Instant Pot Italian Beef. Bring a taste of Chicago to your home with tender shredded beef and rich broth made in the Instant Pot. Wet, dry, or dipped? However you like your Chicago Italian Beef, this recipe delivers maximum flavor with minimal effort.
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It's 106 miles to Chicago. We've got a full tank of gas, a half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses. Hit it!
I have family in Chicago, so I've been aware of Italian beef for years. I'm a Chicago Dog fan, though, so when I visited, my "local cheap eats" default was always dogs. I didn't try Italian beef until The Bear made it too big to ignore. (Yes chef!)
I have regrets. Why didn't I try Italian Beef sooner?
Italian Beef is a sloppy - very sloppy - sandwich. A soft white bread bun is filled with beef, topped with giardiniera, and drenched with the spicy broth. It is served three ways:
- Dry (is not actually dry). The beef is dipped in the juices right before they put it on the bun.
- Wet (is very wet). The beef is dipped in juices, put on the bun, and then a ladle of juices are poured over the meat, soaking into the bun.
- Dipped (is absolutely drenched). The beef is dipped in juices and put on the bun, then the entire sandwich, bun and all, is dipped in the juices.
The sandwich is then wrapped in paper (to hold the whole sloppy mess together) and sliced in half. It's fantastic, messy, and needs to be eaten with a pile of napkins nearby.
This is the make-at-home edition translated to my Instant Pot. I cut the beef into cubes, making it cook quicker and easier to shred. The broth is loaded with spices - paprika, oregano, coriander, and fennel - and after a half hour of pressure cooking, the beef cubes are falling apart in the broth.
Want a taste of sweet home Chicago? Make some Italian beef.
Ingredients Notes and Substitutions
- Other cuts of beef: Chuck is my favorite meat for pressure cooking, with the best combination of flavor, fat, and connective tissue to break down during cooking. Bottom round and top round will also work in this recipe, as will eye of round. Brisket will be OK, but I don't like the way it shreds (I'd rather use it for sliced brisket). I wouldn't use lean or tender cuts like sirloin or rump roast for this, because lean cuts of beef don't stand up to pressure cooking.
- Beef broth: Normally I make my own broth, but because beef broth is expensive to make, I'll often use store-bought low sodium beef broth. You can get away with homemade chicken broth in this recipe, too, but the dipping broth won't be quite as beefy.
- Giardiniera: Giardiniera is Italian pickled vegetable relish, which usually comes in mild or hot options, and packed in vinegar brine or olive oil. I'm not picky about it - in Ohio I don't have many choices, so I use whatever brand I can find at my grocery store. (That said, I do prefer hot giardiniera if it's available.)
- Hoagie rolls: Look for hoagie rolls or sandwich rolls with a decent crust on them, to keep wet or dipped sandwiches from falling apart from all the liquid. You don't want a french bread crust - that's too crunchy - but you also don't want a typical sandwich bread crust, which will disintegrate once it gets wet.
- Cheese: I'm not a fan of cheese on my Italian Beef sandwiches, but some people want it - add slices of provolone or mozzarella to the hoagie roll, and run the roll under a broiler to melt the cheese before adding the beef.
How to make Instant Pot Italian Beef Sandwiches in pictures
Brown the beef
Brown the beef on one side, in two batches
Toast the spices
Sprinkle the beef with the spices and toast for a minute
Broth into the pot
Pour in the broth and scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen any browned bits
Pressure cook for 30 minutes with a Natural Release
Pressure cook for 30 minutes
Shred the beef, douse with sauce, and serve
Scoop the beef cubes into a platter and shred with forks. Ladle sauce over the shredded beef, put the beef in a bun, top with giardiniera, and add an extra ladle of sauce to each sandwich if you want it "wet".
Tips and Tricks
- Only brown one side of the beef cubes: This is my compromise between flavor and time. The beef needs to be browned to build beefy, caramelized flavors, and to add body to the pot liquid. But, browning on all sides takes forever. Browning only one side of the beef gives me the flavor advantages without taking a long time.
- Shredded beef: This recipe is a variation on my Instant Pot Shredded Beef, just with more broth added so there is enough pot liquid to make the wet sandwiches. If you want more details on this cooking method, check out that recipe.
