Instant Pot Thai Panang Curry (With Beef) recipe. Hot, sour, salty, sweet Thai Panang Curry, ready in about an hour.
It's a cold winter evening, and I am craving a spicy Thai curry to warm me up. I've got a jar of panang curry paste from my local Asian market and a flat iron steak from my friends at Certified Angus Beef, so it is time to make a Thai Beef Panang Curry.
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If you've followed my blog, you'll recognize my Thai curry technique. I've used it in a bunch of recipes, like my Instant Pot Massaman Chicken Curry, Instant Pot Prik King Pork Curry, or Instant Pot Thai Shrimp Curry (with Red Curry Paste).
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Ingredients
- Vegetable oil
- Shallot
- Fine sea salt
- Coconut milk
- Panang curry paste
- Flat iron steak (chuck
- Chicken broth or water
- Fish sauce
- Soy sauce
- Brown sugar
- Fresh lime juice
See the recipe card for quantities.
How to make Instant Pot Thai Panang Curry
Sauté the shallot: In an Instant Pot set to sauté mode - high, heat the vegetable oil until it starts to shimmer. Stir in the shallot, sprinkle with ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, and sauté until the shallot starts to soften, about 3 minutes.
Fry the curry paste: Scoop the cream from the top of the can of coconut milk and add it to the pot, then stir in the curry paste. Cook, stirring often, until the curry paste darkens, about 5 minutes.
Pressure Cook for 12 minutes with a Natural Release: Sprinkle the sliced beef with ½ teaspoon of fine sea salt, then add the beef to the pot and stir to coat with curry paste. Stir in the rest of the can of coconut milk, chicken stock, fish sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar. Lock the lid and pressure cook on high pressure for 12 minutes. Let the pressure come down naturally, about 20 minutes.
Finish the curry: Unlock the pressure cooker and stir in the lime juice. Ladle the curry into bowls, and serve with Jasmine rice, passing the other garnishes at the table to sprinkle on top.
Substitutions
Coconut milk: I use full-fat coconut milk for this recipe because I want the coconut cream from the top of the can to help fry the curry paste. (See the tips and tricks section for details.)
Curry Paste: Panang curry paste is easy to find in my local Asian grocery stores. (I like the Maesri brand, and Mae ploy is also high quality.) If you can't find parang curry paste, Thai red curry paste is an acceptable substitute, but it does have a different flavor profile.
Beef Options: Flat iron steak is a specific muscle from the beef chuck shoulder, a single boneless muscle that is easy to slice into thin strips. (Blade steak is the same cut - Flat iron steaks are technically "top blade steaks.") Any cut of boneless chuck shoulder will work. Or, you can move to the cow's rump and substitute bottom round instead.
Other Proteins: If you want to branch out from beef, chicken thighs and pork shoulder will also work in this recipe.
Onion for Shallot: If it's easier for you, substitute a small onion for the shallot. Shallot has a slightly different flavor, but onion is close enough for this recipe.
Cut the heat: I like my curry with a lot of kick, so I use a whole 4-ounce can of curry paste, which is ½ cup of paste. If you want to cut the heat, use ¼ cup of paste - half a can. That said, panang curry is not that hot to begin with; it's on the sweeter side of Thai curries, so it's a good one if you're not into heat.
Traditional ingredients: I'm substituting brown sugar for the traditional palm sugar; if you have palm sugar, use it instead. Also, this recipe usually has a couple of kaffir lime leaves in the pot while it's cooking, but they are hard for me to find, so I skip them in the pot and sliver up some Thai basil to sprinkle on top as a garnish.
Vegetables: Looking for some green in your curry? Add a handful of green beans cut into 1-inch lengths or a bell pepper cut into 1-inch strips.
Equipment
Scaling
This recipe doubles easily in a 6-quart pressure cooker; scaling up past that needs an 8-quart pressure cooker. 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 piece of beef, no matter how many are in the pot.
Storing Leftovers
Thai curries make great leftovers. For lunches, I store them with some rice in 2-cup containers and refrigerate them for a few days or freeze them for up to 6 months.
Tips and Tricks
- Don't shake the can of coconut milk - you want the solid layer of cream on the top to stay separate from the liquid underneath. That lets you fry the coconut cream with the curry paste, then add the liquid later. (If you forget, or your coconut milk is mixed and doesn't have a layer of cream on top, skip the cream in the "fry the curry paste" step and stir the whole can into the pot in the "pressure cook the curry" step.)
- Curry paste from a can is a shortcut, but it's one Thai home cooks use all the time, so I don't feel bad about taking advantage of the canned curry pastes.
What to Serve with Instant Pot Panang Curry
Serve with jasmine rice to soak up all the delicious juices. (If I want to eat healthily, I make my Pressure Cooker Brown Jasmine Rice). I also serve the curry an assortment of toppings - sliced hot peppers, slivered kaffir lime leaves or Thai basil leaves, crushed peanuts - for diners to sprinkle on their bowl of curry.
Video
Video: Pressure Cooker Thai Panang Beef Curry - Time Lapse [YouTube.com] Print
Instant Pot Thai Panang Curry (With Beef)
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
Instant Pot Thai Panang Curry (With Beef). Hot, sour, salty, sweet Thai curry, panang style, in about an hour.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 large shallot, peeled and thin sliced
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- Cream from the top of a (13.5 ounce) can coconut milk
- ½ cup Panang curry paste (a whole 4-ounce can)
- 2 pounds flat iron steak (or chuck blade steak, or boneless chuck roast), cut into 2-inch by ½-inch strips
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup chicken stock or water (plus the coconut milk from the can)
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- Juice of 1 lime
Garnish and Sides
- Jasmine rice
- Sliced hot peppers (Red Thai “bird’s eye” peppers, or substitute Serrano peppers)
- Slivered kaffir lime leaves (or substitute minced Thai basil)
- Ground peanuts
- Lime wedges
Instructions
- Sauté the shallot: In an Instant Pot set to sauté mode - high, heat the vegetable oil until it starts to shimmer. (Use medium-high heat with a stovetop PC). Stir in the shallot, sprinkle with ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, and sauté until the shallot starts to soften, about 3 minutes.
