How long do you pressure cook boiled peanuts?

About 60 minutes on high pressure for fresh green peanuts, and 80 to 90 minutes for raw (dried) peanuts that you've soaked overnight. Always use a natural release of 20 to 30 minutes so the salt keeps working into the nut as it cools, then taste and add time if needed.

How much salt do you use for Instant Pot boiled peanuts?

Roughly 1/4 cup of coarse kosher salt per quart of water. That's the only seasoning a real boiled peanut needs — no beer, no Old Bay, no Cajun spice. Salt, water, peanuts, and time.

Are Instant Pot boiled peanuts as good as slow-boiled?

Close, but not quite. A boiled peanut is really a brined peanut, and the flavor comes from salt drawing in slowly over hours. A pressure cooker gets you soft fast but rushes that brine and can push the texture past perfect. For the best flavor, a slow simmer and a long soak still win.

Do you need to soak peanuts before pressure cooking?

Fresh green peanuts don't need soaking — pressure cook them straight. Raw or dried peanuts should soak overnight in water first so they rehydrate, then they'll need about 80 to 90 minutes under pressure.

Can You Make Boiled Peanuts in an Instant Pot?

By Andy Rockwell · Old Family Recipe Archives

Yes, you can make boiled peanuts in an Instant Pot. Fill the pot no more than two-thirds with green peanuts, cover with water, add about a quarter cup of coarse kosher salt, and pressure cook on high for 60 to 90 minutes, then let it release and soak. It works. I still don't do it, and I'll tell you honestly why.

I'm Andy Rockwell, and I grew up down here in the Lower Cape Fear where boiled peanuts come off a slow pot on the tailgate, not out of a gadget. But folks ask me the Instant Pot question all the time, so I'm going to answer it straight, no sermon up front. You came here to find out if it works and how to do it. It does, and here's how.

How To Make Boiled Peanuts in an Instant Pot

The method is simple, and it's forgiving. Use fresh green peanuts if you can get them. Raw (dried) peanuts work too, they just need a long soak first and more time in the pot.

Rinse your green peanuts and pick out any that float or look bad.
Add them to the Instant Pot, filling no more than two-thirds full — they need room and peanuts foam.
Cover with water until the peanuts are just submerged. Don't pass the pot's max fill line.
Add about 1/4 cup coarse kosher salt per quart of water. That's your only seasoning if you're doing it right.
Seal the lid, set the valve to sealing, and pressure cook on high: 60 minutes for green peanuts, 80 to 90 minutes for raw/dried that you've soaked overnight.
Let it do a natural release — 20 to 30 minutes. Do not force the steam out. That slow cool-down is where the salt keeps working its way in.
Taste one. If the nut is soft and the shell has flavor, you're done. If not, seal it back up for another 15 to 20 minutes.

That's the whole thing. A batch that used to hold my afternoon can be done in a couple hours with the lid locked. I understand the appeal. I really do.

So Why Don't I Use One?

Two honest reasons, and neither one is snobbery.

The brine never gets its time

A boiled peanut is a brined peanut. The magic isn't the cooking, it's the salt drawing slowly through the shell and into the nut over hours. That's why an old cook will tell you to cut the heat and let the pot sit overnight — the peanuts keep drinking the salt while they cool. A pressure cooker gets you soft fast, but it rushes the part that actually matters. You end up with a peanut that's cooked through but tastes salty on the outside and a little flat in the middle. The natural release helps. It's still not the same as time.

The texture goes one notch too far

Pressure cooking is aggressive, and the window between "just right" and "mushy" is narrow. On a slow pot you can taste every twenty minutes and pull them the moment they're perfect. In an Instant Pot you're guessing at the seal, and by the time you find out you overshot, they're already soft past where I like them. I want a peanut with a little give that still holds itself together. The slow pot gives me that control every single time.

The Way I Actually Make Them

Green peanuts, coarse kosher salt, water, and time. A big stockpot, a medium-low simmer for about three to three and a half hours, then I kill the heat and let them soak until I can't stand to wait any longer — usually a few more hours, sometimes overnight. No beer. No Old Bay. No pressure. People make boiled peanuts harder than they have to be, and the Instant Pot is one more way of doing that. The full walkthrough is in my guide on how to make boiled peanuts, and if you're wondering about the clock, I break it all down in how long to boil peanuts.

If the Instant Pot is what you've got and what fits your day, use it — a homemade boiled peanut beats none at all, and my directions above will get you there. But if you ever want to taste the difference time makes, give the slow pot one Saturday. You'll understand why I never went back.

Get the Real Recipe

My book, Carolina Style Boiled Peanuts, lays out the whole slow-pot method the way my family's cooked it for generations — green peanuts, salt, water, time, and nothing that doesn't belong. It's on Amazon in paperback ($10.99), or read it now as a PDF you own ($5.49) straight from this site. And you can always grab the free printable recipe card by email — no gadget required, just the honest pot.