Instant Pot Mexican Quinoa and Black Beans—flavorful quinoa with salsa, black beans and sliced avocado. A fast and easy meatless meal or an amazing side dish.
Get the SLOW COOKER Mexican quinoa and black beans recipe here
Instant Pot Mexican Quinoa and Black Beans
I have been making my Mexican Quinoa and Black Beans for years in the crockpot. I decided I needed to make an Instant Pot version. Quinoa takes hardly any time at all in the Instant Pot. I always use a 1 minute pressure cook time with a 10 minute NPR. It turns out fantastic and it’s a completely hands off way to make quinoa.
I like buying quinoa in the bulk section at Winco. As far as I can tell it’s the cheapest way to buy it as well. I always make sure to rinse my quinoa really well because there is a natural coating on quinoa called saponin. This can make it taste a little bitter or soapy. It can also cause digestive issues. Sometimes boxed quinoa claims that it is pre-rinsed, but I always rinse my quinoa anyhow.
To make this recipe I always use the mild Pace Picante sauce. It’s my favorite. I buy it in the big container at Costco. If you’re not a fan of black beans just use pinto beans in the place of the black beans.
This recipe can easily be doubled. Just double all the ingredients and keep the cooking time the same. I like to make this recipe for lunches throughout the week. Skyler love to take the leftovers in his mini crockpot* to school. And Greg will take a little container to work and warm it up in the microwave.
Related: Have you joined Greg and Karen’s 365 Days of Instant Pot Recipes Facebook group?
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What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Mexican Quinoa and Black Beans I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I love this Instant Pot because it has the yogurt making function which I use almost weekly. It has two pressure settings (high and low), and there are also little slots in the handles so that you can rest the lid there instead of putting it down on your counter-top.
Instant Pot Mexican Quinoa and Black Beans
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 minute (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
Flavorful quinoa with salsa, black beans and sliced avocado. A fast and easy meatless meal or an amazing side dish.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 3/4 cup + 1 Tbsp uncooked and rinsed quinoa
- 1 (14 oz) can of black beans, rinsed and drained
- 3/4 cup salsa or picante sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp cumin
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
- Avocado slices
- Other options: cilantro, cheese, sour cream
Instructions
- Add water to the Instant Pot. Sprinkle in the quinoa. Dump in the black beans and top the beans with the salsa. Add in the bay leaf, cumin, salt and garlic powder.
- Cover the Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure the valve is set to sealing. Set the manual pressure cook button to 1 minute. When the time is up let the pot sit for 10 minutes then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Gently stir in the lime juice.
- Scoop the quinoa onto plates and top with avocado slices and any other options you like.
- Category: Meatless
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Mexican
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Can you use rice instead of Quinoa? Will it impact any of the instructions?
White rice takes 3 minutes pressure cook time with a 10 minute natural pressure release. I use a 1 cup rice to 1.5 cup water ratio for rice.
We’ve made this five times. It’s fantastic! No tweaking needed. Thank you, Karen!
★★★★★
Thank you Robin!
WOW… WHAT A DEEELISH SURPRISE THIS IS!! YUMOOOOOOO!!! HOW can something this simple pack this much flavor??
Our Dr. recently suggested we have meatless dinners 2 days a week. My husband (Mr. Meat & Potatoes Man) gave me the hairy eye when I told him I was going to do what she said. I have been scouring the web for decent sounding dishes and had printed this off a couple weeks ago. I use my IPs often.
I got home late tonight, and remembered I had some of that “Seeds of Change” Quinoa/Brown rice with Garlic (Costco) in the pantry. That got the required 90 seconds whirl in the microwave. Then.. I mixed up all the ingredients from the recipe, zapped it to good and warm in the microwave and loaded up our bowls. Followed the recipe to a T with the suggested garnishes. Next time I’ll use my IP and make the quinoa according to the directions.
The flavor knocked our socks, and my husband raved about it. I don’t think there has ever been a better quickie side dish ORRRRRR “PUT ME IN YOUR BATHTUB BURRITOS” mixture made. This recipe is going on vacation with me and when it’s my night to cook I’m serving this!
Thank you x 100!!!
★★★★★
Haha! I love your comment Felicia. I am so glad that you loved it!
