Instant Pot Cowboy Beans Recipe

This Instant Pot Cowboy Beans recipe will kick up your next summer BBQ – made with dried beans, vegetables, and spices ! A hearty and high protein side dish everyone will love. 

 

These beans can be made in your pressure cooker ahead of time, or right before the party. Great with veggie burgers, corn on the cob, and a hearty side of homemade vinegar & oil coleslaw.

 

 

Kick off your next summer BBQ by making these delicious high protein Instant Pot Cowboy Beans! This dried beans recipe is a rich, flavorful, and hearty side dish everyone will love. A fun take on baked beans, these hearty beans are great for serving up when dinner is ready. Smoky, loaded with BBQ flavor, and so easy.

 

These cowboy beans are made with dried beans, and are high protein with a tasty and delicious sauce. We made these for Memorial Day, and they were SO unbelievably good!  I can’t wait to make these beans again and again.

These Instant Pot Cowboy Beans Are

• Bright
• Saucy
• Smokey
• Loaded with Flavor
• High Protein
• A great side dish for summer

What Are Cowboy Beans?

Cowboy beans are a smoky BBQ bean dish, made with a variety of beans (pinto, kidney, and navy), ground beef, and spices. They are similar to baked beans, but not as sweet as their traditional counterpart. Beans were a staple for frontier cowboys, and this version uses a few varieties for a high protein, hearty meal.

Instant Pot for the Easy Beans!

For all my recipes I use the 8-Quart Instant Pot Ultra, its larger than the standard models (which are only 6 quart) so I have extra room to meal prep and batch cook more meals for the week. The Ultra model also has some great extra settings like cake baking and yogurt making which are really neat. I love that everything can cook in one pot, which makes for way less dishes and hands-off cooking.

The Instant Pot is hands-down my favorite kitchen appliance, and actually makes my life so much easier.

 

What’s In These Pressure Cooker Cowboy Beans?

I cook with fresh produce from my garden and from Misfits Market– they sell fantastic fruit, vegetables, & pantry staples at a discounted price. We get Misfit boxes every other week and love picking out favorite produce for delivery. Get $10 off your first box here!

• Dried Beans: pinto beans, navy beans, and kidney beans. You can use your favorite combo too – black beans would also be delicious in this!
• Ground Beef
• Chili Powder: for a really nice flavor in this dip – the chili powder isn’t spicy but will give you a rich and bright flavor.
• Onion Powder: adds a delicious and savory flavor to this dish as well, and the onion powder pairs nicely with the onions in these beans.
• Pink Himalayan Sea Salt: I like to use a pink Himalayan Sea Salt.
• Garlic: I use fresh garlic when I have it, and this great jarred organic garlic when I don’t have fresh. It’s actually super convenient to have pre-chopped garlic on hand for quick and easy meal prep.
• Diced Tomatoes:  I only use no salt added diced tomatoes, these boxed tomatoes are really great to stock up on!  I like boxed tomatoes better because they are BPA free and more eco-friendly than aluminum cans. If you haven’t read about the dangers of consuming foods stored in BPA cans, head over to Nutrition Facts to read more.
• Bell Pepper: If you don’t have fresh peppers, these sweet roasted red peppers are a great substitute! I love adding them to breakfast bakes, sandwiches or wraps, and soups.
• Corn
• BBQ Sauce: We absolutely love this fantastic BBQ sauce that you can find on Amazon… I like this one you can get online here!  It has a nice spiciness and isn’t too sweet – perfect for this recipe.
• Jalapeno

 Frozen Veggie Recipes For the Win!

I used a few frozen veggies (like frozen corn and peppers) for this recipe instead of  fresh produce. Frozen produce is a great option for finding fresh and flavorful vegetables in the off season. By using freezer ingredients, I can stock up when they are on sale, and use them in all kinds of great dishes. It saves me a trip to the store, and I can add amazing veggies right into the recipe.

Frozen vegetables are often picked at peak ripeness, so they are a much better option than canned.  Check out all my recipes that use Freezer Ingredients on The Herbeevore – great for those nights when you want dinner ready fast! And check out my Top 125 Plant-Based Pantry Staples for long-lasting staples that I always keep on hand.

How Do I Make Cowboy Beans in the Instant Pot?

1. To the Instant Pot, add the ground beef, and set to Sauté mode. Brown the ground beef for 8-10 minutes until all the meat is browned. Drain any grease and add meat back to the pot.
2. Add the remainder of the ingredients to the Instant Pot except the barbecue sauce and jalapeno. Cook on High Pressure or Manual mode for 25 minutes.  Once finished cooking, allow the pressure cooker to naturally release for 30 minutes and then carefully release the remaining pressure.
3. Remove lid and stir in the barbecue sauce and jalapenos. Garnish with extra jalapeno and cilantro and enjoy.

More Side Dish Recipes for Your Next BBQ or Cookout:

Quick Caramelized Onions Recipe in 30 Minutes
BBQ Deviled Eggs Recipe 
Pesto Tortellini Pasta Salad Recipe 
Red Cabbage Macaroni Salad Recipe 

Instant Pot Cowboy Beans

Kelly Jensen

This Instant Pot Cowboy Beans recipe will kick up your next summer BBQ! A hearty and high protein side dish everyone will love. 

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe Pin Share Tweet

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Release Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 55 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 12 servings

Calories 274 kcal

Equipment

• Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 lb ground beef I used 95% lean
• 2 cups dried pinto beans
• 1 cups dried navy beans
• 1 cup dried kidney beans
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt
• 1 14 ounce No-Salt-Added Diced Tomatoes
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 1 bell pepper diced
• 1 cup sweet corn
• 10 cups No-Salt-Added Vegetable Stock
• 2/3 cup barbecue sauce
• 1 jalapeno sliced

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

 

• To the Instant Pot, add the ground beef, and set to Sauté mode. Brown the ground beef for 8-10 minutes until all the meat is brown.
• Add the remainder of the ingredients to the Instant Pot except the barbecue sauce and jalapeno. Cook on High Pressure or Manual mode for 25 minutes.  Once finished cooking, allow the pressure cooker to naturally release for 30 minutes and then carefully release the remaining pressure.
• Remove lid and stir in the barbecue sauce and jalapenos. Garnish with extra jalapeno and cilantro and enjoy.

Notes

Save Money on Fresh Groceries & Pantry Staples!

I get all the fresh produce for my recipes from my garden and from Misfits Market – they sell organic produce at a discounted price, and it’s purchased direct from farmers to reduce food waste. We get Misfit boxes every other week and love picking out our favorite seasonal produce.  Save up to 40% off grocery store prices.

If you think produce delivery is too expensive… think again, and give Misfits Market a try!

Nutrition

Calories: 274kcalCarbohydrates: 52gProtein: 15gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 339mgPotassium: 1033mgFiber: 13gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 619IUVitamin C: 20mgCalcium: 102mgIron: 4mg

Keyword Cowboy Beans in the Pressure Cooker, cowboy beans instant pot, Cowboy Beans Instant Pot Dried Beans, instant pot cowboy beans, pressure cooker cowboy beans

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