Instant Pot Green Beans
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Fresh green beans and bacon meet up in your Instant Pot to make this traditional, farm-style, favorite quick and delicious. These Instant Pot Green Beans deliver all the savory flavor and tender texture of green beans that have simmered for hours.
Whether you’ve just picked a big basket of green beans or scored some super fresh ones at the farmer’s market, you’re probably looking for something special to do with them.
Look no further, here’s a fresh green bean recipe that’s simple and fast. Who knew pressure cooker green beans could taste as good as the ones that used to take all day?
If you crave the old-fashioned, slow-cooked flavor of green beans with bacon, but don’t have hours to hang out near your stove, you’re going to fall in love with this Instant Pot Green Bean recipe.
Key ingredients and substitutions
- Fresh green beans — Obviously this is the main ingredient in Instant Pot Green Beans. Choose firm green beans with a bright green color. Avoid limp ones or any with brown spots. In a pinch you can substitute with frozen, but fresh is best.
- Bacon — Bacon is where most of the seasoning in this recipe comes from. It doesn’t really matter how fat or lean it is, it’s all about imparting that smoky richness to the green beans.
- Onion — Many chefs believe every savory dish starts with onion. This recipe is no exception. Onions bring big flavor to these pressure cooker green beans. Save time with frozen, already chopped onions if you’d like.
Special supplies needed
An Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker. For this recipe you’ll need one that is 6 quarts or larger.
How to make instant pot green beans
STEP 1 | Clean and prep the green beans
In a colander, rinse the green beans with cool water. Snap off the stems and tips and then break the green beans into bite-sized lengths.
STEP 2 | Saute the bacon
Cut bacon strips into 1 inch pieces. Set your instant pot to Saute. When it’s preheated, add the bacon and cook while stirring, until it’s crispy.
STEP 3 | Bring in the onion and water
Add the onion to the bacon and cook for another minute until the onion is translucent. Pour the water in and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden or silicone spoon to release any tasty browned bits.
STEP 4 | Add the rest of the ingredients
Cancel the Saute function and put the green beans, salt, pepper and sugar (optional) into the Instant Pot and stir everything together to combine. Cover with the lid and lock into place.
STEP 5 l Time to cook
Set the Instant Pot to Pressure Cook for 4 minutes. When the cook time is finished, manually release the pressure, remove the lid and serve.
tip
- Chef’s Tip — If you want even more seasoning, try some garlic along with the onion. Like a little heat? Add a pinch of red pepper flakes or hot sauce.
Serving suggestions
- Instant Pot Greens Beans make any dinner more delicious.
- Imagine these yummy green beans next to meatloaf, fried chicken, pork chops, pot roast, steak or barbeque of any kind.
- They’re perfect with potatoes too.
Frequently asked questions
Oh, please don’t! Canned green beans are already cooked. You’ll end up with something way too mushy if you use canned ones
In an airtight container in your refrigerator, they will keep for 5-6 days. In the freezer for about 2 months tops.
Ham chunks or ham hock would work very well in your Instant Pot Green Beans.
Instant Pot Green Beans: behind the recipe
Fresh green beans always remind me of growing up on the farm, breaking bushels of beans under the shade trees in our front yard, and helping my grandmother “put up” a few dozen quarts of beans for the rest of the year.
She seasoned her green beans with a hunk of salt pork and let them simmer in a big pot for hours until they were soft and delicious.
My instant pot green beans are every bit as good as the ones my grandmother used to cook and are ready to eat in a fraction of the time!
Instant Pot Green Beans
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs. fresh green beans
- 4 slices thick-cut bacon
- ⅔ cup diced onion
- 1 cup water
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons sugar optional
Instructions
- Place the green beans in a colander and rinse thoroughly under cool water to remove any debris. Break off the stems and tip, remove any tough strings along the sides, and break or cut into the desired length.
- Cut the bacon into 1-inch pieces (kitchen shears work great!). Set the instant pot to SAUTE. Once it is preheated, add the bacon. Cook and stir until crisp, about 5 minutes.
- Add the diced onion to the instant pot and cook another minute, until translucent. Pour in the water and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to release any browned bits.
- Cancel the SAUTE function. Add the green beans, salt, pepper, and sugar (if using) and stir to combine. Cover with the lid and lock.
- Set the instant pot to PRESSURE cook and set the time for 4 minutes (it will take about 10 minutes to come to pressure).
- When finished cooking, manually release the pressure and serve.
Nutrition
Life Love and Good Food does not claim to be a registered dietician or nutritionist. Nutritional information shared on this site is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
About Sheila Thigpen
Recipe Developer, Food Photographer, Food Writer
Sheila Thigpen is the publisher of Life, Love, and Good Food — a Southern food blog — and the author of Easy Chicken Cookbook and The 5-Ingredient Fresh and Easy Cookbook. After 20+ years in the publishing industry, she retired in 2018 to focus on her own creative endeavors full time. She and her husband live near the beautiful Smoky Mountains and have a precious little granddaughter who has stolen their hearts. As an influencer, Sheila has collaborated with brands like Creamette, Kroger, HERSHEY’S, Hamilton Beach, Garafalo Pasta, OXO, Smithfield, Valley Fig Growers, and more.
Tastes amazing and was super easy.
I added chicken bouillon to the 1 cup of water and oh mylanta thank you for the recipe !!!
I made these last night. They were so good!!! I will only cook them this way from now on.
Made these last night, sooo scrumptious, I added a little garlic and some red pepper flakes as you suggested! Gobbled up!
I just added this to my Thanksgiving menu! Talk about making life so much easier!!