Instant Pot Healthy “Refried” Beans Recipe

Save time and money with Instant Pot healthy refried beans! This Instant Pot recipe is easy, quick, healthy, satisfying, and perfect for busy weeknights.

The more I use my Instant Pot, the more I love the things it allows me to do that, in turn, simplify my life.

I was slightly skeptical, but also pretty thrilled when I heard you could cook dry beans without soaking them beforehand.

I really try to plan and think ahead for my meals, but things like soaking beans for 8 hours before I plan to cook them often gets overlooked, which means I revert to backup plans (reaching for the canned stuff).

Some people soak the beans to prep them for cooking (this is me) and others soak them to make them easier to digest.

If you want to soak your beans for your preference then go for it! Just know that this recipe is written for dry beans, so you’ll need to adjust the cooking time.

How to Make Healthy Refried Beans

Start by heating up your Instant Pot on saute mode and pour a little bit of avocado oil into your pot. You can use extra virgin olive oil if you’d like, but I always prefer avocado oil (I buy mine at Costco).

Saute your onion and garlic for a few minutes.

Pour in your broth. Homemade chicken broth always has the best flavor, but I’ve recently fallen in love with Better Than Bouillon and I use it often.

Now add your rinsed, dry beans.

And all of your spices EXCEPT the salt. Salt can prevent your beans from cooking properly, so we will add that at the end.

Stir it all together, put your lid on your pot, and set it to cook on high pressure for 45 minutes.

When the cooking cycle is complete, allow your pot to naturally release. The time it takes for this to happen will depend on your altitude. I cooked this at about 4,600 feet and it took my pot 43 minutes to fully naturally release.

When you open your lid, your beans will look something like this.

There will probably be some extra liquid hidden underneath, though if there isn’t, don’t be concerned!

You just don’t want your beans to be too soupy, so I removed 1 1/2 cups of liquid with a baster.

I just moved the liquid to a glass measuring cup so that if I wanted to pour any back in after blending, I could do so easily.

Use an immersion blender to puree the beans to your preferred texture. If you like lots of whole beans, you can use a potato masher to just slightly mash them.

I prefer mine pretty smooth.

Now is the time to add your salt! I used approximately 2 teaspoons, but everybody’s salty preference is different, so start with a little and add more as you need to.

And that’s all there is to it!

I love making this in my meal prep sessions because this makes quite a bit and it freezes great. I love making freezer bean burritos, 7-layer dip, sweet potato nachos, and burrito bowls with them.