spoon in a white dish of Instant Pot Mexican pinto beans.

Beans are great for easy, budget-friendly meals. They are inexpensive and filling, and they can be flavored in so many ways!

These Mexican pinto beans are simple but flavorful. They take just a few minutes of prep to make, and the resulting beans are silky smooth and so tasty! They’re a great filling for homemade bean burritos or side for your favorite Mexican dish.

Ingredient notes and substitutions

Garlic: Feel free to increase the amount of garlic if you like stronger garlic flavor.
Water: You can use all broth if you prefer. If you use broth instead of water, I highly recommend using either no salt or reduced-sodium broth to control the amount of salt in the beans.
Taco seasoning: You can use mild or hot taco seasoning.

How to make Instant Pot Mexican pinto beans

Here you’ll find step-by-step photos showing how to make this recipe. The full recipe is given below.

Ingredients for Mexican pinto beans in the Instant Pot inner pot.

Step 1: Add in the ingredients to the Instant Pot inner pot.

Step 2: Close and lock the lid. Press manual high pressure and adjust the cooking time to 60 minutes. Be sure that the pressure release valve is set to sealing.

Step 3: When the cooking time has finished, let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes.

Step 4: Turn the pressure release valve to venting to release any remaining pressure.

Cooked pinto beans in an Instant Pot inner pot.

Step 5: Unlock and remove the lid, and give it a good stir.

Cooked and thickened pinto beans in an Instant Pot inner pot.

Step 6: If you would like thicker beans, press sauté. Cook the beans, stirring the entire time, until they have thickened to desired consistency. You can also mash some of the beans as you sauté for an even thicker consistency.

A white dish of Instant Pot Mexican pinto beans surrounded by dishes of cilantro, pico de gallo, and tortillas.

Tips

Vegetarian/vegan: To make the beans vegetarian/vegan, simply use vegetable broth or stock in place of using chicken broth. If using veggie broth, you may find that you need to season at the end with additional seasonings.
Thick beans: The beans will be slightly soupy when they finish cooking. You can leave then that way or sauté the beans for beans with a thicker consistency. Mashing some of the beans as you sauté will give you even thicker beans.

A bowl of Instant Pot Mexican pinto beans next to a plate of tortillas.

Serving suggestions

The beans made a great filling for homemade bean burritos. I like to serve them in a fresh flour tortilla topped with pico de gallo, guacamole, and queso fresco.

They also make a great side dish for mains like machaca, Mexican shredded beef, or Mexican shredded pork.

Storage

Store any leftover pinto beans in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The beans will keep for up to 4 days when properly stored in the fridge.

More Instant Pot recipes!

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5 from 2 votes