Instant Pot Meatballs with Tomato Sauce. Why simmer meatballs for hours when you can pressure cook them in minutes? A quick batch of homemade meatballs and tomato sauce takes about an hour, with 15 minutes at high pressure.

To brown, or not to brown, that is the question:
Wether 'tis nobler to brown the meatball
and build a deeper sauce,
Or to take the easy way out
and drop the meatballs straight into the sauce
uncooked.

Apologies to William Shakespeare

I am converting my meatball recipe to work with my Instant Pot. (I'm surprised it took me this long.) I did my usual research, googling around to get times and techniques from other recipes…and was surprised that most Instant Pot meatball recipes don't have a browning step.

Are they saying I can throw the meatballs in the pot without browning? Yes, but they taste better browned, don't they?
I made a few batches of meatballs, some browned, some not. The differences were a lot more subtle than I expected. The browned meatballs had a little more flavor, and the un-browned meatballs were more tender. My testing panel said both meatballs are great, but I think my kids just like meatballs.
There wasn't enough difference to insist on the extra browning step. (The meatballs actually got a little browned from sitting on the bottom of the pot). So, I made browning the meatballs an optional step in this recipe. If you want to add flavor, check the notes section for browning instructions; otherwise, drop the uncooked meatballs straight into the pot.

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 1½ pounds meatloaf mix (1 pound ground beef, ½ pound ground pork)
• 1 small onion, grated or finely minced
• 2 large garlic cloves, grated or finely minced
• 1½ teaspoons fine sea salt
• ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons dried Italian herb mix
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 egg, beaten
• ½ cup (2oz) finely grated pecorino Romano cheese
• ¾ cup Italian-style bread crumbs

Tomato Sauce

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian Seasoning
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• ½ cup red wine (or broth or water)
• 1 cup chicken broth, preferably homemade, or water
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Garnish

• More grated pecorino Romano cheese

How to Make Instant Pot Meatballs

Shape the meatballs

In a large bowl, break up the beef and pork. Sprinkle the bread crumbs, cheese, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, herbs, and red pepper flakes over the meat, then work the dry ingredients into the meat. Once evenly mixed, put the egg on top and work it into the meat. Roll the meat mix into 16 golf-ball-sized meatballs, each about 2 inches in diameter.

Sauté the soffritto, simmer the wine

Heat the olive oil in an Instant Pot set to sauté mode until the oil starts shimmering. (Use medium heat on a stovetop PC). Add the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic to the pot. Sprinkle with the Italian herb mix, crushed red pepper flakes, and fine sea salt, then sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onions soften, about 5 minutes. Pour the wine into the pot and stir, scraping any stuck bits of onion loose from the bottom. Simmer the wine for 1 minute to boil off some of the alcohol.

Everything in the pot

Stir in the chicken broth, then add the meatballs to the pot, trying for a single layer of meatballs. (I usually wind up with one that has to sit on top of the others). Pour the crushed tomatoes over the meatballs, and do not stir.

Pressure Cook for 15 minutes with a Natural Release

Lock the lid and pressure cook at high pressure for 15 minutes (Use "Manual" or "Pressure Cook" mode in an Instant Pot) or for 13 minutes if using a stovetop pressure cooker. Let the pressure come down naturally, about 20 minutes. (If you're in a hurry, let the pressure come down for 15 minutes, then quick release any remaining pressure.)

Serve

Scoop the meatballs out of the pot with a slotted spoon. Stir the fresh ground black pepper into the tomato sauce in the pot. Pour a few spoons of sauce over the meatballs, then sprinkle with some more pecorino Romano cheese. Use the rest of the tomato sauce with dinner - it's enough to sauce a pound of pasta. Serve and enjoy.

Helpful Tips and Tricks

Avoiding Burn Warnings

For this Instant Pot Meatballs recipe, a burn warning is probably the tomatoes sinking to the bottom, sticking to the bottom, and burning. Don't stir the crushed tomatoes into the pot; pour them over the top of everything. The soffritto, wine, meatballs, and chicken broth act as a buffer and keep the tomatoes from sinking to the bottom of the pot.

How Long to Cook Meatballs in an Instant Pot?

How long should you cook meatballs in an Instant Pot? I cook meatballs for 15 minutes with at least a 15 minute natural release.

Storing Leftovers

This Instant Pot meatballs recipe makes fantastic leftovers. If I want a quick lunch, I store leftovers in 2-cup containers. Leftovers last in the refrigerator for a few days or frozen for months. The 2-cup container makes a perfect lunch size for reheating in the microwave - about 5 minutes.

Reheating Instant Pot Meatballs

When cooking for two, I still make the full recipe, but only cook ½ a pound of pasta, and save half the meatballs and sauce for a later meal.

Microwave reheating

I freeze the sauce and meatballs together in a large microwave-safe container, about 1½ quarts. Then I reheat it in the microwave, starting with 5 minutes, then adding time as necessary to get the sauce heated through. (Microwave time depends a lot on the power of your microwave.)

Stovetop reheating

As mentioned above, I freeze the sauce and meatballs together in a large container, about 1½ quarts. To thaw, I take the frozen brick of meatballs and sauce out and put it in a large pot or skillet with a lid. I reheat the sauce on the stovetop over medium heat until it is melted and starting to bubble. Then I turn the heat down to low and let it simmer while I cook the pasta.

Frequently Asked Questions

What size Instant Pot should I use?

Use a 6-quart pressure cooker (or larger) for this recipe.

Can I brown the meatballs?

As I said in the headnotes for this recipe, I don't brown the meatballs in this instant pot meatballs recipe. If you want to, do the following: In the "Fry the soffritto" step, after heating the olive oil: Add the meatballs and brown on two sides, about 3 minutes a side. Remove the meatballs from the pot with a slotted spoon, set them aside, and continue with sautéing the onions and other aromatics. The browned meatballs go back into the pot when the recipe says to add them.

What's a Soffritto?

Soffritto is Italian for "fried slowly." It is the slowly sautéed mix of minced onions, carrots, and celery that form the backbone of most Italian recipes. (It's also spelled with two t's in Italian).

Why are my Instant Pot Meatballs tough?

You are probably overworking your meatball mix. The overworked meatball mix comes out tough. Work the meatball mix until all the ingredients are evenly spread out, and the meatballs hold together when shaped, but no more than that.

Can you make Instant Pot Meatballs ahead of time?

Absolutely! All the work in this recipe is in making the meatballs. So, I do meal prep by making a double batch of meatballs and freezing half of it. (I put the meatballs on a sheet pan in the freezer overnight, then transfer the frozen meatballs to a zip-top bag.) When making another batch of spaghetti sauce, I follow the recipe as written, with the frozen meatballs going straight from the freezer into the Instant Pot. Then I add 5 minutes to the pressure cooking time to thaw the meatballs while cooking. (In other words, with frozen meatballs, pressure cook at high pressure for 20 minutes or 18 minutes on a stovetop PC).

