Have you ever wanted to make baked beans in a pressure cooker? Now you can with our Instant Pot baked beans recipe. Perfect baked beans every time!

Here we go, adding another great Summer BBQ side dish. For today, we’re sharing Kim’s Instant Pot baked beans recipe.

Tender, sweet and savory baked beans flavored with a homemade BBQ sauce and bacon. This is a side dish you don’t want to miss.

Now, if you want to use canned beans or a store-bought BBQ sauce, you can. I’ve included the substitution instructions in the tips section below.

The finished instant pot baked beans in a large bowl. — Nothing tops off baked beans like crispy bacon!

Which beans are used in baked beans?

Okay, most of us are home cooks, right? So, I say use whatever beans you like. Personally, I’ve always used pinto beans.

They’re available in most stores throughout the U.S., they’re affordable, and they always cook up perfectly every time.

With that being said, if you prefer Navy beans (which are used in most canned varieties) the use them instead.

The point is, authentic or traditional is relative. What may be authentic to you, might be different to someone else. So, use whatever you want and enjoy the meal.

A close-up photo of the baked beans. — We used pinto beans for our recipe, but you can use Navy beans if you prefer.

How to make baked beans in Instant Pot?

First, grab 1-lb. of uncooked pinto (or Navy) beans. Sort through them to remove any debris or rocks.

After that, place the beans into the stainless steel liner of your pressure cooker. Pour 8-cups (not 9) of water into the liner with the beans.

Next, close the lid, lock it into place, and seal the valve. Press the high pressure/manual cook button and set the timer for 25-minutes.

While the beans cook, go ahead and cook 1-lb. of bacon. You can prepare it however you want; stove-top, oven baked bacon, or microwave. Dice the bacon once it’s cooked and cooled.

Uncooked pinto beans and water in the pressure cooker liner. — First things first, you have to cook the beans.

When the timer on your pressure cooker goes off, allow for a 20-25 minute natural release.

Now, carefully open the valve to release the leftover pressure and remove the lid.

Transfer the beans to a colander and rinse them with cool tap water. Set the beans aside for later.

Then, clean and rinse the liner because it’s time to saute some vegetables. Dry it off and place the liner back into the cooker.

Turn on the machine using the saute function and let it warm up. At this point add the following ingredients: oil, diced onions, and diced bell peppers.

Onions and peppers sauteing in the machine. — Be sure to clean and dry the liner before you start sauteing the veggies.

Let them saute for about 4-minutes or until they’re soft. Turn off the machine.

Add the remaining cup of water, brown sugar, ketchup, molasses, apple cider vinegar, ground mustard, and cooked beans. Stir the ingredients.

The cooked beans have been added to the peppers and onions. — This is the part where you could use a store-bought BBQ sauce if you want.

Afterward, place the lid on the Instant Pot, seal the valve, and press the manual/high pressure button.

Set the timer for 10-minutes and once it goes off allow for a 10-minute natural release. Carefully, open the seal to release the remaining pressure.

Everything has cooked and bacon has been added to the beans. — All that’s left to do is stir in the bacon.

Last, remove the lid and stir in the cooked bacon. That’s it, your Instant Pot baked beans recipe is done!

Kim and I hope you enjoy this Summer grilling side dish and we wish you all the best 🙂

The baked beans being scooped from the cooker. — Look at those tasty beans! It’s the perfect side dish for a BBQ.

Recipe Tips:

If you decide to use store-bought BBQ sauce, then you’ll need to omit (leave out) the following ingredients: brown sugar, ketchup, molasses, apple cider vinegar, and ground mustard. Instead use 8-ounces of BBQ sauce and continue on with step 4 as the instructions are written.
Another great way to cut down on the cook time is to use canned beans. Simply open 16-ounces of beans, drain them, rinse them, and then drain them again. Pre-cook the bacon and start the recipe at step 4.
The last tip is buy microwave bacon and use your microwave to cook it. All in all, if you use these tips then you’ll save almost an hour of time in the kitchen.