Instant Pot green beans are quickly steamed and tossed with a flavorful sauce made from sesame oil, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, garlic and shallot.
These Instant Pot green beans are so good! You might just find yourself standing in the kitchen stabbing these garlicky green beans right out of the serving dish before they even make it to the table.
This recipe has two parts. First, the green beans are steamed in your Instant Pot. Next, a flavorful sauce is simmered briefly in the Instant Pot before tossing the green beans back in.
The end result is an easy vegetable side dish that's far from boring. And, these green beans are delicious warm or cold - perfect for leftovers or meal prep.
Looking for more Instant Pot veggie recipes? Try Instant Pot steamed broccoli, sweet potatoes, lemon and parsley cabbage or collard greens. You might also like Balsamic Glazed Instant Pot Asparagus.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Green Beans: Fresh green beans work best for this recipe. To make life really easy, I often buy a 1 pound bag of trimmed and washed fresh green beans. You can just dump them right into the pressure cooker, no prep needed.
In a pinch, you can also use frozen green beans and follow the same cooking instructions. Instant Pot frozen green beans will turn out slightly softer and less flavorful than fresh green beans.
Soy sauce: I use reduced sodium soy sauce, but regular should work as well.
Rice vinegar: Use unseasoned rice vinegar (found in most grocery stores) which is vinegar made from fermented rice.
Toasted sesame oil: Make sure to use toasted sesame oil, which has more flavor and a darker color than light sesame oil.
If you don't have sesame oil, you can use olive oil or sunflower oil. But sesame oil adds the best flavor!
Honey: Necessary for a hint of sweetness that balances the salty and vinegary flavors
Garlic and shallot: Feel free to add even more garlic! I prefer shallot over onion for this recipe. The flavor and texture is more delicate, which is important since the sauce only simmers for a few minutes. You can also add a teaspoon of finely chopped ginger if you like.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Pour 1 cup of water into the pressure cooker. Place green beans in a steamer basket. Set the basket inside of the Instant Pot.
Step 2: Secure the lid, making sure the steam release knob is in the "sealed' position. Press the Manual button and program the Instant Pot to cook for "0" minutes by using the " - " button to move the cooking time down to zero.
The pressure cooker will take about 8 to 10 minutes to reach pressure. It will cook for “0” minutes then immediately start beeping to alert you that the cooking time is done.
After the beeping stops, the LED digital display will have the letter L before the digits, which means it's in "keep warm" mode. The green beans will continue to cook and soften if left in "keep warm" mode. So it's really important to immediately initiate a quick release by turning the steam release knob to the venting position.
Step 3: When all of the steam has released and the float valve drops, open the lid and carefully lift the steamer basket out of the Instant Pot. Set the green beans aside. Lift out the pressure cooker insert and pour out whatever water remains.
Step 4: Press the Saute button. Add the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, honey, garlic and shallot. Mix the sauce really well with a high heat rubber spatula, making sure that the honey is blended into the liquid and not sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Rapidly simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. You want the sauce to thicken and the garlic and shallot to soften.
Step 5: Add the green beans. Mix gently to coat the beans in the sauce.
Step 6: Transfer the green beans to a serving dish and use a spatula to scrape all of the yummy sauce out of the pot. Garnish with sesame seeds and enjoy!
For specific ingredient amounts, see recipe card below
FAQ
A quick release means that you manually move the steam release knob from "sealed" to "venting" to release all of the steam and stop the cooking process.
A quick release is most often used for vegetables, grains and pasta - all foods that will overcook if left in a pressure cooker too long.
Absolutely. Just follow the instructions in the recipe card below for steamed Instant Pot green beans, and don't make the sauce. If you'd like more flavor, add salt or butter to the green beans after they're cooked.
Yes, but frozen green beans will have a softer texture and can taste a bit watery.
If possible, use regular green beans for the best results. Thinner beans, such as haricot verts, cook faster and will have a softer texture.
Unfortunately, no. The sauce doesn't have enough liquid to properly cook the green beans in a pressure cooker. If you try adding more liquid to the sauce, then the beans are soggy and don't have as much flavor. Also, soy sauce and honey can burn and stick to the bottom of the Instant Pot when the lid is sealed. This is why I steam the green beans first, then make the sauce.
Yes. Without a steamer basket, the beans will overcook and get soggy. I recommend either a silicone steamer basket or a large mesh steamer basket (the silicone basket is easier to clean).
Not really. I tested this recipe using both low and high pressure, and it doesn't make a noticeable difference in the texture of the green beans. However, I do usually use low pressure when cooking Instant Pot steamed broccoli.
More Green Bean Recipes
📖 Recipe
Garlicky Instant Pot Green Beans with Soy Sauce
Instant Pot green beans are quickly steamed and tossed with a flavorful sauce made from soy sauce, sesame oil honey, rice vinegar, garlic and shallot. An easy and delicious vegetable side dish!
You can eat these steamed green beans either hot or cold. You can also just steam plain green beans, using the instructions below.
Total Instant Pot Cooking Time: 10 minutes to reach pressure + 0 minutes cooking time + instant release + 5 minutes to simmer the sauce
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
- Category: side dishes
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Asian American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 pound green beans
- ¼ cup lower sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- ¼ cup finely chopped shallot
- Sesame seeds for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Pour 1 cup of water into the Instant Pot.
- Set a steamer basket over the water and add the green beans.
- Secure the lid, then press the Manual button and program a cooking time of 0 minutes at high pressure (see the notes section below if you need instructions for how to program 0 minutes)
- The pressure cooker will take about 8 to 10 minutes to reach pressure. Then it will cook for “0” minutes and immediately start beeping to alert you that the cooking time is done.
- When the cooking time is done and the Instant Pot beeps, immediately release the pressure by moving the steam release knob to “venting” (this is called an instant release).
- Carefully lift out the steamer basket of green beans
- Lift out the pressure cooker insert and pour out any water that remains.
- Press the saute button. Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, honey, garlic and shallot to the Instant Pot.
- Mix the sauce really well with a high heat rubber spatula, making sure that the honey is blended into the liquid and not sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Rapidly simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently with a heat resistant spatula, until the sauce thickens and the garlic and shallot have softened.
- Add the green beans. Mix well to coat the beans in sauce.
- Transfer the green beans to a serving bowl. Use the spatula to scrape all of the yummy sauce out of the pot and over the beans.
- Garnish with sesame seeds and serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
This recipe was tested in a 6-quart Instant Pot
To set the cooking time to "0" minutes, press the Manual button then press the minus “ - ” button to move the cooking time down to zero.
The pressure cooker will take 8 to 10 minutes to reach pressure. It will then cook the green beans for 0 minutes before immediately switching over to “keep warm” mode. When the LED digital display shows the letter “L” before the digits, this means it’s in “keep warm” mode, such as L0:01. See the step-by-step instructions in the blog post above for photos.
It’s important to instantly release the steam when the 0 minutes of cooking time is complete, otherwise the green beans will continue to cook and soften. For this reason, I always set my stove or phone timer for 8 minutes after I secure the lid, so that I’m paying attention and ready to release steam as soon as the Instant Pot beeps.
The Instant Pot comes with a metal trivet, which doesn’t work great for steaming veggies because the veggies fall over the sides into the water. For steaming vegetables, I recommend buying either a silicone steamer basket or a large mesh steamer basket
If you want plain steamed green beans, just follow the instructions for steaming the beans and don't make the sauce.
Jenny says
A quick and easy side dish for dinner, and the sauce really makes steamed green beans more exciting!