Can I double this recipe?

If you have an 8-quart pressure cooker, you can double this recipe. It's too much to double in a 6-quart pressure cooker.

Do I need a steamer basket?

In this recipe, we're cooking meatballs right at the bottom of the pot-no steamer basket is needed.

Do you have any other meatball recipes?

Of course I do! This recipe is based on my Baked Italian Meatballs recipe, converted to pressure cooking. Once I figured out how to make meatballs in the Instant Pot, I made a bunch of other meatball recipes, including Instant Pot Greek Meatballs (Soutzoukakia) and Instant Pot Chinese Meatballs (Lions Head Meatballs).

Inspired by: CookSmart by Pam Anderson

What do you think?

Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

Related Posts

Instant Pot Meatball Soup
Pressure Cooker Italian Meat Sauce
Pressure Cooker Quick Tomato Sauce
Pressure Cooker Baked Ziti
Instant Pot BBQ Meatballs
Instant Pot Braciole
Instant Pot Spanish Meatballs (Albondigas)
My other Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Recipes

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Instant Pot Soupe au Pistou. Pressure cooked Provencal pesto soup with white beans and summer vegetables. A taste of southern France, with a dollop of Pistou (French pesto). It is ready in under an hour thanks to pressure cooking dry beans. Soak the beans, sauté the vegetables, and 15 minutes at high pressure is all you need to make this soup.

We're heading to Provence (virtually) for Soupe au Pistou, a bean soup with summer herbs and vegetables from southern France.

Now, I'm rushing the season, making this recipe in the spring. I'm ready for a taste of summer. (Is there anything that says "summer" to a home cook than making a big batch of pesto because the basil is out of control?) The soup is a ray of sunshine, even if the ingredients from my local grocery store are a little out of season, and I'm buying my pesto in a jar. (If it is summer when you read this, take advantage of the bounty of your local farmers market for the ingredients in this recipe.)

There aren't many tricks to this recipe besides the joy of pressure cooking dried beans. Usually, I don't soak dried beans before pressure cooking, but this recipe is an example of the exception. I soak dried beans when I need to cut back on the cooking time for the other ingredients. I don't want to pressure cook the summer vegetables into mush. And, even then, I simmer the pasta and zucchini after pressure cooking. They're too tender for even the short pressure cooking time the soaked beans need.

Are you looking for a taste of summer in the South of France? Try some pesto soup. 

(If you're looking for a Spanish recipe with white beans, try my Instant Pot Spanish Farm Beans. For simple country-style beans, try my Instant Pot Ham and Beans.)

Ingredients

Soaking the Beans

8 ounces dried navy beans (or Alubia Blanca beans), sorted and rinsed
6 cups water
1 teaspoon fine sea salt

Pesto Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
½ teaspoon dried thyme (or fresh thyme leaves)
6 cups water
3 large carrots (about 8 ounces), peeled and cut into ½-inch rounds
8 ounces green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
14- to 16-ounce can diced tomatoes and juice (or 1 cup diced fresh Roma tomatoes)
1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
1 cup ditalini dried pasta (or other small shape like tubetini, shells, or elbows)
2 medium zucchini, cut into ½-inch rounds
½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
6- to 8-ounce jar of basil pesto - 1 tablespoon per bowl of soup

How to make Instant Pot Soupe au Pistou

Sort and rinse the beans

Sort the beans, discarding any stones, dirt clods, or broken beans. Rinse the beans, then do an overnight or a quick soak.

Overnight soak

Stir the beans, water, and 1 teaspoon of salt in a large bowl. Leave the beans on the counter to soak at least 8 hours, or overnight. Drain and discard the soaking liquid, and rinse the beans.

OR: Pressure Quick Soak for 1 minute with a 30-minute rest

Put the beans and 6 cups of water in an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker. Pressure cook at high pressure for 1 minute ("Manual" or "Pressure Cook" mode in an Instant Pot for 1 minute), then let the beans sit in the pressure cooker for 30 minutes. Drain and discard the soaking liquid, rinse the beans, and wipe out the pressure cooker pot.

Sauté the aromatics

Heat the olive oil in an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker set to sauté mode (medium heat for a stovetop PC) until the oil starts shimmering. Add the onion and garlic, and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt and the thyme. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onions soften, about 5 minutes.

Everything in the pot

Add the drained and rinsed white beans to the pressure cooker, then pour in the 6 cups of water. Stir in the carrots, green beans, tomatoes, and 1 ½ teaspoon salt.

Pressure cook for 15 minutes with a quick release

Lock the lid and pressure cook at high pressure for 18 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric PC (Use "manual" or "pressure cook" mode in an Instant Pot) or for 15 minutes in a stovetop PC. Quick release the pressure.

Cook the pasta and zucchini, season, and serve

Open the pressure cooker lid, tilting it away from you to avoid the hot steam. Set the Instant Pot to sauté mode adjusted to high (use medium-high heat in a stovetop PC). Add the pasta and zucchini, bring to a boil, and boil for the time on your pasta package's directions (my ditalini took 10 minutes). Stir in the fresh ground black pepper, then ladle into bowls and stir a tablespoon of pesto into each bowl. (Eyeball this - it doesn't have to be a precisely measured tablespoon.) Serve, passing extra pesto at the table in case anyone wants to add more. Enjoy!

Substitutions

• Other beans: If you can't find Navy beans, substitute Great Northern beans, and increase the cooking time to 20 minutes at high pressure.
• Other vegetables: This soup is meant to use up summer vegetables, so use whatever you have available. Hard vegetables like winter squash, potatoes, parsnips, and turnips should go in with carrots to get pressure cooked. (So should tough greens like kale and collards.) Tender vegetables like summer squash and kale should go in with the zucchini so they are simmered and don't fall apart under pressure.

Equipment

A 6-quart pressure cooker and a fine mesh strainer.

Scaling

This recipe bumps up against the max fill line in a 6-quart pressure cooker. To double it, you must move up to an 8-quart pressure cooker. Or, if you want a smaller batch, 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 the beans, no matter how many there are.

Storage

Soup makes excellent leftovers. This soup will last, refrigerated, for a couple of days. I portion leftovers into 2-cup containers and freeze them, where they will last for up to 6 months.

Tips and Tricks

The key to this recipe is the dry beans. Sorting, rinsing, and soaking the beans is extra work. Don't get intimidated because the results are well worth the extra effort. Homemade beans are so much better than store-bought beans. (Especially with quick pressure cooking - dry beans are one of the reasons my pressure cooker never wound up on the "kitchen gadgets I never use" shelf in the back of my basement.)