- Why cube the chuck roast? Cooking a whole chuck roast all the way through takes a long time in the pressure cooker. Cutting it into cubes before cooking makes this a recipe that can be ready in about an hour.
- Pass extra pot liquid for dipping: I pour any remaining pot liquid into ramekins so people can dip their sandwiches at the table.
Scaling
This recipe doubles easily in a 6-quart pressure cooker, just double the ingredients. Cut all the ingredients in half and this recipe will fit in a 3-quart pressure cooker. The cooking time does not change; it takes the same amount of time to cook each cube of beef through, no matter how many are in the pot.
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Instant Pot Italian Beef
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: Beef for 6 sandwiches 1x
Description
Wet, dry, or dipped? However you like your Chicago Italian Beef, this Instant Pot recipe delivers maximum flavor with minimal effort.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 3 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 2-inch cubes
- 1 ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon fennel seed
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 cups beef broth (homemade beef broth or store-bought low sodium)
Serve with
- Hoagie Rolls
- Giardiniera (Italian pickled vegetable relish)
Instructions
- Brown the beef in two batches: Heat the vegetable oil in an Instant Pot using Sauté mode adjusted to high until the oil shimmers, about 3 minutes. (Use sear mode or medium-high heat for other pressure cookers.) While the oil heats, salt the beef, sprinkling the cubes of beef with the fine sea salt. Add half of the beef to the pot in a single layer, and sear until well browned on the bottom, about 3 minutes. Remove the batch of browned beef to a bowl. Add the rest of the beef to the pot, and sear until browned on the bottom, about 3 more minutes.
- Add the spices and the broth: Add the beef in the bowl back into the pot, and sprinkle the beef with the spices (paprika, coriander, fennel seed, oregano, and garlic powder). Stir the beef to coat with the spices, then pour in the beef broth. Scrape the bottom of the pot with a flat-edged wooden spoon to loosen the beef cubes and any browned bits sticking to the pot.
- Pressure cook for 30 minutes with natural pressure release: Lock the lid on the cooker. Cook at high pressure for 30 minutes in an electric pressure cooker ("Manual" or "Pressure Cook" mode in an Instant Pot) or 25 minutes in a stovetop PC. Let the pressure come down naturally, about 15 more minutes. (You can quick release the rest of the pressure after 15 minutes.) Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to avoid the hot steam.
- Shred the beef, add some pot liquid, and serve: Scoop the beef from the pot with a slotted spoon into a wide bowl or rimmed serving platter, then shred the beef with a pair of forks. Spoon a ladle or two of the cooking liquid from the pot onto the shredded beef and toss to moisten all of the beef. (I add about 1 cup of sauce from the pot to the shredded beef.) Fill a hoagie roll with the beef from the serving platter and top with giardiniera. This gives you a "dry" sandwich, the starting point for the next two versions.
For a "wet" sandwich, pour an extra ladle of broth over the beef in the roll.
For a "dipped" sandwich, pour the pot liquid into a loaf pan or baking dish, then grab the whole roll (beef and all) with tongs, and dunk it in the liquid. (A loaf pan makes this easier, but it is still a a mess. Dip it quickly, and use foil or butcher paper to wrap the sandwich to hold it together.)
My preferred way of serving is "dry", with extra pot liquid passed at the table as au jus dipping sauce. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 sandwich (with bun and giardiniera)
- Calories: 564
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 1138.4 mg
- Fat: 26 g
- Carbohydrates: 30.2 g
- Fiber: 1.7 g
- Protein: 50.3 g
- Cholesterol: 156.8 mg
What to serve with Italian Beef sandwiches
Italian Beef shops serve the sandwiches with french fries and a soft drink. But, if I'm in a hurry, I'll just throw a bag of chips on the table with them.
Leftover storage
Leftover Italian beef, covered in pot liquid, will last for a few days in the refrigerator or for months in the freezer. Buy some fresh rolls, reheat the beef and pot liquid, and you're ready for another round of sandwiches.
Related Posts
For the simplest version of this recipe, try my Instant Pot Shredded Beef. For some other shredded beef recipes, check out Instant Pot Sirloin Tip Roast, Instant Pot Beef Short Rib Tacos with Dried Chile Pepper Sauce, Instant Pot BBQ Beef Sandwiches, or Instant Pot Sloppy Top Round Sandwiches.
If you're looking for something else, here is my index of Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker Recipes.
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