Instant Pot Baked Beans

These instant pot baked beans are so flavorful and tender, and easy to make, too. They’re the perfect side dish for a summer barbecue!

I mentioned previously that we bought a smoker for Christmas, and my husband is having the best time with it! We’ve never been huge grilling/barbecuing people, but all of a sudden we’re cooking and eating outside on the regular. I love that he’s taking on more responsibility for preparing meals, and I can just relax while he works his magic with the smoker. To make life even easier, I’ve been preparing big batches of side dishes, and then freezing them so we can just pull them out to complement whatever protein he makes. These instant pot baked beans have become a staple at our house, and everyone loves them! They have the perfect smoky barbecue flavor, and complement any of our smoked meats beautifully.

The beans come out so tender and perfectly cooked, and I love that you don’t have to rinse them beforehand. If you’d prefer a vegetarian option, you can definitely leave out the bacon. I would suggest adding a few teaspoons of oil to the pot to cook the onions in, but otherwise the recipe should work the same. I like to freeze these beans in two cup deli containers, which is the perfect serving size for my family. To thaw them, you can either leave them in the fridge overnight, or thaw them in the microwave at 50% power for seven or eight minutes. These beans are a summer staple!

Instant Pot Baked Beans

Print Recipe

Prep Time:10 minutes mins

Cook Time:1 hour hr

Total Time:1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Ingredients

for the beans:

• 1 pound dry navy beans
• 8 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 pound bacon chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion diced

for the sauce:

• 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup water

Instructions

• Rinse the beans in a colander, then add the beans, water, and salt to the instant pot. Cover and turn the knob to seal. Cook on high pressure for 25 minutes, then let the pressure naturally release. Drain the beans and rinse with cold water.
• Add the bacon to the instant pot and cook on sauté mode until crisp. Add the onion to the pot, and cook until softened.
• Make the sauce by whisking together the barbecue sauce, ketchup, vinegar, mustard, liquid smoke, brown sugar, and water. Pour the sauce into the pot and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
• Add the beans to the pot and stir to combine. Cover and turn the knob to seal, then cook on high pressure for 15 minutes. Let the pressure naturally release.

Servings: 12