What to Serve with Soupe Au Pistou

This soup is a hearty one-pot meal; the obvious thing to serve it with is a loaf of crusty French bread and a salad. (Soup and salad are a classic combo for a reason.)

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to soak the beans?
Soaking the beans helps them cook more quickly. I do an overnight soak (or a quick soak) to speed up the cooking process. If I forget to soak the beans - hey, it happens - I increase the pressure cooking time to 30 minutes with a natural pressure release.
Why sort beans?
Beans are an agricultural product, and stuff tends to creep in during picking and processing. Beans should always be sorted and rinsed before use to remove twigs, stones, dirt, or broken beans.
How do I sort beans?
To sort beans, I pour them out on the far side of a rimmed baking sheet. Then I slowly pull the beans towards me, a little at a time, running my fingers through the beans and watching for anything that doesn't look right. If something catches my eye, I find it and discard it. I repeat this several times until I'm satisfied everything is out of the beans.
Then, I rinse the beans in a fine mesh strainer under cold running water to wash off any dirt or dust still on the beans.
Now, the beans are sorted, rinsed, and ready for soaking or cooking.

Inspired by: Soupe au pistou - David Lebovitz

What do you think?

Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

Related Posts

Pressure Cooker Beef Stew Provencal (Beef en Daube)
Instant Pot Fingerling Potatoes with Herbes de Provence
Instant Pot Flageolet Beans with Lamb
My other Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker Recipes

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Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup. A hearty soup and the perfect comfort meal, with a fantastic broth made from scratch in the pressure cooker. (Or you can short-cut and use store-bought broth.) The broth takes about 3 hours, primarily unattended - 45 minutes of oven roasting the beef bones and 75 minutes of pressure cooking the broth. Once the broth is done, this soup can come together on a weeknight with a quick sauté, browning of some beef, and 15 minutes of pressure cooking.

Soup makes me sit back and reflect. Everyone has favorite comfort foods, but there's just something about a bowl of soup. Soup comforts at a deeper, more fundamental level. It's the culinary equivalent of being tucked under a blanket on a bitterly cold morning. So, when my friends at [Certified Angus Beef] asked me to do a comfort food recipe, vegetable beef soup was the first thing I thought of.
Now, I'll admit up front: this recipe is an odd mix of "do it from scratch" and "convenience." Who says I have to be consistent?
The key to this recipe is making beef broth from scratch. Yes, Instant Pot browned beef broth takes a couple of hours, but you can make it ahead of time. (You will understand "frozen assets" when you have a freezer full of homemade broth.) The pressure cooker is my key to the broth - a few hours of (mostly) unattended work, and I have quarts of broth ready for whatever may come.

My hidden shame is on the opposite end of the "from scratch" spectrum. I…I…I use frozen mixed vegetables in my soup. (Phew. I admitted it. It's such a relief.) Homemade broth makes a huge difference in flavor, but I'm unsure about home-chopped vegetables. Especially since I only want about a pound of mixed vegetables. There's no convenient way to get the variety of a bag of frozen mixed vegetables - peas and carrots, corn and beans - without having a lot of each left over. There's nothing wrong with fresh vegetables - if you have them, please use them in this soup! (See the Notes section for details). But I wouldn't go out and buy them just for this recipe.

Ingredients

Beef Broth

• 3 pounds beef bones (or beef soup bones)
• 1 ½ pounds meaty beef shanks (or oxtail, or short ribs - you want cheap beef, on the bone)
• 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
• 2 medium onions, peeled and halved
• 1 head garlic, top ⅓rd trimmed off
• 2 carrots, peeled
• 2 stalks celery, trimmed
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 10 peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• Water to cover (8 to 12 cups)

Vegetable Beef Soup

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 ½ pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 8 cups beef broth
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 pound (3 to 4) Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 (16-ounce) bag of frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
• ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

How to make Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup

Make the Beef Broth

Heat the oven to 425°F. In a large roasting pan, rub the tomato paste over the beef bones and shanks. Add the onions, garlic, carrots, and celery to the pan. Put the pan in the oven and roast for 30 minutes. Turn the beef and aromatics and roast for another 15 to 30 minutes until the beef and aromatics are browned. Scrape everything from the roasting pan into an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker. Add the thyme, peppercorn, bay leaf, and 1 teaspoon of salt to the pot and add water to cover the bones - 8 to 12 cups of water, or whatever reaches your pot's max fill line. Lock the lid on the pressure cooker and pressure cook on high for 75 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker or for 1 hour in a stovetop PC. Let the pressure come down naturally, about 30 more minutes. (The water holds a lot of heat, so it takes a while for the pressure to drop. If you get impatient, you can quick release the heat after 15 minutes.) Scoop the solids out of the pot with a slotted spoon and discard, then pour the broth through a fine mesh strainer. Skim the fat from the top of the broth as best you can. (This is easy if you refrigerate the broth overnight; the fat rises to the top and solidifies so that you can scrape it off in big chunks). Use 2 quarts of the broth in this recipe, and freeze the rest in 2-cup containers for later use.

Brown the beef (for the soup)

Wipe out the Instant Pot liner, then put it back over sauté mode set to medium (medium heat in a stovetop PC). Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil until it shimmers, about 3 minutes. Brown the beef cubes on one side in two batches so we don't crowd the pot. Brown the first batch for about 4 minutes, then transfer to a bowl. Add the second batch, brown it on one side (about 4 minutes), then move it to the bowl with the rest of the beef.

Sauté the aromatics

Add the chopped onion and garlic to the pot, and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of salt and the dried thyme. Sauté until the onion turns translucent, about 5 minutes, occasionally scraping the bottom of the pot with a flat-edged wooden spoon to work loose any browned bits of beef or onion.

Pressure Cook on high for 15 minutes with a quick pressure release

Add the browned beef and any juices, the beef broth, the crushed tomatoes, and the potatoes to the bowl. Stir to mix everything up in the pot. Lock the pressure cooker lid. Pressure cook on high pressure (manual mode) for 15 minutes in an electric PC or 12 minutes in a stovetop PC, and then quick release the pressure. (If you have the time, pressure cook for 12 minutes in an electric PC, 10 minutes in a stovetop PC, and let the pressure come down naturally, about 20 more minutes.)

Simmer the frozen vegetables

Set the Instant Pot to sauté mode - high (medium-high heat in a stovetop PC). Pour in the frozen mixed vegetables and let them heat through for about 5 minutes.

Season and serve

This homemade broth has very little salt, so you will need to season the soup heavily. Add salt until the taste picks up - from flat and dull to sweet and delicious. (I add 1 ½ teaspoons of fine sea salt to get the broth tasting the way I want it to.) Also, stir in fresh ground black pepper; I like about ½ teaspoon for 8 cups of broth. Serve and enjoy!

Do I have to brown the beef for the broth?

