Instant Pot Pinto Beans: Charro Beans
Pinto Beans cook up super creamy and flavorful with country ham, ground beef, and spices in my spin on Mexican charro beans. Plus you can save time cooking in your Instant Pot!
Servings 8 -12 servings
Calories 507kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound pinto beans picked over and rinsed
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 small country ham hocks
- 1 quart low-sodium chicken broth divided use
- 1 can tomatoes and green chiles I used RoTel
- a few shakes of Liquid Smoke optional
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 cup cilantro roughly chopped
- 4 teaspoons chipotle powder more or less to taste
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 Tablespoon hot sauce to taste
- 2-4 cups water depending on how soupy you like your beans*
- 1 pound ground beef
Instructions
- Soak rinsed beans in cold water for 4 hours. Drain and set aside.
- Heat your Instant Pot on the Saute setting for 2 minutes. Add the vegetable oil, and then brown the hocks on all sides, about 15 minutes.
- Add 3/4 cup chicken broth to the pot, turn off saute and lock on the lid. Make sure vent is set to "sealing." Set your Instant Pot to manual high pressure for 45 minutes. Allow natural release for 15 minutes.
- Release the rest of the pressure manually, remove lid, and shred meat. Discard skin, bones, and all the liquid in the pot or your beans will be way too salty.
- Return the shredded meat to the pot and add the soaked beans, RoTel, Liquid Smoke (if using), onion, cilantro, chipotle powder, cumin, and hot sauce.
- Add the rest of the quart of broth and an additional 2-4 cups of water. (See Notes)
- Lock the lid back on and set to manual high pressure for 25 minutes. Make sure vent is set to "sealing." Allow 15-20 minutes of natural pressure release, and then carefully release the rest of the pressure manually.
- Remove lid, stir the pot, turn back to saute to let the cooking liquid reduce for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally so the beans don't stick.
- While the liquid is reducing, brown the ground beef in a skillet until no pink remains. Drain off fat and add to the beans.
- Stir and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.
- Serve as is as a soup or side or pour over rice. Garnish with more chopped cilantro, diced onion, salsa, sour cream--pretty much whatever sounds good to you!
- Refrigerate leftovers up to a week or freeze in batches for 3-4 months.
Notes
I made these beans with 2 additional cups of water, and they were plenty soupy once they were done cooking. After refrigerating overnight, most of the soupiness was gone, so if you want your beans to stay nice and soupy for days, go ahead and use 4 cups of water rather than 2.
For reference, here's a picture of my pinto beans in a bowl right after I made them. You can see how much soupier they are than when refrigerated overnight. They'll still taste fantastic--I just want you to know!
Notice there is no additional salt in this recipe. The country ham hocks are crazy salty, so my beans didn't need anymore salt. But if you use bacon or a different meat, you may need to add salt. Just taste after you reduce the liquid and add the ground beef, and then decide if it needs additional salt.
Notice there is no additional salt in this recipe. The country ham hocks are crazy salty, so my beans didn't need anymore salt. But if you use bacon or a different meat, you may need to add salt. Just taste after you reduce the liquid and add the ground beef, and then decide if it needs additional salt.Nutrition
Serving: 1/8 | Calories: 507kcal | Carbohydrates: 40.9g | Protein: 44g | Fat: 17.1g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 107mg | Sodium: 1550mg | Fiber: 10.3g | Sugar: 1.9g