Steak is one of the best things you can make in your Instant Pot.
The pressure cooker is specially designed to speed up the process and deliver a nicely cooked and juicy steak recipe that will make everyone think a well-known chef prepared it!
With this Instant Pot steak recipe, the steak is rich in flavor thanks to the garlic and the butter and the texture is so soft that it almost melts in your mouth.
Today I’ll tell you my secret in selecting just the right piece of meat for whenever I cook steak and share a few tips that may prove helpful along the way.
Table of Contents
Recipe Video
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How Long Does It Take?
The answer to this question depends on a series of variable factors.
First, we have the shape of the steak. Are you cooking an entire piece or will you cube/shred the meat?
If you’re cooking an entire piece (like this Instant Pot roast beef), you should also decide on the result you’re aiming for (rare, medium, or well-done). Still, regardless of the case, you shouldn’t use thick pieces (about 1 to 2 inches is enough) - the heat must be able to penetrate the meat from top to bottom.
For a rare steak, you only need to use the saute function. For medium and well-done (like in this beef steak recipe) you will need to top the sauteing with some pressure cooking.
I like my steak well-done so I usually leave it in the Instant Pot for about 15 minutes, but you should also adjust the time and temperature according to the size of the steak.
How to Choose the Steak
The success of this Instant Pot beef steak recipe starts with the meat you choose for your steak. As you can see from the list of ingredients, I like to use meat from the top side of the sirloin.
It’s best to select a piece with fine grain and as little connective tissue as possible. The connective tissue is the part of the meat that makes it chewy, which can ruin the experience, especially if you’re cooking for fussy children.
As a side note, a piece of meat with connective tissue is not bad, but it works best with recipes where you use slow-cooking (like London broil) because then the tissue will melt and turn into delicious gelatine.
A good way to select meat for steaks is to ask your butcher for a cut that’s from a single muscle (no connective tissue) and medium to little fat marbling.
Now, some people prefer a piece of steak with a lot of fat marbling on the account that the fat provides more flavor. While this is true, I would rather choose a piece of meat with a medium amount of fat marbling since this recipe incorporates butter.
Other Tips
- Add the garlic a little after the butter, to avoid burning it. If the garlic turns brown during the saute step, it will make the sauce bitter;
- Add the salt and pepper on the cubed steak, before you place it in the Instant Pot. This way, you can make sure every bit is evenly seasoned;
- When deglazing the pot, use a wooden spoon or spatula to avoid scratching the inner pot;
- Sauteing is very important because it caramelizes the outside and retains the flavorful juices on the inside. But, to make sure the steak sears, you should remove moisture off the surface of the steak bits before you place them in the hot butter. For this, place the cubed meat on paper towels and turn them on all sides to make sure the paper absorbs any last bit of moisture.
- When you deglaze the pot, don’t remove the browned bits from the saute step. These are delicious and add texture and taste to the dish.
How to serve
The Instant Pot steak can be served as is or with a side dish.
As a side dish, you can add cauliflower mash or french fries (they are delicious when cooked in the Instant Pot!)
If you want something healthier, you can go with steamed vegetables, quinoa, or Instant Pot jasmine rice.
Should I keep the sauce?
Sure! Pour some of the beef sauce on the side dish as well. You’ll get a wonderful taste!
How to make
Gather all of your ingredients.
Saute for 5 minutes and add the butter.
When it melts, add steak and sear on all sides.
Remove the steak from the Instant pot.
Add beef stock and stir a bit to clean the bottom.
Insert the trivet into the Instant Pot and place the steak on top of the trivet.
Close the lid and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes.
Once the cooking time ends, do a quick pressure release.
Open the lid and remove the steak from the Instant pot.
Add the starch to the Instant Pot and whisk it with the beef stock.
Saute for 5 minutes and for a tasty gravy cook until thickened.
Combine remaining butter with garlic in a small bowl.
Serve steak topped with garlic butter and gravy.
Steak is not always the easiest dish to make for me but I like it a lot. There is nothing better than a perfectly grilled steak with a light touch of smoke. The boneless ribeye from the Outback menu is my favorite steak of all time. But as I mentioned earlier, cooking steak at home isn't easy, but if you use Instant Pot things get a lot easier.
More Instant Pot Beef Recipes
All the Instant Pot Beef Recipes
Instant Pot Steak
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 pound beef steak
- ½ cup beef broth
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Press saute for 5 minutes and add the butter.
- When it melts, add steak and sear on all sides.
- Remove the steak from the Instant Pot.
- Add beef stock and stir a bit to clean the bottom.
- Insert the trivet into the Instant Pot and place the steak on top of the trivet.
- Close the lid and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes.
- Once the cooking time ends, do a quick pressure release.
- Open the lid and remove the steak from the Instant pot.
- Add the starch to the Instant Pot and whisk it with the beef stock.
- Saute for 5 minutes and for a tasty gravy cook until thickened.
- Combine remaining butter with garlic in a small bowl.
- Serve steak topped with garlic butter and the gravy.
Our 3/4" Sirloin was tough as a boot when done but the flavor was good. So how does one estimate the cook time for this size of steak?
It was great!!
Just make sure you fit the time to the steak size.
Couple of questions for Corrie - what was the temperature if the sirloin after cooking this recipe? How much time should it take for different sizes of sirloin?
I prefer a slow cooker over the instant pot. My question is: How long should I let ut cook in a slow cooker?
With a slow cooker it really depends on how much time you want to set aside. I choose to do 8 hours on low for when go to work. And when I am at home I cook for 4 hours on high.
As Elizabeth said, you can prepared this steak in slow cooker on High for about 4 hours.
I’m not sure what it is exactly that I’m doing wrong. I follow the recipes to the letter and sometimes it comes out great and other times it completely ruins an expensive steak. I’m getting to a point of returning this product and going back to my four pans on the stove to cook dinner. Just not as easy as everyone makes it sound.
Just follow the ratio of ingredients and instructions properly.
Wasted 15 dollars in steak w this recipe. Did it twice, first time was way over cooked so I cut the times in half and it still was awful.
Make sure to follow the ratio of ingredients and instructions properly. I am sure you will be satisfied.
Hi Corrie
Can I use a London Broil Roast, 2.5 lbs, in place of sirloin here?
Thanks
You can replace London Broil Roast instead of sirloin. But make sure to cut the meat into equal sized cubes.
Maybe test run your recipes before using them for a big dinner next time.
Thanks for your feedback. Hope that this recipe will be a great addition to your dinning table.
Destroyed my wife's birthday dinner using these instructions. Way overcooked.
It surely depends on the size of the steak you used: If it was too thin, it was overcooked, but on the other hand, if you put a big piece of meat into the pot, 12 minutes won't be enough. Like any other recipe, Instant Pot ones have to be adapted to the single case, because there are things that can vary: Size of ingredients, model of the pot, result you want (rare, medium, well done for meat) etc.
I need a reply asap. How long would you cook a thin steak, maybe 1'2 inch thick? Total weight about a lb for two steaks
8-10 minutes will be fine.
Not too smart trying something new on an important day....
Make sure to follow the recipe properly and surely you will get a good result.
I think I would have used a receipt you were familiar with
Thought it would be much harder to be honest and really like this recipe and the final result :]
Thanks for your feedback. Hope you will also enjoy this recipe in future.