How to Cook Red Kidney Beans
This is the absolute best way to cook dried red kidney beans in an Instant Pot pressure cooker! We have included both overnight soak and no-soak cooking methods, so you can whip up a pot of healthy, delicious beans whenever a recipe demands it.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
The Instant Pot is the best way to cook dried beans for optimal food safety, texture, and timing. And we’ve settled on our favorite way to cook beans with and without an overnight soak.
While our weeknight recipes generally use canned beans, sometimes we can’t resist the low cost and of dried beans. So we’ve perfected our method for safely making kidney beans with minimal effort using an Instant Pot / pressure cooker.
This post is the first of several in our upcoming Bean Series, where we’re sharing the best ways to cook dried beans, plus our favorite Instant Pot bean recipes.
INGREDIENTS YOU NEED
Here’s everything you need for easy cooked kidney beans:
- Salt. This is essential for seasoning your beans while they brine and cook.
- Baking soda. A bit of baking soda helps soften the beans before cooking them.
- Canola oil. This is optional, but some prefer it to prevent foaming and for the texture of the finished beans.
- Kidney beans. Look for dried beans above, below, or next to the canned ones at the grocery store. (Also, keep in mind that the older the dried beans are, the more difficult they are to cook so that they are soft and creamy.)
How to Make Dried Kidney Beans in an Instant Pot
✅ This easy recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or Power Pressure Cooker XL.
There are two options when you’re cooking beans from dry. You can soak them overnight, or cook them directly from dry in the Instant Pot.
Benefits of the overnight soak method:
- Salt helps the beans absorb water, so they cook more evenly
- Salt also helps remove some of the indigestible carbs that can cause bloating and gas.
- Baking soda helps to improve the texture and reduce the total cook time. (For more details on this one, check out Serious Eats’ in-depth analysis.)
- Beans soaked overnight typically have a more uniform appearance.
Benefits of the no-soak method:
- You don’t have to remember ahead of time to soak your beans.
- You can add seasonings to your beans that will complement your finished dish. (No acids, including tomatoes, in your initial soak, since these prevent dry beans for absorbing the necessary water.)
Overnight Soak Method
If you’d like to soak your dried beans the night before, place them in the pressure cooking pot with 8 cups of water. Add salt and baking soda and give everything a good stir, then cover the pot and let the beans soak for 8 to 12 hours.
When you’re ready to cook, drain the beans and rinse them well. If you soaked them in the pressure cooking pot, rinse the pot well too. Return the beans to the pot with 3 cups of water, or enough to fully cover the beans.
Cook the beans on high for 10 minutes, then let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, before finishing with a quick pressure release. When you remove the lid, drain any liquid left in the pot, and serve up your beans!
Cooking from Dry (No-Soak Method)
If you’re skipping the overnight soak, combine the beans with 3 cups of water, salt, and baking soda in the pressure cooking pot. Add the canola oil now too, if you’re using it.
Then lock on the lid and cook on high pressure for 55 minutes. When the cook time ends, let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes, then finish with a quick pressure release.
Remove the lid, and drain any remaining water if necessary.
Food Safety Note
Technically you can quick-soak your beans as well. However, red kidney beans are high in lectins, a protein that needs to be well cooked in order to avoid some seriously unpleasant gastric issues. Most food safety sources I consulted recommended that the beans boil for at least 30 minutes or soak for at least 5 hours and then drain the water.
I tend to be fairly cautious about following food guidelines, so I did not test a quick-soak method here.
Important Tips for Making Red Kidney Beans in an Instant Pot
- Before you even start cooking, it’s a good idea to rinse the beans and remove any that are damaged. There can sometimes be small stones in dried beans too, so be sure to remove those.
- Again, uncooked red kidney beans can be toxic, so it’s very important to cook your beans fully and correctly. If your beans aren’t fully soft when the cooking time ends, go ahead and cook them at high pressure for another few minutes.
- Brining the beans in salt water overnight helps them cook more quickly and improves the texture because they’ll be less likely to burst.
Frequently Asked Questions about Instant Pot Red Kidney Beans
Refrigerate leftover cooked kidney beans in an airtight container for up to four days.
Yes, freeze cooled, cooked beans for up to 6 months. I recommend freezing individual servings so you can pop them out and add them to lunches and dinners as needed.
Slow cooking dried beans is not recommended. Uncooked dried beans contain a protein (aka lectins, specifically phytohaemagglutinin, or PHA) that causes food poisoning. Slow cookers don’t get hot enough for long enough to fully break down the lectin. (Plus, an Instant Pot takes a fraction of the time!)
