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Instant Pot Refried Pinto Beans
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Instant Pot Refried Pinto Beans

Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Total Time55 minutes
Course: Main Course, Side Dish
Servings: 10 cups

Equipment

  • Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds dried pinto beans, washed and sorted
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 tsp cumin +2 tsp, divided
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tbsp kosher salt, plus additional salt to taste
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar, +2 tbsp, divided
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 10 cups cold water

Instructions

  • Rinse and sort through pinto beans. Add to an Instant Pot (or similar pressure cooker) along with the onion, garlic, salt, spices and water.
  • Seal the Instant Pot and set to manual, high pressure for 50 minutes. Once the cooking process is completed, allow the Instant Pot to depressurize naturally, about one hour.
  • After one hour, open the Instant Pot and remove the bay leaf from the beans. Scoop out one cup of liquid and set aside. Drain the remaining liquid from the beans. Using an immersion blender, puree the beans, leaving a few beans intact for texture. Add the reserved liquid back to the beans to reach a desired consistency. I like my beans thick and tend to use ½ cup or less of reserved liquid.
  • Once pureed, finish off the beans to taste by stirring in an additional 1-2 tsp of salt, 1-2 tsp of cumin and 1-2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar (for tang!).
  • Serve immediately.
  • If freezing, allow the beans to cool completely before handling them. Once cooled, scoop 2-3 servings of beans into quart-sized baggies, press flat, seal and freeze. To thaw, remove a bag of beans from the freezer, soak the bag in hot tap water for 3-5 minutes, snip the corner of the bag and squeeze the thawed beans into a bowl, into flour tortillas or overtop of your favorite tortilla chips. Enjoy!