I'm horrified that pressure cookers were used in the attacks at the Boston Marathon. How dare they use my favorite pot for such evil? I almost skipped this recipe. It's hard to reconcile comfort food with such terrible news. I had to remember, this is what the perpetrators want - to change the way we go about our daily lives. This post is dedicated to the brave people of Boston.
I'm using the spoils of my recent trip to the West Side Market - beef shanks and a big bag of dried Anasazi beans. I didn't plan this recipe, I just put the beans and beef shanks on the counter and pulled items out of the pantry to go with them. The result a big donut of meat, with a wonderful nugget of marrow in the middle, on a bed of brothy beans. Why didn't I try this sooner?
I'm also cheating - instead of browning all the shanks, I'm browning one batch, on one side. This gives me browned fond on the bottom of the pot to build flavor, without taking twenty minutes to brown all the shanks. You won't miss the extra browning - there's enough fond developed in one batch of browning to flavor the pot.
Don't have a pressure cooker? No worries. See the Notes section for standard cooking instructions.
Anasazi beans? They're like their close relative, pinto beans. They have a deeper, meatier taste, and they look a lot cooler, with a neat cow spotted effect. (Until you cook them, that is - the cow spots fade as the beans simmer.)
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📖 Recipe Card
Pressure Cooker Beef Shank and Anasazi Beans
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Browned beef shanks pressure cooked with Anasazi beans, onion, peppers, green chiles and chili powder until the beef and beans are tender.
Ingredients
Beef
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 4 large beef shanks (1 ½ inches thick, about 2 pounds total)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Aromatics and spices
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles (or 1 Anaheim chile, seeded and diced)
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons chili powder (or ancho chile powder)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
Beans and liquid
- 1 pound Anasazi beans, sorted and rinsed
- 4 cups chicken stock (homemade or store-bought, or water)
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 bay leaves
Second dose of spices (optional)
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Brown the beef: Heat the oil in the pressure cooker pot over medium-high heat until shimmering. Season the shanks with the 2 teaspoons salt and the pepper. Brown a single layer of shanks on one side, about 5 minutes, then move them to a bowl with the rest of the shanks.
- Sauté the aromatics: Add the onion, bell pepper, green chiles, garlic and ½ teaspoon salt. Sauté, scraping up the browned bits, until the onion softens, about 5 minutes. Make a space in the center, add the chili powder and thyme, and let them sizzle for 1 minute, then stir them in.
- Add the beans and liquid: Stir in the beans to coat. Add the stock, water, 1 teaspoon salt, baking soda and bay leaves, and stir. Nestle the shanks and their juices into the beans, submerging them as much as you can.
- Pressure cook: Lock the lid and cook at high pressure for 30 minutes (36 minutes in an electric pressure cooker). Let the pressure come down naturally for 15 minutes, then quick release the rest.
- Season: Stir in the second dose of spices, and taste. With homemade stock or water, you'll need more salt, up to about 1 tablespoon kosher salt. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Serve: Move the shanks to a platter. Spoon beans into each bowl with enough liquid to moisten them, and top with a beef shank.
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
Equipment: A pressure cooker, 6 quarts or larger (I used an Instant Pot).
No pressure cooker? Use a heavy Dutch oven with a lid, and increase the water to 4 cups. Follow the steps up to pressure cooking, then bring to a boil, cover, and bake in a 350°F oven for about 2 hours, until the beef and beans are tender. Then season and serve.
Leftovers are great. Shred the beef (discard the bones), stir it into the beans, and freeze in 2 cup containers for quick lunches.
Inspired by Lorna Sass's Pressure Perfect.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
Related Posts
Pressure Cooker Osso Bucco
Pressure Cooker Refried Pinto Beans
Click here for my other pressure cooker recipes.
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Alex says
Hello Mike this recipe was absolutely delicious! My family and I gathered round and had a long prayer session for the brave people of Boston before eating this lovely meal. As a proud Bostonian myself, my pressure cooker has been in storage ever since that fateful day. I vowed never to touch the death machine again until your post gave me the courage I needed to cook dinner once again!
Mike Vrobel says
Yeah, I hate that my favorite kitchen appliance was used in such an awful way...but thank you for giving it a try!
Gregg Schiltz says
Would this work with oxtails? As far as cooking time?
Mike Vrobel says
Oxtails need more time - go for 45 minutes under pressure: https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/instant-pot-easy-braised-oxtail/
Gary Dahl says
Wow, that was delicious! Appreciate the introduction to anasazi beans, and the leftover idea sounds great. Everything went smoothly, but I will reduce the salt a bit next time.
Bill says
This recipe is sooooo good I want to double the recipe next time! Any problem with that? Extra cooking time?
Mike Vrobel says
Same cooking time, but don’t go over the max fill line in your pressure cooker.
michael statland says
Hey Mike!
We're so much on the same page in cooking using a pressure cooker! Ive been using a stovetop PC for 30 years, recently went to an Instant Pot.
On your beef shank/anasazi recipe, I was wondering if meaty smoked ham hocks would be a good substitute for the beef shanks? Your thoughts on this please.
TIA
Mike
Mike Vrobel says
A smoked ham hock would work fine. A different flavor from the smoked pork, but still good.
Linda says
West Side Market, in Cleveland? Cool!
Mike Vrobel says
Absolutely!
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
Two votes for bolitas - I will have to track them down...
Orb Thompson says
Seriously Mike, do keep an eye out for the bolita's. I have both the anasazi and bolita beans shipped to me here in Kansas from Adobe Milling. They are definitely worth it. Like Charlie says the bolitas really absorb the flavors from whatever they are cooked with.
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
Thanks for the tip - I'll keep an eye out for bolita beans.
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
It is somewhere between mild and medium heat. Green chiles are a little spicy, bun not as hot as, say, jalapeño peppers. Use your best judgement - if you want to sub in green bell pepper (no heat) or jalapeños (more heat), go for it,
Chris Lukowski says
One more thing, how would you categorize the spiciness of this dish? I've never worked with canned green chilies before and I love chile flavor, but I have other palettes I have to consider (I'm sure you do too).
Charlie Lawton says
I really like anasazi beans. They're grown in southwestern Colorado mostly, which are my stomping grounds from way back, and I've stopped many times at Adobe Milling in Dove Creek, CO for a bag of anasazi beans. Adobe also sells a heirloom bean called the bolita, which is small and creamy-textured and absorbs flavor really well - it's worth getting a sack shipped to you, you'd dig 'em.
Charlie @ The Cooking Animal
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
Yes. Pinto beans are an exact substitute for Anasazi beans. Enjoy!
Chris Lukowski says
If we cannot find Anasazi beans, would the timing & directions be the same for dried pinto beans?