Easy Pressure Cooker Beef and Broccoli Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you soften beef for beef and broccoli? ›

How to tenderise beef – easily! There are a few methods, but this is the easiest way: Sprinkle 3/4 tsp baking soda (bi-carbonate soda) on 250g / 8oz sliced economical beef cuts. Toss with fingers, leave for 30 minutes.

Diced Meat

Season your meat as you normally would. Heat a little oil using the Sauté function and sear the meat. Add 1 1/2 cups of liquid (water, stock, etc.). Cook for 20 minutes (per pound of meat) at high pressure for large chunks and 15 minutes (per pound of meat) for small chunks.

Pour in at least two cups of water; use 1 to 2 cups more if the beef is a tough cut or to reach the minimum amount recommended by the pressure cooker's manufacturer. Seal the lid and bring the cooker up to full pressure over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, maintaining full pressure, and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

While you'll set your cooking time to “0”, the steaming time is actually just the time it takes for the instant pot to come to full pressure (about 5-10 minutes). After that, you'll just use your quick release to release the pressure and remove the broccoli.

While there are several ways to velvet, a pound of meat needs about two teaspoons of cornstarch and two teaspoons of oil, says Leung. You may also include two to three tablespoons of water. For beef, add a 1/4-teaspoon of baking soda for tenderizing. Additional seasonings are optional and vary from recipe to recipe.

While you may cover meat almost completely for a conventional braise, use just enough liquid for the cooker to reach pressure – during pressure cooking the meat will release it's own juice and braise in that flavorful liquid, instead.

Vegetables are rich in several nutrients that includes minerals, vitamins which when cooked in a pressure cooker, might get completely destroyed.

Brown it

Pressure cooked food doesn't brown so it's worth doing this at the start of cooking before adding liquid and putting the lid on. Meat looks and tastes more appetising with a little browning. Onions, garlic and spices also benefit in the flavour stakes from pre-cooking.

The cooking time depends on how much beef you have. I like to assume 20 minutes for every pound of meat. So, for my 3-pound beef chuck, I will need to cook at high pressure for 1 hour. After the hour, I release the pressure and shred the tender beef.

Steam penetrates food easily under pressure. So connective tissues in cubes of beef for soups or stews soften in 15 minutes or less, and a pot roast will be medium-rare in 30 minutes. Be sure to follow instructions carefully; at this speed, it's easy to overcook things in mere minutes.

Do you cut broccoli before or after steaming? ›

While you're waiting for your water to boil, use a knife to cut the head of broccoli into florets. Add your steamer basket to the pot and place the broccoli florets on the steamer. Reduce the heat to medium, add lid and steam for 5-6 minutes, for tender crisp broccoli.

A whole cauliflower (about 1 1/2 pounds) will take about 20 minutes to steam. Cauliflower or broccoli flowerettes will take 6 to 10 minutes. Broccoli stalks will take 8 to 15 minutes.

Suggested times for steaming vegetables:

Asparagus, green beans: 3 to 5 minutes. Collard greens, kale, Swiss chard, and other hearty, leafy greens: 5 to 7 minutes. Cauliflower, broccoli: 8 to 10 minutes. Beets, carrots, potatoes, turnips, and other root vegetables: 10 to 15 minutes.

To tenderize beef, cutting the beef against the grain is usually enough to keep it tender and soft. You can also add ¾ teaspoon of baking soda mixed with 2 tablespoons of water with your beef slices for 30 minutes but you must rinse out the baking soda before you start to marinate it.

You can velvet meat and make it melt-in-your-mouth tender by quickly tossing chunks of beef or chicken in about ¾ tsp of baking soda for about 15 minutes before your next stir fry, then rinse and pat the meat dry before putting in the pan.

Use baking soda. A grandmother's secret is to use baking soda, a small trick that allows you to obtain soft meat, without affecting its flavor. But how to use it? When the meat is cooked for one third, add a little baking soda: it will take a teaspoon for every half kilo of meat.