Instant Pot Beef & Broccoli

This recipe originally appeared on A Food Lover’s Kitchen.

Instant Pot Beef & Broccoli combines tender broccoli and beef with a flavorful Asian sauce for a quick dinner that everyone will love.

Sometimes it can be hard to fit vegetables into an easy and tasty meal, but with this recipe it’s built in and easy. Not to mention delicious! One of the easiest ways to make Beef & Broccoli is in the Instant Pot.

Why You’ll Love It

• This recipe is a one-pot dinner solution. You can cook the beef, the broccoli, and the rice all in the same pot.
• The next time you’re craving takeaway, make this homemade beef and broccoli instead. It’s a reader favorite because it’s fast and healthier than going out, but still has all the flavor you expect and crave. You can even make the rice in the Instant Pot too with this Basmati Rice recipe.
• This is truly one of those recipes that makes everyone happy. There are never any leftovers and it is asked for over and over. Don’t you want to have one of those recipes in your back pocket?

Pavani says: That is such a simple and flavorful beef dish. Instant pot makes it so quick and easy. Perfect weeknight meal.

Kathryn Donangelo says: I love Instant Pot recipes and this one was delicious!! Easier and tastier than take out! Thank you!

» You might also like this Instant Pot Chicken & Broccoli recipe.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Another great part about this recipe is that it doesn’t need a lot of ingredients. The sauce contains the most ingredients, but you can streamline that, if you want. What you’ll need is:

• Beef (see below for preferred cuts) – I use sirloin steak because it’s a high-quality cut, so it’s easiest to chew.
• Broccoli – Cut into florets. You can also use frozen broccoli from a steamer bag.
• Cooking oil – Choose an oil with a high smoke point, like canola, avocado, or peanut oil.
• Beef broth or cubes – Adds flavor and also helps deglaze the pot.

For the Sauce

The sauce in this recipe is incredibly good, so I don’t encourage leaving out any of the ingredients in the sauce, but not everyone wants to buy a whole bottle of hoisin sauce just for this recipe, which is fine. You can make a basic sauce with just the soy sauce, ginger and garlic.

• Low sodium soy sauce – When you use low-sodium, you get better control over the salt content of the final dish.
• Chili oil
• Hoisin sauce – Hoisin will give the sauce a nice thickness and umami flavor. Oyster sauce can also be used if that’s what you have on hand.
• Ginger – Fresh ginger works best, but you can use 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger instead.
• Garlic – Adding fresh garlic will give the dish a nice savory flavor.
• Sesame oil
• Chinese cooking wine
• Cornstarch – Adding a bit of cornstarch to sauce will make it thicker.

Additional Tips for Instant Pot Broccoli Beef

• I don’t use the pressure cook function to cook the broccoli in this recipe because it just cooks too quickly. Even setting the Instant Pot to zero minutes (yes, this is possible!) is too much and will leave the broccoli mushy and overcooked.
• You can cook the beef from frozen, if you want. Just set the cook time to 5 minutes, instead of 4.
• If you have leftovers, you can store them in the refrigerator for a day or two. The broccoli really loses it’s luster after that and will be less appealing to eat.

What Are the Best Cuts of Beef to Use?

The best cuts of beef for stir fry, like this Beef & Broccoli, are tender and lean. I use sirloin steak because it’s a high-quality cut, so it’s easiest to chew. No one likes tough gristly meat that’s hard to chew. The list below contains the top four cuts for this recipe.

• Sirloin
• Flank steak or skirt steak
• Top round steak
• Tri-tip steak

Cut the beef into 1″ chunks against the grain, which will cook quickly in the Instant Pot. It takes just 4 minutes to cook the beef. The broth that forms in the pot as the beef cooks is then combined with a corn starch slurry to make a thick and tasty glaze for the dish.

How to Make Instant Pot Beef & Broccoli

Step 1: Cut Ingredients

Start by cutting the beef and broccoli into chunks. They should be around the same size, which makes eating it more enjoyable. Large pieces of broccoli aren’t very fun to eat.

Step 2: Mix up Sauce

Mix up the sauce. Add 1 tablespoon of the sauce to a bowl along with the beef. Stir it up and set it aside to marinate for a few minutes while you cook the broccoli.

Step 3: Cook the Broccoli

Use the sauté mode on the Instant Pot to cook the broccoli for 5 minutes. To do this, add cooking oil to the pot, pour in the broccoli florets and let them sizzle, stirring occasionally.

Once they’re done, remove them to a bowl and set aside. Turn off the Instant Pot. The broccoli will continue to steam while you cook the beef, so they’ll be the perfect tenderness.

You might be wondering why I didn’t use the pressure cook function to cook the broccoli. It just cooks too quickly. Even setting the Instant Pot to zero minutes (yes, this is possible!) is too much and will leave the broccoli mushy and overcooked.

If you’re using store-bought broccoli in a steamer bag, go ahead and steam the broccoli as the package suggests, instead of using the Instant Pot, if you want.

Step 4: Cook the Beef

Next, add the beef and the beef broth to the pot. Close the lid and set the vent to sealing. Pressure cook on high for 4 minutes. Do a manual pressure release when done.

Add the broccoli back to the pot and turn on sauté mode again. Add the cornstarch to the remaining sauce you mixed up earlier and pour it into the pot. As it heats up, the sauce will start to bubble and thicken.

Let it bubble for about 3 minutes. Then it’s ready to serve. It’s great alongside some rice or noodles, but I often use cauliflower rice for a low-carb alternative.

Before You Go

Since you made it to the end of this article, you might be interested in more Instant Pot recipes that make a full meal. Here are a few more articles we think you might enjoy.

• Instant Pot Chicken Marsala
• Instant Pot Pork Chops & Rice
• Instant Pot Gumbo
• Instant Pot Beef Pho Recipe