Instant pot baked beans are a delicious homemade recipe using fresh ingredients like onions, bacon, brown sugar and other spices. Done in about 2 hours time, this gluten and dairy free recipe can also feed a large crowd!
A few years back, I decided to try and make homemade baked beans. Of course the first thing that I turned to was my Instant Pot. I mean, naturally, it’s the only way I will cook dry beans from scratch. Not only are homemade baked beans pretty easy to cook, but I also know every single ingredient that is in the baked beans thanks to the homemade barbecue sauce you make.
This Instant Pot Baked Beans recipe makes enough to feed a large crowd. If you don’t have a large crowd to feed you can make a batch, and then freeze the remaining leftover baked beans. I portion them in quart freezer bags for future meals. If you love baked beans I think you’ll love making your own.
Table of contents
Ingredients
- Great Northern Beans – I use a one pound bag of dried Great Northern Beans.
- Bacon – A few slices diced gives so much delicious flavor.
- Onion – One onion diced and then almost caramelized spreads throughout the beans.
- Apple Juice – I love to add an additional layer of flavor to the beans.
- Tomato sauce – Since you are making your own barbecue sauce essentially you need tomato sauce. I opt for tomato sauce over ketchup like you will find in most recipes.
- Brown sugar – I love sweet baked beans and the brown sugar helps do just that.
- Spices – In this recipe I use ground mustard powder, season salt, and smoked paprika
- Liquid smoke – This is my secret to the beans. A little liquid smoke goes a long way.
Kitchen Tools
Here are a few of the kitchen tools that I find helpful when making homemade baked beans in my Instant Pot
With a few of these basic kitchen tools you can whip up these baked beans in no time!
Directions
How to cook beans in a pressure cooker
Rinse and drain the dried great Northern beans. Place in the Instant Pot, with 8 cups of water. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and make sure that the valve is set to “sealing”. Set the Instant Pot on for 20 minutes to “MANUAL” setting
Once the beans are done cooking, carefully force pressure immediately. Then, carefully remove the lid from the IP, rinse and drain the beans. Place the beans in a bowl on the side.
How to make homemade barbecue sauce
Next, turn the Instant Pot to “sauté” mode. Add the bacon to the Instant Pot and sauté for 2-3 minutes until the bacon begins to crisp. Then, add in the onions and saute until golden in color (about 5 minutes).
Deglaze the pot with the apple juice. Turn the Instant Pot off, and continue to mix the juice to break up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot.
Stir in the brown sugar, tomato sauce, ground mustard, season salt, smoked paprika, and liquid smoke. Turn the Instant Pot back on to “SAUTE” mode. Mixing until the sauce comes to a boil. Then turn the Instant Pot back off.
Mix well, then carefully add the drained beans into the pot. Stir, the beans until all the sauce has coated them. Keep the Instant Pot on “warm” mode. Let the beans rest for at least a half hour or until ready to serve.
FAQs
First, you’ll want to make sure that the beans come to room temperature. Then, I like to use a freezer safe quart size baggie. I write the name of the recipe and the date they were made on the bag. Then I portion 1 to 2 cups of beans into the bag. This will depend on how large of servings and the size of your family has. I find 2 cups of beans for you it’s my family of four just fine. Once I have all the beans into Ziploc baggies I lay them flat in my freezer so they freeze evenly. This also helps with storage in the freezer
Yes, you will simply make the sauce and then mix in the canned beans. This is a great semi-homemade method.
The beauty of the Instant Pot is that you don’t need to soak the beans before you cook them!
Expert Tips
Here are a few of my expert tips I’ve found helpful during the multiple times I’ve tested and made my Instant Pot bbq baked beans.
- Beans – If you don’t have great northern beans on hand you can also use pinto beans or navy beans. You can use canned beans. Just omit the first two steps on cooking dried beans.
- Prep Ahead – You can cook the dried beans the day before then refrigerate and make the sauce the next day. Or cook everything the day before so the sauce can marinate into the beans then reheat the next day.
- Force Pressure – This means you will carefully force the pressure out of the pressure cooker. I like to place a pot holder on top of the nozzle then place a dish towel on top of the pot holder. This will take 1-2 minutes to remove the pressure before the lid will unlock.
- Resting Time – I have found that the beans taste better if you can let them rest in the sauce for a minimum of a half hour but even longer for optimal flavor.
What can you serve with baked beans?
Whenever I make baked beans I love to serve it with some of the following side and main dishes.
Main BBQ Dishes
More BBQ Side Dishes
- Grandma’s Potato Salad
- Mandarin Orange Coleslaw
- Pepperoni Pasta Salad
- Creamy Cucumber Salad
- Slow Cooker Corn on the Cob
- Orzo Antipasto Salad
- Greek Style Cucumber Tomato and Feta Salad
If you love baked beans, but have never tried to make them on your own–I highly suggest you try this recipe for Instant Pot Baked Beans.
If you make my Instant Pot Baked Beans, I would be honored and love for you to take the time to leave a star rating and comment! I spend hours developing and testing these recipes, and always love to hear feedback and user experience!
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Instant Pot Baked Beans
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 16 Oz Dried great northern beans
- 8 cups of water
- 4 slices of bacon diced
- 1 medium white onion diced
- ¾ cup apple juice
- ¾ cups tomato sauce
- 1 cup Brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground mustard powder
- 2 teaspoon season salt
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoon liquid smoke
Instructions
To Cook the Beans
- Rinse and drain the dried great Northern beans. Place in the Instant Pot, with 8 cups of water. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and make sure that the valve is set to “sealing”. Set the Instant Pot on for 20 minutes to "MANUAL" setting
- Once the beans are done cooking, carefully force pressure immediately. Then, carefully remove the lid from the IP, rinse and drain the beans. Place the beans in a bowl on the side.
To Make the Sauce
- Next, turn the Instant Pot to “sauté” mode. Add the bacon to the Instant Pot and sauté for 2-3 minutes until the bacon begins to crisp. Then, add in the onions and saute until golden in color (about 5 minutes).
- Deglaze the pot with the apple juice. Turn the Instant Pot off, and continue to mix the juice to break up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot.
- Stir in the brown sugar, tomato sauce, ground mustard, season salt, smoked paprika, and liquid smoke. Turn the Instant Pot back on to "SAUTE" mode. Mixing until the sauce comes to a boil. Then turn the Instant Pot back off.
- Mix well, then carefully add the drained beans into the pot. Stir, the beans until all the sauce has coated them. Keep the Instant Pot on "warm" mode. Let the beans rest for at least a half hour or until ready to serve.
Notes
- Beans – If you don’t have great northern beans on hand you can also use pinto beans or navy beans. You can use canned beans. Just omit the first two steps on cooking dried beans.
- Prep Ahead – You can cook the dried beans the day before then refrigerate and make the sauce the next day. Or cook everything the day before so the sauce can marinate into the beans then reheat the next day.
- Force Pressure – This means you will carefully force the pressure out of the pressure cooker. I like to place a pot holder on top of the nozzle then place a dish towel on top of the pot holder. This will take 1-2 minutes to remove the pressure before the lid will unlock.
- Resting Time – I have found that the beans taste better if you can let them rest in the sauce for a minimum of a half hour but even longer for optimal flavor.
Nutrition
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Did you make this recipe? Let me know!