Instant Pot Brown Sugar Baked Beans
Instant Pot Brown Sugar Baked Beans are a quick and easy summer side dish thanks to the instant pot with all the hearty, filling, baked bean flavors you love. Slow cooker directions also provided.
 Instant Pot Brown Sugar Baked Beans
Hey everyone it’s Sabrina again from Cooking with Points, a healthy recipe blog.
This month I’m sharing a delicious side dish recipe for all the warm weather we’re finally starting to see (except on the East Coast, they’re still getting snow!).
Baked Beans are one of the most popular summer side dishes we all enjoy. For years to have a healthier option for baked beans I used to just try to find the healthiest canned variety I could find.
The idea of making them from scratch with all the added sugars and the calories from the beans was overwhelming.
With the addition of beans to the zero points food list from Weight Watchers baked beans have once again become a side dish that you can enjoy without using a lot of your points. With a smaller amount of sugar and ketchup these baked beans won’t be too sweet, but just sweet enough satisfy all the cravings for the nostalgic flavors of baked beans that you love.
We also use dark brown sugar in this recipe in place of adding molasses (this helps us keep the points down) and since we’re using the instant pot we don’t even have to pre-cook the onions in any oil. This is as easy as adding the ingredients and letting the machine do all the work for us!
Variations:
- Add some spice with diced canned chilis or freshly chopped jalapeños.
- Add some smoky flavors with some chopped up bacon.
- Swap the brown sugar for maple if you like maple baked beans. (1/4 cup)
- Another brown sugar swap is honey, which would also be delicious. (1/4 cup)
What to serve with baked beans:
- Buffalo Turkey Cheeseburger with Blue Cheese Broccoli Slaw or Spicy Black Bean Burgers with Chipotle Mayonnaise are great burger ideas to serve along side the baked beans.
- Rainbow Potato Salad or Summer Potato Salad with Apples are great side dishes to add to your summer table.
Oven Baked Brown Sugar Baked Beans:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a cast iron skillet add 2 teaspoons of canola oil and the onions. Cook them until translucent on medium heat, about 4-5 minutes. Add in the rest of the ingredients and stir. Cover tightly and bake for 45 minutes.
Instant Pot Brown Sugar Baked Beans
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion, finely diced
- 15.5 ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained (roughy 1 3/4 cups)
- 15.5 ounce can pinto beans, rinsed and drained (roughy 1 3/4 cups)
- 15.5 ounce can northern beans, rinsed and drained (roughy 1 3/4 cups)
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/3 cup dark brown brown sugar, unpacked
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
Instructions
Instant Pot Directions:
- Add the ingredients to the insert and stir them together well.
- Place the lid and lock. Set to Manual, High pressure, and set for 8 minutes.
- Once finished, natural pressure for about 10-15 minutes, then quick release.
- Stir before serving.
Slow Cooker Directions:
- Add the ingredients to the slow cooker and stir them together well.
- Cover and cook low 6 to 7 hours. Stir before serving.
Video
Notes
- Pictured is a double recipe, but the ingredients are exactly the same ratio.
- If using dried beans, cook for 35 minutes.
Can I use black, dark and light kidney beans? I don’t have any white beans in the house….
I have made this recipe a few times and I will continue to do so for my family because everybody loves them! So easy and yummy-Thank you!
Followed recipe except I was out of brown sugar (didn’t realize until I was in the middle of preparing this, unfortunately!) so I used regular white sugar instead. After cooking I pressed the saute option and let it cook like that without the lid on for a few more minutes until it thickened up. It was very sweet, which I don’t mind, but that was pretty much all I tasted. I just added whatever spices I had on hand that I thought sounded good with beans- garlic powder, more chili powder, paprika, and a dash of salt and a dash of cayenne- and while it was still pretty sweet, the flavor had more depth to it after that and I enjoyed it. I’ll try again with the brown sugar and maybe less ketchup? I’m a ketchup fiend but I think that actually might be where the sweet taste is coming from. Good recipe though- easy to make, super cheap, and really easy to tweak to your liking 🙂 I’d give it a 3/5 as written, 5/5 with added spices!
