Instant Pot Charro Beans

Instant Pot charro beans are flavorful pinto beans that cook in the pressure cooker. This simple bean recipe can be made with almost no prep and makes a tasty main dish or side dish.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Servings servings

Calories 267kcal

Author Kate at Eating in an Instant

Equipment

Instant Pot/Electric Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

4 cups vegetable broth
2 cups dry pinto beans rinsed and picked over
2 cups chopped white or yellow onion
1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro or to taste
1 jalapeño pepper seeded and minced
4 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon vegetable bouillon
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 cup chunky tomato salsa

Instructions

Stir together all ingredients in the Instant Pot inner pot.
4 cups vegetable broth, 2 cups dry pinto beans, 2 cups chopped white or yellow onion, 1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro, 1 jalapeño pepper, 4 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon vegetable bouillon, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1/2 cup chunky tomato salsa
Close and lock the lid. Press the bean/chili setting and adjust the time to 45 minutes. Be sure that the pressure release valve is set to sealing. It should take about 10-15 minutes to come to pressure.
Once the cooking time has finished, let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes.
Turn the pressure release valve to venting to release any remaining pressure.
Unlock and remove the lid.
Give everything a good stir.

Notes

Meat: Traditionally, charro beans have meat in the broth. Feel free to throw in leftover ham hocks, bacon, chorizo, or your favorite leftover smoked meat to add even more flavor.

Less brothy: If you'd like the beans to be thicker and less brothy, you can either mash up some of the beans after cooking or sauté the cooked beans to cook some of the broth down.
Nutrition values are estimates.

Nutrition