Holy moly, for such a simple recipe this tastes fantastic. I saw somebody else mention corn which sounded good, so I put a can in with a double recipe. This is on the rotation.
★★★★★
I really love that idea of the corn! Yum yum!
I can not have tomatoes due to an allergy. Do you have ideas for what I can I substitute for the picante sauce?
I’d do a tomatillo salsa or green enchilada sauce.
Could I use lemon juice instead of lime?
Yes I bet that will be fine!
My first time trying an instant pot recipe! Tried this recipe from a friend and it was amazing! So, this was my first time and all…I used vegetable broth Instead of water at the same measurement and it came out watery. What measurement would you recommend for vegetable broth? Also, my quinoa didn’t fluff up even after fluffing it with a fork, any idea how to fix that? Maybe it was due to too much broth? 🤔
★★★★★
It should be the same amount. I would perhaps try next time with a quarter cup less liquid.
Sounds so yummy. Thinking some cubed sweet potatoes would be a good addition.
I love sweet potatoes! That sounds like a great idea.
Why is the quinoa measure + a Tbsp?
Because when I made it with just 3/4 cup it was too wet. So I added in a Tbsp to help it out a bit.
Loved this recipe. So easy and quite delicious. Reminds me of a recipe I used to make which included corn. I’m hoping I can add frozen sweet corn to the mix with no problem.
Thank you for all these wonderful recipes. I’m looking forward to making more and using my instant pot duo more frequently.
★★★★★
Oh yes add corn that would be wonderful
This was so yummy and fast and easy and both my kids ate it! I will make again for sure.
★★★★★
Awesome! This is one of my faves.
Can I use canned garbanzo beans instead of black beans ?
Yep! Just drain and rinse them first.
Can you add a couple of chicken breasts to this and still have the quinoa turn out well?
The chicken wouldn’t cook at the same rate as the quinoa. You could saute chicken chunks and then add in the rest of the ingredients and cook. That should work.
Really yummy! Followed exactly as written using black beans I’d cooked from dry specifically for this recipe. Topped with cheddar cheese. Makes a great healthy lunch.
★★★★★
Awesome Anita! So glad you liked it. Great idea about the dried beans.
What would I need to do with the dry black beans to prepare them to use in this recipe?
How would you adjust if you doubled
Double ingredients keep the same cooking time.
How do I reduce this recipe for a 3qt Instant Pot?
You can make it as is in the 3 quart. If you want to halve it you can do that too but it should fit fine in the 3 quart.
Looks great. Will try it soon and review it!
★★★★★
We love it!
I was just randomly looking for IP recipes and came across this about a 40 minutes ago (9-8-19)! Searching the house to see if i had the ingredients! and did!! Good thing too!! WOW… Just made this.. it’s AMAZING!.. especially if you use Fresh type Salsa! and not Chi Chi’s or Ole El Paso type Salsa! Karen!! Thank you for sharing! This will definitely be in my rotation of sides ( or even a meal!)
★★★★★
Nice!!! So glad you found it. Thanks for sharing.
Can‘t wait to try it! One question: What consistency salsa did you use? They can vary, and I imagine it might matter because you could end up with either soup or burnt, dried quinoa if you get it wrong? Thanks so much. I‘m a big fan!
I used a picante sauce that is more runny than a normal salsa.
This sounds delicious. I will be making this for my husband to take hunting. Can this be warmed up easily? Thanks.
Yes I think it would warm up easily
Hello,
Can I make this in a crock pot?
Thanks.
Yes, here is the crockpot version: https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/recipe-for-slow-cooker-mexican-quinoa/
I made this added some leftover rotisserie chicken to the pot before cooking. Maybe needed a bit more liquid as it was a tad dry but nothing that some salsa on top when serving couldn’t handle.
★★★★★
I love extra salsa on top!
This is marvelous!! I made it in our IP with the only adjustments being to use 1/2 of the garlic powder and bottled lime juice. We did top it with avocado slices, light sour cream and a bit of shredded cheese. Thank you so very much!!
★★★★★
Sounds awesome! Glad you liked it Anne!
Hi. Can you Mike this on the stovetop or crockpot?
Thanks, Liz
yes here is the crockpot version: https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/recipe-for-slow-cooker-mexican-quinoa/
This looks so yummy. Can’t wait to try it. Thank you.
You’re welcome!