Every week, with few exceptions, I cook a big pot of beans to add to dishes throughout the week – mostly in the form of homemade refried beans, but occasionally also baked beans or calico beans.
And less often than I’d like, homemade hummus, especially roasted garlic and red pepper hummus. Now that stuff is yummy!
The reason we eat so many beans? Well, they’re super cheap! And they’re also a great source of nutrition including protein, fiber, folic acid, iron, and many trace minerals.
But of course, there’s an ugly downside to beans. We all know it. And yeah, it’s the smelly, uncomfortable kind.
This is especially true of canned beans by the way. Yep, not only are they more expensive than dry beans, but they’re not cooked in such a way as to degas them.
But YES, you can degas them.
If you run a quick google search, you’ll come up with ten different methods for the absolute best way to degas beans.
I’ve tried them all, and frankly, not all of them have worked for us.
For a while, I actually thought degassing beans wan’t really possible, and quit eating them.
Then I found out that there’s an enzyme in beans that is only broken down by high heat – in other words, cooking them in the slow cooker was half my problem.
So knowing that, I decided to give them another go, and we FINALLY hit on a bean degassing method that actually works for us.
I’m not by any means saying it’s the only way to degas beans, I’m just saying it’s the one that it totally working for us!
And just as importantly as degassing, I’ve started cooking them in my Instant pot. I LOVE being able to put them in, set the timer, and walk away. This morning, I turned them on, and then walked out the door to go paint our new house while they cooked. The only problem with walking away is that in the Instant Pot, they cook SO fast – you really don’t need to walk away!
Freedom!
PrintHow To Cook (and de-gas) Beans In Your Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 Cups dry beans
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- 3–4 bay leaves
- Water
Instructions
- Cover beans with 6-8 cups of water and let soak 20-36 hours
- Drain beans and rinse under running water while rubbing (or kneading) vigorously with your hands. (This helps break down the gas-causing surface coating)
- Place beans in instant pot with bay leaves and salt
- Cover with water, about an inch deep on top of beans
- Place lid on pot, making sure the valve is closed
- Select the “bean/chili” setting
- Adjust the cook time to 30 minutes for firm beans, or 35 minutes for softer beans (which are perfect for mashing as in refried beans) (Note: As beans age in storage, they take longer to cook. Below, you’ll see that I’ve set the timer for 110 minutes, because, yes, that’s how long it takes for my 3+ year old beans to cook!)
- Let cook, and then slowly depressurize before opening pot.
- Use as desired.
- Enjoy!
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Doreen says
Made this twice so far. Thank you sooooo much! Before I would feel aweful when I ate beans so I was slowly stopping eating them. Now no issues. What a Godsend you are.
Elise says
Yay! Oh my gosh, so glad it worked for you!
Theresa says
I’ve done beans twice in the instant pot (without soaking) and they made us so miserable that I threw them out. They were delicious, and it’s really convenient to be able to cook so fast, but I was wondering if they really needed the soak to de-gas. I’ll be giving this a try.
Elise says
It definitely depends on who you ask, but in my experience, YES! Soaking, especially in a warm environment helps break down the enzyme inhibitors, and makes a huge difference in digestibility.
Rachel says
Soaking beans is the key to degassing them. I usually will set up my beans the night before about 7 or 8 in the evening. I bring the beans to a quick boil, and take off the heat, let cool about an hour then cover till i am ready to use them the next day. Rinse vigorously as Elise states then cook.
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Anne says
After you do this do you then carry on and make Baked Beans with them?
Pauline says
I soak my beans overnight, bring to a boil for 15 minutes the next day and then put them in the oven to make bake beans. Have never had a “gas” problem. Been making them that way for 30 years
Chrissy says
LOVE this recipe. So simple. So life changing.
Can you share your method for both freezing and defrosting your beans? I need a quicker/better way to defrost them.
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Elise says
Hi Chrissy, I either defrost them in the microwave, or put them in a pot with a little water and steam them. Hope that helps!
Sandy says
My father-in-law was cook in the Navy. Had to degas them for the sailors on a boat.. He told me years ago to add something me baking soda to the water and bring the beans to a boil, remove from heat. Cover and let sit from at least an hour or overnight. They will be foamy. Rinse them to remove the baking soda then cook as usual. It works every time. My husband used to say I took the fun out of them
Elise says
Good to know! Thanks for sharing.
Vickie says
How much baking soda per pound of beans do you use?
Pepe Martinez says
I’ve made beans in the Instant Pot just once, and it was a failure! Gas galore!
I’ve always made them on the stove top soaking them for a full day and overnight. Mysecret ingredient has always been “epasote,” an herb used throughout Latin America to de-gas the beans and add a special flavor. It’s readily available in the Southwest and probably in international markets in large cities in the USA.
