One of my most popular recipes to date, is this recipe for Best Dang BBQ Vegan Baked Beans.
I first published it in May of 2015, and it has practically stayed in my top 10 list ever since - no matter the season.
This is one of those recipes grandma or mom might have used, as the beans were slow cooked on the stove for hours to get that authentic, homemade taste. And it definitely shows!
But I knew it was only a matter of time before someone asked for this recipe to get converted for the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker. And since I have a potluck to go to this weekend...... here you go.
They still take a bit of time, so give yourself a few hours when you decide to make these....but they are SO worth it. They taste 100x better than anything you could ever get out of a can.
And there's absolutely no worry of any weird chemicals, BPA lined cans, added oils, or HFCS when you make them yourself.
The process is fairly easy...
- We're going to quick soak the beans for 1 hour
- Sauté a few veggies right in our Instant Pot
- Mix in a few more ingredients
- Pop on the lid
- And then let our IP do its job for the next 45 minutes
- Piece of cake...... (vegan cake of course)
Sound good? Alright!
Let's get cookin' !
Vegan Baked Beans (Instant Pot)
Take a 1lb bag of Navy Beans, and spread them out in a bowl or pan. We just want to pick through them and remove any weird colored beans, rocks, or basically anything else that doesn't belong.
Now toss them into a large pan and cover them with 2-3" of cold water. Stir in 1 Tbs of Kosher Salt and bring that to a boil.
Once they begin to boil, allow them to cook for 1 minute, then remove them from the heat, cover them with a lid, and let them sit for at least 1 hr.
This is called the Quick Soak Procedure and saves you the time of soaking them overnight.
After the hour is up, sauté 1 medium-sized, diced white onion in a few tablespoons of veg broth (or water), directly in your IP, using the SAUTE mode.
Make sure the Sauté Power setting is on LESS.
Stir in a diced Green Bell Pepper and about a teaspoon of chopped Jalapeño (optional but good). While the veggies are softening, drain the other pot of beans and rinse them well. Again, pick out anything that doesn't belong.
Onne the veggies have softened, stir in the garlic, turn OFF the IP and stir in the beans and 2 cups of water.
In a separate bowl, combine 2 cups of Low Sodium Veg Broth, a 6oz can of Tomato Paste, ¼ cup Molasses, ¼ cup Brown Sugar (packed), 1 Tbs Yellow Mustard, 1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar, ¼ teaspoon black pepper and ¼ teaspoon Smoked Paprika. (a dash of liquid smoke could be used in place of the paprika)
Whisk the sauce until smooth and then pour into the beans and mix well.
Attach the lid ensuring the vent valve is set to SEALING and then press MANUAL, HIGH PRESSURE, and set the time for 45 minutes.
Once the time has passed, allow the IP to naturally vent for 15 minutes, and then you can (carefully) release any remaining steam manually.
If at this point the beans still have a lot of liquid, you can turn the IP back on to SAUTE mode and allow the beans to continue cooking until they reach your desired consistency.
Taste and adjust any seasonings if necessary.
These beans are great for BBQ Picnics, Potlucks, or....as I found out from my British friends, AND to steal a line from Shrek...
"Actually, it's quite good on toast"
Enjoy!
Vegan Baked Beans (Instant Pot)
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Vegan Baked Beans will surely be a ht at your next BBQ. That old fashioned baked bean taste - without hours of simmering on the stove, thanks to the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker.
Ingredients
- 1 lb Navy Beans ((picked over))
- 1 Tbs Kosher Salt
- 1 med White Onion ((diced))
- 1 Green Bell Pepper ((diced))
- 3 cloves Garlic ((minced))
- 1 tsp Japapeno ((minced - and optional))
- 2 cups Water
- 2 cups Low Sodium Vegetable Broth
- 1 can Tomato Paste ((6oz))
- ¼ cup Molasses
- ¼ cup Brown Sugar ((packed))
- 1 Tbs Yellow Mustard
- 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- ¼ tsp Black Pepper
- ¼ tsp Smoked Paprika
Instructions
- Pick through the beans, removing any debris, and then add them to a large pot. Cover with 2-3" of water and stir in salt. Bring to a boil.
- Boil beans for 1 minute, then remove from heat and cover. Allow to soak for at least 1 hour. After an hour has passed, drain and rinse beans thoroughly.
