I highly recommend Rancho Gordo beans. Their flavor is above and beyond what you’ll get from supermarket beans. These beans are creamy, satisfying, vegetarian, and vegan if you omit the burrata. The pressure cooker or Instant Pot cooks them quickly, and has the added advantage of destroying the lectins that naturally occur in beans (lectins are plant proteins that help the plant defend itself against enemies but can interfere with our gut microbiome).

Serves 6

1 lb dried Yellow Eye beans, or lima, or any white bean (Rancho Gordo sells excellent beans)
2 dried bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 yellow onion, cut into eighths
1 clove garlic, smashed
3 T olive oil, plus more for serving
Kosher salt and black pepper
Burrata, for serving

Note: Theoretically, you don’t need to soak beans if you are pressure cooking them. However, I do it anyway because I’m convinced it helps me digest them better, and the beans will look better if you soak them first (fewer split skins and blown-out beans). So I soak the beans, bay leaves, and thyme in water to cover. I use my pressure cooker pot and start soaking mine in the morning and cook the beans for dinner, so I probably soak them for 8-10 hours. You could also soak the beans overnight and then cook them in the morning if that works better for your schedule.

When you’re ready to cook, add more water if necessary to cover the beans by 11⁄2 inches. Add onion, garlic, olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt and a couple grindings of black pepper. Secure the lid (on an Instant Pot, set it to the “sealing” position). Turn on heat to high and bring the pressure cooker up to full pressure. Cook soaked beans for 10-12 minutes (unsoaked beans need 25-30 minutes) at high pressure. Let the pressure release naturally, which helps the beans retain their shape better than a rapid release of pressure.

If you find your beans aren’t quite done, put the lid back on (turn the release valve back to “sealing” for Instant Pot) and cook at high pressure for another 5-10 minutes.

Once cooked, don’t drain the beans. Pick out the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Taste beans and broth for salt and pepper, adding more if necessary. Ladle beans and broth into bowls. Top with chunks of burrata and a drizzle of olive oil, if desired.

Pressure Cooker Beans with Burrata