I made these beans for my family this evening and they LOVED them. Â I would definitely make these again.
If I put bacon in it, should I cook it first? I’m thinking yes.
I did it with raw bacon and it was fine
These were delicious! Made them in the oven and it worked great. Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
I can’t comment on the recipe because they never cooked from dry beans. I think the recipe would be best from canned beans or pre-cooked beans. Do not follow the “cook for 35 minutes” from dry because it will not work.
The recipe calls for canned beans, not dried so the recipe is fine and the cooking time!
Absolutely love this recipe. Thank you Gina
THESE ARE SO GOOD! Low points, easy to make and SO DELICIOUS! Summer BBQs just got a whole lot easier with this crowd-pleasing recipe!
There was a ton of water left in my instant pot. Did I do something wrong?
Liquid does not evaporate in the instant pot, an easy fix is uncover and press saute until it thickens.
Made these twice this week in the crockpot and are surely destined to become a staple in my household! I used “no salt added” beans, replaced the brown sugar with Swerve (brown sugar substitute) and added a tsp of smoked paprika. Best baked beans ever!
If you use dry beans instead of canned, do u need to add water?
Very tasty! I made them for our 4th of July party and had lots of compliments. Highly recommend!!!
I’ve made these a few times and just took them to a Father’s Day lunch. Guests raved over these! Nobody knew it took me less than 30 minutes to prepare/make!
Looks good but can I put tomato paste in instead of ketchup?
Great flavors! Â I doubled the recipe, and tried to make these in my instant pot, but the pot never came to pressure. I threw all of the ingredients into my slow cooker the next day. Â Easy and delicious side dish!
How many people will this serve? I am having a BBQ and plan on making these but not sure I should double the recipe.Â
8 servings at 2/3 cup each. You can always find this right before the nutritional info below the recipe.
 Best beans I have ever had!!!
Super easy, has become a rotating side dish for all sorts of meals.
What would be the equivalent amount of dried beans if you use them instead of canned beans? The canned beans are 15.5 oz cans equaling 1 3/4 cups each can. I’m sure 3 16oz bags of beans would be too much. Anyone have experience with this? Thanks
Great recipe! Made them as a side for some BBQ pork and everyone loved them! So easy and definitely a keeper!
Made them twice. Doubled the recipe the second time. Also just used navy and northern beans. Found them plenty sweet so next time decrease the sugar. Baked them in the oven.
I followed the directions exactly. It tasted very good but was beans in flavored water basically. I expected it to be thicker… like a can of baked beans from the grocery store. Did anyone else have this problem? If so, how do I fix it next time?
You could always put it on saute after pressure cooking to thicken it up a bit, or if using the slow cooker, let cook with the lid off for a little bit to thicken up.
Loved this. It isn’t as cloyingly sweet as most baked beans.and we didn’t miss the bacon!
I make this at least once a week. It is such an easy recipe, and the whole family loves it!
Awesome recipe…thank you!! I substituted the brown sugar for sukrin gold and used tomato purĂ©e instead of ketchup….0 points ! Made a huge batch in slow cooker and froze in portions…I’ve been living off this for weeks now. Love it. Thanks again!! Kate
Can this be cooked on high for a shorter amount of time in the slow cooker?Â
I’m not a fan of kidney beans.  What would you suggest as an alternative?
I would use Navy beans but any beans should work as well
I made the recipe exactly as stated (spicy brown mustard though). It came out perfect! Absolutely delicious! I may never go back to canned baked beans again! It was also ridiculously simple.
I followed the recipe, put everything in my new instant pot and started it. Twice now, I have gotten the “burn” error message. I took the beans out and there was just a little bit stuck to the bottom of the pot so I scraped that off and tried again.  I did notice that when I opened the pot to check, the beans look like they are all falling apart. The second time around I also got the burn error message. The pot doesn’t even get up to full pressure before I get the message.  This time around, I added a little more liquid so I guess I’ll see what happens now. Maybe the third time will be a charm.
