How To Cook Black Beans From Scratch - Inspired Taste

This is my favorite recipe for how to cook homemade black beans. It makes incredibly flavorful, creamy beans that taste much better than canned. Tips for cooking on the stove and Instant Pot are below.

Our family eats a lot of black beans. I occasionally use canned beans, but I really love how delicious and creamy black beans turn out when cooked from scratch. It is so easy and well worth the extra effort.

Black beans are Adam’s favorite, so I make these often. One of our favorite ways to use these beans is to make our black bean burgers. For a fun flavor twist, try our creamy coconut black beans!

Key Ingredients

• Dried black beans: My black bean recipe calls for 2 cups of dried beans, which is about 1 pound. Most bags sold in stores are 1 pound.
• Garlic and onion: I toss whole garlic cloves and half an onion into the pot with our beans, adding light garlic and onion aroma and flavor.
• Bay leaf: Adds a subtle depth of flavor to our pot of beans. I genuinely love how incredible the bay leaf makes these beans smell and taste.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

Tips for Making Black Beans from Scratch

Our favorite black bean recipe cooks them on the stove. We find that the beans are creamy and more intensely flavorful. If you prefer cooking them with an Instant Pot, we’ve got you covered! We included both methods in the recipe below.

Tip 1: Soak your beans to speed things up. You do not need to soak black beans before cooking them. However, when I have the time, I do it anyway. Soaking black beans speeds up the cooking time the next day. If you don’t have the time to soak, no worries! Your unsoaked beans will cook (promise).

Tip 2: Build flavors. To cook dried black beans, add them to a pot with aromatics (garlic, onion, and bay leaf) and enough cold water to cover them by 3 to 4 inches.

Tip 3: Cook with lid off. Slowly simmer your black beans with the lid off until tender, usually taking 1 ½ to 2 hours. (If your beans are older, they may need a bit longer to cook.)

Tip 4: Simmer longer to make sauce. To turn the bean simmering liquid into a creamy sauce (like in our photos), remove the aromatics and continue to simmer until the sauce thickens and looks shiny.

Tip 5: Season generously. When your beans are tender, season them with salt and pepper and, if you like, fresh lime juice. Black beans can take a lot of salt, so be generous! If you taste them and the flavor doesn’t pop, add more salt and lime juice.

Serving Suggestions

These delicious black beans are wonderful served over rice (see our Mexican rice or cilantro lime rice). You can also use them in your favorite recipes, calling for beans. Here are some of my favorite black bean recipes:

Many of these recipes call for canned black beans that have been drained and rinsed. We recommend draining homemade beans, but there is no need to rinse them. For reference, one (15-ounce) can of black beans is about 1 ½ cups of cooked black beans.

• Easy Black Bean Burgers
• My Favorite Black Bean Soup
• Black Bean and Quinoa Salad
• The Best Veggie Burgers
• Easy Veggie Tacos
• Black Bean and Corn Salad

How to Cook Black Beans Perfectly

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• PREP 5 mins
• COOK 2 hr
• TOTAL 2 hr 5 mins

In the recipe below, I’ve shared methods for cooking black beans on the stove and an Instant Pot (pressure cooker). These black beans are so creamy and taste much better than canned.

8 Servings (4 cups)

Watch Us Make the Recipe

You Will Need

1 pound (450g) dried black beans, rinsed, about 2 cups

3 cloves garlic, peeled and gently smashed

1/2 medium onion, sliced through the root end so that the onion doesn’t fall apart

1 bay leaf

1 lime

Salt and fresh ground black pepper

Directions

• How to Cook Black Beans on Stove

1Add the black beans, garlic cloves, onion half, and bay leaf to a large pot and cover with 3 to 4 inches of water. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Uncover, stir the beans, and reduce the heat to keep the beans at a low simmer.

2Cook the beans uncovered, stirring occasionally, at a low simmer until the beans are tender, 1 ½ to 2 hours. Add more water to the pot as they cook if you notice the beans look a little dry.

3Remove the garlic, onion, and bay leaf. Add the juice from half a lime and season the beans with salt. Start with 1/4 teaspoon, then add more as needed (beans can take a lot of salt, so be generous).

4Serve the beans straight away, or to make the creamy gravy surrounding the beans in our photos, increase the heat to medium and simmer until the liquid around the beans has thickened and sticks to them. Serve with additional lime juice squeezed over the top.

• Instant Pot Black Beans

1Add rinsed beans, garlic cloves, onion, and bay leaf to a 6-quart pressure cooker (we have an Instant Pot). Add enough water to cover the beans by 1 ½ inches, but do not fill past the “max fill line.”

2Add one teaspoon of olive oil (this prevents the beans from foaming).

3Seal the lid and cook on High Pressure for 30 minutes, then allow the cooker to naturally release for 20 minutes. Then, use the manual release button to remove the remaining pressure.

4The beans should be perfectly tender, but if they are still hard (this occasionally happens if your beans are old), you can seal the pressure cooker again and cook for another 10 to 20 minutes.

5Remove the onion and bay leaf, then discard them. Add the juice from half a lime and season the beans with salt. Start with 1/4 teaspoon, then add more as needed (beans can take a lot of salt, so be generous).

6Serve straight away, or to make the creamy gravy surrounding the beans in our photos, turn the pressure cooker to Sauté and simmer without the lid until the liquid thickens and sticks to the beans. Serve with additional lime juice as needed.

Adam and Joanne's Tips

• Storing: Cooked black beans last, stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days and in the freezer for 3 months. Thaw frozen beans in the refrigerator overnight before reheating.
• How to know when the beans are done: For dips and spreads, cook your black beans until they are very soft, and you can crush them easily with your fingers or a fork. For salads, topping rice and grain bowls, and soups, cook the beans until they are tender but not falling apart.
• Overnight soak: It is not necessary to soak black beans overnight, but some find that an overnight soak helps with digestibility and even cooking. I rarely do this, but it is up to you. To soak black beans, add the dried beans to a big bowl with enough water to cover them by 3 to 4 inches, and then set aside to soak overnight. The beans will triple in size. Drain and use in the recipe above. Cooking time will be slightly less.
• The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.

Nutrition Per Serving Serving Size 1/2 cup / Calories 223 / Total Fat 0.8g / Saturated Fat 0.2g / Cholesterol 0mg / Sodium 607mg / Carbohydrate 40.3g / Dietary Fiber 15.8g / Total Sugars 0.6g / Protein 14.9g AUTHOR: Joanne Gallagher