Instant Pot Beans and Rice

 

This Instant Pot Beans and Rice using canned beans is a quick weekday staple made with pantry ingredients. Easily doubled to make meal prep a breeze!

Instant Pot Beans and Rice

Like many of us, 2020 was the year of cooking up a storm while being quarantined at home. To reduce the trips to the grocery store, we searched our pantries for inspiration. In between sough dough bread testing and banana bread baking, I was looking for something that would be filling, yet make my body happy.

At the beginning of my plant-based journey, beans and rice were (and still are) a staple. Something you could make as simple or complex as you wanted and always filling! What makes them even better? Cooking it all in an Instant Pot for a quick, one-pot meal.

When I searched the internet for beans and rice recipes, they all started with dried beans. Don’t get me wrong, dried beans are great and I love to make them now – but at that time they were still a little intimidating. I was already planning on making a batch of brown rice in the Instant Pot (my favorite time saver), so I figured I might as well try throwing a can of black beans in with them and see what happened! Honestly to my surprise, the beans held up very well.

The next time I made these, I decided to jazz them up with all my favorites, and hence these easy and delicious Instant Pot beans and rice were born!

How to Make this Instant Pot Beans and Rice

First, we are going to assess our pantry situation. This recipe is incredibly versatile and shouldn’t require a trip to the grocery store.  We will need:

• Rice (this recipe uses brown)
• Canned Beans (any variety you want)
• Tomato Paste
• Taco sauce (salsa could also be used)
• Spice blend
• Instant Pot (or any pressure cooker)

Combine the rice, beans, water, tomato products, and spices in the Instant Pot. Place the lid on (making sure the steam release valve is sealed), select Manual Pressure, and set the cook time to 22 minutes. It will take a few minutes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure, but once the screen switches from “ON” to “22”, you will know you are cooking!

When the cooking cycle is complete, you will hear a *BEEEEEEP* and the screen will switch to “L 0:00”. We are going to wait until this says “L 0:10” aka 10 minutes has passed since the cooking cycle has stopped. Then, carefully switch the steam release valve to relieve the existing pressure and open up to see (and smell) the goodness! There may be a little liquid sitting on the top, but a good stir will take care of that.

Recipe Variations & Toppings

As I mentioned before, this recipe is incredibly versatile and can be adapted to fit any pantry or dietary preference. Some easy switches include:

• Different type of canned beans – I also tried red beans and they worked great!
• White vs. Brown rice – note that the cooking time would need to be adjusted significantly.
• Salsa vs. Tomato & Taco Sauce – If you prefer a chunkier version, your favorite type of salsa would be perfect! Try 3/4 of a cup.
• Peppers & Onions – easily use the “Saute” feature on the Instant Pot to use up leftover veggies
• Replacing the water with vegetable broth
• Use this as the base of a burrito bowl!

The topping options are endless! Here are a few of my favorites:

• Cilantro
• Extra lime juice (or a sprinkle of True Lime to save time or if you realize you are out of limes)
• Tajin 
• Avacado
• Hot sauce (for a really unique flavor, use my go-to hot sauce that I put on almost all my recipes: Truffleist Hot Sauce)

 

 

Favorite Products Used in This Recipe:

*If you use these links to buy something, I may earn a small commission. Thanks!

Instant Pot – No explanation needed here. They are a little intimidating at first, but such a timesaver!

Truffle Hot Sauce – You know the saying “I put that s**t on everything”? Well, I REALLY do with this stuff!

Crystallized Lime – I can’t get enough of these! I use their lime and lemon almost every day in my water and recipes.

Crystallized Lemon – I didn’t use lemon in this recipe, but I use it every day in my water! It is my absolute favorite way to drink water. And yes, you need a big one like this because you will go through it so fast 😉

Save Now to Make Later

Be sure to save this recipe to make later! Check me out on Pinterest.