Quick and Easy Pressure Cooker Chicken and Black Bean Stew Recipe (2024)

  • Recipes By Course
  • Mains
  • Mains By Type
  • Soups

Black beans are stewed in the pressure cooker with spicy Hatch chiles, smoky andouille sausage, and fall-off-the-bone tender chicken legs.

By

J. Kenji López-Alt

Quick and Easy Pressure Cooker Chicken and Black Bean Stew Recipe (1)

J. Kenji López-Alt

Culinary Consultant

Kenji is the former culinary director for Serious Eats and a current culinary consultant for the site. He is also a New York Times food columnist and the author of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science.

Learn about Serious Eats'Editorial Process

Updated September 14, 2023

Trending Videos

Quick and Easy Pressure Cooker Chicken and Black Bean Stew Recipe (2)

Why It Works

  • A pressure cooker will get your chicken fall-off-the-bone tender in just about the same time as it takes to cook the black beans.
  • Minimal ingredients and only a few steps make for an easy, one-pot, ready-in-under-an-hour meal packed with flavor.

My wife has taught me many things, but few as mind-blowing and useful asthis five ingredient, one pot, 30-minutes Colombian chicken stew with potatoes and tomatoes. It works like this: Add chicken, potatoes, fresh tomatoes, sliced onion, and bay leaves to a pressure cooker. Seal the lid and heat it. As the tomatoes and chicken heat, they give off liquid which in turn cooks the potatoes while the onions add flavor to the whole thing. Because the high heat of a pressure cooker cooks so efficiently, you end up with spoon-tender chicken and potatoes in an intensely flavored broth all in 30 minutes or less. How do you like that!

The concept of using minimal, but carefully selected ingredients and relying on the pressure cooker to extract flavor while cooking them was an intriguing one, so I decided to try my hand at coming up with a few more one-pot meals in a similar style, this time using a combination of chicken and various legumes. It providesdinner for four with inexpensive ingredients, a few minutes of actual labor, one pot on the stove, and all in about one hour start to finish.

Quick and Easy Pressure Cooker Chicken and Black Bean Stew Recipe (3)

This dish is a variation on a common theme: beans and smoked pork. As Idiscovered last year, black beans actually benefit fromnotsoaking, which makes them an ideal candidate for a fast recipe like this. I start by sautéing some sliced smoked andouille sausage in olive oil in my pressure cooker before adding some chopped onions and a big dash of cumin. Next, I add a can of diced Hatch chiles (regular diced green chiles will work fine if you can't find Hatch), my black beans, my chicken, somehomemadeor store-bought low-sodium chicken stock, and the stems from a small bunch of cilantro.

I seal it all up and bring it to high pressure. Since we're starting from raw dried beans, it takes a bit longer than thelentil versionI developed. About 40 minutes on high pressure does the trick. The chicken in this version ends up cooking to the point where it pretty much falls off the bone no matter what you do with it, so rather than trying to keep it in larger pieces, I decided to shred it before stirring it back into the finished pot.

Quick and Easy Pressure Cooker Chicken and Black Bean Stew Recipe (4)

A handful of chopped cilantro, some lime wedges, and a dollop of sour cream and you've got yourself one heck of a stew.

January 2015

This recipe was cross-tested in 2023 and lightly edited to ensure best results.

Recipe Details

Quick and Easy Pressure Cooker Chicken and Black Bean Stew Recipe

Prep10 mins

Cook90 mins

Active15 mins

Resting Time15 mins

Total115 mins

Serves4to 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon (15ml) vegetable or other neutral oil

  • 8 ounces smoked sausage (227g), such as andouille or kielbasa, sliced into 1/4-inch disks (1 2/3 cups)

  • 1 medium onion (8 ounces; 227g), diced (about 1 cup)

  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin

  • Two 4-ounce cans diced green chiles (preferably Hatch)

  • 8 ounces (227g) dried black beans (1 heaping cup)

  • 12 sprigs cilantro, leaves roughly chopped (1/2 cup), stems tied together with a piece of kitchen twine, divided

  • 1 quart (950ml) homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock

  • 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, plus more to taste; for table salt, use half as much by volume

  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

  • 4 chicken legs, divided into thighs and drumsticks (about 2 pounds; 900g)

  • Sour cream, for serving

  • Lime wedges, for serving

Directions

  1. In a pressure cooker, heat oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add sausage and cook until starting to crisp around edges, about 2 minutes. Add onion and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes longer. Add cumin and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add chiles, dried black beans, cilantro stems, and stock. Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine. Seal pressure cooker and bring to high pressure. Cook for 30 minutes. Cool pressure cooker under a cold running tap (if using an electric cooker, use the quick release valve), and open.

  2. Add chicken pieces to pressure cooker. Seal pressure cooker and bring to high pressure. Cook for 10 minutes. Cool pressure cooker under a cold running tap (if using an electric cooker, use the quick release valve), and open. Using tongs, transfer chicken pieces to a medium bowl. Discard cilantro stems. Return beans in pressure cooker to high heat and continue cooking, stirring, until reduced to a thick, stew-like consistency, about 10 minutes.

