Pressure Cooker Black Bean Tacos with Anchovy Butter Slaw

Dried black beans usually mean planning ahead — an overnight soak, a couple of hours on the stove, and a certain amount of hoping they turn out tender. A pressure cooker cuts that whole process down to about 45 minutes, no soak required, and gets you beans that are creamy all the way through instead of chalky in the center. That’s the base of this taco. The other half is a slaw built on anchovy butter, which sounds like an odd pairing until you taste what it does — it melts into the warm cabbage and turns a simple slaw into something savory and rich enough to stand next to the beans instead of just sitting on top as garnish.

This isn’t a fifteen-minute dinner. But it’s a mostly hands-off one — the pressure cooker does the real work on the beans while you put together a slaw that takes ten minutes, tops.

Why This Recipe Is Worth Making

The pressure cooker solves the actual problem with dried beans: time. No soaking, no babysitting a pot, and you get better texture than most people manage on the stovetop, where beans on the outer edge tend to blow out before the center softens. Pressure cooking heats them evenly under pressure, so they finish tender front to back.

The anchovy butter slaw is doing more than adding crunch. Anchovies dissolve into butter and disappear as “fishy” flavor — what’s left is a deep savoriness that makes the whole taco taste more finished, the way a good pan sauce does. If you’ve never cooked with anchovies outside of a Caesar dressing, this is a good low-risk way to see what they actually do.

What You’ll Need

For the black beans:

• 1 lb dried black beans, rinsed and picked over (no soaking needed)
• 1 small yellow onion, quartered
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 tbsp kosher salt, added after cooking
• 1 tbsp neutral oil

For the anchovy butter slaw:

• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 4 oil-packed anchovy fillets, finely minced (or 2 tsp anchovy paste)
• 2 cloves garlic, finely grated
• 4 cups green cabbage, thinly shredded
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• Salt and black pepper, to taste

To finish:

• 10-12 small corn or flour tortillas
• Crumbled cotija or queso fresco
• Fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• Lime wedges
• Hot sauce, optional

Anchovy paste works fine as a substitute for whole fillets — use about half a teaspoon per fillet called for. It’s slightly more concentrated, so start light and taste before adding more.

How to Make It

1. Set the pressure cooker to sauté mode and heat the oil. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, just until the onion turns translucent and you can smell the garlic — don’t let it brown.
2. Add the rinsed black beans, bay leaf, cumin, and broth. Stir once to combine, making sure the beans are fully submerged.
3. Lock the lid and set to high pressure for 30 minutes if the beans are relatively fresh, or 35 to 40 minutes if you’re not sure how long they’ve been sitting in your pantry — older dried beans take longer to soften no matter what.
4. Let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes, then release any remaining pressure manually. Natural release keeps the beans intact instead of blowing them apart, which happens with a fast release.
5. Open the lid and check a few beans for doneness — they should mash easily against the side of the pot with a spoon but still hold their shape. If they’re still firm, seal and cook on high pressure for another 5 minutes.
6. Remove the bay leaf, stir in the salt, and let the beans sit uncovered for 5 minutes. They’ll continue to absorb liquid and thicken slightly as they sit.
7. While the beans cook, make the anchovy butter: mash the softened butter, minced anchovies, and grated garlic together in a small bowl until evenly combined and no anchovy streaks remain visible.
8. Warm a large skillet over medium heat and melt the anchovy butter until it foams slightly. Add the shredded cabbage and red onion, tossing constantly for 2 to 3 minutes, just until the cabbage wilts slightly but still has bite. You’re not trying to cook it through — you want warm, glossy cabbage, not soft cabbage.
9. Remove from heat, squeeze in the lime juice, and toss again. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper — the anchovies bring salt on their own, so go easy at first.
10. Warm the tortillas in a dry skillet or directly over a gas flame until lightly charred in spots, about 20 seconds per side.
11. Build the tacos: a spoonful of black beans, a pile of the warm anchovy butter slaw, cotija, and cilantro. Serve with lime wedges and hot sauce on the side.

Tips That Actually Make a Difference

• Don’t skip the sauté step for the onion and garlic before pressure cooking. It builds a base flavor that plain water-and-bean cooking doesn’t have, and it takes three minutes.
• Salt the beans after they finish cooking, not before. Salting dried beans early can toughen the skins and slow down softening, especially under pressure.
• Warm the slaw fast and pull it off the heat quickly. The line between “warm and glossy” and “fully wilted and sad” is about 90 seconds — watch it, don’t walk away.
• Char the tortillas directly over a flame if you have a gas stove. It takes ten extra seconds per tortilla and makes a real difference in how the finished taco tastes.

Mistakes to Watch Out For

• Beans that never fully soften: This is almost always old dried beans. If yours have been in the pantry for over a year, expect to add 10 to 15 minutes of extra pressure cooking time, possibly in a second round.
• Slaw that turns into mush: Leaving the cabbage in the hot butter too long, or letting it sit in the pan after you turn off the heat. Pull it as soon as it’s warmed through and glossy.
• Slaw that tastes too salty: Anchovies and cotija both bring salt. Taste the slaw before you add any extra salt at all — you may not need it.
• Fast pressure release blowing the bean skins off: Natural release for at least 15 minutes prevents this. A fast release is fine for vegetables, not for beans.

Easy Ways to Change It Up

• Vegetarian slaw: Swap the anchovy butter for plain butter with a teaspoon of white miso stirred in — it won’t taste the same, but it gets you a similar savory depth without fish.
• Spicier beans: Add a chopped chipotle in adobo (without the alcohol-based canning liquid, just the pepper itself) to the pressure cooker along with the broth.
• Different protein alongside: Shredded rotisserie chicken or grilled shrimp both work well tucked into the taco with the beans and slaw.
• No pressure cooker: Simmer soaked beans on the stovetop for 60 to 90 minutes instead, checking for tenderness after an hour.

What to Serve It With

A simple pico de gallo or diced mango salsa adds brightness that cuts through the richness of the anchovy butter. Mexican street corn on the side rounds the meal out without competing for attention. If you want something to drink alongside, a sparkling limeade or hibiscus agua fresca fits the flavor profile without adding heaviness.

Leftovers and Reheating

Store the beans and slaw in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator — they’ll keep for up to 4 days. Reheat the beans gently on the stovetop with a splash of water or broth to loosen them back up, since they thicken as they sit. The slaw doesn’t reheat well and is better eaten cold or at room temperature the next day, more like a cabbage salad than a warm side. Skip freezing the slaw entirely — the cabbage turns watery and limp once thawed.

Approximate Nutrition Per Serving

Estimates only, based on 4 servings (about 3 tacos each), for informational purposes.

Final Thoughts

The pressure cooker gets you real, from-scratch black beans without the planning ahead that usually stops people from making them, and the anchovy butter slaw is the kind of small addition that makes a simple taco taste like you thought it through. If anchovies still sound like a hard pass, make the slaw anyway and decide after you taste it. Give these a spot in your weekly rotation and see how they hold up.