Not the most attractive recipe, but never mind that! What this pot of Instant Pot beans lacks in looks, it makes up for in flavor and simplicity. Seriously! This recipe is for all of you with a new Instant Pot, but I'll also include the conventional version where you slow cook these beans in a low temperature oven. Both are incredible, but I have to say, I was astonished by the flavor and texture of the beans cooked in the Instant Pot, and the broth had so much body!

Here's the scoop. I'm still putting my new Instant Pot through its first paces (here's a starter guide I pulled together), and decided to attempt to adapt one of my favorite bean recipes. If you've heard of fagioli al fiasco, you know where we're headed - I included a version in my last book. Traditionally this is a Tuscan way of slow cooking beans, overnight in the embers of a fire place - beans, garlic, chile flakes, olive oil, and rosemary. Not much else. Unfortunately there's no wood-fired oven in my house, so years ago, I adapted a version to slow cook in a dutch oven for a few hours in a low-temperature oven. It's one of my favorite bean recipes. And now, taking things a step further, we're going to do a riff on that version for the Instant Pot (or whatever electric pressure cooker you have). The fragrant broth is freckled with olive oil and develops an incredible amount of flavor - even more so when cooked under pressure.

There are a couple details worth noting. We're going to pressure cook pre-soaked beans here, and then stir in kale after the beans are cooked, to make this more of a super healthful (and delicious!) one-dish meal. The residual heat from the pressure cooker will cook down the kale. You can serve the beans just like that, stew-like, perhaps with a thread of olive oil drizzled on top. Or, you can load up your bowls with whatever toppings you have. Pictured here: chopped scallions and cilantro, quick pickled red onions, a squeeze of lemon juice, dusting of cheese. If none of these are your jam, a simple, spicy chile oil might hit the spot. I love bean stews with a strong kick of chile oil.

Please let me know what you think here! This is my first attempt at writing a recipe for the IP, and I want to do a good job of communicating instructions (so many buttons!). Also - there are many different models, and I want the recipes to cross over devices, etc. This one seems pretty straight forward - ingredients in the pot, pressure cook, stir in kale, serve with any toppings you like.



Alternative method: If you want to know how to cook these beans in an oven.