    Quick and Easy Pressure Cooker Chicken and Black Bean Stew Recipe (5)

  3. Meanwhile, shred chicken and discard skin and bones. Stir chicken into beans, season to taste with salt and pepper, and stir in half of chopped cilantro leaves. Serve with sour cream, lime wedges, and remaining cilantro at the table.

Special Equipment

Electric or stovetop pressure cooker

Read More

  • Chicken Chile Verde Pressure Cooker
  • Easy Pressure Cooker Chicken and Chickpea Masala
  • 30-Minute Pressure Cooker Chicken With Chickpeas, Tomatoes, and Chorizo
  • Better Pressure Cooker Butter Chicken
  • Soups
  • Pressure Cooked Stews
  • Black Beans
  • Chicken Legs
  • Quick Dinners
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
468Calories
22g Fat
31g Carbs
39g Protein

×

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4to 6
Amount per serving
Calories468
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 22g28%
Saturated Fat 7g33%
Cholesterol 144mg48%
Sodium 1303mg57%
Total Carbohydrate 31g11%
Dietary Fiber 7g26%
Total Sugars 3g
Protein 39g
Vitamin C 24mg118%
Calcium 116mg9%
Iron 5mg26%
Potassium 1170mg25%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Quick and Easy Pressure Cooker Chicken and Black Bean Stew Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Does chicken cook faster in pressure cooker? ›

Pressure cookers save you time by cooking foods TWO to TEN times faster than other cooking methods. They are the fastest way to cook delicious meals: beef roasts, chicken, rice, dry beans, you name it.

How to cook black beans in a pressure cooker reddit? ›

I put 1 cup of beans in my instant pot with 1 cup of vegetable broth, 2 cups of water, a small onion, salt and pepper, garlic powder, and a smoky southwest seasoning. I cooked them on high for 30 minutes and let the pressure release on its own.

How long does it take to cook chicken in a pressure cooker? ›

chicken requires 18 minutes of high pressure cooking. Add 6 minutes of cooking time per additional pound. Note: You can submerge your chicken directly in the cooking liquid, especially if you want to make chicken stock. However, the steamer basket method ensures crispy skin and won't wash away the seasoning.

Why is my chicken tough after pressure cooking? ›

Maybe the pressure build-up inside wasn't enough for the chicken. Maybe you didn't really cook it long enough. Maybe you released the pressure too soon, without allowing it to cook completely. Maybe there's something wrong with your pressure cooker.

What happens if you don t soak beans before pressure cooking? ›

Yes: When you soak beans, you dramatically reduce the amount of time it takes to pressure cook them. For instance, unsoaked chickpeas take 35-40 minutes to cook, but soaked chickpeas take just 10 minutes to cook. No: I don't think anyone says no to this question per se, but there is a bit of a tradeoff.

Do you drain canned black beans before cooking? ›

Many people wonder if they need to drain and rinse canned beans, and the answer is, “it depends.” It's fine to add the bean liquid to many recipes, but if you want to reduce the amount of sodium, it's best to drain and rinse canned beans.

Is it better to slow cook or pressure cook beans? ›

Both methods were ranked as easy, however, considering the amount of cook time required for slow cooker beans, the Instant Pot method comes out on top. The stovetop and oven methods result in beans that were unevenly cooked– some had hard spots while others were mushy.

Is it better to pressure cook or slow cook chicken? ›

Ultimately, slow cooking allowed our chicken to be perfectly seasoned without compromising the meat texture, a luxury pressure cooking can't afford.

Does pressure cooker cook meat faster? ›

At that pressure, water boils at 121°C (250°F). That means food can cook at a much higher temperature than it ever could at atmospheric pressure—and since cooking reactions speed up at higher temperatures, your food cooks faster.

Does food cook faster in a pressure cooker? ›

Food cooks faster in a pressure cooker. Its because the pressure increases inside the cooker, which also increases the boiling point of water. ​So, more heat is required to reach the boiling point and is sufficient to cook food in a reduced time.

Does pressure cooking chicken longer make it more tender? ›

Cooking any meat on high heat (or high pressure) for an extended period will both: denature more the proteins / collagen making the meat more tender; "squeeze" more water out of the meat, making it drier / chalkier in texture.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Pres. Lawanda Wiegand

Last Updated:

Views: 5910

Rating: 4 / 5 (71 voted)

Reviews: 94% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Pres. Lawanda Wiegand

Birthday: 1993-01-10

Address: Suite 391 6963 Ullrich Shore, Bellefort, WI 01350-7893

Phone: +6806610432415

Job: Dynamic Manufacturing Assistant

Hobby: amateur radio, Taekwondo, Wood carving, Parkour, Skateboarding, Running, Rafting

Introduction: My name is Pres. Lawanda Wiegand, I am a inquisitive, helpful, glamorous, cheerful, open, clever, innocent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.