There are a few things to be aware of when cooking dried beans and legumes. This is a guide on how to cook beans, legumes and lentils in your Instant Pot and things you should be aware of when doing so.
- Dried beans double in volume and weight after soaking or cooking. To avoid overflow in the inner pot, please do not fill the inner pot more than the ½ full mark
- When cooking dried beans, use enough liquid to cover the beans
- Although not strictly necessary, soaking the dried beans can speed up cooking significantly
Beans and legumes are less prone to be over-cooked. But if they are undercooked, the texture is quite hard and unpleasant. So please consider the cooking time as the minimal time. Letting the cooker cool naturally is the best way to save on energy and achieve a better cooking result.
Please note that the cooking time is pressure cooking time on Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker operating at 10.2 – 11.6 psi or 70-80 kPa. Cooking times are approximate. Please use them as a guideline only.
Dried Beans & Legume | Dry, Cooking Time | Soaked, Cooking Time |
| Adzuki | 20 – 25 | 10 – 15 |
| Anasazi | 20 – 25 | 10 – 15 |
| Black beans | 20 – 25 | 10 – 15 |
| Black-eyed peas | 20 – 25 | 10 – 15 |
| Chickpeas (chick peas, garbanzo bean or kabuli) | 35 – 40 | 20 – 25 |
| Cannellini beans | 35 – 40 | 20 – 25 |
| Gandules (pigeon peas) | 20 – 25 | 15 – 20 |
| Great Northern beans | 25 – 30 | 20 – 25 |
| Lentils, French green | 15 – 20 | N/A |
| Lentils, green, mini (brown) | 15 – 20 | N/A |
| Lentils, red, split | 15 – 18 | N/A |
| Lentils, yellow, split (moong dal) | 15 – 18 | N/A |
| Lima beans | 20 – 25 | 10 – 15 |
| Kidney beans, red | 25 – 30 | 20 – 25 |
| Kidney beans, white | 35 – 40 | 20 – 25 |
| Navy beans | 25 – 30 | 20 – 25 |
| Pinto beans | 25 – 30 | 20 – 25 |
| Peas | 15 – 20 | 10 – 15 |
| Scarlet runner | 20 – 25 | 10 – 15 |
| Soy beans | 25 – 30 | 20 – 25 |