Yes. Trust me. The extra browning time is worth it.
Sure, it is faster to throw raw beef bones and uncooked vegetables in the pressure cooker when making broth. I do this all the time with my https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/instant-pot-chicken-back-broth/">Instant Pot chicken broth. But beef broth is different. Browning brings out the flavors in the meat. It is worth the extra effort to get the extra depth of flavor.
I brown the beef in the oven because there are too many beef bones to brown in the pressure cooker in a reasonable amount of time.

Equipment

• 6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I love my 6 quart Instant Pot electric pressure cooker, and this recipe just fits in it. But, if you have one, the 8 quart model lets you add more water and make more broth for later.)
• Flat edged wooden spoon
• Fat separator
• Tongs

Tips and Tricks

• What kind of beef bones?: For beef broth, I need cheap, meaty bones. At my local grocery store, I get two different cuts of beef. The first cut of beef is soup bones, which give me mostly bones with a bit of meat on them. The second beef cut is beef shanks, which give me mostly meat with some bone. The mix gives me the right balance of flavorful meat and gelatin-filled bones to make a rich and flavorful broth. (Oxtail and beef short ribs are two other good choices instead of the beef shanks, but both are expensive at my local stores.)
• Fresh vegetables: Don't feel like using frozen vegetables? Stir in a pound of fresh vegetables when you add the potatoes. Go with one or more of: diced carrots, corn, bell peppers, or green beans, cut into ½-inch pieces. Or, use whatever other vegetable you need in your vegetable soup.
• Other frozen vegetables: I like a medley of vegetables in my beef soup, so I use a frozen bag of mixed vegetables. If you like lima beans, go with a frozen succotash blend. Or, to simplify it, use frozen peas and carrots. Or just frozen peas, for the simplest version. (I could get my young kids to eat the frozen peas and carrots version, but the "other stuff" was too much for them back then.)
• Cuts of beef in the soup: My favorite stew meat is beef chuck roast, and bottom round roast is a good substitute. That said, I will take whatever my grocery store butcher is cutting up and putting in the "stew meat" packages - it usually looks like chuck roast to me.
• Ground beef: I like little beef cubes in my soup, so I don't use ground beef. But, if you want to, use leaner ground beef (85/15 or leaner) and add it instead of the beef stew meat.
• Don't re-use the meat from the broth in the soup: I used to be frugal, and re-use the beef from the broth. That was a mistake. The beef in the broth gave all its flavor to the broth. I discard all the broth ingredients and add fresh beef to the soup.
• Store-bought beef broth: If you're desperate, you can use store-bought beef broth. I won't judge. Skip the Beef Broth section, go straight to the Vegetable Beef Soup instructions, and add 8 cups (2 quarts) of store-bought broth. Usually, this is where I recommend you look for low-sodium broth, but I have a hard time finding low-sodium beef broth. Use what you can find and skip the salt in the seasoning step at the end of the recipe.

Substitutions

• Diced tomatoes: If you want chunkier bits of tomato in the soup, replace the crushed tomatoes with a 28-ounce can of fire roasted diced tomatoes.
• Italian flavors: To add a hint of Italian flavor to the soup, use olive oil instead of vegetable oil, replace the dried thyme with an Italian Seasoning blend, and grate some parmesan cheese over each bowl right before serving.

Make Ahead

Beef broth freezes beautifully. Finish the "make the beef broth step" and then store the broth in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, scrape the fat cap off the top of the broth and freeze the broth in 2-cup containers. (I use pint canning jars with storage caps.) When making the soup, I thaw the canning jars in the microwave (lids removed!) while making the recipe. I add the thawed broth at the "add the broth" step. It's OK if the broth is still a bit frozen - the pressure cooker will finish thawing it out.

Storing Leftovers

Soup makes excellent leftovers. I store the soup in 2-cup airtight containers, where it keeps in the freezer for up to 6 months. Whenever I need a warm soup lunch, I pull a container out of the freezer and have delicious soup from the microwave in under ten minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do you think?

Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

Related Posts

Instant Pot Beef and Barley Soup
Pressure Cooker Beef and Noodle Soup with Carrots
Pressure Cooker Browned Beef Broth
Instant Pot Beef and Lentil Stew
Instant Pot Beef and Black-Eyed Pea Stew
Instant Pot Chinese Beef Noodle Soup with Short Ribs
My other Pressure Cooker Recipes

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Instant Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. I make this classic Minnesota soup in my Instant Pot, with homemade broth and shredded meat from a store-bought rotisserie chicken. 1 hour under pressure gives me the make-ahead broth, and then 20 minutes under pressure gives me a fantastic soup.

I was a short-term Minnesotan. I lived in Minnesota from 3rd to 5th grade. (I remember winters that started in early November and didn't let up until May, and lots of skating, sledding, skiing, and building snow forts.) And I remember water everywhere - lakes, creeks, ponds, and of course the mighty Mississippi river.
This is my version of Minnesota Wild Rice Soup. I'm using my quick broth from a store-bought rotisserie chicken technique for the soup, because every soup deserves homemade broth. (Especially when it's so easy to make in an Instant Pot.) 

INGREDIENTS

Rotisserie Chicken Broth

• 1 (2- to 4-pound) rotisserie chicken, breast meat removed and saved for later
• Juices from the rotisserie chicken container
• 1 onion, peeled and halved
• 1 carrot, scrubbed and cut in half (or 4oz baby carrots)
• 1 stalk celery, cut in half
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 8 cups water

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup (4 ounces) sliced baby portobello mushrooms
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled and sliced ½ inch thick
• 1 stalk celery, sliced ½ inch thick
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ cup white wine (or use some of the broth)
• 1 cup wild rice
• 8 cups of Rotisserie Chicken Broth (from above)
• Breast meat from the rotisserie chicken, shredded
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• Minced parsley for garnish

How to make Instant Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup with Rotisserie Chicken Broth

Pressure cook the broth for 60 minutes with a Natural Release

Cut the chicken breast meat off of the rotisserie chicken and set aside for later. Add the rotisserie chicken carcass, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves, and salt to the Instant Pot (or other pressure cooker), then add the 8 cups of water. (It should just cover the rotisserie chicken - it's OK if the knobs of the drumsticks are poking up.) Lock the lid and pressure cook on high pressure for 60 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric PC (Manual or Pressure Cook mode in an Instant Pot) or for 50 minutes in a stovetop PC. Let the pressure come down naturally - about 30 minutes. (It takes a long time for all that water to cool off.) If you're in a hurry, let the pressure come down naturally for 20 minutes, then quick release the remaining pressure. Scoop the chicken carcass and vegetables out of the pot with a slotted spoon and discard; they've given their all to the broth. Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer, and set aside for later.

