Place all ingredients into the Instant Pot. Close the lid.
Press PRESSURE COOK and cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 30 minutes. Allow pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes and then release all remaining pressure.
Stir in jalapenos and cilantro and serve. Top each serving with crumbled queso if using, and serve.
TIPS & TRICKS FOR DELICIOUS PRESSURE COOKER PINTO BEANS
Serve with rice after cooking Instant Pot beans for a complete meal.
Do NOT substitute cayenne for the Mexican Red Chili Powder. They are very much different and it won't turn out anything like it should.
Vegetarian Pinto Beans. Omit the chorizo and the queso fresco to make this recipe both vegetarian and vegan-friendly.
Variations. For additional flavor in this bean recipe, add things such as diced tomatoes, bell pepper, onion, jalapeno, garlic, bacon, taco seasoning, bay leaf, or chopped cilantro.
Thick bean soup. For thicker Mexican pinto beans, remove 2/3 of the beans and use an immersion blender on the remaining 1/3. Then stir in the remaining unblended beans to the pot. Don't blend them all unless you want pinto bean soup.
Use chicken broth or vegetable broth instead of water to add even more flavor to your Instant Pot recipe.
If you're short on time, you can use cooked pinto beans or canned beans for this, but you will need to adjust the cooking time on your pressure cooker to 10 minutes with a 5-minute natural release.
Throw in a ham hock while cooking to kick the flavor up a notch or two.
Make refried beans. You can easily modify this recipe to be similar to my Instant Pot Refried Beans recipe.
If you don't have garlic cloves on hand, you can always sub garlic powder in a pinch.