These instant pot Cuban black beans are seasoned and pressure cooked to perfection. Serve these as a side dish or enjoy them straight out of a bowl. This authentic recipe will become a new dinnertime favorite at your house!
Black beans are super versatile and can be made in many different ways. Although nothing beats Cuban style well-seasoned beans served over white fluffy rice.
I grew up eating grandmas Cuban black beans and she never once soaked the beans in water. There is no need to soak dried beans overnight if you’re going to cook them in the instant pot. They will come out perfectly tender every single time if cooked properly.
No cream or cornstarch necessary to make these beans nice and creamy. The beans will thicken on its own and get super thick and creamy.
How To Cook Instant Pot Cuban Black Beans
Add the rinsed unsoaked dried black beans to the instant pot along with the water and 1/2 green bell pepper. Press the “pressure cook” function on your instant pot and select 25 minutes. When the 25 minutes are up, do a natural release. When the pin in the lid drops down, safely open the lid. Press the “saute” function and let the beans cook uncovered while you prepare the veggies.
Add some oil to a small skillet on the stovetop and let it heat over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook for 3-4 minutes or until translucent. Then stir in the garlic and cook for an additional 20 seconds. Add the tomato sauce and cook for an additional minute. Add the onion, garlic, and tomato mixture to the instant pot along with the bay leaf, vino seco, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper, and sugar. Continue cooking for 20 minutes while stirring occasionally or until the beans are nice and thick.
Tips For The Perfect Beans
- Cooking the onions, garlic, and tomato sauce in oil on the stovetop makes a huge difference. Make sure you don’t skip this step.
- Cook the beans uncovered for about 20 minutes so they can thicken.
- Beans need a lot of salt otherwise they will taste bland. Season generously with kosher salt and black pepper once they’re done cooking.
- Discard the bay leaf before serving.
- If you can find sofrito at your local supermarket, add 2 tbsp to the beans once it’s done pressure cooking.
- Ketchup may be substituted for tomato sauce.
- Regular drinking wine like pinot grigio may be substituted for vino seco.
Can I Use Canned Beans Instead?
If you would like to use canned beans, there is no need to cook them in the instant pot. Canned beans are already cooked and softened. All you would have to do is warm them up on the stove-top for 12-15 minutes.
How Long Do These Instant Pot Cuban Black Beans Last For?
These beans can last up to a week in an air-tight container refrigerated. However, you may freeze these for up to six months if stored properly.
What Can I Serve These With?
I highly suggest serving these with rice. I love Jasmine rice and traditionally Cuban black beans are served with short or medium grain rice.
Once you give this recipe a try you will never cook beans any other way!
More Cuban Recipes
- Cuban Carne Con Papa
- Coconut Flan
- 15-Minute Cuban Black Beans
- Picadillo Cubano Con Papas
- Cuban Chicken Noodle Soup
You can find more delicious recipes and cooking tutorial videos on Youtube and Facebook.
Instant Pot Cuban Black Beans
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1 lb black beans rinsed
- 6 cups water
- 1/4 cup dry white wine (vino seco)
- 1/4 cup tomato sauce
- 1 yellow onion finely diced
- 4 garlic cloves finely minced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 green bell pepper
- 2 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the black beans to the instant pot along with the water and 1/2 green bell pepper.
- Press the "pressure cook" function on your instant pot and select 25 minutes.
- When the 25 minutes are up, do a natural release. When the pin in the lid drops down, safely open the lid. Press the "saute" function and let the beans cook uncovered while you prepare the veggies.
- Add some oil to a small skillet on the stovetop and let it heat over medium-high heat.
- Add the onions and cook for 3-4 minutes or until translucent. Then stir in the garlic and cook for an additional 20 seconds. Add the tomato sauce and cook for an additional minute. Add the onion, garlic, and tomato mixture to the instant pot along with the bay leaf, vino seco, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper, and sugar.
- Continue cooking for 20 minutes while stirring occasionally or until the beans are nice and thick.
- Garnish with fresh cilantro or parsley, if desired.
Hello Julie!!
I’ve been married to my Cuban husband for 18 years. His mom is a terrific cook and is old school. She has taught me a lot of things but my biggest nemesis has been black beans in the stove top pressure cooker. She measures the water by sight. I do not have that gift (1st bc I’m a gringa, second bc I’m not a very good cook lol) I’ve tried a LOT of different recipes and threw out MANY bags of beans over the years mostly bc of the bean:water ratio. Most online recipes use 8 cups for 1 bag of presoaked beans.
This recipe is MONEY!!!! This is now my black bean recipe. I used the same instructions for a stove top pressure cooker.
Most grateful for this recipe!!!!!!
Wow, this comment is so kind and means so much to me! I’m so glad you finally found a recipe you enjoy. xoxo
I came across your recipe and I’m glad I did. I was fed up finding Cuban black been recipes with jalapeño as an ingredient? In my book, once you start adding spicy stuff to the recipe, it’s no longer Cuban. Yours is traditional, similar to how my grandma makes it but she uses the pressure cooker on the stove. You’re also heavy on the cumin, the way it should be!!! Nice!! 🙂