- Fry the curry paste: Scoop the cream from the top of the can of coconut milk and add it to the pot, then stir in the curry paste. Cook, stirring often, until the curry paste darkens, about 5 minutes.
- Pressure Cook for 12 minutes with a Natural Release: Sprinkle the sliced beef with ½ teaspoon of fine sea salt, then add the beef to the pot and stir to coat with curry paste. Stir in the rest of the can of coconut milk, chicken stock, fish sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar. Lock the lid and pressure cook on high pressure for 12 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric PC (use "Manual", "Pressure Cook", or "Pressure Cook - Custom" set to 12 minutes,) or for 8 minutes in a stovetop PC. Let the pressure come down naturally, about 20 minutes. (You can quick release any remaining pressure after 15 minutes if you're in a hurry.)
- Finish the curry: Remove the lid from the pressure cooker, and stir in the lime juice. Ladle the curry into bowls, and serve with Jasmine rice, passing the other garnishes at the table to sprinkle on top.
Equipment
Buy Now → - Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Thai
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What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts
Pressure Cooker Thai Red Beef Curry
Pressure Cooker Thai Green Chicken Curry
Pressure Cooker Massaman Beef Curry
Instant Pot Coconut Curry Chicken
Instant Pot Japanese Curry Recipe
My list of Pressure Cooker Recipes
My other Pressure Cooker Time Lapse Videos
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Denise says
Doubled this, added a pound of fresh green beans in 1-2 inch pieces and a large sweet red pepper sliced 1/4 inch thick and an inch long. Used Braggs Liquid aminos in place of the soy sauce and ordered the Maeri Panang paste and fish sauce on Amazon at a good price. Fabulous and will be making again and again- will also try with chicken but I imagine a much shorter cooking time, Mike? Maybe if it were frozen chicken breast about the same time? Thoughts? I have fabulous outcomes with all your recipes - the non soaked pintos, the turkey soup, I could go on....thank you! It's great to have someone really cooking not guessing and messing up the times and ingredients-I find that a lot on the internet - recipes that are a total flop because of bad advice.
Mike Vrobel says
Thank you! For chicken, use the timings in one of my Thai chicken curry recipes (and use chicken thighs) - https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/pressure-cooker-thai-green-chicken-curry/
Denise says
Could I use a thick (2 inches) top round steak in this recipe?
Mike Vrobel says
Yes, as long as you slice it thin as described in the recipe.
Lize says
This recipe was DELICIOUS. Everyone in the house says it’s their favourite I’ve cooked so far. Thank you for this! Will continue to be a staple recipe.
Mike Vrobel says
You're welcome!
Sumaiya Chowdhury says
Hi there, I want to make this recipe, however I do need to use halal meat for the family and I can’t seem to find flat iron steak as halal. Is there other beef substitutes that could work just as well for this?
Mike Vrobel says
Beef Options: Flat iron steak is a specific muscle from the beef chuck shoulder, a single boneless muscle that is easy to slice into thin strips. (Blade steak is the same cut – Flat iron steaks are technically “top blade steaks.”) Any cut of boneless chuck shoulder will work. Or, you can move to the cow’s rump and substitute bottom round instead.
Sumaiya Chowdhury says
Thanks for the info! Would veal blade steak also work or would that taste be too different as a substitute?
Mike Vrobel says
Veal should be fine. This recipe will work with almost any protein that can stand up to pressure cooking.
Sumaiya Chowdhury says
Sorry for another question, would it be a different pressure time for cooking veal or the same?
Mike Vrobel says
I don’t know specifically; I’ve never used veal. That said, it should work with the recipe as written.
Karen West says
I use this recipe all the time. Thank you!
Mike Vrobel says
You're welcome, I'm glad it's a regular in your recipe rotation!
Mike Vrobel says
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
Erika says
I love this recipe!! Thank you!
Mike Vrobel says
You’re welcome!
Rasmus says
If you want to do the Penang curry with chicken should you follow the pressure cooking instructions from the green curry?
Mike Vrobel says
Yes, exactly.
MBlough says
Hi - I am planning to try this very soon. Curious about the reference to hot peppers, lime wedges and ground peanuts in the ingredients list. I assume this is for the garnish? The directions reference adding cilantro and basil at the end but they are not mentioned in the ingredients. I often see a chiffonade of kaffir lime leaves and juilenned thai chili or some hot red chili pepper as a garnis for this dish. Anyway, I really like to the idea of speeding up the process using a pressure cooker and am looking forward to trying it.
Mike Vrobel says
Yes, that's correct - they are garnishes to be sprinkled on at the table. I updated the recipe to (hopefully) make this a little more clear.
Jeremy Keyes says
Oooh, I am definitely trying this one. I've done the Thai Green Chicken Curry three times now. My wife loves it. I sub red, orange, and yellow sweet peppers for the beans and I add potatoes (using your instructions from the massaman curry recipe).
So. Good.
Aaron Friedman says
I love this technique. It's really easy and delicious with many different pastes. I'm actually having leftover Karee curry with chicken and new potatoes (cooked whole in a trivet above then sliced and added back at the end), and green beans for lunch today. Thanks again.
Mike V says
You're welcome!