Sauté the aromatics

Wipe out the pot, then put it back in the pressure cooker base. Add the butter and melt over Sauté mode (medium heat for a stovetop PC). Add the mushrooms and cook until browned on one side, about 3 minutes. Add the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic, and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of salt and the dried thyme. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onions soften and turn translucent about 5 minutes. Pour in the white wine and bring to a simmer, scraping the bottom of the pot to loosen any browned bits of onion and mushroom. Simmer the wine for 1 minute.

Pressure cook the soup for 20 minutes with a Natural Release

Stir the wild rice into the pot, then pour in the rotisserie chicken broth. Lock the lid. Pressure cook on high pressure for 20 minutes in an Instant Pot or electric PC. (Or, cook for 16 minutes in a stovetop PC). Let the pressure come down naturally for 15 minutes, then quick release any remaining pressure.

Add the chicken and cream, and season the soup

Leave the pot in keep warm mode. (Low heat for a stovetop PC). Stir in the shredded chicken breast meat, 1 teaspoon of fine sea salt, and the black pepper. (Don't be shy with the salt - this much broth needs it.) Let the soup rest for 5 minutes to reheat the chicken meat, then stir in the heavy cream. Serve, sprinkling each bowl with some minced parsley, and enjoy!

Substitutions

Homemade Broth: If you don't want to make broth, you can substitute store bought low-sodium chicken broth. It won't have the magic of homemade broth, but it will still be good.
Extra Broth: If you want more broth for your chicken, you can fill the Instant Pot up to its max fill line with water. It won't be quite as rich of a broth, but it will still be very good, better than store bought chicken broth. Use 8 cups of the broth in the soup, then freeze the rest for later.
I already have broth: If you already have homemade broth - good for you! - but don't have cooked chicken for the soup, substitute 1 pound of uncooked boneless skinless chicken breast or chicken thigh, cut into ½-inch cubes. After pressure cooking, in the Add the Chicken step, set the pot to Sauté mode adjusted to low to bring the soup to a simmer. Add the uncooked chicken and simmer until cooked through, about 10 minutes.
Wild Rice Blend: Wild rice can be hard to find, so a wild rice blend is a good substitute. Wild rice blend is usually a mix of wild and brown rice, and it cooks for the same amount of time as pure wild rice, so the recipe can be used as written.
Fresh herbs: Dried thyme is convenient and tastes good, and I always have some in my pantry, so that's what I use in this recipe. But, if you have some fresh thyme available, substitute a couple of sprigs of fresh for the dried. (I like getting the poultry mix pack of fresh herbs from my grocery store.)

What is Wild Rice?

Wild rice is the seed of grasses that grow in shallow water, and was the staple crop of Native American tribes living in the northern Midwest and south-central Canada, especially in the smaller lakes around Lake Superior. It's the state grain of Minnesota; the land of 10,000 lakes is the perfect environment for wild rice.

Equipment

6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I love my Instant Pot electric pressure cooker)
Fine Mesh Strainer
A spare Inner Pot is convenient for straining the broth

Leftovers

This soup makes great leftovers. You can refrigerate this for a couple of days, or freeze for up to six months. I store chicken and wild rice soup in sealed 2-cup containers so I have quick grab-and-go soup from my freezer.

Adapted from: http://www.startribune.com/how-to-make-the-best-minnesota-wild-rice-soup-with-these-easy-tips/505781072/

What do you think?

Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

Related Posts

Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Tortilla Soup
Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup
Pressure Cooker Chicken Potato Soup (from Scratch)
Instant Pot Chicken Pot Pie Soup (with Rotisserie Chicken)
My other Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Recipes

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Instant Pot Goat Curry, Indian style. Goat meat with onions, tomato, and Indian spices are pressure cooked for 25 minutes to make this classic curry. And, you'll have tender goat meat in under an hour of total cooking time, thanks to the pressure cooker.

Curry goat is a classic meal worldwide, from Jamaica to Indonesia. It is especially popular on the Indian subcontinent; India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal all claim ownership. I'm making a version based on the goat curries I've had at local Indian and Nepalese restaurants, with a base of onion, ginger, garlic, tomato, and many Indian spices.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 pounds goat meat, cut into 1½-inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 4 green cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional - see heat levels)
• 1 cup of water or chicken broth (preferably homemade chicken broth or low-sodium chicken broth)
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 15-ounce can of crushed tomatoes
• Minced cilantro as a garnish (optional)
  

How to make Instant Pot Goat Curry

Sear the goat in two batches

In an Instant Pot set to Sauté mode - high (or medium-high heat in a stovetop PC), heat the vegetable oil until it starts to shimmer, about 3 minutes. While the pot heats, sprinkle the goat cubes with 1 teaspoon salt. Add ½ of the goat to the pot in a loose single layer and sear until well browned on one side, about 3 minutes. (Don't crowd the pot, or the goat will steam, not brown). Transfer the browned goat to a bowl, add the remaining goat to the pot, and sear until browned on one side, about 3 more minutes. Transfer the browned goat to the bowl.

Toast the spices and sauté the aromatics:

Add the cardamom pods and cinnamon stick to the oil in the pot and sauté for 1 minute. Add the onion, ginger, and garlic and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt. Sauté until the onions soften, about 5 minutes, occasionally scraping the bottom of the pot with a flat-edged wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits of goat. Make a hole in the center of the onions and add the curry powder, turmeric, coriander, garam masala, and cayenne pepper. Let the ground spices toast for 1 minute, then stir them into the onions.

Everything into the pot

Pour in the chicken broth or water, and stir in the teaspoon of fine sea salt. Scrape the bottom of the pot again to release any browned bits of onion or spices. Stir in the browned goat and any juices in the bowl. Pour the crushed tomatoes over the top of the goat.

Pressure cook the curry for 25 minutes with a natural pressure release

Lock the lid on the pressure cooker. Cook at high pressure for 25 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker (Use Manual, Pressure Cook, or Pressure Cook - Custom mode in an Instant Pot) or for 20 minutes in a stovetop PC. Let the pressure come down naturally for about 20 more minutes. (If you're in a hurry, you can quick release any remaining pressure after 15 minutes.)

Serve

Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to avoid the hot steam. Serve with rice, and enjoy!

Ingredients Notes

Goat: Any red meat will work in this recipe as written. You can make this a mutton curry, lamb curry, or beef curry by swapping out the meat. (I have to go to

Spices: I simplified the spices as much as possible in this recipe without losing that flavor that makes me say, "Ah! Curry!". But if you're having trouble finding them, you can simplify the spices even more. You can make this recipe with only curry powder or garam masala by making these substitutions:

• Cardamom pods - 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
• Cinnamon stick - ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
• Turmeric - 1 teaspoon curry powder
• Coriander - 1 teaspoon curry powder

If you substitute for the spices toasted in oil at the beginning, skip the toasting step and add the extra curry powder and garam masala powder with the rest of the spice blends after sauteing the onions.

