Easy Instant Pot Green Beans With Festive Seasonings

Originally published July 25, 2020 - Revised December 20, 2020

Instant Pot Green Beans are so fast and easy to make. All the ingredients are tossed in the pot at the same time and after a few minutes you have a healthy delicious dish of green beans that goes well with beef, pork, chicken, fish and seafood!

Fresh green beans are a delicious side dish to any meal. But, when you mix them up with pimientos and a whisper of garlic in this Instant Pot Green Bean recipe, you suddenly have a unique and flavorful vegetable side dish. I've also added some chopped almonds for a little color and texture - you can skip those if you prefer.

[lwptoc]

Why We Love This Recipe

Healthy. This green vegetable is low in calories and high in healthy vitamins and minerals. Green beans are low carb too.

Simple Ingredients. Green beans, pimientos, garlic powder, kosher salt, and some optional chopped almonds.

Easy.  Put all ingredients (except the almonds, if using ) in the Instant Pot at once and pressure cook. 

Quick. In less than 15 minutes, you have a delicious side dish of Instant Pot Green Beans.

What You’ll Need

1. An Instant Pot. I use a 6 QT Duo Instant Pot  that I love.
2. Green Beans. You can use fresh green beans or frozen green beans. The recipe card includes just a slight time change when using fresh or frozen.
3. Seasonings. Pimientos, garlic powder and kosher salt.
   • Use jarred pimientos (pimentos) for simplicity.
   • I like to use kosher salt as it tends to dissolve better into my finished dishes. You can always use table salt if that is what you have on hand.
4. Almonds (optional). Chopped almonds add a bit of color, texture, and nutty flavor to the green beans and pimientos.
5. Extra virgin olive oil. Just a little for a finishing drizzle.

Steps and Tips for Perfect Results

1. The 2 minutes cooking time will give you crisp tender Instant Pot green beans.
2. If you prefer your beans very soft, it is very easy to add more cooking time. You can pressure cook them for 3 minutes, or wait to add more cooking time after you test them after 2 minutes.
3. Do a quick release after the pressure cooking time is done.
4. Trim the ends of the beans. This is very easy to do by just snapping their ends.
5. You can snap the beans into smaller sections if you prefer eating them in smaller sections.
6. Most green beans today do not have a small string along their edge that needs to be removed. Double-check your beans to make sure.

Cooks Notes

• When shopping for pimientos you may find them labeled as pimentos. Either spelling is correct. So, don't be confused if the spelling isn't exactly as listed here. They can typically be found near the olives and pickles in larger grocery stores.
• Instant Pot Green Beans can be refrigerated up to 5 days. Reheat the beans in a saucepan with a little bit of water on the stovetop or in the microwave.
• If you are new to the Instant Pot, you may find this post on How To Use The Instant Pot worth reading. After authoring 4 Instant Pot cookbooks with over 700 recipes for the Instant Pot, I feel I can help you a lot.

Variations

• Substitute frozen green beans for the fresh beans and add 30 seconds cooking time.
• If using the chopped almonds, toast the almonds lightly. Before step 1, set your Instant Pot to sauté and add the almonds, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes or until fragrant. Watch the almonds carefully as they can burn very quickly.
• Sauté the green beans and pimientos. Before step 1, set your Instant Pot to Sauté on High. When the pot says Hot, add the green beans and pimiento, and cook, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes or until there is a slightly char on the beans. Cancel cooking. Continue with step 1, adding the water, garlic powder and salt to finish making Instant Pot green beans.

Serving Suggestions

Rump Roast

Pan Fried Pork Chops

Blackened Shrimp

Pan Fried Cod

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5 from 1 vote

Tasty Instant Pot Green Beans and Pimentos

If you are getting tired of plain old green beans, you needn’t look any further for inspiration. Sweet, succulent pimentos add delightful taste and color to simple pressure-cooked beans.

Prep Time :5 minutes

Cook Time :3 minutes

Total Time :8 minutes

Servings 6

Equipment

• Instant Pot

Ingredients

• 2 lbs  fresh green beans trimmed
• 4    ounces pimentos (1 jar) drained
• 1 tsp  garlic powder
• 1 cup  water
• Kosher salt
• 1 tbsp  extra virgin olive oil
• ⅓ cup chopped almonds optional

Instructions

• Arrange beans in the inner pot. Add pimentos, garlic powder, and water. Season with salt.
• Close and lock the lid and turn the steam release handle to Sealing. Set your Instant Pot to pressure cook on High for 2 minutes.
• When the cooking time is done, press Cancel and turn the steam release handle to Venting. When the float valve drops down, remove the lid. The beans should be tender-crisp. (If more cooking time is needed, continue pressure cooking on High for 30 seconds.)
• Stir beans, drain and transfer to a serving bowl. Garnish with almonds, if using. Drizzle with oil. Serve immediately.

Notes

• When shopping for pimientos you may find them labeled as pimentos. Either spelling is correct. So, don't be confused if the spelling isn't exactly as listed here. They can typically be found near the olives and pickles in larger grocery stores.
• Cooked green beans can be refrigerated up to 5 days. Reheat the beans in a saucepan with a little bit of water on the stovetop or in the microwave.
• If you are new to the Instant Pot, you may find this post on How To Use The Instant Pot worth reading. After authoring 4 Instant Pot cookbooks with over 700 recipes for the Instant Pot, I feel I can help you a lot.
• The nutrition calculate shown does not include the chopped almonds.

Recipe Variations:

• Substitute frozen green beans for the fresh beans. Increase the cooking time to 3 minutes.
• Mix green and yellow (wax) beans for a color colorful dish.
• Substitute frozen green beans for the fresh beans and add 30 seconds cooking time.
• If using the chopped almonds, toast the almonds lightly. Before step 1, set your Instant Pot to sauté and add the almonds, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes or until fragrant. Watch the almonds carefully as they can burn very quickly.
• Sauté the green beans and pimientos. Before step 1, set your Instant Pot to Sauté on High. When the pot say Hot, add the green beans and pimiento, and cook, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes or until there is a slightly char on the beans. Cancel cooking. Continue with step 1, adding the water, garlic powder and salt.

Nutrition

Calories: 76kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 14mg | Potassium: 359mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 1543IU | Vitamin C: 34mg | Calcium: 56mg | Iron: 2mg