My failure in using the Instant Pot, I believe, was that I didn’t cook them long enough. I used the recommendation from the Instant Pot literature. Big mistake. I’m cooking them next time for 45 minutes!
Elise says
Interesting! I’ll have to look for epasote!
Courtney Goff says
Wow, thank you so much!! My husband doesn’t like eating beans because his stomach is very sensitive to gas pain and I’m a vegetarian so I thrive on beans. I pretty much stopped making them for the gas reason. I am very excited to be able to make beans more frequently with out tearing up my husband’s baby tummy! 🙂 🙂
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Johanna Garbutt says
Maybe it’s because I have the instant pot mini. But I’ve soaked my beans for between 4 and 12 hrs to experiment. Using the pressure cook for literally as little as 4 minutes and my beans still come out too soft????. Which is fine for stews and refried beans which get mashed anyways. But sometimes I would like it a bit firmer, ie can consistency for salads. I’m literally as I type trying it for only 10 minutes and no soaking, hopefully I wont be too gassy????
Lupe Rodriguez says
I have the InstaPot mini lux an it does not have the bean/chili button. What button should I use in this case?
gloria randall says
please ad me to your subscriber list for low carb and sugar free recipes.
Henca says
Another way you can de-gass beans if you are in a hurry and didn’t have time to soak them over night is by boiling them for about 10-15 minutes, then drain that water, rinse them, and then either cook in the pressure cooker or regular pot but add a little ginger to your other seasoning ingredients you usually season your beans with. The ginger gets rid of any remaining undigestible sugars.
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Obbie says
This is a great no fail recipe for basic beans. Thank you for posting.
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Johanna says
I didn’t know about the ginger! Thanks for sharing
Johanna says
I have had my instant pot for several years but ever thought to make beans with it! We love beans here but they do get expensive to buy the canned aversion. Thanks for posting! I have a question about knowing how long to cook it for. If the beans are still crunchy, do you set the instant pot for longer and keep checking, or will they not continue to cook??
Elise says
Yes. I bought some beans from Walmart that took 30 minutes to get soft. It’s only the beans that have been sitting in storage for multiple years that take so long!
Anna says
Are the bay leaves and salt essential to the degassing, or just added as seasoning?
Gena says
At the end of cooking to you manually release the vent or let the pot naturally release on its own? It’s just says slowly depressurize so I’m not sure what to do.
Elise says
If I’m ready to use the beans right away, then yes, manually depressurize. I would do it slowly to the broth doesn’t start spraying out.
KO says
I tried 33 minutes in the IP releasing pressure
Slowly until valve dropped about 10-12 and they came out to firm 5 more minutes and I I’ll let you know.
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Elaine says
great idea! ive always just put baking soda in the water while they soak, but im going to try the bay leaves this time ! thanks! and im making them into your canned chili!
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Carolyn says
I have a Cuisinart Pressure Cooker which is like Instant Pot. I tried it for navy beans, oh wow, so good. Since it is just me, I used 1/2 lb of dry navy beans, 5 cups of water, 1/4 c each of diced onion, celery and carrots plus a clove of garlic. Sauteed veggies in evoo for 5 minutes then added beans and water. Set timer for 20 minutes, came out perfect! Note: I had soaked the beans overnight which did help reduce the sugars. And the high heat cooking helped break down the enzymes also. No gas at all and I had 2 meals of them so far. Thank you for your suggestion to cook in instant pot.
Amanda King says
What setting do you use if you don’t have a ‘bean/chili’ setting on your instapot?
Christine McCaleb says
Looks good. I’m trying it today and will cook the beans tomorrow. I’ll let you know if it worked for me.
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Dr Julie K Bjornson says
How much cooking water once in Instant Pot?
Maggie says
See her 4th note in the instructions.
Mary Ann Young says
How to de gas already cooked beans.Every article tells you how to get gas and before you cook them however I cook them and they are gassywhat can be done after cooking?
Valery Long says
I always put a little ground ginger (maybe 1/4 t) in with my cooked beans in recipes. Works wonders, it is the only way that I can eat beans.
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Kristin S. says
Thank you. I followed your instructions to make black beans. The kids said they were the best black beans ever and I am happy to report no tummy distress. Hooray!
Becky says
Thanks for your recipe. Why the salt when soaking? Not sure why it’s called an Instapot when you can use a pressure cooker. Pressure cook soaked beans on high for 8 min and they’re ready to use in recipes! Save time and electricity.
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Kay H says
What if I don’t own an Instant Pot? Thank you
Leslie says
Followed directions and beans came out very tasty! Will use this recipe again.
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Brenda Willis says
Are the bay leaves needed for degassing or just for the flavor?