Hey there, welcome back with Lacey Baier here with A Sweet Pea Chef.
And if you're like me and you love black beans, we're going to be besties today because I'm
going to show you how to make four different easy, delicious, and flavorful black bean
recipes using an instant pot, so you know they're going to be easy, fast, and super
simple.
So let's get started.
All right, let's talk about black beans.
Yes, they're yummy.
But did you also know that they are very healthy for you?
They are high in protein, high in fiber, high in all sorts of very important nutrients and
vitamins, which makes them really helpful for digestion, weight loss.
They lower your blood pressure, they help reduce heart disease, and they even improve
your bone health and strength.
So very, very useful beans we got here.
Today I'm going to be using an instant pot to make all four of these recipes.
And if you don't have an instant pot yet, I will leave the link for the one I use in
the description below.
Or you can click it on the screen right now.
Instant pots are awesome.
You can not only do everything a slow pot cooker can do, but you can also sauté and
sear and do all sorts of useful things in them.
Plus, it's a pressure cooker, so it cooks things very, very fast.
You don't need a lot of oils or anything, you can just put everything into the instant
pot.
And in a matter of minutes versus hours, you have delicious, in this situation, black beans,
and the flavor and texture is so much better than canned bean.
You're never going to want to buy canned beans again.
Also, feel free to shoot over any questions you have about instant pots.
I know that can be a little intimidating at first and I'm happy to help you through your
instant pot journey because they are so useful and I want to help you feel comfortable using
them.
For our first recipe, I'm going to show you how to make basic black beans.
I'm going to show you how to use your instant pot to turn dry black beans into cooked black
beans.
I think you're going to notice just how simple it is.
And also, the texture is so much better than a canned bean.
If you notice with canned beans when you eat them, they kind of taste a little overcooked
and they can be a little mushy.
These black beans cooked in an instant pot have a little bit more of a firmer texture,
and it just tastes a whole better, and they're perfect for any recipe you're going to need
for just basic black beans.
So our first step with dry beans is to rinse them off and to make sure that there are no
stones or broken beans in your dried beans.
These will not help with the cooking process, they'll get mushy, or if it's a stone it will
be hard.
I have found one stone in like hundreds of bags of beans, so it's not common but it never
hurts to take a look.
Now, in our instant pot, we are going to add in our rinsed and drained dry black beans,
followed by some sea salt and some water, and then we're going to stir that together.
Then we're going to place the lid onto the instant pot and we're going to turn it to
seal it.
Then we're going to set it on manual at high pressure, we're going to put for 35 minutes
at this high pressure.
Before you walk away from your instant pot, you want to make sure that your steam vent
is turned to sealing and not turned towards venting because we want this seal to happen.
That's what really creates all that pressure inside the instant pot and cooks everything
really, really fast.
After the 35 minutes of manual high-pressure arc up, your instant pot will start to release
its pressure naturally, you're going to want to let it do that, just let it set on its
own.
Don't touch it for 20 minutes, after which you can kind of help very carefully the steam
vent to turn it from the feeling over to the venting, and that's going to release any more
pressure.
You might notice that if you try to open the lid and there's too much pressure the instant
pot won't let you, so might have to actually turn that little lever to make sure that you
can get all of that steam out.
Watch your fingers, it can be hot, and quick water coming out of there.
Now you can remove the lid carefully and then you have delicious, plump, cooked low sodium
black beans ready to use.
I like to rinse these off in some running water and a strainer, and then I place them
into a meal prep container.
They will store in the fridge for a whole week.
And then I can just grab them as I need them and I'm always cooking with black beans.
So this is a really great go-to black bean recipe that I can use in any recipe, because
it doesn't have any strong flavors in it, it's just basic black bean.
Next let's add some spice and make some Cuban black beans, which are also called Caribbean
black beans, and they are full of zesty flavors and they are very, very good.
We are going to use our sauté function on our instant pot for this recipe.
So go ahead and turn your instant pot to sauté, and also welcome back to get hot.
Then we're going to add in some olive oil, then our diced onion, diced bell pepper, and
some sea salt.
We're going to cook this for about four to six minutes until the onion and bell peppers
are mostly tender.
This is one of the awesome functions of an instant pot, you can actually sauté it in
the pot which is going to keep all those flavors in there, and it's going to make it so you
don't have to get another pan dirty, which is awesome.
