These easy Instant Pot green beans are one of our favorite side dishes. Made with fresh or frozen green beans, they have just the right amount of crunch while still being tender.
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Hi friends.
I love these Instant Pot green beans. They have been life changing around here. A real dinner saver.
Picture this.
It’s Sunday evening at 5:00 p.m.
I’m sticking the last of the potatoes for these Easy Creamy Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot and setting the timer for 3 minutes.
It’s cranky time. Objects are flying around the house which has turned into a disaster zone. Squeals of unknown origin reach record breaking decibel levels.
I breathe a sigh of relief that I thought to stick a roast in the slow cooker earlier in the day to feed the hungry chaos causers.
But then I realize that there’s no vegetable to go with them.
In steps this superhero green bean recipe, my friends. Mashed potatoes come out, green beans go in (no need to wash the pot). Stick in some chicken broth, push a button and go mash the potatoes. By the time the potatoes are mashed and the gravy gets made, the beans are done.
Drain them, stick in some butter and a little salt and pepper.
Boom. Dinner’s done.
Chaos diminishes as hungry bellies are fed. Order has been restored once more to the galaxy.
And just so you know, that’s not just a hypothetical story.
Um… it happened just last night actually.
And that’s when I decided that everyone needs a superhero green bean recipe to pull out of their back pocket when chaos erupts. And this, my friends is it.
Tips & Tricks
This recipe is easy and meant for those of you who really like a little hand holding (me included). Once you get the hang of it, you most likely won’t need the recipe anymore. It’s that easy.
I’ve made these with fresh or frozen green beans. They both work well. I prefer the flavor and texture of the longer frozen beans (I buy them in Giant bags at Costco) over the short squatty things found in most grocery store freezer sections.
You can easily double the beans (no need to double the chicken broth). Or just fill it to the fill line with green beans when you’re ready to branch away from the recipe. Eyeball the butter, salt and pepper and you’re ready to go. Easy peasy.
I prefer soft textured green beans, with just a little crunch to them. No mushy beans please.
In my 6-quart Instant Pot (aff. link), 1 minute on HIGH pressure is perfect.
If you like them softer, add a minute or two to the cook time.
For crunchier green beans, subtract a minute (which would be 0 minutes).
If you’re new to the Instant Pot world and cooking something for 0 minutes is confusing, let me just fill you in. It basically means that the pressure cooker will come up to full pressure and then immediately start releasing the pressure after 0 minutes of cooking time. Make sense?
For best texture, always do a QUICK RELEASE for this recipe. A quick release means you manually flip the pressure valve to venting position.
You’ll want serve the beans immediately. Vegetables don’t fare well after hanging out for long periods of time in the Instant Pot.
Okay, my friends. Are you ready to counter chaos and restore order once more? Perfect easy Instant Pot Green Beans are only minutes away.
Easy Instant Pot Green Beans
These easy Instant Pot green beans are one of our favorite side dishes. Made with fresh or frozen green beans, they have just the right amount of crunch while still being tender.
Ingredients
- ½ cup low sodium chicken broth
- 1 pound fresh or frozen whole green beans trimmed if fresh
- ¼ teaspoon salt or homemade chicken bouillon
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter
Instructions
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In a 6-quart electric pressure cooker add the chicken broth and green beans (see note about doubling the recipe). You can add them directly to the pot or use a steamer basket for easy straining.
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Lock lid in place and cook on HIGH pressure for 1 minute. When time is up, do a quick release of the pressure by flipping the pressure valve.
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Drain off the liquid and place in serving bowl. Stir in butter and season with salt and pepper (adding more, if desired). Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
1. For this recipe you can easily double the recipe, but you do not need to double the chicken broth used in the instant pot. In fact you can fill the pot up to the fill line with green beans and still just use the same amount of chicken broth. Be aware that for some pressure cookers you may actually need to use more liquid to get the pot to come up to pressure. If you have trouble getting the pressure cooker to come up to pressure, add the minimum liquid your owner’s manual recommends.
2. I prefer soft textured green beans, with just a little crunch to them (not mushy) – 1 minute is perfect in my pressure cooker. If you like them softer, add a minute or two to the cook time. For crunchier green beans, subtract a minute (which would be 0 minutes). 0 minutes means the pressure cooker will come up to full pressure and then immediately start releasing the pressure.
Recipe Source: Heather @ The Cook’s Treat
All images and text ©The Cook’s Treat
Disclaimer: post contains affiliate links for items on Amazon.
When you drain the green beans save the liquid to use in soups or stew. It can be frozen.
The one suggestion I would make is to add chopped raw bacon to the recipe. I lay it on top before cooking and the bacony goodness drips in! No butter is needed then. I like some smoky garlic salt too.
Ooh sounds yummy Lyndi!
Instant pot Pressure cooker is an excellent Cooker. Also, I use This cooker