Instant Pot Mexican Beans

instant pot refried beans in a bowl with jalapenos on top

Instant Pot Mexican Beans

Course: Appetizer, Dip, Side Dish

Cuisine: Mexican

Prep Time: 25

Cook Time: 50

Steam Release: 15

Total Time: 1 30

Servings: servings

Calories: 186kcal

Author: Emily

You can make homemade refried Instant Pot Mexican Style Beans that taste like they came from your favorite restaurant.

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Equipment

Ingredients

1 pound dried pinto beans, rinsed and drained
4 slices bacon, cut into 1" pieces
1 small yellow onion, roughly chopped
1 jalapeno, cored, deseeded, and minced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups beef stock (can sub chicken or vegetable stock)
4 cups water
1 tablespoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 dried bay leaves
2-3 tablespoons lard (can sub olive oil or butter)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon chili powder homemade* or store-bought, see notes

Instructions

Rinse the pinto beans in a colander or strainer and ensure there are no rocks, foreign pieces, or weird beans. Set the beans aside.
Roughly chop the onion and mince the garlic and jalapeno. Cut up the bacon into small pieces, about 1".
Turn the Instant Pot to SAUTE and cook the bacon for 3-4 minutes. Add the onions and jalapeno and saute for an additional 3 minutes. Add the garlic and stir to combine.
Add the broth and scrape the bottom of the pan insert if there are any burnt pieces on the bottom. Add the beans, water, bay leaves, salt, and pepper.
Lock the lid on the Instant Pot, make sure the vent is sealed, and turn it to Pressure Cook HIGH for 45 minutes. Once the cycle is complete, allow the steam to naturally release for 15-20 minutes and then manually release the rest.
Open the Instant Pot and remove the bay leaves. Carefully drain the beans saving the liquid. You will need this for mashing the beans. I strained the beans into a strainer and place a bowl below it to catch the liquid. The beans will need to be out of the pot for a few minutes.
While the Instant Pot is empty, place the insert back on and turn the Instant Pot back to saute. Add the lard and allow it to melt. Place the beans back into the pot along with the cumin, onion powder, oregano, and chili powder, and ½ cup of reserved juice. Cook in the lard for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
Manually mash the beans with a potato masher. Add another cup of the reserved liquid and continue to mash. If you want beans with chunks, this is as far as you need to go. I prefer my beans smoother. You can use a hand blender or a blender to puree the beans into a smooth consistency. Add any extra liquid as needed.
Taste for any seasoning needs and adjust as desired. Enjoy!

Notes

Don’t presoak the beans. One of the many benefits of an electric pressure cooker is that you don't need to soak the beans ahead of time. In fact, they could be too mushy if you do.
Save the cooking liquid! Once you mash and blend everything you will see why you need the liquid. Once you add about 2 cups you can decide if you want to add more.
Mashing the beans before blending them makes the process easier.
Refrigerate any leftover beans for 3-4 days or you can freeze them for up to 3 months.

How To Make Homemade Chile Powder

It's easy to make homemade chile powder using dried chile peppers. Take each dried pepper and cut off the stem. Take out as many seeds as you would like, this is where any of the heat will be. Cut the peppers into small pieces so that they will fit in your coffee/nut grinder or small food processor. Pulse and grind until you get a powder. Store any unused powder in a sealable container.

I have updated this recipe to use bacon in place of a ham hock/bone. You can substitute the bacon with a ham hock/bone and discard the bone after cooking.

Nutrition