Next, we're going to stir in some spices.
So add in some ground cumin, dried oregano, and we're also going to add in some minced
garlic, and then stir all this together.
We're going to cook for about 30 to 60 seconds until that garlic and those spices are nice
and fragrant.
Then add in some tomato paste and stir that until it is fully mixed in.
Then we get to add in our dried black beans but make sure you have already rinsed and
drained these black beans and checked them for any stones or broken beans.
Also add in some water and then stir that all together, and then we're going to place
a bay leaf into the mixture as well.
Go ahead and place your cover on the instant pot and turn it to lock it.
Next, we are going to cook this on manual high pressure for 35 minutes.
We're not going to touch it for 35 minutes, we want to make sure our sealing vent is set
to sealing and not to venting.
After the 35 minutes are up, we're going to allow instant pot to continue to set for 20
more minutes during which time instant pot will naturally release more pressure.
Again, if you have to allow it to release any more pressure after 20 minutes you can
just help that little vent go from sealing to venting.
Now you can remove the lid carefully and then go ahead and grab that bay leaf and discard
it.
We will not be eating that, we just use it for its flavor.
And now you have a delicious Caribbean or Cuban black beans made in an instant pot.
These are so flavorful and very filling and satisfying.
I love having them just as a snack or as a side, it's just so good.
And just a really nice combination of flavor.
No need to drain or rinse these Caribbean black beans because they are ready to go and
delicious and they're all cozied up with all those zesty flavors, so you don't want to
rinse any of that off.
You can eat this immediately or you can transfer it to a meal prep airtight container.
It'll store in your fridge for up to a week and it's just so tasty.
I love topping it with some diced red onions and jalapeno and some cilantro for just a
little bit more added texture and flavors.
It's so good.
All right, next we are going to be making my absolute favorite way to enjoy black beans,
and that's refry the black beans in our instant pot, except with these refried black beans
we are not going to be refrying with any lard or anything, we're going to be using our instant
pot and we're so still going to get that delicious, creamy, and smooth texture that you love in
refried beans, but without any of that excess fat that is not needed.
So to start we are going to use our sauté function on our instant pot again, and we're
going to add in a little bit of olive oil and allow that to get hot.
Then because I like a little bit of spice in my refried black beans, I'm adding in a
little bit of jalapeno to add that spice.
We're going to cook that and stir it for about two to four minutes until it starts to soften.
Then we're going to add in some minced garlic and stir that.
We want this to cook for about 30 to 60 more seconds so that it gets nice and flavorful
and fragrant.
Then we're going to add in some brown cumin, chipotle chili powder or just regular chili
powder, and sea salt, and then we're going to stir combine.
Now add in our black beans that are dry but they have already been rinsed and drained,
followed by some freshly squeezed lime juice, and follow that up with a little bit of water,
and we're going to stir that together until it's nicely mixed.
Go ahead and secure our lid over instant pot and we're going to allow this to cook on manual
at high pressure for 25 minutes.
Then after that time, we want it to naturally release its own pressure for another 20 minutes.
So just let it set.
You're going to set a timer, whatever you need, just let it sit for 20 more minutes
once your instant pot has already peaked after those 25 initial minutes.
Then you can remove the lid and you'll see you have those black beans that are all plump
and cooked and they have that tasty jalapeno all cooked in there as well.
You'll notice there is excess liquid in there, and that is A-okay, we are actually going
to use that in our refried beans.
In order to mash our beans and turn them into refried beans consistency, you can either
use an immersion blender or a potato masher.
The immersion blender is going to have a little bit more of a smoother, creamier consistency,
and then your potato masher is going to have a more like rustic and chunky, which is the
way I prefer it.
I'm using a potato masher and basically just going to go on in there and you're going to
mash all of the beans up using your potato masher.
If you need to remove a little bit of the liquid because it's just so, so watery, that
is okay, but make sure to hold on to it because these beans will thicken up.
In fact, if you are not going to enjoy them right away, I recommend leaving excess water
in there because the starches in the beans will start to really thicken everything up.
So trust me.
Just wait like 10 minutes and you're going to have much thicker black beans.
These refried black are so delicious.