Hi I am new at electric pressure cooking  but you def  have to make sure you put enough liquid in and I don’t have instant pot ,my husband didn’t know about it but he got me Bella 8 quart 10in 1 pressure cooker/slow cooker and so far every single thing I made in it came out perfect so today I’m trying this re open so wish me luck and I also heard that with the instant pot people get that burn error as soon as something sticks to bottom and I don’t or never have had that problem so I will let you know how mine come out good luck with the third is a charmer ok
If you double the recipe in the Instant Pot do you have to double the cooking time as well?
I increased the time to 12 minutes. 🙂
You do not have to double the cooking time. That’s the beauty of the pressure cooker.
So good! I made them at work for a meal train (a co-workers needs some meals) and I can hardly stand it! I helped myself to a cup… delish!
I just got an instapot and it was the first thing I made.  I got the burn message on my instapot  after the first 8 minutes so opens it up and put in 2 cups of water.   And now running. For another 15 min on low pressure.  Â
One question. I hope I understood this correctly. Â First run it on high for 8 min then low pressure for 16 right?
I got the burn mesage too so I turned it off, vented the steam  to open the pot. When I got ready to try it again I added maybe a cup of water. I got a burn notice a second time after that. The pot never even showed it reached full pressure. The beans were boiling and the onions were cooked so I just gave up and we ate them. They were good, but more like a bean soup.  I wish I could figure out why it didn’t work correctlyÂ
I made these today for a family bbq and everyone wanted the recipe. I used black beans, navy beans and small pink beans plus spicy brown mustard and light brown sugar. Then I Â simmered them on top of the stove for an hour.Â
Hi Gina! Can I make these on the stove? If so, for how long?
can I use any pressure cooker like the power pressure XL
Gina,
I’m using dried beans and my slow cooker. So soak beans overnight then slow cooker recipe 8 hrs on low?
These are really good. Icooked them in my slowcooker for 4 hours on high, and I added a bit of liquid smoke, and used them as a base for my poached eggs. Delicious and works really great with Weightwatchers. Thank you for your recipe.
What is the time if I do slow cooker on high?
Would a double batch fit in a 6Qt instant pot?
I would think so. I made a triple batch and then some PLUS added 3 lbs of cooked turkey and it was just to the top of my 8qt.
I have made these beans in my crock pot several times now. They are delicious and so easy! I did decrease the water to 1/2 C after the first time, in the crock pot I think that was enough added liquid. I have also used black beans in place of one of the other canned beans, any combination is fabulous. Even my husband who LOVES the sugar laden Bush beans is loving these, thanks!
I made these to take camping and they were a big hit!! I divided the finished product into three containers and froze 2 for future camping trips—fingers crossed they freeze and thaw well 🙂
Looking forward to making this for a work BBQ! Can you tell me, have you ever doubled the recipe? Did it still fit in the 6qt IP ok? Thanks!
I have not tried
Hi Gina! I made these last weekend and doubled the recipe and used more pinto and northern beans and omitted the kidney beans. I used Splenda blend for the brown sugar because we wanted them sweeter with no extra points. I don’t know if it was the ketchup or the mustard (or the Splenda brown sugar blend!) but I found it sort of acidic. I happily learned that one can stir in a teaspoon of baking soda to negate that acid taste. After the bubbling went down, I tasted again and added a little more and then it was just right. Great low point baked bean option! I’m sure you already know about the baking soda fix, but it was news to me!
Thank you for your great recipes. I’m just learning to use my instant pot and I so appreciate your great instructions and cooking options.
 Can I double this recipe in my instant pot? If so,  would I increase the time and by how much?Â
Sure, same time
These are so good, even my non bean loving husband enjoyed them. Â Not overly sweet liked the canned stuff… Â even better the next day! Â Currently eating a bowl of them cold because they are just as good as warmed up. Â Yummy, thank you!!