Heat levels: The heat in this curry comes from the cayenne pepper. I like a hot curry, but Indian is one cuisine where I will NOT challenge the chef to make it as hot as they can. The ½ teaspoon of cayenne makes this a 3 out of 6 heat level. For different heat levels:

• 1 - No cayenne
• 2 - ¼ teaspoon cayenne
• 3 - ½ teaspoon cayenne
• 4 - 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 5 - 1 ½ teaspoons cayenne
• 6 - 2 teaspoons cayenne (or add it until it feels good - at this level, I assume you know what you're doing.)
  

What to serve with Instant Pot Goat Curry

I always serve my curry with white rice, which in India means basmati rice. (Or, if I'm trying to be healthy, I'll serve goat curry with my Instant Pot Brown Basmati Rice.) A flatbread like Indian Naan is also good for dipping and soaking up the sauce.

Curry Powder vs Garam Masala

What is the difference between Curry powder and Garam masala? They are spice blends with Indian flavors, but the spice mix and balance give them very different flavors. Curry powder usually comprises turmeric, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, and other spices. Garam Masala is usually made with Cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, and other spices.

Now, in India, Masala means a spice mix. "Curry" powder is a British adaptation of the complex spice mixes used in various Indian dishes. Garam masala is a little more authentic and a specific type of curry powder. (The ones I get usually claim to be from the Punjabi region).

Why use both in this curry? Because of their different flavors. To my tastes, Curry powder has a sweet and spicy flavor, and Garam Masala has an earthy and bitter flavor. The mix of the two gives my dishes some of the complexity of a good curry. Of course, it's not as good as freshly toasted whole spices, ground right before you make the curry, but I take the convenience factor of good curry powders and garam masalas.

Equipment

A 6-quart pressure cooker

Scaling

This recipe fills up the pot, so if you want to make a big batch, you need an 8-quart pressure cooker to double the size. 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 time to cook a single piece of goat meat, no matter how many are in the pot.

Storage

Curry is great as leftovers. Like most stews, it tastes as good, if not better, the second day. Goat Curry will last up to 4 days in the refrigerator or frozen in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Related Posts

Quick Instant Pot Lentil Curry
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Instant Pot Masala Desi Chickpeas (Masala Desi Chana)
Instant Pot Japanese Curry
Instant Pot Shrimp Curry (with Thai Red Curry Paste)
My other Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker Recipes

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Instant Pot Apple Ribs. Baby back ribs, pressure cooked until fall off-the-bone tender, with apple juice and spice rub, with an apple-flavored barbecue sauce.

I've been aware of Apple City Ribs for a while now; Mike Mills won the BBQ World Championship back when I was getting into cooking. His secret weapon was basting his ribs with apple juice. This recipe is my pressure cooker take on his apple ribs.

Now, you can't baste ribs in a sealed Instant Pot. But you can use apple juice as the liquid in the pot, which steams the ribs in the apple juice. Pressure cooker ribs are not real-deal barbecue, smoked for hours, but fall off-the-bone tender in a fraction of the time.

My Instant Pot Rib recipes all use the same basic technique, regardless of the type of rib. So, once you've made this recipe, you can make any of them. For a detailed recipe for spare ribs, check out my Instant Pot Spare Ribs with BBQ Rub and Sauce Recipe; if you have Western ribs (aka Country ribs), use my Pressure Cooker Pork Western Shoulder Ribs with Barbecue Rub and Sauce Recipe.

What are Baby Back Ribs?

Baby back ribs are pork ribs from the upper part of the ribcage and wrap around the pork loin. (A.K.A. Back Ribs). If you've ever had a crown rack of pork, baby back ribs are the ribs you're seeing. The "Baby Back" comes in because they are noticeably smaller than spare ribs, so they're considered "baby" ribs.

Ingredients

• 1 rack of baby back ribs, membrane removed
• 1 cup apple juice (or apple cider)
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)

Barbecue Rub (2 tablespoons of my Homemade Barbecue Rub), or use your favorite store-bought rub

• 1½ teaspoons fine sea salt (or 2 teaspoons kosher salt)
• ¾ tablespoon paprika
• ¾ tablespoon brown sugar
• ½ tablespoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon onion powder
• ⅛ teaspoon dried thyme

Barbecue sauce (1 cup of my  homemade barbecue sauce ), or use your favorite store-bought sauce

• ¾ cup ketchup
• ¼ cup honey
• ¼ cup apple butter (or applesauce)
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Franks Red Hot sauce
  

How to Make Instant Pot Apple Ribs

Remove the membrane from the ribs

On the bone side of the slab of ribs, work a butter knife between the membrane and the bone, then grab the membrane with a paper towel and pull, slowly and firmly, to lift it off of the ribs. (If it tears while you're pulling, work the knife under the remaining pieces and pull them off.)

Make the rub and sauce

In a small bowl, stir the barbecue rub ingredients, breaking up any clumps of brown sugar with your fingers. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the barbecue sauce ingredients until smooth. Set aside.

Season the ribs and put them in the pressure cooker

Cut the rack of ribs into 4 pieces, cutting between every fourth bone. Sprinkle both sides of the ribs with the barbecue rub.

Everything in the pot

Pour the apple juice and liquid smoke into an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker. Stack the ribs in the pressure cooker in a loose pile, bone side down.

Pressure cook the ribs for 30 minutes with a Natural Release

Lock the lid and pressure cook on high pressure for 30 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker or 24 minutes in a stovetop PC. (Use Manual, Pressure Cook, or Pressure Cook - Custom mode in an Instant Pot). When the cooking time finishes, let the pressure come down naturally for about 15 more minutes. (You can quick release any remaining pressure after 15 minutes).

Sauce and broil the ribs (Optional)

Put the ribs, bone side down, on a rimmed baking sheet. Brush the ribs with the barbecue sauce, then put them under a broiler set to high. Broil the ribs until the sauce is bubbling and just starting to brown, for about 5 minutes. Remove the ribs from the broiler, brush with another layer of sauce, and serve.

What is liquid smoke?

Liquid smoke is a natural product. It is made by burning wood in a low-oxygen environment and distilling the water vapor from the smoke. (That's right; liquid smoke is actually condensed wood smoke.) It's a side effect of making charcoal that has been around for centuries. (Pliny the Elder mentions it back in Ancient Rome.)

Why Use Liquid Smoke With Instant Pot Ribs?

Liquid smoke, used in moderation, is a great flavor enhancer. It makes the ribs taste "meatier," for lack of a better way to describe it. I'm a liquid smoke convert, and I am updating all my pressure cooker ribs recipes to recommend it.

🛠 Equipment

A 6-quart pressure cooker

📏Scaling

To double this recipe, you need an 8-quart pressure cooker because ribs take up a lot of space. You can halve the recipe and cook half a rack of ribs, but you will still need a 6-quart pressure cooker. The rib bones make ribs too big to fit in a 3-quart pressure cooker.