I love to serve them, topped with a little bit of crumbled cotija cheese and then a little
diced avocado for an added creaminess and coolness.
So good and just the perfect side.
I love this as just a snack during the week or I have on the side if I'm having like some
tacos or something, they are so, so tasty.
And you just reheat them in the microwave, covered for about two minutes until it's heated
all the way through.
So, so, so simple and it'll last all week in your refrigerator.
All right, next we're going to be switching it up a little bit and we're going to be adding
in some rice into our next black bean recipe and making some instant pot black beans and
rice.
And this is so delicious.
It's seriously one of the best things I've eaten in quite a while and I eat a lot of
food.
So that should tell you something, it's really, really tasty and it's so easy.
So go ahead and press the sauté button on your instant pot and add in a little bit of
olive oil, then add in some diced yellow onions, and we're going to sauté these until they
are translucent and tender.
It should take about four to five minutes.
Then add in some minced garlic, and we're going to stir this around and cook it for
about 30 to 60 seconds until it's nice and fragrant.
Now add some dried cumin, chili powder, oregano, sea salt, and cayenne pepper and then stir
together.
Now add in some diced fresh tomatoes including their juices, the dried black beans that have
been rinsed and drained, and some brown rice that has also been rinsed, and then stir all
this together.
Then add in some low sodium vegetable broth and some water.
We want to make sure we add enough liquid into this because we have to also cook the
rice which is going to absorb a lot of liquid.
So we're going to stir this together.
Go ahead and get the lid on the instant pot and secure it, and then we're going to turn
this on manual.
We're going to cook for 30 minutes on manual at high pressure, and then we're going to
allow it to release any extra pressure naturally for another 20 minutes.
This instant pot black beans and rice recipe is so easy to make, it's ready in under an
hour, and you'll have a delicious meal or side ready to go all week long.
So it's perfect for meal prep too.
Top it with a little bit of freshly squeezed lime and you have yourself something pretty
good going on.
It is so tasty.
It's high in protein, high in fiber, high in other delicious nutrients.
And it also just reheats the microwave so easily for just two minutes.
So definitely this is a keeper and the flavors are perfect.
So I hope you enjoy this instant pot black beans and rice recipe too.
Okay, so I hope you can see now why I absolutely love instant pots for meal prep, and then
just in general too.
You can sauté, you can sear, you can boil, you can cook rice and beans at the same time,
you can make refried beans, you can do so many different things all in the same pot
and doesn't require a lot of cleanup either.
And it just does it all for you while you can do other things, which makes it really
easy to prep in bulk as well.
I happen to have four instant pots, people, and I use them to make my meals all sorts
of easy and it's just really, really a great tool to have in your kitchen as a meal prepper.
So again, if you have any questions about instant pots, let me know in the comments
below.
I'm happy to help you.
So now you have four easy, delicious, and very unique flavored black bean recipes that
you can make in an instant pot so it's easy.
All of them are done in under an hour.
And it's just going to be a really great meal prep side to have in the fridge ready to go,
or you can just enjoy it and have it be a stress-free dinner side as well.
I hope you love these recipes.
Each of these ones that you've seen today are going to make about four to six servings
depending on what size serving you're wanting, and how many calories you're wanting to have.
And if you're wanting to have it as a side versus an actual just meal, so they are so
good.
And they're all really, really tasty reheated as well in the microwave.
I'll also leave the link for my instant pot in the description below, or you can also
click on it on the screen.
It's just a really great tool to have as meal prepper, so I highly recommend grabbing one
if you don't already have one.
And if you're thinking, "Do I want to get a slow cooker?
Do I want to get an instant pot?"
I have to recommend an instant pot because of how fast you can flip things.
That pressure is awesome.
If you're looking for a tasty protein to go with these instant pot black beans, definitely
check out my slow cooker shredded chicken meal prep recipes.
I have four of them.
They're so easy to do.
You can even have a slow cooker and an instant pot going at the same time and have your meal
prep ready to go during the week.
So check out that video.
I've linked to it here for you.
And make sure to subscribe and give this video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it.
Let me know in the comments below which black beans recipe you're going to make first.
Is it going to be the refried black bean?
Or is it going to be something else?
All right.
Thank you so much for hanging out with me today.
I will see you next time.
Bye-bye.