Great recipe! Made these in my IP.  I did chop up 3 slices center cut bacon and crisped them on sauté before adding the rest of the ingredients.  I did not have dark brown sugar so I slightly decreased the regular brown sugar and added a tablespoon of molasses to compensate.  Penzeys medium chili powder.  So good!
I am making these for an upcoming Memorial Day party. If I make a triple batch, do you think I’ll need to cook them longer in the Instant Pot?
Time should stay the same.
Loved this! Made it today. Just the perfect amount of sweet. Thanks, Gina!
Quick question: if making in the IP and wanting to add bacon, do
I add the bacon cooked or uncooked? Thank you!
Did these almost exactly as in the recipe and my wife and I loved them.  We added 0.5 lb 93% lean ground turkey sautéed at the beginning and I was doing other stuff and let the natural release go all the way at the end. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of flavor, given how few ingredients the recipe has.
Thanks!
I loved this recipe, made it in the instant pot as written. I love baked beans but had given them up because of all the brown sugar. This is just right and I love the low points value. Thank you.
Looking forward to making this! Question though, is that cornbread I see? Do you have a recipe for cornbread? That would be an amazing combo. 🙂
Sounds delish but I DETEST mustard….can I substitute it with something else or if i leave it out will it still taste ok?
Maybe balsamic vinegar for acidity.
Definitely will make again. Actually tastes better once it’s been in the fridge a day or two!
I just made these—they are delicious! Thank you Gina! I followed the instapot directions. Mine had a lot of liquid unlike canned baked beans, however, they taste soooo good! Definitely a new summer staple!Â
These were delish, and much lower points than canned baked beans. I used kidney, white canellini and black beans. Added 1 jalapeno diced and 1 tbs of worchesterchire. Simmered on the stove for about one hour. Great side for BBQ night.
These are so yummy Gina! Thank you! I made them in my slow cooker and they turned out perfectly saucy. The only change I made was using applewood rub seasoning instead if chili powder because I was out. I look forward to making them again.
These beans were absolutely delicious–even more than I expected them to be! They were not OVERLY sweet, but they had a good amount of sweetness and tasted just like the oniony/sweet baked beans we all know and love.. I made them in the Instant Pot and the cook time was perfect. The beans did not get mushy, and everything was very flavorful. I paired them with 93/7 hamburger patties and broccoli slaw. We will definitely be making this a regular in with our dinner rotation! The only other thing I will note is that when I used the WW Recipe Builder with the ingredients, it actually produced 3 FSP, but it’s completely worth it. 🙂
great, I will double check the points.
It also came up 3 Fsp points in the WW App for me. Definitely points well spent! Delicious!
I made these this week and they were amazing. Mine also came out to 3 points which is still fantastic. I chopped up a few lean, beef hot dogs and heated it up the next day. Even better as a leftover! I have missed baked beans but not anymore! Thank you Gina!
Smells wonderful and for sure seems like it’ll taste good but…
I keep getting the burn notification on my IP :/
In the picture it looks like you’re using the nonstick inner pot. So far not working with the stainless steal inner pot. I am for sure going to order one of those soon because anything with tomato sauce seems to always burn on me, I always see people that make it work so user error on my end I’m sure. These bad boys will get cooked one way or another. Hooray for baked beans other than bushes lolÂ
I’ve got this in the slow cooker now! When I input this in the Weight Watchers recipe builder it comes up as 5 freestyle points. Am I missing something? I’d obviously prefer it be 2, but how did you come up with that number?
 I haven’t eaten baked beans in years because of the sugar and points. This recipe is delicious. I don’t have an instant pot so I sautéed the onions until soft and then baked everything in the oven for 45 minutes at 360 degrees. I could have bakedthem a little longer but my husband and I both loved them. Will make again especially during the summer months for barbecues. Gina, you’re a recipe genius!
Super easy and delicious! Will definitely make again!