If you really want to slow cook your dried beans, follow these steps from our local university food extension.
When you have a big pot of cooked beans on hand, you can make dozens of meals. Add them to soups and chilis, make burritos or tacos, top salads, or make a quick bean dip.
MORE Instant Pot Bean Recipes
Try these other easy and popular Instant Pot recipes made with beans next:
- Instant Pot Baked Beans are a bit sweet, a bit savory, and always a hit at summer barbecues.
- Instant Pot 15 Bean Soup is jam-packed with legumes for a healthy, warming dinner.
- Instant Pot White Chicken Chili is a cozy wintertime meal filled with chicken and white beans.
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How to Cook Red Kidney Beans | Instant Pot recipe
This is the best Instant Pot method for cooking red kidney beans from dried beans. Instructions for both an overnight soak and a no-soak method are included.
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried red kidney beans, cleaned of debris, rinsed well, and drained
TO BRINE OVERNIGHT, THEN COOK
- 11 cups cold water, divided
- 2 tablespoons coarse kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
TO COOK (NO-SOAK METHOD)
- 3 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon canola oil (optional)
Instructions
To Cook with the Overnight Method
- Place 8 cups cold water into a large pot. (I used the pressure cooking pot.) Add the salt and baking soda, stirring briefly to combine. Add the kidney beans, then cover loosely and soak at room temperature for at least 8 hours and up to 12 hours.
- Gently drain the beans into a colander, then rinse well under cold running water. (If you used the cooking pot to soak the beans, be sure to clean it here.)
- Return the soaked beans to the cooking pot. Add 3 cups water and make sure the beans are evenly covered. Lock the lid in place. Select High Pressure and 10 minutes cook time.
- When the cook time ends, allow the pressure to release naturally for at least 10 minutes, then finish with a quick release. When the valve drops, carefully remove the lid.
- If needed, drain the liquid from the kidney beans.
To Cook from Dry (No-Soak Method)
- Add 3 cups water, salt, and baking soda to the pressure cooking pot. Stir until combined. Add oil, if using, and the kidney beans. Make sure the beans are evenly covered. Lock the lid in place. Select High Pressure and 55 minutes cook time.
- When the cook time ends, allow the pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes, then finish with a quick release. When the valve drops, carefully remove the lid.
- If needed, drain the remaining liquid from the kidney beans.
Notes
* For food safety reasons, be sure that your kidney beans have soaked overnight or boiled for at least 30 minutes. If you live at high altitudes, this recipe is a good one to add a little extra cook time to.
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How much Canola oil would one add to prevent the foaming?
Thank you so much for your weekly mailing, which we have enjoyed for some years.
At our altitude (4500 feet), 1 tablespoon was enough. However, even with the oil, sometimes things can still foam, so I wouldn’t walk away during the release, just in case you need to switch it back to sealed for another minute or two. A longer natural release can also help with that, if you’re concerned.
Thank you SO much for being a long-time follower for email. ❤️
Would this recipe work using dried pinto beans or great northern beans. We love beans.
This cook time will be too long for Pinto and Great Northern Beans. Those posts are coming up soon! (I’ve also sent you an email with additional information on cooking Pinto beans, based on our testing!) Let me know if you have any other questions!
Thanks! I’m looking forward to the dried bean series. Beans are such inexpensive and healthy foods and I think they are often overlooked as such. I have a question – your post and recipe call for 1 cup of dried beans. A pound of beans is closer to 2 cups, if I’m not mistaken. Should we not cook more than 1 cup at a time in a pressure cooker because of foaming or is it OK to double the recipe?
Oh, that’s a great catch! Thank you!
We tested it with just 1 cup of beans, mostly because I’ve never needed to use a full pound of kidney beans in a recipe before. However, I’m really curious now! I have an extra bag on hand from testing, so I’ll give it a go and update the post and recipe based on how things turn out.
Thanks for this information. I’ve recently had a bad night due to undercooked chickpeas. Really not recommendable.
Soaking and pressure cookung it will be from now on.
Boston baked beans have just made it onto my to-do list.
Oh my goodness, that sounds absolutely miserable!!! I’m so sorry to hear it! Chickpeas is on our list for the bean series. (We have a recipe from 2 years ago that has an overnight and a no-soak method; however, I haven’t tried the baking soda and salt with that one, so I want to test it again and see if we can tell a difference in timing or quality of the cooked chick peas.) https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/instant-pot-chickpeas/