Arizona Meets Appalachia: No-Soak Instant-Pot Vegetarian Soup Beans
Keeping it easy this week: just a pot of beans, cooked simply, no planning needed.
When my husband and I lived in Tucson, we used to love going to a little diner called Frank’s, which had a big sign that read “elegant dining elsewhere” and served an absolutely classic old-school, no-frills breakfast. At night, Frank’s turned into Francisco’s de Noche, a BYOB Sonoran Mexican spot. The food was always delicious, and if you arrived especially hungry (these were my triathlon training days, so I always did) you could help yourself to the condiments (pickled carrots!) and a big pot of charro beans - pinto beans cooked Sonoran style - while you waited.
After moving to West Virginia, we were delighted to discover that Appalachia has a direct analog to the Southwest’s beans-and-tortillas: out here they call them soup beans, and they serve them with cornbread. It’s a cheap (I recently picked up a 10-pound bag of pinto beans on sale for $6!), filling, and nutritious meal that just about anyone can throw together. Did you know that beans and corn have complimentary amino acid profiles? Eat them together (as you know you want to do anyway) and you’re getting a complete protein. Another fun fact: a cup of cooked pinto beans has more potassium - 746 mg! - than a banana!
Both the Sonoran and Appalachian preparations traditionally rely on pork for seasoning and fat, but although you’ll find bone broth in many of my recipes, that’s about the extent of the animal inclusions you’ll see here. I tend to prefer a more Mediterranean / Blue Zone profile for most day-to-day cooking: low in animal fat, high in plants.
This version of soup beans fits that bill, although I do recommend using a little bit of butter here, which adds a negligible amount of saturated fat per serving but really helps lend an unctuous texture that would otherwise be lacking. If you want to make these vegan, coconut oil would also work just fine - or use olive oil instead for a fruitier flavor.
I’m also using unsoaked beans, one of the great delights of owning an Instant Pot. While this recipe isn’t exactly instant, it does come together with about ten minutes of hands-on time and absolutely no advance planning, great for those evenings when you’re not exactly in the mood to cook…but not exactly in the mood for takeout or a freezer dinner, either. The recipe makes 8 servings and is an excellent addition to your meal-prep routine - nothing simpler for lunch than heating a bowl of beans and crumbling some cornbread on top.
Speaking of cornbread - you can make some in the time it takes the beans to cook! I’m not going to give you a recipe, because this one is perfect. I swap out the bacon drippings for butter, but it’s your kitchen - do as you like!
No Instant Pot? No problem! If you’re cooking these on a stovetop, do soak the beans overnight first, and then proceed as per the directions, increasing cook time as needed to ensure the beans fully soften.
As a final note: these beans are pretty strongly seasoned. You can always dial things back a bit, but let’s not be timid here. Even the humble bean likes to get a little dressed up sometimes.
Vegetarian Instant Pot Soup Beans (serves 8)
2 cups dry pinto beans
6 cups water (or omit the soup base below and use vegetable stock)
2 T Better than Bouillon soup base (I like the organic vegetable)
2 T avocado oil (or other neutral-tasting oil)
3 medium onions, diced
4 celery stalks, diced
3 carrots, scrubbed (no need to peel!) and diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 bay leaves
2-3 t smoked paprika*
2-3 t garlic powder*
2 T butter**
2 T nutritional yeast***
*start with 2t of each; taste after cooking and decide whether to add the third
**you can use coconut oil to make this vegan, or any other fat you prefer. Nutritional information is with butter. I do not recommend making this recipe fat-free - it wants just a little “oomph.”
***optional, but adds a nice bit of umami, along with some B vitamins!
Dice the celery, onions, and carrots.
Set the Instant Pot to “sauté”, add the avocado oil to heat, then add the carrots, onions, and celery, stirring until the onions are translucent.
Add everything else. There’s no need to chop the garlic - it will break down as the beans cook.
Close the lid, set the valve to “sealing” and set to pressure cook on “high” for 50 minutes (you need a little extra time for dry beans, but it’s all hands off!)
(If you’re planning to make that cornbread, this is your chance.)
Once finished, allow pressure to naturally release, open the lid, and give everything a good stir. Adjust seasoning to taste.
Enjoy your non-elegant dining experience!
Nutritional information (per serving): 274 calories; 7.2 g fat (2.4 g saturated); 40.5 g carbohydrates, 9.8 g dietary fiber, 12.6 g protein
That’s all for this week, friends. Until Monday - Fare Well.
Below: Audio version of this post and recipe PDF