- Saute the diced onion, bell pepper, and jalapeño directly in your IP, on SAUTE mode, LESS power, until softened. Stir in minced garlic and then turn IP off.
- Add 2 cups of water and rinsed beans to IP and stir.
- In a separate bowl, combine veg broth, tomato sauce, molasses, brown sugar, mustard, vinegar, pepper, and paprika and whisk until smooth. Pour sauce into beans and mix well.
- Attach lid, ensuring vent valve is set to SEALING, and then set IP to MANUAL, HIGH PRESSURE, and 45 MINUTES.
- Once countdown has completed, allow IP to naturally vent for at least 15 minutes, before carefully venting any remaining pressure manually.
Careful - the steam is HOT. - Remove lid and stir beans. If there is still a lot of liquid, turn IP back on to SAUTE mode and continue cooking until desired consistency is reached.
- Taste and adjust for any seasonings if needed.
Claire Gardiner
Can you substitute 1/2 cup pure Maple syrup for the Molasses/brown sugar??? Or would that affect the taste too much?
Pamela Krueger
Great recipe! I absolutely love it. Thank you so much, Chuck.
John Moravecek
How many people does it serve?
Cheryl Mae
Can this be modified to do in a crockpot instead? How would I adjust the timing?
vic
Is it possible to taste 1/4 tsp of black pepper, smoked paprika or 1 tsp of ACV? Those amounts seem low to me.
Alice
I had to adjust the seasonings to my family’s tastes, but the overall technique was great! Super easy and will be perfect at a graduation barbecue. I doubled it but cooked separate batches since my IP isn’t big enough. I will refrigerate and then reheat in the crockpot on party day.
Note that the recipe says tomato paste but the instructions say tomato sauce. I went with paste and it was perfect.
Becky
I decided to make homemade baked beans for the first time, but I didn't look for recipes before I started soaking some pinto beans...and before the grocery store run. I didn't have bacon (which I found in my first two recipes,) so I looked for a vegetarian option and found this. Oops, no onion, so I used a little onion powder. My baby doesn't do spicy, so I omitted the hot pepper and just sprinkled some Chipotle chili powder on my serving. I also only soaked 3/4 cup of beans, and I had a frozen chunk of tomato paste that I didn't feel like measuring. So I cut the recipe in half (ish,) threw everything into the instant pot, and crossed my fingers. When it came finished, I had to cook it down a bit to thicken the sauce. The result was so delicious that I may never bother trying to make the non-vegan version! And I might have to start incorporating this as a main dish in our slowly growing assortment of vegetarian meal options. Yum!
Doug
This is going in the rotation!
Such a good baked beans recipe thank u! ?
Karen
I made these for a barbecue this weekend. I did an overnight soak and cooked them for the full 45 minutes. They came out perfect. I also made the carrots for carrot dogs. Now I’ve been eating leftover chopped carrots with the beans and greens over toast. Yum yum.
Alicia
These are so delicious!!! I made them exactly to recipe except I didn't soak the beans and cooked them 75 mins high pressure. They came out perfect and ready to eat, no need to simmer down further. Thanks for the great recipe! It's a keeper for sure!!!
Donna
In the actual recipe itself, you have tomato PASTE. In the instructions IN the recipe, you have tomato SAUCE. Which is it? I’m guessing it’s tomato paste, but I don’t want to guess.
Also, for the benefit of us who soak beans overnight, would the time be the same, 45 minutes? Seems a bit long.
I imagine you’re super busy, but these questions were asked before, but I didn’t see an answer. My apologies if they were answered & I completely missed it. Thank you.
Joyce Byrne
I just made this and they the beans out great! I'll mention my slight modifications as there were questions that are relevant:
- I soaked 454g of white beans in cold water in the fridge.for 7 hours (I was ready to get started and didn't wait for 8 hours) instead of quick soaking because I was up really early this morning
- subbed 1/2 red and yellow pepper for the green and 1/2 large red onion because that is what I had
- subbed 1/4 cup maple syrup for molasses because that is what I had
I cooked for 45 minutes on high pressure per the instructions and did a full natural relase. I forgot to brine the dried beans but they retained their shape pretty well.
Overall a wonderful and easy recipe and will make it again!
