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Instant Pot beef and broccoli tastes like Chinese takeout and is ready in 20 minutes!
If you like beef and broccoli from a Chinese restaurant, you will go crazy over this homemade Instant Pot beef and broccoli! Tender soft beef and perfect green broccoli swimming in the flavorful garlicky brown sauce – amazing!
You’ll be drooling smelling the beef and broccoli while it’s cooking in the Instant Pot. Your own kitchen will be transformed into the best Chinese restaurant ever! When you bite into this beef and broccoli dish, you will marvel how soft and tender the beef is, how perfectly cooked is the broccoli and how well they go with the brown sauce that ties the whole dish together.
Making your own beef and broccoli is cheaper and healthier than getting it from the restaurant. Chinese restaurants usually fry beef in a ton of oil and add unhealthy MSG. Homemade beef and broccoli doesn’t contain MSG and no oil is used in this recipe because it’s simply not needed! You know exactly what ingredients go into this meal – what you see is what you get!
Instant Pot beef and broccoli is very easy to make. All you need to do is combine the ingredients for the brown sauce (soy sauce, water, minced garlic and minced ginger), add beef and sauce to the Instant Pot and pressure cook for 10 minutes. While the beef is cooking, cook the broccoli in the microwave. When the Instant Pot is done cooking the beef, quick release (QR) the pressure, switch the Instant Pot to the Saute setting and add some cornstarch mixed with water to thicken the sauce. Stir in cooked broccoli and delicious homemade beef and broccoli is ready!
You may be wondering – why don’t I cook broccoli together with beef in the Instant Pot? The reason why I cook it separately is because the broccoli cooks much quicker then the beef. If broccoli were pressure cooked for 10 minutes, it would turn into absolute mush.
Can you cook broccoli in the Instant Pot too instead of using a microwave? Yes you can, but it needs to be cooked separately from beef. Instant Pot can make perfect broccoli, check out my Instant Pot broccoli recipe. If you have 2 Instant Pots, you can cook it in the second pot while the first one is cooking the beef, and if you only have one Instant Pot, then cook broccoli first, then remove it and cook the beef.
Beef and broccoli is awesome served over rice, and you can cook rice in the Instant Pot too! Second Instant Pot would come in handy here as well :) Check out my recipes for Instant Pot white rice and Instant Pot brown rice. Or you can use the rice cooker or microwave to cook rice at the same time as the beef (see how to cook rice in the microwave).
This beef and broccoli portion is quite big (2 lbs of beef) and it makes great leftovers. It tastes great re-heated the next few days, and you can also freeze it too in ziploc bags, and thaw it in a microwave or in refrigerator overnight when ready to eat. If you halve the portion and only cook 1 lb of beef, you still need to use the same quantity of sauce as for 2 lbs (1 cup of sauce), otherwise the Instant Pot might not come to pressure.
You can use any cut of beef to make Instant Pot beef and broccoli. The classic version useschuck roast or flank steak thinly sliced against the grain, but I’ve also made this successfully with pre-cut beef stew meat (I just had to halve the pieces to make them smaller) and pre-cut beef taco meat! Instant Pot makes beef so tender, so use whatever beef cut is on sale – it’s going to turn out awesome!
If you like Instant Pot beef and broccoli, you will also like these easy recipes:
Instant Pot Egg Roll In A Bowl – another Chinese takeout-fakeout! This is a low-carb version of eggroll, tastes like the eggroll without a wrapper :) The whole dinner cooks in one Instant Pot and ready in 10 minutes!
Instant Pot Chicken Adobo – authentic Filippino chicken Adobe recipe made simple in the Instant Pot! Super flavorful!
Instant Pot Beef Chili– another comfort one-pot meal, mouthwatering! Just dump all ingredients in the pot and get a steaming hot bowl of chili!
Instant Pot Lazy Cabbage Rolls – “unstuffed” cabbage rolls with beef, cabbage and rice, simmered together in Instant Pot to perfection! So filling and comforting!
Instant Pot Beef Meatballs With Rice – also called “porcupine meatballs” because the rice sticks out of meatballs like porcupine needles :) So tender and mouthwatering!
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4.95 from 19 votes
This is the best and easiest Instant Pot beef and broccoli recipe ever! Ready on the table in 20 minutes and tastes like Chinese takeout! Instant Pot is a game changer!
Prep Time5 minutes mins
Cook Time15 minutes mins
Total Time20 minutes mins
Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: Chinese
Keyword: beef, broccoli
Cooking Method: Instant Pot
Diet: Gluten-Free, Keto / Low-Carb, Paleo
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 452kcal
Author: MelanieCooks.com
Ingredients
- 2 lbs beef chuck roast or flank steak, cut into small pieces or thin strips
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 2/3 cup water
- 2 tbsp brown sugar (or sugar-free sweetener for keto option)
- 1 lb broccoli florets fresh or frozen
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 inch piece of fresh ginger or 1 tsp ground ginger
- 3 tbsp cornstarch (or 1 tbsp xanthan gum for keto option)
- 1/4 cup hot water
- Sesame seeds for garnish optional
Recommended Kitchen Tools (click the links below to see the items used to make this recipe)
Instant Pot
Instructions
Put soy sauce, 2/3 cup water, brown sugar, garlic and ginger in a food processor or blender and process until smooth (if you'd like to make it without a food processor, mince garlic and ginger by hand and combine with soy sauce, water and sugar in a cup).
Put sliced beef in the Instant Pot and pour soy sauce mixture over it. Toss with your hands to make sure all the beef is coated with soy sauce mixture.
Close the lid of the Instant Pot and set the valve to a Sealing position. Press the "Pressure Cook" or "Manual" button and set the time to 10 minutes on High pressure.
While the beef is cooking, put the broccoli in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on High for 4 minutes if fresh (or 5 minutes if frozen).
When the beef is done cooking, quick release (QR) the steam and open the Instant Pot lid.
On the Instant Pot, press the Saute button and set the time to 15 minutes.
In a cup, mix the cornstarch with 1/4 cup of hot water. Add the cornstarch mixture to the Instant Pot and mix until incorporated. The beef mixture will come to a boil and the sauce will gradually thicken (in about 3 minutes).
Stir the cooked broccoli into the beef mixture and serve.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds for garnish (if using).
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Nutrition
Calories: 452kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 107mg | Sodium: 850mg | Potassium: 682mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 471IU | Vitamin C: 68mg | Calcium: 72mg | Iron: 4mg
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