💡Tips and Tricks

• I make my own delicious dry rub and barbecue sauce from simple ingredients in my pantry. If you have a favorite rub or sauce, swap them for mine. If you're going with store-bought rub and sauce, I recommend an Apple-based BBQ rub and BBQ Sauce.
• Want super-tender ribs, ones that are hard to take out of the cooker because they are falling apart? Increase the pressure cooking time to 40 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric PC or 32 minutes in a stovetop PC. I prefer a little bite to my ribs, but if you want ultra-tender ribs, the extra cooking time will give them to you.
• Pot liquid into the sauce - stir ¼ cup of the cooking liquid into the sauce before brushing on the ribs. This takes the apple and pork juices from the liquid and adds them to the ribs.
• The liquid smoke is optional, but as I discovered, it's worth using. Look near the barbecue sauce at your local grocery store.
• The apple juice is also optional, but then it's not apple ribs. (That's OK; if all you have is water, add a cup of water instead of the apple juice.)
• If you want Asian-style ribs, try Instant Pot Baby Back Ribs with Chili-Honey Glaze. Or, for a taste of Hawaii, try Instant Pot Hawaiian BBQ Ribs
• Do I need to put the ribs on a trivet? No, you don't. It's okay if the ribs sit in the liquid at the bottom of the Instant Pot. In my testing, putting them on top of the trivet didn't change the results enough to be noticeable.
  

Serving Suggestions

Barbecued ribs make me think of a summer picnic, so I serve them with Instant Pot Potato Salad, Instant Pot Collard Greens, and Instant Pot Cajun Pinto Beans. Or, I serve them like they do in Texas - with plain white bread, thin-sliced onion, and dill pickle slices. Either way, get your favorite cold beverage with these finger-licking good ribs.

Inspired by: Apple City World Championship Baby-Back Ribs from "Peace Love and Barbecue", Mike Mills and Amy Mills Tunnicliffe.

Related Posts

Instant Pot Spare Ribs with BBQ Rub and Sauce - DadCooksDinner
Grill Smoked Baby Back Ribs (Grilling Basics)
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My other Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker Recipes

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Instant Pot Beef Tips, tender chunks of beef with rich brown gravy, ready for Sunday Dinner in about an hour thanks to pressure cooking.

Beef tips smothered with gravy. Doesn't that sound delicious? Here is a hearty comfort meal, full of flavor, and perfect for serving on rice or potatoes when you need something to warm you up.

What are beef tips?

The meaning of beef tips has changed over the years. They used to be the tip of the beef tenderloin, the part that is too thin to cut into steaks or use as a roast. As beef tips became popular, butchers started using the sirloin tip roast. Now, beef tips sold at the grocery store are a different cut of beef depending on what they have left over. They can be pieces of sirloin tips, chuck roast, round roast, or any tough cut that needs stewing. At my local store, it is usually pieces of chuck roast. In other words, for this recipe, you need bite-sized pieces of beef that are good for stewing. If your grocery store doesn't have beef tips, look for "stew meat" or "stew beef." They will also work in this recipe. When I have to cut the pieces myself, I prefer chuck roast or boneless short ribs, then bottom round roast.

Ingredients

• Beef Tips
• Onion powder
• Garlic powder
• Fine sea salt
• Vegetable oil
• Onion
• Red wine (optional)
• Worcestershire sauce
• Soy sauce
• Beef broth
• Cornstarch
• Sour Cream
• Fresh ground black pepper

How to Make Instant Pot Beef Tips with Gravy

Season the beef tips and brown on one side: Toss the beef tips with the onion powder, garlic powder, and salt. Add the vegetable oil to an Instant Pot set to Sauté mode - High (use medium-high heat in other pressure cookers), and heat until the oil starts to shimmer. Add half the beef to the pot, making sure not to crowd it, and brown on one side (about 3 minutes). Remove the browned beef to a bowl. Add the rest of the beef to the pot and brown it on one side (about 3 more minutes). Move the browned beef to the bowl.

Sauté the onion, simmer the wine: Add the onion to the pot and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of salt. Sauté the onion until it softens, about 5 minutes, stirring and scraping with a flat-edged wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Pour in the (optional) red wine and simmer the wine for 1 minute, scraping the bottom of the pot one last time.

Everything in the pot: Pour the beef and any juices in the bowl into the pot. Drizzle the beef with the soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce and stir to coat. Pour in the beef broth (and ½ teaspoon of fine sea salt if using homemade broth).

Pressure Cook for 20 minutes with a Natural Release: Lock the lid. Pressure cook on high pressure for 20 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker (Manual, Pressure Cook, or Pressure Cook - Custom mode in an Instant Pot), or for 20 minutes in a stovetop pressure cooker. Let the pressure come down naturally, about 20 more minutes. (If you're in a hurry, you can quick release any remaining pressure after 15 minutes).

Thicken the gravy and serve: Scoop the beef into a serving bowl using a slotted spoon. Make a cornstarch slurry by whisking the cornstarch with ¼ cup of beef broth, then whisk the slurry into the pot. Then, whisk the sour cream with about a cup of the pot liquid to thin it out, and whisk the thinned sour cream into the pot. Stir in the fresh ground black pepper. Ladle some of the gravy over the beef tips and pass the rest of the gravy on the side. Enjoy!

Storage

In an airtight container, beef tips will last for a few days in the refrigerator or for months in the freezer. I store them in 2-cup containers, covered with gravy, for grab-and-go lunches.

Tips and Tricks

• The key to the timing of this recipe is the size of the beef tip pieces. I cut the beef into 1-inch cubes, or at least pieces that are 1 inch on their longest size. (Some of the end pieces come out in interesting shapes.) If you have bigger pieces, like 1½- to 2-inch cubes, then the pressure cooking time should increase to 30 minutes at high pressure to make sure the cubes are tenderized.
  

What to serve with Instant Pot Beef Tips and Gravy

I serve this Instant Pot beef tips recipe with something that will soak up the gravy. Traditionally, they are served with egg noodles or rice (see my Instant Pot Rice Recipe here). But I love gravy and Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes, so that's what I usually serve as the starchy side.

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Grilled Beef Fajitas Recipe
My other Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker Recipes

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Instant Pot Lamb Chops. Pressure cooker lamb shoulder chops, with flavors from southern France.

My first meal in Paris was in an empty bistro. I was jet lagged, desperate to eat before I crashed, and I showed up the moment they opened at 6PM. The place was empty; no self-respecting Parisian would eat dinner so early. I didn't care, I ordered the lamb steak, and "un quart" - a quarter carafe of wine. The lamb, while full of flavor, was a little tough. Did I care? No. I had a cute bistro in Paris all to myself while I sipped a glass of wine. How could I be upset?