Lynn
Loved this recipe! I altered it a little bit. Used dry mustard, tomato sauce instead of paste (all I had), and didn't soak the beans by putting them in a pot to bring to a boil but instead soaked them a couple hours in hot water and salt. I also cooked this in my traditional pressure cooker and it worked SO well. I did end up adding a bit of corn starch at the end to thicken it up. Yum. So savoury and flavourful. I eat beans daily and this will be in my regular rotation. Thanks!
Donna
Would you know how long to cook overnight SOAKED beans in the instant pot?
Katie
Is this a recipe that would be better if I made them a day ahead of serving them.
Chuck Underwood
Probably - most things to taste better the next day
Tiffani Wells
I made these last night for our 4th of July barbecue. They were super tasty and enjoyed by all! I didn’t bother sautéing the onions and peppers but instead just threw everything in (after the beans soaked). I knew that they would be good and soft after 45 minutes on high, so I just didn’t bother. Thanks for the recipe!
Adele
Hi Chuck. I just made these beans and they are awesome.! I have the smaller instant pot so I cut the recipe in half. There was a lot of liquid so I used the sauté function to decrease the liquid. as you recommended. They are perfect and taste great. Thanks.
Karen
If you do soak the beans (overnight or quick soak), do they still need to cook for 45 minutes? I thought it would be more like 7 minutes with natural release. Won’t everything turn to mush after 45 minutes?
Chuck Underwood
The 45 minutes is for dried, non-soaked beans.
Monica Valencia
If you don't have 1 pound of dry beans, how many cans of beans would work for this recipe?
Chuck Underwood
The time to cook would be way shorter....
Sheryl Travis
The ingredient list call for tomato paste, but later it says tomato sauce. Which is the correct ingredient?
Chuck Underwood
I only see tomato paste....which is the correct answer
LINDA
Tomato paste is in the ingredient list; tomato sauce in the recipe instructions.
Gilles M.
Made this many times since I found the recipe. I am not vegan though I try to eat this way frequently and this is satisfying enough that there is no way I would go back to the traditional recipe. I must say though that I sauteed the onion and green pepper in unrefined coconut oil (1-2 Tbsp) which must add to the smoothness of the sauce. For what it is worth, the last time I made this, I was out of brown sugar and I substituted coconut sugar: it turns out this adds significant depth to both taste and color. Highly recommended!
Susan
Thank you for your comment. The coconut sugar worked nicely.
Helen Butt
After boiling, then soaking the beans for an hour, I made this in a crockpot. Even after cooking all day the beans were still a bit crunchy. The flavor of everything was really good, but I'd like the beans softer.
Helen Butt
I may have answered my own question. I should have looked at your original recipe that is for a crock pot, and done a double soak, and cooked them before putting in the crock pot.. But that leaves another question. Why can you have everything together in the instant pot and the beans get soft, and not with the slow cooker method?
christine lee
Great flavor. I thought it was a little too sweet though.
Ida
spot on perfect! Really great flavors.
Brian Watson
This recipe was too much for the smaller instant pot. Would be nice if there was a warning to make sure you use the big one or half the recipe.
Jennifer
Looks delicious! I do not own an IP. Do you have suggestion for stove top cooking?
mk
Just follow the same process, only preheat an oven to 350. Put everything in an pot and bring to a simmer. Then transfer to an oven-safe casserole or pot and bake for 304 hours. Alternatively, you can do it on low in slow cooker for 8-10 hours or on high for 5-6. Lots of version out there.
stacie connors
is Kosher salt different than reg. salt? it was my understanding that you couldn't add salt to dried beans
till they were already cooked and tender. something about salt & acid foods like tomatoes would stop the beans
from softening. so you had to wait till they were tender before you could add the salt. I haven't made beans in awhile...
has something changed?
Lisa Johnson
As it happens, I watched the American Test Kitchen staff cook baked beans yesterday. They, too, recommended dissolving salt in the soaking water for the beans. They said the beans absorb the brine and then don’t split so much when cooking.
Pinkie57
I made this recipe recently, it was really good. Had it at a party with many omnis, and they loved it too! Thank you
Kelly Peggy
I just made these baked beans using pinto beans as that is what I had soaking. They are delicious!
Pam Westfall
I've made this recipe many times. Delicious! So many great recipes on this site. Thank you!
Paula Neel
BNV - ideas or subs for the molasses and sugar??? SOS free? thanks
Chuck Underwood
You could try dates, or maple syrup.
KAM
I'm going to try it by putting dates in my food processor and using it for the sweetener. They are so sweet! Fingers crossed! 😀