Easy Pressure Cooker Pinto Beans

From dry beans to pantry shelf! 

No pre-soaking required!

my Aunt Myrna Memmott's amazing recipe

This recipe is for 1 quart jar of beans.  You might want to increase the recipe depending on how many jars your pressure cooker can hold.  My pressure cooker holds 7 jars. 

Start to finish: about 3 hrs.  

1 pressure cooker canner with a bottling rack

1 quart jar, clean and dry, a Mason or Ball canning jar

1 rubber lid topper, sanitized

1 screw top ring

3+ cups boiling water

1 cup of dry pinto beans, sorted and rinsed

1 teaspoon of salt

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Start boiling some water in a big 6 qt pot. 

In a smaller pot, place the rubber lids.  Cover lids with 2 in. of water.  Sanitize them by bringing to a boil.  Bring to a boil slowly because you won't need them right away.

Meanwhile, Sort beans by removing all the little rocks.  Place 1 heaping c. of dry pinto beans in a small bowl. Rinse them in cold water using a strainer.  The holes in the strainer remove the dirt from the beans.  Using a jar funnel, pour beans into the empty quart jar.

Add 1 teaspoon salt.  Add boiling water to 2 in. below the top of the jar. Wipe the rim of the jar with a clean cloth.

At this point, you can start slowly heating up the pressure cooker.  Place pressure cooker on the stove Med heat. Add 3-4 quarts hot water.  Water should not yet be boiling when jars are being placed inside.

Use tongs, or 2 forks, to remove the rubber lid from the small pot and place it on top of the jar.  Take care not to touch the rubber part of the lid with your hands.  Secure screw top ring tightly over the rubber lid topper.

Place jars in pressure cooker.  Lock pressure cooker lid in place.  Use High heat until you reach 15 lbs pressure (15psi).  Lower heat to keep it at 16-18 psi  Start timer.  Bottle at about 17 psi for 90 min.  Do not leave your home with the pressure cooker running.

After 90 min, Remove pressure cooker from heat source by moving it to a cool burner. Let it depressurize, 15 min or so.  Remove pressure cooker lid.  Let cool 10 more min. Remove jars carefully with a jar lifter and place them gently on a dish towel, OR you can simply leave them to cool inside the pressure cooker.  After they cool, check to make sure they sealed by pressing the center of each lid to hear if it pops up. 

Do not move or bump the jars until they have cooled over night.  Next day, rinse off the outside of the jar.  Label with contents and date, and place them in the pantry.

My favorite meal to make with bottled pinto beans is Bean and Cheese Quesadillas.  I pop open a jar of pinto beans and run an immersion blender through it. If it's a wide-mouth jar, the immersion blender fits inside the jar without a problem, fast fat-free refried beans. I toss the beans on a tortilla with a little cheese then warm it on a hot skillet.  Instant lunch!  The preschoolers and I have it at least once a week.  It's so yummy that I need to post that recipe next! ~Lindsey