My Famous Instant Pot Molasses Baked Beans (No All-Day Cooking!)

Tested By June Hart

Safety Review HACCP Nouhayla A.

Updated: January 3, 2026

Alright my dears, gather ‘round. If I close my eyes, I can still smell the aroma of my grandmother’s kitchen on a Saturday afternoon. It was the rich, sweet, and smoky scent of molasses baked beans, bubbling away in the oven for what felt like an eternity. It was the taste of every family picnic, every summer potluck, a flavor so deep and comforting it was practically a hug in a bowl. That recipe, written on a faded index card, was pure gold.

But let’s be honest, who has six to eight hours to watch a pot in the oven these days? And the whole overnight soak… sometimes we just don’t plan that far ahead! I was determined to bring that exact same soulful flavor into our modern kitchen without the all-day commitment. That’s when I turned to my trusty Instant Pot. With a clever little trick, we can get those beans perfectly tender and infused with that glorious sauce in a fraction of the time.

Trust the process, because what comes out of that pot is pure magic. You’ll get beans that are wonderfully tender, swimming in a glossy, dark sauce that perfectly balances sweet molasses and savory bacon. It’s the taste of yesterday, with the ease of today, and it’s ready to bring a little joy to your family’s table tonight.

June’s Instant Pot Molasses Baked Beans

The Rokig Editorial Team

The classic smoky-sweet flavor of molasses baked beans, made incredibly easy in the Instant Pot—no overnight soak needed!

Print Recipe

Ingredients

  

• 1 lb dried navy beans rinsed and picked over
• 4-6 slices of bacon chopped
• 1 medium onion finely chopped
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1/3 cup brown sugar packed
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard powder
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt or to taste, after cooking
• 6 cups water for quick soaking
• 2 cups fresh water for cooking

Instructions

 

• Set your Instant Pot to the Sauté function on high. Add the chopped bacon and cook until it’s crisp, about 5-7 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set it aside, leaving the rendered fat in the pot.
• Add the chopped onion to the pot and sauté in the bacon fat until softened and fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. Press Cancel.
• Now, for our little secret to skip the overnight soak. Add the rinsed beans and 6 cups of water to the pot. Secure the lid, set the valve to Sealing, and pressure cook on High Pressure for 1 minute. Once the minute is up, let the pressure release naturally for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, quick release any remaining pressure, open the lid, and carefully drain the beans in a colander.
• Return the inner pot to the Instant Pot. Add the drained beans back into the pot. Stir in the molasses, brown sugar, ketchup, dry mustard, vinegar, pepper, salt, half of the cooked bacon, and 2 cups of fresh water. Give it all a good stir to combine.
• Secure the lid, set the valve to Sealing, and cook on High Pressure for 35 minutes.
• When the cooking time is complete, allow the pressure to release naturally for at least 15-20 minutes before performing a quick release for any remaining steam.
• Open the lid and give the beans a gentle stir. The sauce may look a little thin at first, but it will thicken as it cools. Taste and add more salt if needed. Stir in the remaining crispy bacon bits or sprinkle them on top for serving.

June’s Tips

For a vegetarian version: Simply omit the bacon. Sauté the onion in a tablespoon of olive oil or butter, and add 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika along with the other seasonings to get that smoky flavor.
Make-ahead magic: These beans are one of those wonderful dishes that taste even better the next day! The flavors have more time to meld and the sauce thickens up beautifully in the fridge.

Why This Recipe Works (June’s “Why”)

You might be wondering how we can possibly get that slow-simmered flavor so quickly. It’s all about the clever use of pressure. The initial 1-minute pressure cook with a long natural release does a fantastic job of hydrating the beans, essentially accomplishing in 30 minutes what an overnight soak does in 8 hours. Then, the main 35-minute pressure cook doesn’t just cook the beans; it forces that rich, molasses-and-bacon-infused liquid into the beans themselves. This deep infusion of flavor is something that normally takes hours of gentle simmering in an oven, but our modern helper gets it done beautifully while we put our feet up.

June’s Tips for a Perfect Result

1. Don’t Skip the Sauté: It’s tempting to just throw everything in, but cooking the bacon and onions first builds an incredible foundation of flavor. That rendered bacon fat is liquid gold!
2. Scrape the Pot: After sautéing the onions, before you add the beans and water for the quick soak, pour in a splash of water and scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. This is called “deglazing,” and it ensures all that flavor gets into your sauce and helps prevent a “Burn” warning.
3. Trust the Sauce: When you first open the lid, the sauce will look thinner than you expect. Don’t panic! It will thicken up considerably as it stands and cools. If you’re in a real hurry, you can always turn on the Sauté function for a few minutes and let it bubble away until it reaches your desired consistency.

Common Questions & Answers (FAQ)

Can I use canned beans to make this even faster?

You certainly could, my dear, but the texture and flavor won’t be quite the same. The magic of this recipe is how the dry beans absorb all that wonderful flavor as they cook. If you must use canned, I’d use two (15-ounce) cans of navy beans, rinsed and drained, and reduce the cooking time to about 10 minutes on High Pressure just to heat through and let the flavors meld.

What if my beans are still a little firm after 35 minutes?

Occasionally, you can get a batch of older, more stubborn beans. It’s no trouble at all! Just pop the lid back on and cook them on High Pressure for another 5 to 10 minutes. They’ll soften right up.