Instant Pot Cuban Black Beans

5 from 1 vote

Instant Pot Cuban Black Beans

These Instant Pot Cuban Black Beans are the perfect side dish. They’re warm, comforting, homey, healthy, and hands-off. Seriously, does a recipe get more perfect than that? The black beans cook in the Instant Pot alongside cumin, oregano, and more delightful spices. Soon enough you’ll have a bowl of delicious black beans, a staple in any Cuban cuisine!

Course beans, Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine cuba

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 40

Natural Pressure Release 15

Total Time 1

Servings servings

Calories 100kcal

Author Alexandria Drzazgowski

Equipment

Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
1 small sweet onion chopped
1 green pepper chopped (I used red as green peppers hurt my stomach)
½ tbsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
¾ tsp salt
1 lb dry black beans
3 ½ cups chicken broth
3 bay leaves
2 tsp granulated sugar
¼ cup fresh cilantro
Lime juice to drizzle on individual servings to taste

Instructions

Turn your Instant Pot to the SAUTE function. Add 2 tbsp olive oil. Once the olive oil is heated, add the 1 chopped green pepper and 1 small chopped sweet onion. Saute, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables soften.
Add ½ tbsp oregano, 1 tsp cumin, ¾ tsp salt, and 1 tsp paprika. Saute for 1 minute.
Turn the SAUTE function off. Add 1 lb dry black beans into the pot, and add 3 ½ cups chicken broth, 2 tsp granulated sugar, and 3 bay leaves into the pot.
Put the lid onto the Instant Pot and turn the dial to MANUAL or HIGH. Cook for about 45 minutes, depending on how soft you like your black beans (cook for less time for more al-dente beans).
When the cooking cycle is complete, allow for a 15 minute Natural Pressure Release. Then Quick Release whatever pressure is left over. Open the lid of the Instant Pot and stir the beans. Add ¼ cup fresh cilantro into the beans. Serve, and drizzle servings with lime juice to taste. Enjoy!

Notes

Recipe copyright The Foreign Fork. For educational and personal use only.

Recipe is made using an 8 qt pot.

Recipes for Cuban Black Beans normally use water, but I used chicken broth to add more flavor to the pot.
If you want to make the same recipe using canned beans, you can follow all of the same instructions, but only pressure cook for 5 minutes instead of 45 (make sure to reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe as well. Keep in mind I haven’t tested this extensively, but about ¾ cup should be good).
The beans will keep well in the fridge for up to a week in an airtight container
You can add jalapeño into the dish as well if you want spicier beans!
Some people prefer to smash their beans a bit before serving to make a thick liquid that surrounds the beans. If you’d prefer to do this, you can smash some beans by hand or remove some beans, put them in a blender with some chicken broth, and then return them to the large pot. You can also serve them as is

Nutrition