We love these Instant Pot Sweet and Spicy BBQ Beans, especially in the summer time! They’re the perfect side dish for any bbq or potluck, and they’re always a crowd favorite.
This recipe is slightly spicy, but sweet and made entirely from scratch. The best part is – you don’t have to soak your beans!
If you don’t have an Instant Pot, we’d highly recommend it. This is our favorite Instant Pot – the exact one we used in this recipe.
How to make Sweet and Spicy BBQ Beans in the instant pot:
Add beans, water, and salt to your instant pot (there’s no need to soak them!). Cook on manual, using high pressure, for about 25 minutes (you’ll want to cook them around 20 minutes for firmer beans or closer to 30 minutes for very soft beans). Allow the pressure to naturally release.
Remove the lid, and pour the beans into a strainer. Rinse with cold water and set aside.
Set the instant pot to saute and heat the bacon until it starts to brown. Drain some of the grease, then add the onions (the onions are optional, but you could also add in any of the veggie substitutions listed below) and cook until tender.
Turn the instant pot off and add ketchup, bbq, chilies, syrup, and mustard. Stir, making sure to scrape the bottom of the Instant Pot. Add the beans back in to the instant pot and stir until completely combined.
Replace the lid, turn the steam valve to sealing and cook on manual, using high pressure, for 15 minutes. Natural release for the pressure. Open the lid and stir, then serve warm.
Substitutions/additions
We love that this recipe turns out beans that are sweet (from the maple syrup) but just a little spicy (from the green chilies). We think it’s just spicy enough as written (with the ingredients we used above), but you can change it to your liking.
If you want to add more spice, try substituting diced jalapeños for the green chilies. Try a spicier BBQ sauce (we love Stubbs Sweet Heat) or mustard. You could also add a pinch or two of chili powder.
If you want to add more vegetables, you could add in diced bell peppers, diced celery, or diced carrots.
If you want to add more sweetness, try adding in some brown sugar (like this recipe), or honey instead of maple syrup.
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Can I make this recipe using canned beans?
Yes! Skip steps 1 and 2, and start with step 3. You’ll need about 48 ounces of canned beans to make this recipe.
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Pair these beans with
These beans are the perfect summer side dish (especially for potlucks!). Serve them as a side to our Smoked BBQ Ribs, Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork and Coleslaw, or our Juicy BBQ Turkey Burgers.
More instant pot recipes
If you love your Instant Pot, you’ll love these recipes, too.
- Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken
- Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli
- Instant Pot Lemon Rice Pilaf
- Instant Pot Cheesy Beef Taco Pasta
- Instant Pot Sesame Chicken and Rice
Instant Pot Sweet and Spicy BBQ Beans Recipe
Ingredients
- 16 ounces great northern beans, 1 pound
- 8 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 slices thick cut bacon
- ½ medium onion, diced, optional
- ½ cup ketchup
- ½ cup BBQ Sauce
- 4 ounces diced chilies, 1 can
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
Equipment
Instructions
- Add beans, water, and salt to your instant pot. Cook on manual, using high pressure, for about 25 minutes (20 minutes for firmer beans, 30 minutes for very soft beans). Allow the pressure to naturally release.
- Remove the lid, and pour the beans into a strainer. Rinse with cold water and set aside.
- Set instant pot to saute and heat the bacon until it starts to brown. Drain some of the grease, then add the onions (optional) and cook until tender.
- Turn the instant pot off and add ketchup, bbq, chilies, syrup, and mustard. Stir, making sure to scrape the bottom of the Instant Pot. Add the beans back in to the instant pot and stir until completely combined.
- Replace the lid, turn the steam valve to sealing and cook on manual, using high pressure, for 15 minutes. Natural release for the pressure. Open the lid and stir, then serve warm.
Notes
- If you want to add more spice, try substituting diced jalapeños for the green chilies. Try a spicier BBQ sauce (we love Stubbs Sweet Heat) or mustard. You could also add a pinch or two of chili powder.
Nutrition
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Could you use molasses instead of BBQ sauce?? 🇨🇦🇨🇦
Hi Twila. We have not tried this recipe subbing molasses for the BBQ sauce.
Hi…can I sub northern bean with red kidney bean? That one is the one widely available in my place. Thank you Six Sister Stuff for your awesome instant pot recipes…. It’s truly inspiring…
Hi Caroline. The two beans are very different. But I’m sure it would still work. Here is what I found after researching beans.
Substituting Great Northern or white navy beans for the cannellini beans offers a better result in both taste, appearance and creaminess than using kidney beans as the substitute.
Hope this helps.
Are there any suggestions/rules for cutting a recipe in half? There are only 2 of us so 10-12 servings is way way too much! If I cut the recipe in half do the IP times change or remain the same?
You can easily cut this in half and the cook time will remain the same.
the last step where we need to pressure cook the beans with the sauce for 15 minutes? I am getting a burn message and can’t get the beans to pressurize again. Suggestions?? Thank you
Tried this recipe again and I am still getting a burn message and can’t get that 15 minutes of pressure cooking. Help!!???
Add about 1 cup of water and see if that helps.
I’m confused. The recipe says it takes 1 hr. 20 min. to cook, but then when you read the directions it only adds up to about 45 minutes. By the way, I just finished uploading about 30 of your recipes to my meal app. Can’t wait to try them all. You guys are amazing!
Thanks for catching that. It’s closer to 45 minutes total. But maybe they were including the time it takes to come to pressure. We adjusted the time on the post.
When it says “allow the pressure to manually release after the first cook (step 1), should that read “allow the pressure to naturally release”?
Thanks for catching that. Yes, natural release.