I came home, and wanted to make lamb steaks in the pressure cooker. I switched to lamb shoulder chops. Like pork shoulder chops and beef chuck steak, hard-working lamb shoulder meat is better in the pressure cooker. (Or long, slow cooking in the oven. But you know me, I'm pulling out the pressure cooker.)

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 pounds lamb shoulder chops, cut ¾-inch thick (I got 4 chops)
• 1½ teaspoons fine sea salt
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ cup red wine
• 1 cup chicken broth or beef broth (preferably homemade broth, or use store-bought low sodium chicken broth)
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt (if using homemade broth)
• 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch lengths

How to make Lamb Chops in the Instant Pot

Brown the lamb shoulder chops in batches

Set an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker to Sauté mode adjusted to high (medium-high heat in a stovetop PC.) Add the tablespoon of oil and heat until shimmering. While the oil is heating, sprinkle the lamb chops evenly with 1½ teaspoons fine sea salt. Once the oil is heated, brown the lamb chops on one side, in batches, until golden brown, about 3 minutes each. (My lamb chops were large enough that I had to do them one at a time). Move the browned chops into a rimmed platter, and repeat until all the chops are browned on one side.

Sauté the aromatics, simmer the wine

Add the onions and smashed garlic cloves to the pot, and sprinkle with the Herbes de Provence and ½ teaspoon of fine sea salt. Sauté, occasionally stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot with a flat-edged wooden spoon, until the onions soften, about 5 minutes. Pour in the wine, bring to a simmer, and simmer for 1 minute to boil off some of the alcohol. While the wine is simmering, scrape the bottom of the pot one last time to make sure nothing is sticking.

Add the liquid, browned lamb, and carrots to the pot

Stir the chicken broth, ½ teaspoon of fine sea salt (if using homemade broth), and can of diced tomatoes into the pot. Stack the lamb chops in the pot in a loose pile, then scatter the carrots on top of the chops.

Pressure cook for 15 minutes with a Natural Pressure Release

Lock the lid. Set the pot to high pressure and the cooking time to 15 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric PC. (Use "Manual" or "Pressure Cook" mode in an Instant Pot.) Or, pressure cook on high pressure for 12 minutes in a stovetop PC. Let the pressure come down naturally for about 20 more minutes. If you get impatient, you can quick release the remaining pressure after 15 minutes of natural release.

Transfer to a platter, defat the sauce, and serve

Unlock the pressure cooker lid, tilting it away from you to avoid the hot steam. Gently scoop out the lamb chops and carrots - they will be fall-apart tender - and transfer to a serving platter. Scoop out the tomatoes and onions with a slotted spoon and add them to the tomatoes. Pour the liquid in the pot into a fat separator, let it settle, then pour a little of the defatted sauce over the platter of lamb chops. Serve, passing the remaining sauce at the table. Enjoy!

Substitutions

• Lamb shoulder chops come in two types - blade chops and arm chops. Both work in this recipe. If you're desperate, you can substitute lamb leg chops or sirloin chops, and they'll be fine, but shoulder chops work better in the pressure cooker. Please don't cook lamb loin chops or rack of lamb in a pressure cooker; it will come out overcooked and sad.
• If you don't eat lamb, but like the rest of the recipe, substitute beef chuck steaks, cut ½-inch to ¾-inch thick, for the lamb.
• I'm going for a South of France flavor here, so my aromatics are onion, garlic, and a big hit of Herbes de Provence, the French dried herb blend. You can substitute fresh herbs, like thyme and minced fresh rosemary for the Herbes if you want.
• My wine preference for this recipe is a Cote-Du-Rhone blend, a fruity, peppery mix of grapes from the southeast of France. But, any dry red wine will do, so use what you have on hand (or what you want to drink with dinner).

🛠 Equipment

A 6-quart pressure cooker.

📏Scaling

This recipe can be scaled up or down, but don't change the amount of cooking liquid. You need 1 ½ cups of liquid in the pot, no matter how many chops you want to cook. To scale the recipe down, halve all the ingredients except for the beer and chicken broth, and it will fit into a 3-quart pressure cooker. You can double the recipe in an 8-quart pressure cooker.

How long to cook lamb shoulder chops in Instant Pot?

Pressure cook ¾-inch thick lamb shoulder chops for 15 minutes at High Pressure with a Natural Release in an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker. If you get thinner chops, go for 12 minutes at High Pressure. If you get 1-inch thick, pressure cook for 20 minutes, and 2-inch thick will take 30 minutes.

💡Tips and Tricks

• Why do I brown the meat on only one side? Browning adds a lot of flavor to the recipe. Browning the meat itself adds flavor to the chops, and the layer of caramelized brown bits left in the pot ("fond" in French) dissolve into the liquid, adding depth and body. That said, I only brown the lamb on one side, unlike traditional recipes. It takes too long to brown the meat on all sides - I do not have the patience, and it the browned bits start to burn after the second or third batch. Browning one side gives me the best balance of flavor and speed.
• Can I skip the browning step? Well, yes, you can, but as I said above, you're going to lose some of the flavor. I consider it an essential step, but if it's the difference between making the recipe and not having time to make the recipe, go ahead and skip it.
• Cut of lamb: This recipe works best with lamb shoulder chops. A lamb loin chop is too lean to stand up to the high heat of a pressure cooker; a shoulder chop wants that extra cooking time.

Storage

These chops can be made a day ahead, refrigerated, and reheated. If anything, this recipe tastes better the second day, thanks to a day of letting the flavors mingle. It also lets the fat float to the top and solidify, so you can scrape it off with a spoon.
To store for later, portion into 2-cup containers and add the sauce. Stored in an airtight container, this lamb will last up to 3 days in the refrigerator or 6 months in the freezer.

What to serve with Instant Pot Lamb Chops

I love lamb and potatoes, either Instant Pot Fingerling Potatoes or Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes. A loaf of bread to soak up the sauce is also great. I like to serve these with a green side dish, like my Instant Pot Kale (with Garlic and Lemon), Instant Pot Braised Kale with Pancetta or Instant Pot Green Beans, and a salad.

☃️ Storage

These chops can be made a day ahead, refrigerated, and reheated - if anything, it tastes better this way, thanks to a day of letting the flavors mingle. It also lets the fat float to the top and solidify, so you can scrape it off with a spoon.

To store for later, portion into 2-cup containers, add the sauce, and refrigerate for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 6 months. (This recipe freezes beautifully.)

🤝 Related Posts

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Instant Pot Pork Shoulder Chops with Apples and Onions
Instant Pot Jalapeño Smothered Pork Chops
Instant Pot Lamb Stew Recipe
Instant Pot Boneless Leg of Lamb
Instant Pot Moroccan Lamb Shanks
My other Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker Recipes

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