Incredible! I have always loved baked beans but hate when they are sticky sweet. These were creamy and just sweet enough. I used extra northern in place of kidney because that’s what I had. I think next time I will make them from soaked beans. SautĂ©ed two slices of chopped bacon  in the pot before adding the other ingredients. Used half maple syrup half brown sugar and omitted the chili powder.Â
I have a question on the dry beans note. Which method is the 35 minutes for? Assuming the Instant Pot, are we to add 35 minutes to the cook time or change the cook time to 35 minutes instead of 8?
Is this recipe 2,4 or 6 WW points.
2 freestyle points or 4 points +.
when I run this thru recipe builder on WW, it comes up with 5 points?
I get 2 per serving, 7 for ketchup, 11 for sugar (total)
I get 17 points in the recipe builder for 1/3 cup of dark brown sugar? Â For me when I built this recipe in the WW app, it came out at 3 FSP.Â
Can this be frozen?
Yes, but they could be mushy when thawed.
Hi Gina, I love love love your recipes!!! I entered the ingredients into MyFitnessPal and it’s giving me 207 cals/serving. Is there something I am missing?
These were deliciousÂ
Turned out fantastic! Just the right amount of sweet. I turned my pot to sauté for a couple of minutes to thicken it up a bit, but it would have been great without it too.
HOLY YUM! I can’t wait to try this! Thank you for all your recipes! You’re my go to 🙂
Brown sugar. 2 points. Sounds like a winner!
HiÂ
I would like to make this in the oven or regular pot. Â What would be the time of cooking? Thank you so much. I love all your recipes.
The oven directions are listed above.
If i double the beans, do I need to double the rest of the ingredients?
I don’t have an Instant Pot so I will either cook in oven or stove top
Thanks in advanceÂ
L
yes you would have to double everything
Is the 35 minute cook time for dry beans using soaked or unsoaked beans?
soaked
I prefer to use dry beans instead of canned. What is the amount of dry beans that I should use? Thank you.
what is the ratio of dried beans to equal canned 1 3/4 c. Would like to try that. Thanks love baked beans. Its like a staple side dish for any BBQ outing+++
1 pound dry beans = 6 cups cooked beans
Can you use agave instead of brown sugar?
sure
I would like to try the instapot recipe with the dry beans. I know how to soak them overnight or boil them then let them soak for an hour before using them in a recipe. My questions are “Do I need to do this before using them in the instapot?’ ” And do I need to add any wayer to the recipe with the dry beans?”
Not necessarily, I cook dry, unsoaked beans for 45 minutes.Â
What is the points plus value on these?  It’s not listed.Â
4
I have not made the recipe but have had some experience with BURN notice on my instapot. Â I am unsure about the amount of liquid in this recipe. Â Too little liquid in recipe causes BURN notice to appear. Â
I’m asking the same question as you, Donna., thanks. Concern is amount of sugar vs. liquid in Instant Pot, plus dumping catsup which has sugar in also? Sabrina, please let us know if the liquid amount is right?
What would be the time if u make this in slow cooker? And would the measurements be the same? Â Thank u
6 to 7 hours low.
What is an instant pot. You say to put everything in a cast iron skillet and cover and bake. What else can i use if i don’t have a cast iron skillet
Its a pressure cooker. You can also use any heavy oven safe skillet or Dutch oven.
What do you mean by release the pressure and let it decrease? Once you quick release all the pressure is gone.Â
Natural release then quick after 10 min.
I’m going sugar-free for this year. Will the beans taste alright if I leave the sugar out?
Alexis
They won’t taste like baked beans as sugar is what makes them sweet but I am sure they will still be tasty.
Have you tried the G. Hughes brand of BBQ Sauce? It’s sugar free and might give you that “sweet” taste you’re looking for. You can find it at Walmart.Â
Why not try a small amount of Stevia rather than sucralose which is the sugar substitute in the BBQ sauce. I keep my sugar intake very low but I won’t use the fake stuff.
Gina I cannot wait to try these. I miss good baked beans and your recipes never let me down! I was so excited to see this.
Add maple syrup instead of sugar. Honey even.
Try crushed or chunk pineapple.
Can i make this in the slow cooker?
Yes!
If I used a slow cooker, how long should I allow it to cook?