Restaurant Style Instant Pot Pinto Beans are the most good, easy way to make good pinto beans in under an hour – no soaking overnight needed!

At Avdaye, we add lots of tips in all of our recipes – because we are a home cook without any formal training, and we find we are more confident making dishes when we understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. Our goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

Restaurant Style Instant Pot Pinto Beans are easy and so good – and are the solid way to make good beans from dried in less than an hour!

These solid pinto beans require no pre-soaking, and taste like they are from your favorite Mexican restaurant – in under an hour!

Our husband loves beans (and has firmly taken over our instant pot as his own), and tested out a ton of different recipes for Pinto Beans – and came up with this good, foolproof Restaurant Style Pinto Bean recipe that has quickly become one of our favorite side dishes of all time.

These beans are truly easy and restaurant quality – and don't require soaking overnight! It's a pain to have to think that far ahead and soak beans in water all night, so this good no soaking pinto bean recipe is a huge game changer at our house!

Kitchen notes

Don't make two batches at once. While you might be tempted to add more beans into the pot, don't overcrowd! You don't want your pot to be over half full, with beans and water, when you go to cook – or it won't come to pressure and cook properly.

Don't Overfill with water. Overfilling your instant pot can be a nightmare, so not overfill! Since you can make these beans in under an hour, it's best to make more batches than try to cook it quickly.

Let the pressure cooker naturally release. Don't rush the time it takes to naturally release pressure – this is a vital part of the cook time for these beans since they aren't pre-soaked beans. This will help them soften and help the flavors develop – and will drastically change the outcome of your beans. Ideally, this will rest for another hour after the cooktime.

Instant Pot Pinto Beans

Instant Pot Pinto Bean Recipe Variations

If you love this easy Mexican Restaurant style pinto bean recipe, and want to make some flavorful tweaks, consider the following twists on this good recipe:

Add in a can of chili seasoning Ro-tel diced tomatoes (don't drain).
Add in canned green chilis or jalapenos for a spicy kick.
Sautee 1/4 cup finely diced garlic and a finely diced onion until browned with 2 tbsp butter or lard in the instant pot before adding beans. Make sure there are no browned bits on the bottom of the pan before adding beans and water or the Instant Pot wont come to pressure.
Mix with lard and blend for deliciously authentic refried beans.

We love how quick, easy and versatile Instant Pots are to cook with – they make dishes that normally take all day take a few hours.

While we don't love Instant Pot cooking for everything (it can sometimes be more of a hassle than it is worth) – our Instant Pot is our favorite go-to kitchen tool for restaurant style dishes that normally take hours and hours to develop flavor and break down tough meats or fibrous legumes.

Other good Easy Restaurant Quality Instant Pot Recipes

If you love this good easy Instant Pot Pinto Bean Recipe, please check out some of our other favorite recipes we made in our Instant Pot pressure cooker!

These recipes normally take hours to break down and develop flavor, but are done in a flash thanks to an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker.

Try our other favorites: Easy Instant Pot Cheesy Steak Taco Soup Recipe 10 Minute Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes Instant Pot Black Bean Soup Instant Pot Skinny Mongolian Beefand Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken and Rice