Instant Pot Tomatillo-Poblano White Beans are one of my go-to recipes. I love these beans in burritos, but they’re great as part of a bowl, or on their own with steamed veggies.
It used soaked Great Northern beans and gets cooked in your Instant Pot. Even though the beans are soaked, the recipe calls for them to cook for 35 minutes so that they break down a bit and get creamy.
This recipe is from my book, The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook for Your Instant Pot. I know some of you already have it and I want to make sure that you don’t overlook this recipe. It’s easy to make and fresh tomatillos are inexpensive at a Latin market.
I tested all the recipes in a 6-quart Instant Pot, but you should be able to make this in the 8-quart or the 3-quart. I should be getting a 3-quart soon and I’ll update you.
If you are starting on your holiday gift list early I’d recommend buying, my book, an Instant Pot, and checking out the accessories I recommend here.

Tomatillo-Poblano White Beans from The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook for Your Instant Pot
This is one of my favorite recipes from The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook for Your Instant Pot. It's a one post meal that's great with a salad and a piece of homemade bread.
Ingredients
For the Saute
- 2 cups 264 g chopped tomatillos
- 1 cup 105 g chopped poblano (seeds and stem removed before chopping)
- 1 cup 160 g chopped onion
- 1/2 jalapeño without seeds, or use more to make it hotter
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
For the Pressure Cooker
- 1 1/2 cups 275 g dried Great Northern beans, soaked for 8–12 hours and drained
- 1 1/2 cups 355 ml water
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- For the sauté, add the tomatillos, poblano, onion and jalapeño to your blender or food processor. Pulse until the veggies are in tiny pieces, but not pureed.
- Use the sauté setting over normal, or medium heat, and pour in the blended veggies; add the cumin and stir to combine. Cook for about 4 minutes to remove the edge off the onions and make the cumin more fragrant.
- For the pressure cooker, add the beans, water and oregano to the sauté mixture and stir to combine. Put the lid on and make sure that the steam release handle is sealed. Cook on manual setting at high pressure and set for 35 minutes.
- Allow the pressure to release naturally.
- If there is still more liquid in the pot than you’d like to have, switch back to the sauté setting and simmer to allow some of the liquid to evaporate.
- Add salt and pepper to taste before serving.
Nutrition Information
Amount Per Serving Calories 187Sodium 12mgCarbohydrates 35gFiber 11gSugar 4gProtein 11g
Also, be sure to watch my Facebook Live below with a quick and easy Instant Pot Indian Chickpea Potato Salad recipe.
Debbie C says
I’m a bit confused about the jalapeno quantity “0.5 .5 jalapeño” — I’m assuming it’s just a typo, or am I being a little dense this morning (always a possibility!)?
Debbie C says
PS – it looks great!
Kathy Hester says
It is just 1/2 a jalapeño. It’s the new recipe plugin, I’ve got a support ticker in!
Lori says
Looks delicious. I must try.
Karen says
I have white beans already cooked — how would you adjust the cooking time in the Instant Pot?
Bobbie says
WOW-This looks great! I just got a bunch of tomatillos in a co opt and wasn’t sure what to do with them!
Will be making this!
Amy Katz from Veggies Save The Day says
These beans are so good! And so is everything I’ve made from your cookbook. 🙂
Dianne's Vegan Kitchen says
I love this recipe! And I love this book!
Robin Fetter says
This recipe was easy peasy to put together and it was exceptional inside a burrito with rice and sauteed veggies. I also had it for leftovers and the flavors really enhanced…kinda like a good chili! Definitely will be making this again 🙂
Elizabeth says
Thank you for sharing your recipes here! I’m afraid that this one just didn’t work for me. It turned out fine and looks like it did in the photos, but it just lacks any distinctive flavors and, even with the peppers, tastes bland. Maybe I’m just not a big tomatillo person, but this didn’t do it for me. Looking forward to trying out your other recipes!
Kathy Hester says
Sorry you weren’t a fan, I’m sure you’ll find another recipe that you like.
Julie says
Can’t wait wait to try this recipe!
Question:
So the beans are still soaked for 8-12 hours even though they are cooked in the pressure cooker? I thought the advantage of the pressure cooker wasn’t that beans don’t need to be soaked??
Kathy Hester says
You can indeed cook beans without soaking them. Some people prefer to soak so you’ll find some of my recipes soak beans and others don’t.
If the recipe calls for soaking and you don’t want to, just make sure to add extra liquid.